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In this tutorial, I'm going to take a moment to talk about the basic hover positions...
The first of which is facing up, then we'll cover facing right and facing left.
After that, we'll focus on the diagonal facing upper left, upper right, lower right and lower left.
The basic principle that goes into all hovers is that in order to maintain altitude,
you're essentially pulling the uppermost edge of the kite enough to create lift and hold position.
If you don't pull the upper edge enough, depending on the wind, the kite will drop...
If you pull it too much, then the kite will rise.
I'll show you exactly how that works with the different orientations.
In this case, let's start with the upright hover. We'll go ahead and launch...
With the kite in the air, essentially what I'm doing is tensioning my top lines enough to create the lift I need.
The wind is fluctuating now, so you'll notice I sometimes stroke or pull all four lines to fill the sail again...
That's a small technique you can use in variable wind conditions.
The key again, is that I'm pulling the leading edge in toward me slightly, just to create lift.
Now if I switch to a right facing hover like this...
You'll notice that my hands have transitioned as well,
so my left hand is back toward my body, near my hip, my other hand is moved out toward the kite.
The key principle is that I'm pulling my left hand back which also pulls the uppermost (left) wing toward me.
So if I switch and face the left side...
You'll see that I've switched so I'm now pulling my right hand (right wing) back...
And once again switching to the right side, pulling my left hand back.
The key in any of those hover positions is to isolate the basic components.
One is that you're balancing between reverse and forward.
So as you're practicing a hover, you can oscillate casually and slowly between forward and reverse...
Until you start to isolate the middle point so you can control speed, and then hold position.
WIthin that, we're also adjusting the trim (angle) of the kite...
So in this case, with the kite facing sideways...
I can use my top hand, right there, you can see that wing flapping a little...
That adjusts my trim (angle), and then I have the bottom hand which also adjusts.
As you gain skill with the hover, you'll actually start to use a combination of both hands to maintain orientation.
That applies whether you're upright, facing left, or facing right.
So again, the principles are controlling your trim, controlling your forward and reverse...
And pulling the uppermost edge of the kite toward you.
Now in regard to the sideways hover, to rise or lower the kite, it's not forward or reverse, it's a matter of sliding.
So just to illustrate that, if I relax my top hand out now, the kite will slide (drop) down a little...
If I pull that top hand too much, the kite will rise.
And again, during all of that, I'm using using my turn controls to keep the trim and adjustment.
Now to expand on those basic hover positions, we'll introduce the diagonal angles.
In this case, I'm facing the upper right corner.
I'm not only pulling on my left wing (the highest), I'm also carefully tensioning both leading edge lines,
because all three of those lines now represent the highest part of the kite.
So as I switch to face the upper left...
You'll see that I have my right hand pulled in toward my body, and I'm still tensioning the top lines to maintain lift.
Now if we take that to the other diagonal which is facing slightly down,
I generally recommend that you start by practicing that sideways,
and then make it just a little bit crooked, like this.
Here I'm pulling my right hand back, which is my highest wing,
but I'm also tensioning my brake lines, which in combination with the right wing, are now the highest part of the kite.
So rotating position one more time to face the lower right corner...
I'm now tensioning the back lines again, but this time I have my left hand (highest wing) pulled back toward my body.
So what we've introduced is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 basic positions.
In another tutorial, we'll be sure to cover the inverted hover,
but those 7 hover positions are absolutely critical for getting firm control of your kite,
and I recommend you practice them at various positions throughout the wind window,
to see how the angle of the wind effects the degree of lift you're getting,
and how much more or less you need to compensate in your controls to accomodate that position in the window.
So I think that more or less, is your basic introduction to basic hovers.
What are the keys to hovering? One, remember the hover is created by pulling the uppermost part of the kite toward you so that the wind hits it first and is sent down, across the sail and toward the ground to create sufficient lift for you to maintain altitude. Break it down... Experiment with balancing between forward and reverse, as well as the balance between sliding up, down or sideways, depending on the hover position you're working on, then go on to experiment with the angle o trim of the kite.
How does a hover change in higher or lower winds? In higher winds, you won't need to pull on the uppermost edge of the kite as much due to the increased pressure and lift being generated by the kite. In lighter winds, you'll need to pull more on the uppermost part of the kite in order to generate sufficient lift, or step backward as needed to create enough pressure for you to maintain altitude.
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