Power Kite Forum - So how do you land when you loose a brake bridle??

So how do you land when you loose a brake bridle??

beachrights - 9-9-2013 at 05:53 AM

Minding my business yesterday cruising around in the Ghetto Kite trike when I noticed my right Brake Line is now playing follow the leader behind me!

I thought I broke the line but looked up and saw somehow the Larkshead came undone

So I stop and try to land the kite with one brake....nope! Spin,spin,spin.

Ok, lets try the edge...almost but then the Death Spin comes into play. Oh, no Killers on either!

The Death Spin decided it liked higher altitude too. So up it went. After 20 revolutions I just said "screw it" and let go and watched my kite and lines land in the lowtide mucky muck. Great.

So what could I have done differently? I prefer not to wear Killers due to my big ass wheels just waiting to catch the line and suck my wrist into the axle.

Bladerunner - 9-9-2013 at 06:23 AM

I would have taken it down low on one edge and then turn the nose into the ground or let go of 1 handle.

indigo_wolf - 9-9-2013 at 06:34 AM

I think after a while, people forget that there are multiple ways to control a 4-line kite on handles.

Originally, we tend to use punch-pull motions to control our turns, but then we move onto use control inputs where we cant the angle of the control handles and employ combinations where you also feed in brake input because it allows for faster/sharper turns. Once we go down, this path, we tend not to look back.

The difference between these two methods is briefly covered on Page 6 of the Peter Lynn 4 Line Kite Manual. More manuals used to include this information, but the trend seems to be to exclude it as if it were a vestigal organ, which is kind of a shame.

The downside is that if you lose a brake line, it all goes to hell unless you are willing to regress a little bit.

With any amount of brake input with only 3 out of 4 lines, the Death Spin is almost guaranteed. So forget about the brake lines all together and let both of them go slack. You can poin the lower half of both control handles towards the kite to do this.

This leaves you will only power inputs and essentially a two line kite.

Without changing the pitch of the handle, pull in the right handle while letting the left handle out to steer right and vice versa to steer left.

Punch-pull turns will increase your turning radius and the control will be much grosser, but you shouldn't have any trouble steering the kite past the edge of the wind window where it will lose power and fall out of the sky.

Don't let the kite power up again, because chances are if you aren't expecting it, you will fall back on muscle memory and try to steer as if you had all 4 lines. That way madness lies.

One way to do this is once the kite is landed, let go of the handle with both lines still attached. The kite might flounder around a bit, but shouldn't be able to relaunch.

ATB,
Sam

riffclown - 9-9-2013 at 06:35 AM

If you lose one brake, fly the kite as a two line. Avoid trying to use brakes as it will just create the death spin. Fly it all the to a stall at the edge of the window. Just as it stalls, release the handles and it should land fairly safely. If it is a High aspect ratio kite, you can fly it all the way to the "collapse" zone and let it drift down to the ground.

BeamerBob - 9-9-2013 at 07:57 AM

I agree with flying it to the edge. As you nose it down, you can also grab the other brake line to keep it from relaunching.

soliver - 10-9-2013 at 06:56 PM

Cool topic,... Good info to know... Thanks gang!

John Holgate - 10-9-2013 at 09:17 PM

I'd be inclined to fly it down to the edge and in front of something - then either let go or run quickly towards it - 'gift wrapping' post, shrub, fence (not barb wire!), sand dune or even the buggy which could be put in an appropriate spot.

beachrights - 11-9-2013 at 03:16 AM

I actually tried landing at the edge but as soon as I went into the nose down position the spin would happen and the kite started to rise. Part of this action is due to the Bullets twitchiness. I was trying every move possible but did not want to let go till the last option.

The low tide cesspool behind the kite was REALLY bad!

indigo_wolf - 11-9-2013 at 04:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by beachrights

I actually tried landing at the edge but as soon as I went into the nose down position the spin would happen and the kite started to rise. Part of this action is due to the Bullets twitchiness. I was trying every move possible but did not want to let go till the last option.

Shouldn't need to turn into the nose down position.

With the punch/pull method of control, you're basically trying to side slide the kite past the edge of the window.

ATB,
Sam

bigE123 - 11-9-2013 at 05:31 AM

I would do is as the other posts have said "fly to the edge" (with the handle bottom tipped right forward to remind you "no brake input") and at the last minute turn it nose down.

When / if it becomes nose down, your power lines are now acting as brake lines so peg it down at the top of the handles, it should not reverse take off without any brake input. Then run Forest :D

SFKITER - 11-9-2013 at 11:18 PM

would it of just turned into a 2 line kite basically if you lost one of the lines? Land the same way you land a 2 line kite. Im kinda curious to just rig up my beamer into 3 lines and see what happens then.

bigE123 - 12-9-2013 at 12:59 AM

Drop a brake line off and yes it will fly as a two line kite, BUT if you forget and use a bit of brake, that baby will start to spin, land it LE up and the next gust will have it back in the air.
It's one thing doing it in a controlled manor in a light to moderate wind, but when it happens in the middle of a flight and the winds picked-up. There is probably going to be a delay in you realising what has happened, it's probably already in a spin if you have instinctively applied the brakes. I went down the route of not wearing killers, I found them a hassle, then it happened.... handles ripped out of my hands, the kite didn't luff it took off with the handles hanging in mid-air. The first obstacle that stopped it was an 11Kv power line. Do I wear killers now? To damn right I do :D

Bladerunner - 12-9-2013 at 06:44 AM

I would seriously rethink my location BigE !
I'm not certain that simply going to kite killers would make that place safe ?
I kite too close to some obstacle but they don't carry 11KV ! :o

Far better to drop both brake lines over flying with just 1. The only thing a single brake will do for you is cause you trouble.