Kite Flying Basics

If you're shopping for a kite, you may be a little overwhelmed at the variety of options available to you. Kites come in many shapes, sizes, and control configurations, and it can be difficult to choose without a little info about the flying experience each type provides. Let's take a look at some of the most common types of kites and what each one can do for you:

As a pilot, you - and only you - are responsible for your safety and the safety of those around you when you fly. Read these instructions thoroughly, and make sure you understand how to properly use your kite before launching. Below are some important notes to keep in mind in order to ensure a safe flying experience:

Developing an ability to read the wind will go a long way towards making your flying session a safe and satisfying experience. With a little practice, you can make surprisingly accurate judgements about the wind's speed, direction, and quality. Familiarize yourself with the basic indicators for wind speed, direction, and turbulence, and you'll find that choosing areas to fly that have the smooth, consistent wind is a snap.

Visual Indicators

As the wind sweeps across the ground's surface, it leaves tell-tale signs that you can use to determine its speed. Keep an eye out for these clues, and over time you'll be able to gauge the wind's speed by instinct. This is especially useful for kite flyers, as weather forecasts often only provide general wind speed estimates for a large area, and actual conditions will vary from spot to spot, even along the same beach or within a single flying field. Here are some visual cues to pay attention to when judging the wind's speed:

• Tall grass moves when the wind is almost too light to feel on your face, 1-3 mph.

• Moving trees also indicate wind speed. In 4-7 mph you'll see rustling leaves. In 8-12 mph you'll see smaller twigs in motion as well. As the wind increases past 12 mph you'll see small branches, then large branches, then entire trees starting to sway.

• Texture on the surface of water. If you fly near the water this is the most useful of all clues about wind speed. The ripples and waves on the surface are noticeably different for every 3 mph change in wind speed. A good rule of thumb is that the first whitecaps usually form on the surface when the wind is blowing at about 12 mph.

• You can tell a lot by watching how vigorously flags are flapping in the wind. A flag up high in unobstructed air is a more reliable gauge that a flag surrounded by buildings or sheltered by a hill. Flags will seldom extend in less than 7 mph.

• Swaying stoplights at intersections often indicate 15 mph or more.

• Telephone wires start to whistle in 25-30 mph. Be sure to respect the wind rating of your kite and exercise caution when deciding to fly in strong winds. Do not fly your kite anywhere near overhead wires!

Portable Wind Meters

Also called anemometers, these pocket-sized wind meters provide a fast and easy way to determine the wind's speed. Used together with visual indicators, a wind meter can help you train yourself to read the wind more intuitively by giving you a number to associate with what you are seeing around you. Wind meters can be found online and at many kite shops starting at around $20-$30 for basic models, getting more expensive with improved accuracy, durability, and the inclusion of additional features.

Important Considerations

Regardless of whether you use visual indicators or a wind meter to measure wind speed, there are two important factors you need to keep in mind before launching your kite:

Key Indicators

Judging the direction the wind is blowing in your current location is relatively easy as you can almost always find several good clues - even just the feel of the wind on your face will give you at least some rough idea of the wind's direction. For a better reading of the wind's direction, consider the following indicators:

• Wet a finger. This is the oldest one in the book. Lick a finger and stick up in the air over your head - the side of your finger that feels coldest is the direction from which the wind is coming.

• A few bits of grass or dry leaves released overhead will provide a good local indicator of direction.

• Trees, particularly tall narrow ones, bend over away from the wind.

• Flags are good indicators, but can't tell you much in less than 5 mph of wind.

• Smoke drifts downwind even in the lightest winds

• Other kites, particularly single-line kites, will always hover pointed into the wind.

• Passing clouds will give you a good idea of the prevailing wind direction. Be aware, however, that sometimes the wind near the ground will be quite different.

Helpful Apps

You probably have some kind of weather app on your phone already, but the more time you spend flying the more you'll notice that basic apps tend to leave out a lot of information flyers care about. Below are some apps we've used in the past that provide more nuanced information about the wind, and can give you a clearer picture of the flying conditions expected over the course of the day. Detailed forecasts and interactive maps help take some of the guesswork out of planning a flying session, but don't forget to take stock of real-world conditions once you arrive at the flying field.

• Windfinder (www.windfinder.com) | iOS App | Android App

• Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) | iOS App | Android App

• Windy.app (www.windy.app) | iOS App | Android App

• SailFlow (www.sailflow.com) | iOS App | Android App

Understanding Turbulence

An ideal kite flying field is flat and broad, with nothing nearby to interrupt the smooth flow of wind. If, like most of us, you live in an area where conditions are often less than perfect, you'll want to find an area to fly which will give you the smoothest, most consistent wind possible. The key is to avoid turbulence.

You'll be able to feel turbulence as an irregular tugging on your line as your kite flies through it, and you may also notice that the dual-line kites have difficulty "hanging" in one place directly overhead or at the edges of the wind window. Single-line kites will be difficult to launch in turbulent wind, and will fly more erratically near the ground where turbulence is worse.

Turbulent air is formed when the wind is disturbed by obstructions in its path, and can occur both downwind and upwind of these obstructions. Upwind turbulence is created as wind builds up in swirling piles in front of buildings, trees, and other objects in its path, seeking a way around to continue its flow. Once the wind has overcome the obstacle, downwind turbulence remains for some distance as the wind struggles to smooth itself out again. We refer to this longer, downwind stretch of turbulence as an object's wind shadow. As a rule of thumb, consider that an object's wind shadow can cover a downwind distance of up to 6 times the object's height - a stand of 50' tall trees can cause turbulence up to 300 feet away! Because wind shadow accounts for the larger portion of the turbulence an obstruction creates, it tends to be the most common type of turbulence you'll encounter while flying. However, if you find yourself having trouble with uncooperative wind when nothing is blocking its path to you, don't forget to check for objects that might be building up turbulence ahead of you as well.

The following diagrams illustrate some of the ways turbulence can occur due to common obstructions you're likely to come across:

Now that you know how to estimate wind speed, determine its direction, and identify obstacles that cause turbulence, its time to apply that knowledge toward finding the best flying spaces in your area. You might be tempted to head straight for the nearest park or beach to get started, but a few minutes invested in choosing your flying location can make the difference between an enjoyable afternoon spent flying, and a frustrating walk back to the car. Here's how we like to scout for new flying spaces:

To get started, identify the wind's direction & speed. Check your weather app, local news forecast, or use visual indicators to determine the direction and speed of the wind in your area.

Next, use a map to search for wide open spaces where you might be able to fly. Beaches, parks, athletic fields, and large unincorporated spaces are all easy to spot from above using something like Google Maps.

The last step is to compare the day's wind conditions against the flying space. For example, if the wind is coming from the north, check the space you've found to be sure that there won't be any obstacles to the north of you when flying that might cause turbulence. Below are some examples of flying spaces that are easy to spot on a map, along with some descriptions of how the wind might interact with their surroundings.

Flying lines are one of the most important components of any flier's arsenal, yet they are often taken for granted because they seem so simple. A little understanding of the materials, characteristics, and proper handling of your lines will go a long way toward ensuring they're kept in good condition, year after year.

Flying lines for single-line kites are available in a variety of materials, lengths, strengths, and styles. We've made things simple by including flying line with each of our single-line kites, but if you decide you'd like to have some additional options on hand the short primer below will help you choose an appropriate line.

Materials

While cheap kid’s kites sometimes include stretchy nylon, cotton or monofilament line, most quality line for single line kites is made from polyester (sometimes called Dacron). Polyester line is stronger and lighter for its size so it’ll add less weight and drag to your kite, making it easier to fly in light winds.

Length & Strength

We recommend a length of 200-300 feet for most single line kites up to about a 7 foot wing span. While you can use a longer line if you'd like, there are a couple things you should consider first:

• The longer your flying line is, the smaller your kite will appear in the sky - at a certain point you'll start to lose some of your kite's visual impact as it becomes harder to see.

• Wind speed often increases as you gain altitude, so you may want to use a stronger line than normal if you plan on flying at higher altitudes. Keep in mind that the kite itself may sustain damage if the wind is too strong.

• A longer line can make it more difficult to retrieve your kite if it comes down unexpectedly. Make sure the length of your line does not allow your kite to drift over trees, water, or anything else that would make it difficult to recover if it were to crash.

If you’re flying at higher altitudes or in stronger winds near the upper end of your kite's wind range, upgrading to a stronger line may be a good idea. On a breezy day the wind aloft can be much stronger than it is on the ground, so when in doubt choose a line that’s stronger than you think you need. It may weigh your kite down a little more, but that beats losing your kite if it breaks in a gust.

Maneuverable sport kites and power kites require high-performance line for best control. Sport kite lines need to be low stretch, light weight, and slippery so you can easily control the kite with or without twists in the line.

Length & Strength

The lines included with your Prism kite are a good all-around length and strength for most typical flying conditions. However many serious pilots collect additional linesets for strong winds, light winds, and confined flying spots so they can get the most from their kite wherever they go to fly.

How to Wind Your Lines

When you're done flying for the day it's important to properly store your flying lines back on their winder, ensuring your lines are ready-to-use and tangle free when you start your next flying session. Here's our preferred winding method:

Equalizing Your Flying Lines

Sport kite lines should be the same length - within 1” - for easiest control. While all our lines are precision measured at the factory, your new lines will stretch in a bit as you use them, especially if they’re polyester. Don’t worry- this is normal. Sometimes one line will stretch more than the other, especially if like most of us you favor tight spins in one direction over the other.

The adjustable wrist straps that come with your lines make it easy to equalize your lines if they stretch unevenly over time, or if you break and repair one line making it shorter than the other. Here’s how to do it:

Useful Knots

If something goes wrong and you end up with a broken flying line, a quick knot is often all that's needed to get back to flying. Here are the three most useful knots for kite fliers making field repairs:

Fixing Lines with Sleeving

The loops at the end of Spectra lines are often protected with a braided sleeve. The sleeving cushions the knot in the loop, making a sleeved lineset about 20% stronger than an un-sleeved one. It’s not strictly necessary to sleeve your lines, but sleeving will protect your line from abrasion for a longer-lasting lineset. Here's how to sleeve the ends of your lines using our sleeving kit:

1. Hook the intact loop ends over something fixed (hook, fencepost, log) and stretch both lines out to their full length.

2. Cut both lines to the same length with a knife, removing the loop on the unbroken side.

3. Use the included wire loop to fish each line through the hollow sleeving. Slide the sleeving off onto each line.

4. With tension on both lines, slide the sleeving to the same position on each side.

5. Holding even tension on both lines, use a permanent marker to put a tic mark across both lines about 1” beyond either end of the sleeving.

6. Fold each line so the tic marks match up, and use two overhand knots in a row to tie loops in the lines and sleeving.

7. Pull evenly on both lines to check that they are the same length within 1/2”. Loosen knots and adjust one loop if necessary.

8. Cut off the loose Spectra tail on each loop.

Fixing Lines without Sleeving

You can also finish the ends of your flying lines without sleeving, which can be a handy option for repairing your line when you don't have a sleeving kit handy. Here's how to make this repair:

1. Hook the intact loop ends over something fixed (hook, fencepost, log) and stretch both lines out to their full length.

2. With even tension on both lines, use a permanent marker to make two tic marks across both lines - one about a foot from the end of the shorter line, and a second near the end of that same shorter line.

3. Fold each line so the tic marks match up, and use two overhand knots in a row to tie loops at the ends of the lines. Cut off any excess line.

4. Connect each of the lines to a pigtail with a Lark’s Head knot. (You can make your own pigtails using some bridle-weight line tied with an overhand knot.)

5. Pull evenly on both lines to check that they are the same length within 1/2”.