In the photo above: A student controls a small two-line kite, which is usually called a "pilot kite"
Trainer kite or "pilot kite"
In 90 percent of cases, in Russian-speaking society, "pilot kite" is what we call a 2-line kite, without inflatable parts, i.e. a parafoil (or foil), of a very small size - from 1 to 3 m².
Because the Trainer kite has only 2 lines, all the thrust comes into your hands, with which we hold the kite control bar. That is, the kite pulls us by the hands. The difference between Trainer kites and 4-line kites is that a 4-line kite pulls us not by our hands but by the harness (a belt worn on our waist or hips), it is to the harness that the 2 power lines of the kite are connected, and the hands control the bar to which the 2 control lines are connected.
The main advantage of Trainer kites is that they are very small, so they do not generate much thrust. Having launched them into the sky, you can learn to control them, move the kite left and right, make figures "8", small kite loops or just play, enjoying the control of an Trainer kite. But it is very important that someone explains it to you correctly.
The main disadvantage of Trainer kites is that you will not be able to stably control the kite's thrust if you want to ride a board on the water or, for example, a mountain board on the ground. All the kite's thrust will come into your hands and it will be hard to ride, when you accelerate you will not be able to quickly release the thrust and stop or simply reduce the speed of your ride. Although, a long time ago, when kites were invented, they were 2-line at first.
How to control an Trainer kite
Remember - when you control a kite, your arms should always be relaxed, your elbows down, the bar should always be kept parallel to the ground, the body is always directed at the kite, no matter which way it flies. The kite goes to the left - turn your body to the left, to the right - the body to the right. Kite - bar - your chest, always on one straight line. It's hard to understand, it's better to ask to be shown, 10 minutes of control is enough, it's not super difficult.
Safety when controlling a pilot kite
It is very important to choose an empty place without any obstacles and foreign objects, so as not to tear your kite when it falls (and it will fall, because there will be errors in control and this is normal). Also, there should be no obstacles that would block the wind, make it turbulent. In such cases, the kite will not fly normally. Make sure that there are no people where you control the pilot kite. You can accidentally send the kite sharply into the ground and hit a person, which will be very unpleasant and painful.
The main safety rule that the one who controls the pilot kite should know is that if something goes wrong and you feel that the kite is pulling you strongly and you are afraid of falling, drop the control bar, i.e. completely release it from your hands and let the kite fly away.
Trainer kites are sold both with and without leashes. A leash is a leash that is connected to your wrist and one of the lines. When you drop the bar, the kite will not fly away, it will lose traction and fall to the ground, while remaining connected to your wrist. If you do not have a leash, the wind will carry it away and also drop it to the ground (or to trees or houses that you were not far from).
Do we use Trainer kites in training?
We try not to use this type of kites in training. The reason is that when controlling an Trainer kite, a person gets used to the fact that all the traction comes to his hands and when he then switches to exercises with a regular four-line kite, he pulls the control bar towards himself like hell, i.e. generates excess traction and makes a lot of mistakes.
We give an Trainer kite to students in two cases. If we see that it takes a student a little longer to understand how to control the kite and it is easier and more correct to practice for 15 minutes on the shore with Trainer training and then go out on the water. The second case - there is very little wind, and the Trainer training flies much earlier in the sky, because it is very light. That is, you can not sit idly by on the shore, but control the kite a little. These exercises should not be done for very long - this is important!!!
Remember, controlling the Trainer kite during the training course should not last longer than 15-20 minutes. If in the kite school they give you Trainer training and you practice on it for 30 minutes or more - this means that they just want to charge you more money for hourly training. The more you practice Trainer training - the more you will get used to a two-line kite and the harder it will be for you to switch to a 4-line ("real") one.
After you learn kitesurfing, you can take a pilot kite and play with it, give it to friends, acquaintances, etc. You will never forget how to control "real" kites. At this stage, controlling a pilot kite will not harm you.
In the Russian-speaking kite community, only a pilot kite is often considered a training or educational kite. But this is far from true. In the largest kiteboarding organization in the world, IKO, these terms mean slightly different things, they may or may not be the same.
Video of launching and piloting a training kite
This video of ours is posted on Youtube
Trainer Kite or educational kite according to the IKO system
Since I am a Trainer of the international kiteboarding organization IKO, I conduct training courses not only for beginners, but also introductory courses for kite instructors all over the world. In IKO terminology, there is a term - Trainer kite (translated from English, Trainer Kite or educational kite, as is convenient for you).
A Trainer Kite (Trainer Kite) is any kite that is used to teach kitesurfing and does NOT generate enough thrust for the student to lose balance or fall or get even a slight injury (scratched, etc.). This is what we teach future instructors. That is, in the international definition, ANY kite that you control, but at the same time it cannot unbalance your student and drop him on the ground (into water, etc.) - is considered a training or educational kite.
In the photo: our kitesurfing students are piloting regular four-line kites, with short (10m) lines that don't tug or throw you off balance
It doesn't matter how many lines are connected to it - 2 or 4 or 5, it doesn't matter what the length of these lines is - 5 or 30 meters, it doesn't matter what size it is - 3 or 21 m², the main thing is that in these wind conditions, it won't tug too much and won't be able to upset the balance of the one who controls the kite.
What is the difference between a Trainer Kite and a regular kite, in simple terms. For example, the wind is blowing 6 meters per second. You have a person weighing 95 kg. To practice with it, you take a kite of 9 square meters and with short lines, for example, 5 meters. With such a set of equipment, the student with such a wind and with such a weight will not be pulled sharply and dropped into the water, but he will be able to do all the necessary exercises - piloting the kite, learning self-rescue procedures, doing body drags, etc. That is, in this situation we call such a kite a Trainer Kite (Trainer Kite).
But if the wind picks up and starts blowing 12 meters per second, a kite of this size can pull and jerk the student very strongly. Now we cannot call such a kite training (training) and we must go ashore and change the equipment.
Trainer kites (Trainers, small foil kites, up to 3 m² in size) - very often do not jerk you and in 95% of cases cannot make the student lose balance. BUT! There are these 5% of the time when there is a lot of wind, from 15 ms and higher, and in this case the Trainer kite also cannot be considered a Trainer Kite. Our safety is first and foremost!
Is it worth buying an Trainer kite ("Trainer kite")?
This is a common question. The Trainer kite itself, a good kite from a manufacturer (for example, Core) costs about 100-170 euros (they will last much longer than no-name ones). If you are considering buying an Trainer kite as something that will help you learn kitesurfing - then no, such a purchase will not help you learn.
If you are considering buying an Trainer kite as entertainment, i.e. stand in an open space (with a steady wind) in your free time and control it in the air, generating a little traction, "spin" the kite, give this toy to friends and children - yes, sometimes this is a very good and fun activity.
I hope I described clearly enough what we call a pilot, training or Trainer Kite. Write, call, come visit our kite safaris and our kite school in Egypt. I will be glad to answer all your questions.
