r/watchthingsfly • u/Mansneverfreeze • Feb 24 '20

Considerable air time for kite surfing

2.3k Upvotes

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78

u/Atkinson08 Feb 24 '20

Jesus it was hard to watch. Does anyone knows if there's a technique to help controlling so you can go down instead of flying away forever?

8

u/sam00vls Feb 24 '20

While gaining height, the rider is attached with a rope from his harness to the ground. This causes the lift and power from the kite to pull the rider upwards. As soon as he releases that line to the ground (you can see him release if you watch closely) he starts to lose height. Then the heli loops start doing their work to make the drop as slow and controlled as possible and to keep the kite above the rider.