You think to yourself, “I have been practicing launching and can kite well, I am ready.”
On a recent mountain trip, I realized the issues were slightly different than what the focus is on kiting lessons and launches at the training hill. I decided to point out these differences by emphasizing focal points for students to practice. Some of the below are not as emphasized during P2 courses, as basics come first.
The following are some skills to emphasize as you practice and prepare to fly at sites with narrower launches and stronger winds / more hazards:
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Learn to minimize sideway movement during the launch
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Practice A/C lift and stabilize, then paraglider before turning
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Lift, Lift, Lift to slightly left of center
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Practice aborting quickly
Learn to minimize sideway movement during the launch
Do not stop moving to the correct side! The point is to move to the correct side and pull the correct brake faster and further to stop the sideway drift sooner. Long slow pulls tend to have a delay, and subsequently, the correction takes longer. Most of my students learn or are exposed to what I call rapid fire brakes (back and forth pulling of both brakes, using alternating sides) to teach releasing one brake while pulling the other.
The purpose is to avoid having the wing drift 5 feet to the side and be forced to move laterally more than 10 feet or so to chase it down. Time and again, this has happened to students trying to kite without a bit more forceful style.
In the article “The 5 keys to kiting“, this is described as “KEY 5 – Correction – quick and relaxed”. In a practice session in stronger winds, you can experiment with sharper pulls that are not held very long. If you combine this with the correct body action (moving under the wing and into the wind), a wing drift can be stopped almost instantly, and with feel you can lock it back in the middle.
Practice A/C lift and stabilize, then paraglider before turning
It happens that some students do not discover how helpful the A/C launch is in the sterile environment of Ed Levin Park or Mussel Rock Park. Trust me, students who get good at A/C launches almost always have better launches on the mountain trips.
A/C practice is easy. You go out to a hill or slope with a medium to strong wind. You then practice and play with how much to pull the C risers to stabilize the wing (for the “lift and check” method), or you play with the Cs to see how much C is too much or too little to help the wing come up at a slower pace (for the “slow and release” variation).
Without A/C confidence from the student, practicing this on launch at a mountain is unlikely to happen. However, I have been forced to do that after a student shows that with the “A and Brakes”, standard lift technique, they cannot launch. Mountain trips are not launch practice situations, we are there to practice thermal flying and mountain landings. The practice should be done in a less threatening place, where timing and feel can replace nerves.
