setup of a synergetic kite

assembly:

connect the leading edge spars (the c'est la vie gran turismo has a short additional fiberglass rod in the upper end). check that the black lines at the upper leading edge cutout are near the mark on the sail, that's at the vinyl stopper. all tubes are now inside the black leading edge pocket.

hang the kite at the spreader into the air, insert one end of it into one leading edge connector, then the opposite end of the spreader with slight tension into the other connector. for extreme high flights mount the vinyl cap onto the nose.

smoothen the wingtips, check the position of the lines at the upper leading edge cutouts and all knots. to be prepared for a good flight, check the hole kite for perfect symmetry. done.

flight:

now connect the flying line to the bridle with a larks head and here we go !

lay at least 100 m, 300 ft of flying line well sorted to the ground and start your first flight with a generous high launch. pull the kite up, until it circles high above around the zenith.

tuning:

the setup of the kite is tuned with the lines: vary the length of the y-line to adjust the tension of the sail precisely. to do this, open the double hitch at the keel and tension or loosen the y-line. thereby the x-line, behind the sail on the picture, must always stay tight. never let the hole load of the spreader tension the sail, that way the kite would not fly! the more slack in the sail, the slower, but more agile the kite will soar. with a tight sail, glides will be more consistent.

adjust the dihedral of the kite with the short z-line. in the neutral setup there are two loops around the spreader. three loops will pull the central spine of the kite closer down to the spreader, resulting in a greater dihedral and a more stable glides. don't open the knot, just loosen and tighten the loop. with one single loop the z-line is longer and relaxes the spine, resulting in less lateral drag in flatspins.

the bridle: rather to front=light (flat), rather to back=heavy (steep). the factory setting is between the two silver marks. with a lighter bridle the kite will react directly to the inputs, good for crisp flatspins. due to reduced stability in climbing it's anytime easy to prepare a flatspin out of a tilted position, even very close to the ground. a steep bridle setting results in greater stability in climbing, harder pull and less response in general. we like to fly with the factory setting.

here's the fieldcard as pdf, showing the setup of our synergetic kites and the adjustments for flight. print and fold it to three columns.

for detailed pictures showing the setup, the knots and the geometry of a synergetic kite check the urban ninja page.

flying: active zero and light wind flights

start your first zero wind flight with a generous 100 m high-launch, pull the kite up slowly until it is soaring in the zenith over you:

high start a generous launching method when there‘s plenty of space and very light wind to no wind. try to feel the optimal rising speed and keep it constant. this way you need the minimum of cable to reach a good height. begin your very first flight with a high start an pull the kite up to the zenith. hand starts lay out a lot of cable to the ground and hold it loosly in one hand. with the other hand take the kite at the keel and throw it straight away, slightly downwards. or hold the bird at its nose and start your flight with a 360 flatspin or a 180 followed by a fly away. up and over pull the glider beyond the zenith and let it continue with a fly away glide. hold a lot of cable well sorted ready on the ground. at a gentle breeze the kite will soar on the spot, try to keep it long and smooth. normal landing the kite is landing softly on the ground, its nose pointing at the pilot. that‘s the classic starting position again. most elegant: while the kite is gliding towards you, stall it with a sharp impulse half a foot above the ground and it will lie down in slow motion. flatspins let the bird tilt sidewards by giving a good dose of line. hit, with a sharp pull, the nose to the opposite side and it will fly a nice flatspin. the sharper and shorter the impulse and then the more slack is given, the flatter the 360, 540 or 720 will be. the 180 flatspin initiates a nice long fly away followed by pulling up the kite. by repeating this a couple of times, the kite will be 100 m high in the sky without any wind. hence there must be 100 m of line ready on the ground before you fly these moves ... fly away and dive gliding towards the sunset, try to give more than enough line to the kite, so that nothing may slow down its long fly away. the more aggressive variant: accelerate the flyer with a heavy pull into a dive straight towards the ground. kill this motion with a sharp impulse a few feet before the impact followed by a total slack. the kite will recover suddenly into a horizontal glide, and a few feet later will lift its nose and that‘s a good moment to pull the nose back towards you. land or fly on. ground work the kite can land on its flexible wingtips and hold the position when stalled, if the wind is gentle. tilted positions can be corrected with short pulls: the kite will always look for a horizontal balanced position, use this to stear it. let the nose fall gently forwards, slightly tilted and give a sharp impulse, followed by a lot of slack and the kite will do a slow flatspin one foot above the ground, with enhanced lift caused by ground effect.

here's the flightcard showing the moves of synergetic kites in pdf-format, and some movies . . . . .

never fly:

higher than 60 m - 180 ft

near airports or roads

in stormy weather

near powerlines and railroads


have marvelous flights !