For this article, we will concentrate on a group of maneuvers collectively known as Flat Spins.  From previous ‘Wing Tip’ articles on Axels, it was mentioned that the kite performs a flat spin rotation during this trick.  So what differentiates an Axel from a Flat Spin?  Basically, it depends on the kite’s orientation during the setup.  As you may recall, the basic Axel starts with the kite in a normal nose up position.  Then, it’s flipped belly down and into a flat spin in one fell swoop.  Conversely, the setup for a Flat Spin trick has the kite first flattened out such that the belly (or face) is parallel to the ground.  A second step of pulling a line to start one or more flat rotations is then required.

The family of Flat Spin maneuvers can be broken down into four basic types to include the Helicopter, Flare Turn, 540 Flat Spin and Slot Machine.  What follows is a detailed description of how to do each of these tricks:

Helicopter (a.k.a. Pinwheel).  This is the easiest of the Flat Spin maneuvers to learn, but still one of my personal favorites.  To begin, fly your kite straight up the center of wind window.  As the kite is climbing to the very top, slowly extend your arms out in front of you.  Then, right before stalling, smoothly swing your arms down past the hips to cause the kite to gain even more height and fly beyond the normal wind window boundary. 

At this point, the kite should be directly overhead (or close to it).  Next, immediately start the rotation by gradually pulling on one line.  The kite should do a flat spin with little to no tension on the lines.  Of course, who wants to stop with just one spin?  Therefore, continue to hold the one line back to keep the kite spinning and remember this important tip:  Walk forward so you stay under the kite as it spins.  This will keep the rotations nice and flat with almost no tension on the lines.  Of course, the stronger the winds, the more brisk your walk forward will have to be. 

One final pointer on the Helicopter is to really monitor you flying lines as the kite starts to spin closer to the ground.  As the wingtips are ready to swing around the lines, I momentarily feed a bit more slack.  This will drape the lines below the kite with each new rotation and minimizes frustrating wingtip wraps.  Incidentally, if you want to see some great full-window  Helicopters, watch our own Kim Shaffer when flying in light winds.  Once starting the spin from high above, he can frequently put the kite through about a dozen flat and graceful rotations as it slowly descends to ground level.  Simply beautiful to watch!

Flare Turn.  The setup for this trick is opposite the Helicopter in that you will start by diving the kite straight down.  Once the nose of the kite is about 10 - 15 feet above the ground, smoothly swing your hands down past the hips to put some added pressure on the sail.  Immediately follow this by throwing both hands forward to flare (a.k.a. pancake) the kite into a flat belly down and nose away orientation.

After the flare, you want the kite to rotate flat for a half-turn until it ends up in a belly down, nose forward position (at which point the wind will push the nose back up into normal flight).  To cause the desired 180 degrees of rotation, the range of how far your hands are thrown forward should be uneven.  Specifically, your one hand should end up at full extension while the other stops approximately at your hip.

Of course, learning the Flare Turn is best saved for light winds days.  Also, once you are comfortable with this maneuver, try performing it closer and closer towards the ground.  You will be amazed at how low you can really go!  As a variation, it is also fun to land the kite immediately after it completes the Flare Turn.

540 Flat Spin. This is the king of all Flat Spins – quite spectacular to perform but also has a higher degree of difficulty.  The setup will be the same as the Flare Turn in that you dive your kite to the ground and execute a belly down flare.  And keep in mind that unless the winds are very light, it is typically best to perform this trick at either the left or right edges of the wind window. 

Since we need to get the kite to rotate a full 1-1/2 rotations, simply doing an uneven feed will not be sufficient.  Rather, the technique is as follows:  During the flare, feed both hands far forward to really flatten and stall the kite.  Next, while leaving one hand fully extended, sweep the other hand down past your hip to start the rotation.  (The hand that sweeps back should not be aggressively popped, rather it is best to do more of an accelerating pull.)   Finally, since the 540 Flat Spin is a type of slack line maneuver, it is necessary to quickly return the hand that was pulled back to full extension.  This ensures the kite can rotate freely and helps prevent line snags.  After 540 degrees of rotation, conclude the maneuver by quickly fetching both lines back taut.  This will smoothly transition the kite into normal flight without stalling or crashing.    

Here is an added tip that really helps when performing this trick:  If starting the 540 Flat Spin with the right hand, slightly skew the kite to the left when diving down for the setup. Therefore, when the kite is flared, the nose will still be pointing a little to the left.  In essence, this will make it much easier to start the kite rotating when the right line is pulled.  Once I discovered to bias the direction during setup, my success rate with 540 Flat Spins improved dramatically!  So remember, right pull = dive the kite left slightly; left pull = dive the kite right slightly.

If you have mastered the 540 Flat Spin, you can then shoot for a 900 Flat Spin.  The idea is to get the kite to rotate though 2-1/2 rotations from one single pull.  As you can imagine, this requires a more aggressive pull plus loads of slack (saying a prayer won’t hurt either!). Typically, UL kites will not have sufficient momentum for this trick.  

Slot Machine. A variation of the 540, the Slot Machine is initiated from a normal flying position (usually, a ground pass) instead of a pancake. Fly at a shallow angle from the top left side of the window to the bottom right. Give a good pop on the upper wing while simultaneously feeding slack on the lower wing. This action will flatten the kite out in the same uneven pancake as the 540. As soon as the kite is flattened out, pop the same hand to initiate the rotation as on the 540. After the rotation, fetch back the lines and recover into normal flight.

The entire move is two pops from the same hand in rapid succession. Make sure that the kite flattens out after the first pop before initiating the second - feeding slack on the opposite hand will facilitate this. Some kites actually prefer to be slightly nose-up before popping the rotation.

With practice, a Slot Machine can be initiated from a straight ground pass or even a slight climb. Although the rotation is not as flat as a nicely done 540, the Slot Machine is often easier to initiate, especially in higher winds. For a dramatic effect, try a Slot Machine in the center of the window during a low ground pass, the kite will appear to stop, rotate 540 degrees and then continue in the same direction.