Hey guys and girls,
I have had a search on the forums and I haven't been able to find any info on how to self land a 5 line kite - they all seem to be for SLE / Bows
I have a rebel 08 and I have tried a number of ways but it always seems to end up with the kite flapping like a flag off the 5th line. I would love to know how people land their kites leading edge down without hassle?
I always get someone to help land it if they are around but sometimes I am there on my own, so I really want to have a good technique down for these odd occaisions.
Thanks for your help!
land it down fast as if someone is about to catch it, but so that the leading edge hits ground, then quickly reach with your hand, and pull the front line closer to you to rotate the kite slightly into a more neutral position. I haven't been able to do this very successfully in high winds, and i've seen bad things happen with these types of things too... so i wouldn't recommend doing it in high winds (just flag to 5th). But the above method works fine for me in light winds. I don't think C are the easiest kites for self landing in all conditions (unless you flag to 5th - but i had my 5th snap couple of times - not whilst landing luckily).
WARNING - if you try practicing the above, be extra ready to pull the QR
In stong wind you just can't do it safely
As superlizard says get ready with the safety
we have been using a stake with a rope and clip, much better
The risk is that when you pull the 5th line and get a good handful and then let it go it might wrap on the bar and then you have no safety and the kite will loop and its all **** hitting the fan.
Dazza 
I used to put my airush kites @ 12 oclock and throw the bar the usually flip over and float down to either side of downwind, now i grab the front lines and 5th unhook bar pull in 2 arm lengths of lines then just grab the 5th line only and pull to the stopper ball.90% of the time it floats all the way down with the leading edge facing down all the way . Landing like a feather perfect, it does help to hold the 5th line right at ground level on touchdown. Have a crack at it in lighter winds first.
in strong wind it aint gunna happen (generally)
i used to fly my 08's to the edge of the window (like superlizard's saying, but pull the safety (or just unhook) right as it hit's the beach. most of the time it pulls about 2m of safety line, then settles LE down. Just allow plenty of room downwind if it decides to do something silly
Just to reinforce what Dazza said, I've got an '08 Rebel 12m and if there is no one around I self land using the wing tip to beach then pull in 5th line method. As others have said this works fine for me in 15kts, but not so well in stronger winds.
Every other time when it hasn't worked the kite just flies again and I try again or dump it to the 5th, but on the weekend I was 100m away from another guy on the beach, 18-20kts, and I attempted to self land to save walking down the beach. But it took off again and when I looked down the lines were wrapped once around the bar.
Luckily it was still flying okay and I had full turning control, just no depower, and if I released to the 5th I'm not sure it would have unwound. So I just flew it low and walked down to the other guy who caught it for me.
No dramas on this occasion, but thinking about it afterwards made me realise just how quickly things can go wrong. It could easily have started looping and I would have had no way out. Luckily on this occasion my beloved Rebel did the right thing and looked after me.
In future I'll be dumping to the 5th in stronger winds!
Hey thanks guys for the info, I ended up trying it out myself and I found (like i think some of you said) that If I got the kite touching the beach on one end and pulled in the 5th line it would tip towards me and the wind would hit the top and push the kite to the ground.
Is this what you were all meaning?
But I totally appreciate the warnings... its easy to forget that this can be a dangerous sport, and as said, how things can quickly and easily things can go wrong.
Respect the power!
I land my 08 rebel like this:
1) Make sure your kite is to the water side of you, and there's nothing to hit downwind.
2) Pull on ALL the depower.
3) Take out the donkey dick ONLY
4) Fly it about 6-8ft up, right at the edge of the window.
5) Get hold of the safety below the bar at where it clips to the leash. DO NOT unclip the leash.
6) All in one motion, pull the bar right to you, unhook the chicken loop and steer hard into the ground.
7) As it crashes, pull in a good armfull (couple of metres) of 5th line.
It's not as violent as it sounds, and it should park right in the 'I left it on the beach' position.
If it goes bad, just let the bar go - you're still clipped onto the safety, and there's space downwind of you. Practice in light winds - if it's honking a bit I just put it at the zenith, throw to the safety, then walk up the 5th line hand over hand to get to the kite. It's a **** cos the lines need some sorting afterwards, but at least it's safe.
Needless to say, if there's people around, just get someone to land you.
