[Alpha trick index]
[Functional trick index]
Dual line tricks - Launches
Belly launch
The kite is launched from a "pancaked" position.
The kite is in front of you on it's belly with the nose pointing away.
Offset your hands, pulling back more on the downwind hand. Now step/run
backwards without changing the position of your hands. As the kite
picks up and starts to turn around pull your hands together and the
kite will take off. Best accomplished in lighter winds.
Belly pop
Fly the kite to the left side of the wind window and do a Belly landing.
The kite is now on it's belly, nose pointing away from you, on the
very edge of the window. Pull very gently on the left line to position
the kite with it's nose pointing slightly inward. Now flick the
right line which will cause wind to enter the right wing and in turn
causes the kite to actually lift and "pop" back into the wind window.
Done indoors, or in light wind it can be turned into a 360. Just take
a step towards the kite right after the flick.
Flapjack
Launch and turtle kill the kite. Pop one hand to get the kite rotating on
it's back, drop the kite back down to land on wing-tips. This move is a
Lazy Susan performed straight out of a launch position back into launch
position.
Headspring
This is the all-time impressive launch. Start with the kite balancing
on its nose (something that may require a little practice in itself)
Start with a hard pull on both lines to flatten the
kite down into a belly down position, then immediately release
and execute a French Toast to launch the kite. The overall
sequence of moves is hard-pull, release, quick-pull, release.
With practice, the move can be done very fluently and the kite
appears to simply bounce off its nose into flight.
Jump start
Do a Belly landing.
(The nose of the kite points away from you.) Yank both lines really
hard with a slight emphasis on one. The kite should shoot up in the
air and perform a 180 degree rotation, The kite is still belly down,
but with the nose facing you. Either yank the lines to resume normal
flight upwards or throw your arms forward to roll the kite into a
yo-yo.
Leading edge launch
The kite is launched from it's side. Fly the kite near the edge of the
window, close to the ground, left to right. Pull right and gently crash
to the ground. The kite should now be on it's right side. (be careful
the kite does not tip over). Pull left (the 'up') wing slowly until it
begins to fall toward you. Tug the left line and almost at the same
time with the right. The kite should lift off on it's side. Stepping
backward during this maneuver also helps.
Magic Carpet
A spectaculair but difficult way to launch your kite when you've made a
Belly landing. The kite will hover upwards and fly away.
Give both lines a short tug. The kite will pop up a few
feet and hover horizontally on its belly until the wind catches it,
after which it will flip into flight position, heading straight down (gulp!).
To prefend the kite from crashing, move one hand a little further back
than the other (after the pop) so the kite will turn.
This is a light wind trick.
Sleeping beauty launch/Berkeley hop
This move looks very impressive, when done correctly, the kite will
spin around and almost fall flat on it's belly nose toward you (this is
the failure mode if it does not work). And just at the last second turn
up and take off. It works best in a good wind and with a flat sailed
kite. Deeper billowed kites are better Cartwheeled.
Lay the kite flat on its back, about 30 feet in from the right edge of
the wind window, with the nose pointing into the wind. (like a
fade...) Next, Pull on the left line causing the kite to rotate the
left tip into the wind. (The kite should stay flat on the ground) As
the kite rotates around the wind will go under the left leading edge
and flip the kite over onto its face. (bridle side down) The trick is
to pull on the right line as the left tip is passing through 12 o'clock
high. It is important that the wind be the force that raised the left
leading edge off the ground and not the fact that you are pulling on
the left line. When done properly the wind will catch under the face
of the kite before it gets to the ground and lift it into the sky.
Snap start
With the kite in the normal launch position (on its back nose away) stand
so lines are straight and lie over the bottom spreaders. With a really
sharp hard jerk on both lines together the kite will jump up and hover a
couple of feet off the ground, nose up ready to fly. It sort of bounces up
into the air.
The name comes from the failure mode which involves replacing the broken
bottom spreader(s).
Tornado
Lay the kite flat on its back, with the nose pointing into the wind.
Next, Pull hard on one line causing the kite to rotate. Try to keep the
kite as flat as possible. You can get the kite to do one or more
complete rotations on its back. Just keep popping away with the same
hand as it comes round. With some kites, this action will actually
cause the kite to rise off the ground while doing Backspins.
Remarks, additional info ? mail
Peter Peters (
<pp@win.tue.nl>).