The objective

So….. What’s all the fuzz about then? This Pairs Routine?

Well, my objective was to create a pretty simple and easy flyable pairs routine that almost anyone with a little quad flying experience can join. No technical stuff and mostly straight forward flying. Most of the elements are either based on “follow me” or mirroring the figures. Simple enough.

A few sketches

So I sat down with pen and paper and started to do some sketches trying to put together a few decent elements not that difficult to fly. You know, some Snake Down variations, a Pumping Star, a couple of Radar variations and three, fours different Bursts. All spiced up by a handful of Stop and Hovers, a few landings and towards the end an Inverted Slide towards the center.

After a few hours on and off, the first draft for a complete routine was ready. In my mind I made a qualified guessing that this routine should take about three and a half minutes to complete in normal (whatever that is) winds.

Memorizing it

Then it was time for some brainwork, memorizing it! I put the sketches on the table, spread them out in the right sequence and got to it. Using my index fingers mimic the kites I “flew” the routine many times and slowly but surely the pieces came together.

As soon as weather and time would permit I was off to the field to solo fly the pairs routine!

Flying!

The conditions were really good when I got to the field. A significant breeze came in from the sea and the vented quad was the choice of the day. …in colour green by the way. 😉

So I hooked the kite up to the lines and started to warm up a little, to get a feel for the wind and my body and mind going. Soon I was ready to give the routine a go. A quick check with my notes and I was off.

The Snakes section went fine. Snakes down, one starting off to the right and the other one to the left. When accomplished the kite landed on the ground with no twists in the lines. Check!

Next section, Pumping Star. Now, the Pumping Star has got a lot of variations to it. My version is a pretty straight forward one, no fuzz, remember the objective? Keeping things easy.

Memorize the center of the wind window and four positions at the edge. One at about two o’ clock, another at four o’ clock, a third at eight o’ clock and the fourth at ten o’ clock. These are the reference points for the Pumpin Star. Theoretical easy, a bit harder to fly. It all went reasonably well.

The next section is called Alternating. One kite hovers while the other change position. Then the first kite hover while the other change position. Multiply by two, and you have the Alternating!

The changing of position should be done slowly. This demands a touch of finesse, especially in lighter winds when you must focus on not loosing altitude. The same goes for the hover. You must be alert all the time keeping that hover by using (loads of) tiny inputs.

Now to the Burst section which consists of three elements, slow burst/stop/slow burst, slow reverse and fast burst. The slow burst starts horizontally in the center of the WW and approximately 20% up. Then slowly on a straight trajectory at 45° angle out. Half way to the edge, both kites stop and hover for a second or so before the burst continues to the edge.

Then slowly reverse back to the starting point followed by an explosive burst, this time without the stop, all the way to the edge.

The Burst is completed by both kites “falling” towards the ground and land on their wing tips.

Now it’s the Radar. Both kites take off and fly an arc. At the middle of the arc both kites stop and hover for a second. The first kite hovers above the second kite. Then both kites complete the arc and land on the opposite side (to the takeoff).

Next both kites take off and fly half an arc in the opposite direction. Like the previous arc, both kites stop and hover at the middle of the arc. The first kite once again hovering above the second kite. Rather than completing the arc, both kites face down, fly down and land. The first kite lands to the right, the second to the left.

The final section I’ve called the Slider. Both kites take off and fly a 45° trajectory out/up. Then – like in the previous section – both kites once again “fall” down towards the ground, but rather than land, both kites initiate an inverted slide close to the ground towards the center of the WW. Then both kites “roll over” and land.

Yeah! 🤙😎

Conclusion

So what does all of this boil down to?

Well, the routine is definitely flyable! …and after the final landing, there were no twists in the flying lines, which is a good sign.

I also believe that this routine is true to my objective; it’s pretty easy to fly, to memorize and it looks kinda nice! 👍

As the title of this article indicates I’ve solo flown the pairs routine, and after a few run throughs I shot a video.

Below you find this video embedded and hopefully it will clearify any issues not discussed above.

Feel free to comment!