My first time out with my new 1.5 saw me spending more time unraveling the tangle I managed to get my lines into than actually trying to get the kite in the air. It seems the reverse launch and all the twists that ensued as I tried to get the kite right side up and stop its wild spins which followed my overcompensating with the handles left the lines in an almost hopeless mess. A kite field pal, Sue, was kind enough to help me sort out the worst of the rat's nest so I could at least wind up the line and head home....feeling kind of sheepish about my lame practice session.
Today when I got to the kite field, early so I could try to practice without upsetting or distracting weekend flyers with my anticipated many crashes, the lines were still tangled once I had undone them from the winder. To my astonishment Ray Bethell, amazing world class flyer and local to our field, was out early as well. He felt the easterly wind that was blowing was 'sh*tty; in his own words, and with hardly a further comment, he started to help me untangle my quad lines. Patient is not an adequate word to desribe his approach to this kiter flyer's nightmare. At one point, an hour into our project, he quipped, "And you thought kite flying was supposed to be fun!" which put a smile back on my face.
An hour and a half into the intricacies of straightening out the four lines, a cyclist took a short cut, off of the nearby bike path and across the flying field and RIGHT TRHOUGH THE QUAD LINES! AAAAhhhhhhh.......<thud>...
We couldn't believe it!
Two lines were cut and midway between the handles and the staked ends that we had alnost reached in our untangle efforts was a huge ball of knotted line, the size of a cantalope. I really was close to tears at this point. The only thing Ray said was, "And we almost had it, didn't we?"
The mess was too knotted to salvage. I packed up, gave Ray a hearty hug and headed home.
Question
airin
My first time out with my new 1.5 saw me spending more time unraveling the tangle I managed to get my lines into than actually trying to get the kite in the air. It seems the reverse launch and all the twists that ensued as I tried to get the kite right side up and stop its wild spins which followed my overcompensating with the handles left the lines in an almost hopeless mess. A kite field pal, Sue, was kind enough to help me sort out the worst of the rat's nest so I could at least wind up the line and head home....feeling kind of sheepish about my lame practice session.
Today when I got to the kite field, early so I could try to practice without upsetting or distracting weekend flyers with my anticipated many crashes, the lines were still tangled once I had undone them from the winder. To my astonishment Ray Bethell, amazing world class flyer and local to our field, was out early as well. He felt the easterly wind that was blowing was 'sh*tty; in his own words, and with hardly a further comment, he started to help me untangle my quad lines. Patient is not an adequate word to desribe his approach to this kiter flyer's nightmare. At one point, an hour into our project, he quipped, "And you thought kite flying was supposed to be fun!" which put a smile back on my face.
An hour and a half into the intricacies of straightening out the four lines, a cyclist took a short cut, off of the nearby bike path and across the flying field and RIGHT TRHOUGH THE QUAD LINES! AAAAhhhhhhh.......<thud>...
We couldn't believe it!
Two lines were cut and midway between the handles and the staked ends that we had alnost reached in our untangle efforts was a huge ball of knotted line, the size of a cantalope. I really was close to tears at this point. The only thing Ray said was, "And we almost had it, didn't we?"
The mess was too knotted to salvage. I packed up, gave Ray a hearty hug and headed home.
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