Dead Launch

Can someone answer this question. Can a dead launch realy be done ? What are the correct conditions and tugs/pops/slack ...

Hi Teejay,

My kite bag is a little limited, but the only kite I own that will do it consistantly is my Prism Fanatic. I'm sorry I can't give good details (it feels a bit like voodoo to me) but I seem to need a descent wind (6-7mph to howling). An equal pop to both lines, immediate slack, watch for the nose to rise, then an immediate pop on both lines to catch the wind. I'm sure someone will give a better description. Try http://www.prismkites.com/new-site/video-library.htm To see it made to look easy with an Elixir.

Walter

I've tried the Dodd approach and the Prism approach and still cannot get it to work consistently. Although they achieve the effect on sand an I dont like to fly on sand. I like to keep my babies clean.

Teejay (Thomas)

Ummm....this may sound kinda dumb but I thought that kites that dead launch well actually have a design feature that makes it 'do-able'. What I mean is when the kite is nose forward, on its belly, don't certain kites have a slight bow to the leading edge which don't allow them to lie completely flat and make dead launching easier to perform?

And if that is true, wouldn't that also be sort of an inconvenience if you want your kite to stay put while you rest or fly another kite?

I know I know, dumb Q but I had to ask...lol.

Ellen (anti-stunt kite staking & you can even ask me why if ya really wanna know *smile*)

inquiring minds want to know, why Ellen, why?

PS. I hate staked kites too, I'm a sand kicker, haha

Only certain kites will dead-launch easily and consistently. Many of Prism's kites were designed to do this, and as a result it seems to create less wear on them. In general, the dead launch is a very harsh thing to do to your kite, especially if the ground surface is at all abrasive. Even if it seems to be soft grass, you still don't know what kind of nasties are lurking unseen among the blades.

As your kite skills improve, you will find that you very rarely end up in a dead launch position. And in those instances where you do, you'll usually know exactly why, and the walk out to the kite will give you time to reflect on how not to do it again

-Ron G.

here here, well said

Yes. Yes it can. Pop, slack, pop, slack, pull, fly.

The deal launch is easier in stronger winds, although it's quite possible to do in low winds. The first pop/slack movements gets the nose to lift itself of the ground a few inches. The second pop/slack movement gets the wind under the nose so that the kite is (hopefully) somewhere near a regular, nose up flying position. The pull/fly just gets you moving.

Kites with leading edges that bend backwards away from the flyer (eg Illusion) are easier to dead launch than kites with straight LEs. These kites, when sitting on the ground in a belly down, nose towards position, only have a part of the LE actually touching the ground - they rock.

Don't try to mow the grass.

Also, dead launches can cause quite a lot of wear to a kite. So what if you can't dead launch; just take a walk.

Regards James 'A bicycle is transport, while a car is patently not a bicycle.' [JT (uk.r.c - 26/08/2000)]

What helped me to learn the dead launch was to first point the kites nose a little to the center of the wind window. Someone in rec.kites wrote that to me when I had the same trouble learning the dead launch and it seemed to be the golden tip for me. So if your kite is left from the center on the ground face down pull your left line a little and the nose will turn a little to the right pointing inwards to the center. Now give a strong pull (not a pop) with your right hand and your right wing will jump up and make a right turn over the left wing tip pointing the nose up then take a step or two backwards and equally pull both lines and you're flying up. This is the way I do it and the kite pops up making a turn straight to flying position sometimes the left wingtip is still touching the ground during the turn and that's because I only use one hand. I know that most people pull both hands with emphasis on one hand (in my example right hand) but I find it easier this way. Sometimes I can even pop a left hand axel right above the ground (kewl!) when it pops up and the kite is stalled in nose up position because the left wing is a little backwards as in an axel set up.

Maybe this is not a correct way to dead launch but it's the easiest way for me and it saves me a lot of walks of shame. Something else I forgot to mention, sometimes if I give some slack after the pull the kite makes a landing on both wingtips and you're in normal starting position. Give it a try and I hope this will save you a few walks. Let us know what worked for you. It also depends on the kite. I can do the above on my HQ Jam Session and my HQ Pi but never have I succeeded on my Flexifoil X-tro. The X-tro just stays flat on it's belly no matter what I yank on those lines. It just shuffles into my direction and gets buried in the sand on the beach, I hate that!

I've seen kites that have a rod that goes from tip to lower spreader but my JS millennium doesn't and that baby can dead launch.

Thomas

Well I must be getting good faily quickly, went out last night and performed the dead launch for the first time. Since then I couldn't get it to go into the dead launch even after trying Eventually had to place it in that position so the flyers I was with would believe me.

I felt so smug, then after that a double relative flat axel followed by a coin toss the a axel take off. Needless to say I had a good night.

Thomas