Self landing the easy way

Good find !! Looks too easy

alright in light winds. do not use this method in 25 knots. Flag out to safety if there is no one to land your kite.

Always be prepared to punch safety if you get it wrong and kite falls back in power zone

I am not sure which is worse, showing a simplistic self landing video that does not adequately describe the process, or describing self-landing as "do not try this you will die".

The reality is that self landing is very easy and reliable and safe, provided you have practiced it sufficiently in a safe place under safe conditions. ie. Start off in light conditions with lots of room and no bystanders, practice it heaps, understand what is happening, work your way up to stronger winds.

A failed self landing is most definitely not a death sentence and definitely not a reason to hit your quick release. It is easy to steer a kite out of a roll over and return it to the edge of the window. It is easy to do and easy to practice. It's the same technique as saving a stuffed up launch where the kite rolls downwind so it is an essential basic skill to master. During a day of kiting your kite will transition through every point of the window and you will have to handle it at all times. Why is it an automatic assumption that having the kite downwind and pointing in the wrong direction is really a bad thing?

The fundamental skills to master are:
- how the kite reacts to depower at the bar and at the kite end. (ie. pushing out the bar solves the vast majority of newbie problems)
- how line tension creates power and how easing line tension or tensioning individual lines can reduce power
- how the kite reacts to be at the extreme edge of the window and deep in the middle of the window

I cannot understand why people talk about unhooking as being safe. You immediately lose the main control element of the kite (ie. pushing out the bar), you lock the kite in the most powered up configuration for the trim setting, and on most kites you put the quick release away from easy reach.

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cbulota said..

Gorgo, you would be correct if everyone was on 10m kites in 15 knots of wind, but that's not always the case is it? Pushing the bar out in when you fail to self-land hooked in won't make much difference in strong wind (20 knots+) with a large kite when the kite hits the power zone.

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Only if you stand there like a sack of potatoes with the bar pulled in and let the kite rocket straight up. That is only going to happen if you dig your feet in and fight the power but provide no control inputs. Line tension + airspeed + steep angle of attack = Power

The simple act of pushing out the bar and running towards the kite will depower almost any kite to a manageable level. Standing there with your feet dug in and the bar pulled in creates a huge boost of power which usually results in a big sandy face plant ... if you're lucky.

There's plenty of things you can do.

You can step in towards the kite and ease the tension on the lines reducing the power to the kite.
You can let it stabilise nose down and keep it down then work individual lines to park the downed kite (or even carefully ease the kite onto the safety system).
You can steer the kite back to the edge of the window and try again.
You can strategically release to the primary safety system (ie not just blindly dump everything).

The size of the kite and the amount of wind doesn't make all that much difference. If you're in powered up conditions and let the kite go and do nothing about it then you're risking trouble. If you have practiced and practiced and have current skills then most things are easily managed or avoided before they become a problem.

PS My personal hobby horse is the dogma of you do A,B,C and the result is D. (ie learning by rote because that was how I was taught.) The problem with that is when something different happens, as it will, you can't deal with it.

It is far, far better to spend the time to practice stuff and understand how the gear works and why it behaves the way it does, then react in appropriate ways. That way you can deal with any problem that presents itself.