How to Fly Two Line Delta Kites

Series Summary

Kites are tethered flying objects that are made to fly when the air lifts it like a sail. The kite’s movement can be manipulated by the kite flyer who is holding one or more strings that are attached to the kite. “Drag” and “lift” are words that depict the pressure and tension that the air places on the mechanics of the kite. A traditional diamond shaped kite has a tail to keep the nose of the kite from pointing into the wind and a string for the kite flyer to hold that controls the direction of the kite. Kites were historically used to communicate over long distances for military purposes. Today, they are used for recreation, art, and competitive events.

In this series of video clips, you will learn how to fly a wide variety of different kites. Starting with the basic Delta Line Kites, you can see videos with tips for Flying Dragon Kites, Delta Sport Kites, Ozone Kites, and Power Kites. Learn how to loop and unloop your kite as well as turns. String winders add a nice look to your kite and they perform the same duty as a kite tail. Learn how to fly a kite and spend the day outside after watching these expert videos!

Video Transcript

" Hi there and welcome to Las Vegas. My name is Corey Jensen and I own Wind Power Sports here. We are going to be flying some kites. To start off we are going to do some two-line Delta style named after the Greek letter Delta, the big triangle you know. They are the most efficient in winds under 15 miles an hour; they can do stuff that no other wing shape can do. After that we are going to get into some other stuff; some foils and play around with a little bit of power. Typically you see people jerk these kites off the ground but that is not necessarily the way you do it. Have the kite so that it is standing up like this. You want to extend yourself a little bit back and then take a step back and bring your arms down to your side all at the same time while the kite goes up. Like this; looks pretty effortless. Just jerking the kite leaves you off balance so it is better to have a combination of arm movement, foot movement and straightening your body all up at the same time. Now with these kites, you have tension on two different lines and by pulling on one the kite turns in that direction. Pull on the other line and the kite turns in the opposite direction. Twist, don’t change left and right. You can put twist on the line and the kite still has control. Now as the twist increase, the lines rub against each other so control might suffer a little bit but it does not change any left or right stuff. After you got the basics of this kind of flying down, the next step is to take kite flying away from the visual aspect and start bringing more of the tack style up. I teach a technique called kite chi. "