It happens all the time. You pack up your picnic basket with snacks and a blanket only to find that once you get to the park, the wind’s picked up and everything is flying away. Need something to save the day? Insert the sport kite. Sure, it borders on nostalgia, but it’s a lot of fun, a little bit challenging, and completely engaging.
“If you can ride a bicycle, you can fly a sport kite,” writes David Gomberg of Wind Power Sports. “Turn the handle bar to the right, and the bike goes right. Keep steering right, and the bike completes a circle. Straighten out the handle bar and the bike goes straight in whatever direction you are pointing.”
Sport kites are those with two lines stretching from the kite to your handles. Designed with stunts and sharp turns in mind, sports kites (AKA trick kites, stunt kites, etc.) offer a far more exhilarating experience than a single-line kite that essentially sits motionless in the air.
To get the kite in the air, Gomberg suggests to first roll out the flying lines so that they’re exactly equal in length. Have a helper (your picnic partner, perhaps) pick up the kite from behind and hold it by the base, maintaining some tension between the kite and yourself. “If the winds are strong enough, all your helper needs to do is let go, and the kite will soar off into the air.”
Let your kite fly straight up before steering in either direction, then simply recall Gomberg’s bicycle analogy: If you want to turn right, pull with your right hand; to go left, ease the tension on the right and pull left. Before long you’ll be pulling off spinning and flipping tricks. Worst-case scenario? The wind ruins your picnic - but flying the kite is way more fun anyway.
