Unwind a few metres of lines off the bar then open your kite on it's back anchoring the trailing edge (TE) into the wind with some sand as you unfold it.

Ensure the air intake vents are not stuck together from moisture or compact packing so that inflation is quick and even across all intake vents.

Unwind your lines directly upwind of the kite, taking care that they come off the bar in the opposite way to which they were wound on otherwise you will get twists in your lines. Thoroughly pre-flight check all lines, pulleys, fabric and safety systems for correct operation and free of twists, any wear or damage - replace any items BEFORE they fail.   Connect your safety leash to your harness and hook into your chicken loop and put the toungue on the chicken loop in (commonly known as the "donkey dick") once your downwind area is well clear.

Regularly practise using your quick release (under load and no load) so that it is ALWAYS an instinctive action - if you have to look for it then it's too late!

If you have no packed up properly or rushed your set-up you may get a tangle.  To untangle the kite, anchor the brake lines (also know as steering or back lines) in just enough to keep the kite stalled on the ground; open the kite under line tension and pre-inflate it; start at one wing tip and work your way along the leading edge (LE) pulling any bridles caught behind the wing off to one side until clear of the wind tip.  If there are further tangles feed the parts of the kite through the bridles where it is caught - concentrate on one part of the tangle at a time.  Once the kite end is untangled then follow the lines through to the bar and pass the bar through to clear all remaining twists or tangles.  Only disconnect any lines from the kite or bar as a last resort.

Launching

Initially walk back to bring ALL the lines under EVEN tension keeping the bar sheeted in all the way until the centre of the kite stands up and starts to fill with air.  If in the upper half of the wind range walk off to one side so that you are launching at the edge of the wind window.  The trim strap should be at least 50% in.  As soon as the kite has a little shape to it then (no more than 10 - 20 seconds) depower (sheet out with the bar) and quickly step back to allow the kite to free itself of sand and starts to climb. If the sand comes off the wing tips prematurely and they fold in then pump the bar a few times to inflate and straighten the kite back out again.  In stronger wind it is recommended to only launch at the sides of the wind window ie immediately turn away from the overpowered zone as the kite lifts. If something goes wrong pull the quick release.  The standard assisted launching technique used by inflatable kites can also be used - but the kite will need to be fully inflated first.

Once the kite has lifted clear of the sand, keep the kite depowered as much as possible - although you may need to sheet in to improve responsiveness.  Fly the kite a little from side to side if required in lighter winds until the kite is directly overhead.  To prevent luffing, sheet in if the kite approaches the edge of the wind window too quickly, then depower once steady overhead.  Once parked overhead you can adjust the trim strap to the power setting suitable for the prevailing winds ie keep the yellow trim strap in at the top end of the wind range, let it out if you need more power. The lower end of the wind range can often be extended by pulling in the trim strap to reduce stalling.

If there is any possiblility of the wind exceeding the wind range of the kite you could be lofted (pulled off your feet in the air) - it is recommended that in these cases that you use a smaller kite - if in doubt always err on the side of safety.   It may also be useful to launch with one hand already on the quick release and activate it immediately if you start to be lifted.  If you have used poor judgement and have not activated your quick release in time and been lofted high - DO NOT PANIC, remain calm, concentrate on keeping your kite as stationary as possible directly overhead until you glide down - as soon as your feet touch the ground again deploy your quick release.

FlySurfer kites are very stable however in very gusty or turbulent conditions you may have to sheet in if the kite tends to overfly (luff).  In lighter conditions the kite can tend to reverse (stall) when the bar is sheeted in too much.  If the kite collapses or goes go into a dive with slack lines the best thing is to immediately activate the quick release and let the bar go.

FlySurfer kites can also be setup and launched easily from the water after some pre-inflation - see water relaunching below.

Quick Release (QR):

Ensure that you let the ball go as soon as you have activated the QR - if you hold it too hard the bungie will fail and you could lose your ball & pin.  Be carefull not to accidentally catch anything on the QR ball to cause an uniteneded release. Study the QR operation so that you understand how to reset it - ensure the pin goes into the webbing pocket (NOT just the neoprene cover).  You can temporarily hook into the small webbing loop at the top of the chicken loop in order to relaunch if you cannot reset the QR out in deep water.

Only use the "donkey dick" to prevent accidental unhooking when away from the beach.  Regularly practise using your QR with your eyes closed so that it is instinctive if you ever have the need to use it.

Ensure all buckles are attached without any twists or failure of the buckle will occur.

Water relaunching:

If you are unhooked then pull the bar to you with the safety leash and hook into the chicken loop and put the "donkey dick" in. Reach forward as far as possible and hold the red brake line (steering line/ backline) or handle in your left hand and green in the right hand.  Always double-check that RED is LEFT.  If the kite is LE down, pull in both brake lines as far as possible (well past your hips) until the kite reverses off the water 2-3m then let one brake line out until then kite flips all the way over onto its TE.  If letting out one side does not work then pull both brake lines in again until the kite clears the water then let the other brake line out.  As soon as the kite has rotated onto it's TE let go of both brake lines and depower immediately to fly your kite to the edge of the wind window.  In lighter winds you may need to let the yellow trim strap out (with one or more quick tugs on the blue tab) to allow the brake lines to pull in enough to reverse the kite up.

If the kite has stalled onto its TE then simply depowered as much as possible until the kite lifts off the water. In light winds if the kite does not immediately lift off the water then grab the enitre trim strap as far forward as possible and gently pump it a few times until the TE clears the water then give a few aggressive pumps to generate some air speed then immediately let go of the trim strap and steer the kite with the bar sheeted out.  In VERY light winds fly the kite sideways as soon as possible to generate air speed so you can then sheet in without stalling. Adjust  the yellow trim strap in and try to avoid sheeting the bar in at all as the kite lifts, however steering is more important and if you have to sheet in to get more manoeuvrability then it is better to stall the kite back onto its TE than to roll upside down again.   NEVER drag the trailing edge through the water or anchor the kite against the wind and water pressure - this will force water into the wing, make relaunching more difficult and reduce the stability of the kite - if the kite pulls, go with the pull retaining only a moderate tension through your harness so that the kite sits vertically in its TE ready for relaunching.

If you have not prevented a luff (by sheeting in and turning side-to-side BEFORE the kite reaches the edge of the wind window) and the kite has collapsed LE down, the best option is to active the QR on the chickenloop immediately.  Sometimes after a luff some bridle lines may get caught behind the kite, or on rare occasions it may bow-tie - in most cases this can be fixed by stalling the kite onto its TE then immediately relaunching or in the worst case deliberately flipping the kite upside down onto its LE then pumping the brake lines as it reverses - repeat this to get the tangled line clear of one wing tip.  If this does not work pull in 4-5m on the wing tip that is not snagged then quickly release - repeat until untangled.  It is very important never to pull the kite through the water when performing these procedures as it will force water through the seams and make subsequent relaunching more difficult.  If you cannot fix the problem then follow the self rescue procedure below.  Once at the kite you may be able to untangle it (see setting up above) then let the kite drift away from you then relaunch.

Light Winds, Jumping and Tricks:

The lower wind range of FlySurfer kites can be extended and better upwind performance achieved by using a sheet-in/ sheet-out technique rather than trying to fly a figure-8 pattern like most other kites.  In thes conditions the trim strap should be in 50% or more to prevent stalling.  The double-surface aerofoil of a FlySurfer is very efficient and works best by generating apparent wind, so it is often useful to initially accelerate the board downwind a little THEN edge upwind.

To jump simply load up by edging your board hard upwind while turning your kite hard behind you and sheet all the way in.  Once in the air, redirect the kite to overhead and sheet out to get best glide - a pumping action can sometimes achieve multiple boosts in the same jump.

To do unhooked tricks and kite loops you may need to pull in on your trim strap to reduce the pull and prevent stalling in lighter winds.

Line extension sets can help getting you higher jumps and more room to do kite loops and other advanced tricks.

Packing up:

If there is someone available to assist you and the environment allows,   land the kite at the edge of the wind window like any other kite and get an assistant to catch the kite by the FABRIC at one wind tip.  As soon as the assistant has hold of the kite you quickly move towards them and they should then put the wing tip on the ground and anchor it with some sand, etc.

If an assistant is not available, ensure the downwind area is well clear then lower the kite to the edge of the wind window and activate the safety.  In lighter winds you can reverse the kite back down onto the beach by pulling both brake lines in to initiate a stall then backing them off a little if the wind tips start to fold in - pull in just enough brake lines in to keep the kite reversing at a controlled speed.  Once sitting on the TE you can activate the safety or hold in enough brake line to keep the kite stalled with the safety leash and secure it to an anchor point (eg post, bin, tree, your board, kite bag with a pile of sand in/on it, etc).  With kites fitted with plastic handles on the brake lines you need to clip them together with the chicken loop utilizing the clip at the end of the safety leash as shown below.  Be careful not to pull in too much brake lines as it can allow wind to get under the TE and turn the kite inside out! 

The anchor point can be up to 15m to one side of where you are standing after you have dropped your kite. Alternatively wind the brake lines or safety leash onto your bar so that it cannot release then bury the bar or board (after leash attached to footstrap) in the sand so that it cannot pull out - in stronger winds make sure that it is VERY secure.  You can also bury your kite bag leaving a shoulder strap to attach your safety leash to. If you are in the upper half of the wind range of your kite then there will still be significant tension when the kite is sitting on its TE on the ground or water.

If the kite is secure sitting on its TE, walk behind (downwind) the kite, undo the deflation opening then grab one wing tip and as close to the centre of the kite as you can  with the other hand, then quickly walk to one side and upwind towards the bar so that the kite folds in half downwind with the bridle lines on the inside.  Fold the kite up and roll all the air out of the kite towards the deflation port - ensure that all the fine white bridle lines stay INSIDE the rolled up kite.   Walk back to your bar and wind the lines in a "figure 8" manner around the bar ends.  Continue to wind the pulley assemblies onto the bar until you have come to the bridle lines then lock the lines onto the bar with two half hitches over the end of the bar.  NEVER let the bar pass through any bridle lines.  Roll the more of the kite up and place excess bridle lines between the fabric then lay the bar as shown below before rolling the last of the kite up and placing it in the bag with the TE up to prevent the excess lines falling out.

Self Rescue

If you have broken a line (preventable in most cases by following advice on this page) the kite may spin so you should immediately activate your QR.  Once the kite is on the water you should pull yourself toward the kite along the safety or unbroken line hand-over-hand (NEVER wrap a loop of line around your hands/fingers) - do not try and pull the kite to you.  The decision to wind the lines in on the bar or not depends on the environment if the bar and lines are unlikley to catch or tangle on reef, jetties, boats, etc then the priorty is to get to the kite as quickly as possible so just leave the bar and lines trailing behind you (be careful not to become entangled in them yourself).   Once you are at the kite you can fly it up out of the water by holding where the bridle lines join the main flying lines - in most FlySurfer kites this is where the hard/soft steering setting can be adjusted.  If the kite is not lifting out of the water try pulling more A-lines (the row of bridle lines closest to the LE), if you have put tension on the kite while winding in the lines then there may be some water inside the kite so open the wing tip drains so that the velcro can't close them at all, then gently rock the kite from side-to-side until the water drains and it flies up out of the water.  Once the kite is flying bring it to the side and drag yourself back to the beach.  Pracise these techniques on light wind days in shallow water to start with then deep water and stronger winds so that you are confident if you should ever need to use it.

In the event of major damage to the kite it may not be possible to self-rescue and you should deflate and pack the kite up on the water, tie it to your board with the safety leash and swim in.  Never try and drag an inflated kite through the water as it will drive water inside it making it harder to get back to the beach. This technique should be practised in light winds and shallow waters to start with then deep water and stronger winds.

Care and Maintenance:

FlySurfers are not that much different from any other type of kite ie don’t over-wash, don’t use detergents unless you really have to and ensure that you dry your kite out thoroughly before leaving it packed up for any length of time.  Salt & sand etc really doesn’t hurt them that much - the biggest killer of kites is crashing them at speed and UV!!!   Sand, etc can be washed out from inside the kite by putting a hose inside any of the inlet or deflation ports, however it is often more effective to fly your kite to dry it out and as the sand, etc dries it will work itself to the wing tips and can then be removed by opening the velcro drains located on each wing tip.

Splicing Lines

If you have wear at the end of a line when the remainder of line is in good condition eg where brake lines run through the metal rings you can cut off the worn section and re-spice your lines.  CAUTION: Ensure that all flyinging lines are cut to exactly the same length and test fly in light winds.

Cut the worn section then fold then line back on itself with about 10cm of overlap.  Mark the line as shown above.  Get a piece of stiff fine wire and fold it over to form a loop as shown.

Open up the weave of the line by bunching it up between the two marks then insert the wire inside the line and feed it towards the end then out at the second mark.

Fold the line back on itself through the wire loop.  It will feed through easier if the line has been cut on an angle so that it won't be too thick when folded over on itself.   Gently pull the line back through the centre of itself and out the first mark.

Stroke the outer sleeve towards the loop until it is firmly around the inner line.  Ensure that the end of the inner line does not get pulled inside at this stage.  Repeat the process on all lines then run them out side-by-side under tension and pull the inner line through until all lines are exactly the same length.  Pull all lines together under tension and stroke the sleeve towards the loop until the outer sleeve firmly grips the inner line.  If any of the end of the line still protrudes from the sleeve, pull a little more out, cut the excess off then pull all lines under tension again until the end of inner line is inside the sleeve. To ensure that the lines do not slip they can then be sewn.  Alternative techniques can be found at http://www.flysurfer.de/Content/158/?mnid=369

There's heaps more great tips at http://www.flysurfer.de incl:

 

Any feedback on these tips is alway welcome Email: IanYoung@iinet.net.au

Last updated 05 Feb 2008