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l'Atterrissage
Comme
pour un avion, l’atterrissage constitue un moment délicat du pilotage
d'un cerf-volant. C'est au moment de la descente que vous devrez prendre
garde aux éventuels obstacles tels que lignes électriques, bâtiments,
arbres, etc. Il s'agit donc de retraverser la couche limite en sens inverse, tout en prévenant les éventuels défauts.
Si le vent est constant, ramenez le cerf-volant en ligne droite, en enroulant la corde de retenue autour du dévidoir.
Si
le vent est fort, abattez la corde par tranches de 10 mètres, puis
enroulez le tronçon au sol en bloquant la partie active sur un
ancrage. Vous pouvez également abattre la corde en une seule fois, en
marchant vers le cerf-volant.
Veuillez toutefois à ce que la corde, une fois posée, ne s'emmêle pas. Le rembobinage s'effectuera une fois l'appareil récupéré.
Enfin, évitez toujours de traîner votre cerf-volant au sol. Vous risqueriez de déchirer la voilure ou d’endommager l'armature.
Pulling a kit down
When it's time to pull a kite down, fliers first check the tension on the line, then use one of the following techniques:
- No tension - If your kite is falling, take in the line quickly enough to keep the line taut. That enables you to maintain control of the kite. If your kite is falling fast, drop your winder (if you're using one) and pull in the line quickly using hand-over-hand motions. Leave the line on the ground until your kite is safe.
- Light Tension - Pull in the flying line slowly and smoothly.
- Moderate Tension - When you take in kite line, you are adding 1 to 3 MPH to the wind speed acting on the kite. It is important, therefore, not to take in line so fast that you create excessive wind force on the kite and cause it to overfly. Overflying happens when you take in line too fast. You will see the kite fly up overhead, even upwind from you and past a point directly above the anchor or kiteflier. If you fail to correct for an overfly, the kite may dive and crash. If the kite should overfly, slacken the line and allow the wind to carry the kite back downwind from you. Then, you can continue winding it in again.
- Strong Tension - One way to retrieve a hard-pulling kite is to walk toward the kite while reeling in the line. This will reduce the tension on the line. If you run out of space, stop reeling and walk slowly back into the wind, pulling the kite behind you. Once you have enough room to walk toward the kite again, do so and resume reeling it in. Repeat this procedure until the kite is back in your hands. Sometimes when the wind speed increases during a flight, a kite will become overpowered. These excessive winds distort the kite's shape and destabilize it. The kite will swing from side to side until the pressure is lowered by a reduction in the wind's force or by slackening the flying line. You will see the kite move from side to side, and then it will spin or dive. If you let out some line that will halt these dives temporarily, but that will allow your kite to go higher instead of lower! One method is to wait until a dive takes the kite close to the ground, then quickly release a lot of slack line. The kite then will float gently down to the ground.
- Extreme Tension - To land a kite that is pulling so hard you cannot reel or pull it in, wrap the flying line around an anchor then tie it in place. Walk toward the kite, reach up and pull the line down, hand over hand, as you go. You can use a gadget called a "pull-down strap" to slide or roll along the line while you approach the kite. The strap reduces the friction and makes it easier to pull the line to the ground. You also will be less likely to cut or burn your hands from the friction of the line.
