Re: Axels the eezy peezy way?

Subject Re: Axels the eezy peezy way?
From abw@peritas.com (Andy Wardley)
Date Thu, 11 Jul 1996 08:26:27 +0000
Newsgroups rec.kites
One in a series of three: 
Mark writes:
> I bet Andy Wardley could axel other kites.  ;)

Ummm....err.... (no actually, I can ;-)

ObGoodOldDays:
When I was first learning to fly, I had heard about this "Axel" trick and had a rough idea about what it entailed but no firm knowledge on how to do it. Not disheartened by this, I spent hours and hours tugging away on a Sandpiper try to get the kite to spin flat. The Sandpiper is a great precision and team kite, but not really decked out for tricks, but what did I know in those halcyon days?

Eventually it came and like all new Axelees, I did nothing else for the next few weeks. About the same time, I started flying up at Epsom Downs with the regular crowd there and all sorts of doors opened. Imagine then, when I first flew the Stranger! Yow! And in the same week, a brand new trick kite appeared at my local Kite Emporium and Purveyor of Fine Wind Products - the "Box of Tricks". I just had to have one, despite the inevitable evil look from the missus (back in the days before she gave up complaining about all the money I spent on kites).

Like, WOW!

Much cool stuff ensued which I won't bore you with, but the point of the story (getting there at last), is that I could do *so* much more on the Box of Tricks having learnt to Axel the hard way. It meant getting to understand exactly what the kite had to do and how you had to control it to make things happen.

..but..(#1)..I'm not saying that you should all go out and learn to Axel on a difficult kite. I believe that a good trick kite is what you need to learn Axels the E-Z P-Z way. Perhaps steer clear of the extreme trick kites like the Psycho and AzizA because they do all sorts of crazy shit which will only leave you thinking "Huh? WHADIDIDO???". There are plenty of others to choose from which will servce you well: Box of Tricks, Reflex, Fusion, Stranger, Jam Session, Midi-Sandpiper, etc., etc (sorry about the Euro-bias, but I'm not too well up on the US trick kites)

..but..(#2)..when you've learnt to Axel your trick kite and can do it here, there, in, out, up, down and around, go out and see if you can do it on your old workhorse kite. Even if you never plan to fly your Team Hawaiian or Club Sport again, learn to Axel it because you will find how much more it gives you when you go back to the trick kites.

Oh...and enjoy it. Very important, that.

A