We all remember flying single line kites during various stage of our childhood. Maybe even as adults with our own children. Kite flying as a hobby, as a form of recreation, and as a family bonding experience, is enjoying a very real resurgence these days.
The primary reasons for this resurgence is the introduction of controllable kites. Two line (dual line) and 4 line (quad line) Stunt Kites, and quad line Traction Kites.
Unlike the single line kite, stunt kites are flown with pilot input. In other words, the person controlling the kite on the ground can create a reaction by the kite, based on input to the kite via the kite control lines. With dual line kites the pilot can now very easily guide the kite across the sky from one side of the wind window to the other and back again. Stunt kites can fly loops and spins and figure 8?s all at the whim of the stunt kite pilot. At an advanced level, a whole new additional series of tricks are possible with stunt kites referred to as “slack line tricks”. With exotic names like Snap Stall, Axel, and Lazy Susan, these slack line tricks help sharpen a pilots hand-eye coordination and make the stunt kite appear to dance in the sky..
Quad line stunt kites take stunt kite flying to a whole new level. In addition to loops and spins, a pilot can now make fly and land upside down. Fly backwards or stop dead anywhere in mid air. There are even models of stunt kites that fly indoors without the benefit of wind.
If getting out of your back yard to a local park, and getting a bit of a workout in the process is of interest, then traction kites may be the perfect choice for you. Traction kites allow the more adventurous of us to snowboard or ski without a mountain. They allow a surfer to surf without waves. They allow a downhill ATB rider to ride without a hill. In addition, there are three and four wheeled buggies, pontoon boats and snow sleighs that use traction kites as a form of harnessing the wind?s power to provide propulsion
Traction kites enable the kite pilot to control both the power generated by the kite as well as the direction of travel. Similar to sailing, traction kites allow the pilot to return to the point of departure. Free riding in a downwind direction, gliding back and forth across the wind, and tacking upwind at the end of a run.
The use of traction kites requires that a pilot be aware of all the dangers associated with this extreme sport, as well as the necessary precautions and safety equipment needed to protect him and any spectators from injury. Training and many hours of traction kite flying are necessary to insure that your experiences are all good ones.
If you already own some of the equipment mentioned above, then getting fitted with the proper size traction kite and a harness may be all you need. For more information on stunt kites and traction kites, contact the experts at http://HorizonKites.com.
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