Went out for a short first snowkite session this afternoon. Its been about 8-9 months that I have last been strapped into my snowboard and a bit longer that I got to use it under the power of a kite. Itching to give the speed 2 its first taste of frostbite and curiosity of low wind capabilities on the snow I headed out in 17-20km/h winds.

Definitely noticed right away that my kite handling skills have grown accustomed to flying not strapped down completely to a board. At first chance while I fell on my backside the kite overflew a bit and luffed falling back to the ground while I struggled to get back on my feet. This carried on for about ten minutes while I struggled to stay standing and fly the kite into position to move. Ooops can't lean back right away as I landed on my bottom again, then pulled over on my knees the next attempt. Finally in a tiny gust I got moving to my left sine the kite a couple times and I was off. Not too fast but just enough to lean back enough to enjoy the comfort of my new Prolimit harness. 3 hundred yards down the way I shifted weight and turned the kite around the other way in a fairly tight transition (the first time I've done this instead of stopping before going the other way). I kept momentum as I rode back to my starting point but lost balance and fell realizing the wind had slowed and I couldn't even keep the kite in the air.

I managed to get the kite up again but a wind shift caused the kite to bow tie and fall once again. Getting dark I decided to pack it in for the day. I think if the winds can stay around 20-25km/h I'm gonna have some sweet sessions with this kite. I just gotta get adjusted to riding strapped in again as I can't walk in one direction or the other when ever the kite isn't behaving the way I want it. Also last winter I was flying the Scorpion that just sat there at zenith whenever I needed to tend to my board or other gear. Give it one good session of 5-6 hours and the speed and I will become one.:wee:

Yeah mate

... one thing I learned today, while cruising Psycho3 reviews - don't sheet out when the kite is rushing the edge of the window ... it'll either go faster, shoot past and it'll luff or the AoA will change and it'll luff.

Hey does anyone know of a way to correct invert with one of these??? Had it happen when the wind suddenly dropped out and the kite fell while it was falling it flipped backwards the wind picked up and all I could think to do was pull safety. Wasn't sure what would happen with the lines pulled out backwards:puzzled: I'm assuming that back line pressure might prevent it the next time as I had the trim pulled mostly inwards and the bar fully out while I was strapping my bindings.

Where should the bar settings be set in light winds (15-20km) so that it behaves properly when you aren't moving it around a lot.

Same way you do with arcs otherwise, they untangle the same was as F.B. on handles do ...

You gotta let the kite fly itself, so go easy on the bar - IIRC it likes a little bit of pressure on the bar but don't whale away on it. Especially in light winds - smooth and incremental adjustments

so if the bridle is flipped backwards on the kite like in my luff incident and I manage to land it nose down and flip it like how you would with an arc wouldn't there be any crosses in my lines or bridling???????:puzzled:

I've had my flysurfer S3 invert on me a couple times. Never had that problem with my Outlaws, come to think of it. The best way to fix it is to stake your lines, or plant your safety, something like that.. walk down to the kite, grab one wingtip, and drag it upwind until the lines are totally slack. Then just walk down the length of the kite pulling all the lines to the same side. You might have some twists in the bridles, or lines passed through, just walk them down to the bar and pass it through the lines where necessary. If you have the infinity bar, watch for twists above the trimline as you will need to disconnect your brake lines and spin the bar to get those out properly. Not a big deal.

Hope that helps.

edit: Reread your comment. I've never succesfully got the kite to re-invert itself. Once my S3 inverts, its done until I can get her reset. I've had help once doing that (Thanks FratHouse) as I was a long ways from shore, but in shallow water when it happened. Not normally a session ender, but definitely time to take a break and run the lines again to make sure its clean...