Flying the Stack of Four Kites
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- People have called me a kite nerd, but am I really? I would much rather call it ... passionate!
Because getting up at 6:30 in the morning to fly kites (and it’s not the first time!) might fall into the nerd’s category. But like said, I rather call it a passion of mine!
No way to leave the house without a cup of coffee though, so I made myself one and after fifteen minutes, give or take, I was ready for action. All of the gear was already sitting in the back of my car so all I had to do was to start it up and head for the beach hoping the beach bums weren’t awake yet.
I guess they were still sleeping because I was totally alone on the beach. The wind hit it in from the sea and actually, it was a bit stronger than anticipated. Well, I was destined to fly, so I started to rig the stacked kites. First I pegged a kite stake well into the ground, put my handles over it and started to unwind the flying lines. Now it was time to get the stacked kites ready; insert the standoffs, leaning all the kites way back and check all lines being clear without any tangles or wraps.
All checked and I walked over to the handles, hit the record button on my vidcam and got myself ready for the takeoff. I braced myself knowing the four reasonably small kites would pull like a truck in these winds.
Bam! Takeoff and, YES, the stack almost pulled me out of my socks! But after a while, I worked things out and kept the stack mostly along the edges of the wind window. The wind also dropped a tiny bit making flying a little easier.
Fun?
Yeah! You bet! 🤩
A Very Nice Stacked Fly !!
Thank you! The wind was a bit strong so the stack of four almost pulled me out of my socks ... but I managed! 👍
Please teach how to stack the kites.
Hi!
I'm far from any expert on stacking kites, but I guess I can do a video on how I pulled it off! 👍
its not as hard as you think, you need 5 little loops on the trailing kite to be able to connect the strings leading from the front kite to the next one, I used to have about 1.8m length, loop them around the connection points of main kite and then just connect to the little loops on the trailing kite
I've recently purchased a 3-stack of Prism Neutrinos. With the kites laying on their backs in launch position, the wind will always pick up at least one, and it will flip & twist & make everything a frustrating mess before I can even walk the length of my flying lines. Is there a trick to launching a stack solo? Should I be orienting myself so the kites are on the edge of the flight window? I can't see how this would make any difference though, as I'm sure they'd just start tumbling toward center.
I'm really sorry I didn't see your comment before now, but here we go!
Make sure the stack lines are all equal length, except the front stack lines for the last kite in your stack. They can be half an inch or so longer. This will add stability to your stack.
When launching, I put my kites on the ground, belly down. Then i attach the flying lines to my first kite, unwrap the lines and stake them down. Going back to the kites and carefully set them up in launch position making sure they all are leaning way back so the wind will push them down preventing them from taking off.
When all kites are set up for launch, I take a very close look at things making sure nothing is wrapped, snagged or twisted.
Finally I pick up the straps and get myself in launch position carefully pulling the lines so that the kites are pulled up from their laid back position.
When everything is ready brace myself and launch the stack. Make sure to prepare yourself for a significant pull!
I hope this will get you there!
/Sven
@@aerialiskites No worries, thanks for the reply.
I will try setting them up so they're leaning back, rather than laying on their backs as you suggest. They're just little 39 inch wingspan kites, which I'm sure adds to the difficulty. My 84 inch kite will sit still on its back in the same wind where my little neutrinos will not. They also don't like light winds, so I've come to learn that if they're not blowing all over the ground, it's probably not windy enough, lol.
They're super fast and fun once they're in the sky though! If you want to fly a stack of twelve or something, you can do it with these without ripping your arms off. (You can also purchase Neutrino "add-ons" which come with pre-fab stacking lines and no bridle, saving you about $25 per kite). I find my 7-foot wingspan Quantum pulls significantly harder than my stack of three Neutrinos. I'd estimate five Neutrinos might provide similar pull.
Thanks again for your help Sven!