Solo-launch a Two-line Kite

Sometimes you want to fly a kite, but you've got nobody to help launch.

Simple;

Lay out your kite on its back, and weight the trailing edge down with a handful or sand or pebbles. 

When you give a gentle pull on the lines, the cells will fill and the kite will launch easily.

Comments

[rpotts2]

my biggest problem is when I'm done flying. landing a 2 liner is easy. keeping it from tangling while you retrieve it and try to fold it back up in the wind is a pain. maybe that problem is just a feature of eBay specials.

I'm dreading the MESS my 4M foil will make when I replace the cheapo bridle...

[Kiteman]

Soft kites like this are basically indestructible, so I tend to fly them down onto the ground so they land upside down. Hook the handles over a dog stake (see picture - always a good investment for a kite-flyer), and the wind will hold the kite down while you walk down to it and unhook it from the flying lines.

[Kiteman]

Oh, and for the folding, stand with your back to the wind, hold one end, flip the bridles on top and just roll it up - do the neat folding at home, indoors.

[rpotts2]

Huh, never thought about the folding part that way. I'll have to try it! as for the stake, I have one but it never occured to me to keep it handy for when I'm done.

1 last thing, I'm thinking about modding it to see if I can make it a 4 line kite for the braking. been poring over many photos of different kites and I think I got the design down. No biggie if it ruins the kite. I have another and the Christmas haul was good this year. there's some really nice packages available.

[gliderxseinther]

well im getting a pansh ace 12m2 power kite:/ it might be the first time i get hurt:(

[rread]

The video says lay the lines out down wind of the kite... The lines have to be up wind of the kite.

Up wind = a place closer to where the wind is coming from.

Down wind = where the wind will take things and blow them down toward.

By holding the lines from upwind you hold the kite into an oncoming wind.

This is a 2 line parafoil kite... Not just any 2 line kite. Parafoils are great, very easy and exciting to fly as demonstrated.

The wind inflates parafoil kite cells as you tug the kite into the wind. Once inflated the kite forms a good aerofoil (cord section shape)

The bridling (split lines) holds the inflated material at a good angle of attack to the wind (apparent and static) in order that it generates lift or tug on the line.

Normally, with parafoils when you pull more on the left line the kite turns to the left continuing anticlockwise ... turning tighter as you pull left tighter.

Right..goes right and clockwise as per above.

[Kiteman]

Woops!

Two years that video's been up, and nobody (including me) noticed the mix up - thanks for pointing it out.

[rread]

You can also use 2 reeling handles to launch a 2 line kite.

There is a bit of skill in feeling how much you let out each side and trying to keep it equal.

Or check out this amazing kite launch controller product by Dan Tracey

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1354200512/ki...

You can launch big parafoils from a kayak with it.

[gliderxseinther]

Ok I got a 3 meter power kite and how long should the line be so I can lift it off the ground as less of line as possible

[Kiteman]

As long as you can get away with. The shorter the line, the quicker things go wrong during a launch.

If you're skilled, and it's breezy, maybe only five metres, but there's a high risk of crashes, or of uneven launches pulling you off your feet.

[gliderxseinther]

Okay well in about a hour I'm going to make a instruct able on man carring kites I'm going to see if it can lift me

[Kiteman]

Cool.

Be careful, though. Don't get dead.

[gliderxseinther]

What's the biggest kite you've ever flown.

[Kiteman]

Just a four square metre kite - enough to drag me down the beach on my face when I let my attention slip.

[gliderxseinther]

Ever kite hopes

[Kiteman]

Hopped?

No, not my thing, really. I like flying the kite, not me.

[gliderxseinther]

*hoped*

[gliderxseinther]

Is that a power kite

[Kiteman]

Yes, it's a Flexifoil Buzz, a great kite to keep in your car "just in case".

[confu]

This also works fine with delta shaped stunt kites. Build a little sand pyramid for each of the outer bars and stick them into them.
Having a tent peg in your pocket to fix one (!) line while your building up your solo-launch ramp is also pretty useful when it´s really windy. If you don´t fix them at all, your kite is likely to go "somewhere" faster than you can look, if a blast catches it from a different angle. Trying to hold the lines without a handle is also a very bad idea.
If you fix both lines your kite could launch uncontrolledly and crash anywhere, while you are on your way back to the handles. If only one line is fixed it maybe could get caught by a blast, but then will circle and crash instantly.