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philm63

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  • Favorite Kite(s)
    Stunt Kiting
  • Flying Since
    April 2017
  • Location
    Columbus, OH

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  1. Just got a response from Daelyn at AWOC. Wanted to believe, and alas; all is well. They were at a festival, that's all - couldn't get to emails and such. Thanks all for the support. I've also shopped at The Kite Shoppe - Theresa made me a set of lines recently - waiting for my new Widow NG to show up so I can try them out. Also like Into the Wind where I bought my first kite (ITW Spider).
  2. Gotta dig this one up and ask; what's going on with A Wind Of Change? I placed an order last Tuesday and have had no response - cannot get a hold of anyone on the phone or by email... I know they are moving into their new brick and morter location but a note on the website would be nice so we can know our orders are being processed or will be delayed, or... Anyone know of alternate means to get a hold of them?
  3. Nice - I'll have to head up there next year for sure. EDIT - Just found a cool website for O.S.E.K in Cleveland (kiteinfo@osekcleveland.org) - had no idea! There's a club, that festival in August, cool stuff. Ok, so it looks like I may have found some fairly local folks to fly with and learn from after all.
  4. Good to know, Wayne; knocking a few mph of each end of a stated range for lesser experienced fliers - I had not thought of that aspect. So that pretty much puts the ranges of my current Quantum and my soon-to-be Widow NG in the same ball park but the Widow will have a bit more sail area for right around the same weight so it would stand to figure it should be able to get off the ground a little easier than the Quantum, correct? Thanks for the suggestions, Mark - it looks like perhaps I should learn to fly the more robust designs first before moving to UL or SUL. I do like the idea of being able to fly in a fart (good stuff)! Unfortunately there's really nobody near me in terms of kite clubs - one in southern Ohio, I think, so I'll need to just be talking to someone on the phone or via chat/email, etc. to get tips and such, and watching the tons of videos available on line. Assuming the Widow does show up on my doorstep, what can I expect in terms of build quality, adjustability, and flight characteristics between it and the Quantum? Which might be better suited for learning tricks?
  5. First one is an ITW Spider (2017), small, twitchy; you know the one. We'll call it the gateway kite as it got me hooked immediately. Second is a Quantum which I picked up last year while on vacation in OBX - flew it a few times there - thought it was just fine (I'm a beginner so if it stays in the air for more than a minute, it's a good session). Put it away after I got home and hadn't touched it until this year's vacation (same place) - flew some more and decided to try some stalls, edge of the window stuff - just hold it in place for as long as I could, lower it slowly to the ground and touch a wing tip in the sand and head back up, etc. Simple "get to know the kite" things. That's all fine and dandy for the beach where there's usually a decent wind, but where I live (central Ohio - Columbus area) I have to hunt down a football or soccer field and hope there's some wind. Not having the best luck lately even finding the time let alone the wind, so I was thinking of adding another kite for lighter conditions and making more time to fly some local fields and maybe, just maybe trying to learn some tricks. I have (or at least I think I have; more later) a Widow NG on order at AWOC - third attempt at procuring one of these kites, seems they are harder to find now - and I'm wondering about something here; a lot of the "next" kites I started looking at a year or so ago are either gone or are very hard to find, and I'm not sure about their replacements. I did a fair bit of research over a year ago and had narrowed it down to a few "next" kites, and the Widow NG won out on price and specs so I decided on that one, but it took until just last week to pull the trigger and now I am having a heck of a time finding one. I tried a couple of kite companies - the first one told me the red/black/white one was no longer available (at least to them), and the second said they could not get the red/black/white one I wanted but had an "NG Special" in stock (didn't want that one) and could get a pink/purple NG in 4 to 5 days, Cripes! Found a yellow/black/grey Widow NG at AWOC so ordered it Tuesday night, but have not heard back from them since. Can't seem to get a hold of anyone there - tried phone, left messages, emailed also - nothin'. So I'm holding my breath that they can even get one to send to me. Barring being able to get the Widow NG, what other comparable kite is there these days in the $200-ish range that I could fly in "lighter" winds? (remember, I'm a beginner, but an ambitious one!) I like the idea of a full size kite, and would like to move from beginner to intermediate. I'm sure I could learn to do things on the Quantum but I'd like that "lighter wind" option in my bag as well.
  6. Thanks to all for the input. Looks like the short list just got shorter. How would the Quantum and Widow compare with respect to overall build quality? How about components?
  7. Just learning to fly, really like dualies, and want to start learning how to do tricks. I know it would be next to impossible to trick my ITW Spider - small, heavy; and from what I have read so far on this forum and gleaned from other sources, I'm apparently looking for a full size kite. I now know what that is and have been shopping around on various kite manufacturer's sites and, if one looked at all of the choices available it quickly becomes overwhelming. So I've picked a budget first, $200 and under, and plugged a bunch of kites in that fit said budget, looked at the features I think I want, and came up with my first short list as follows: Prism Quantum, Prism Hypnotist, Prism E3, Skydog Jammin', and Premier Widow. Not completely fixed on Prism kites, although they take up 3 of the 5 spots on my list, and am open to suggestions. I can do basic stunts - figure-8, loops, draw a square, etc; and I'm starting to get the hang of ground recoveries, and starting to walk forward to scrub speed on certain maneuvers. Can't quite get it to do a predictable stall yet, but I continue to work on it. I did actually get it to do a short side slide I'm sure by accident - but it did it - and I'd really like to have a kite that could do these things with consistency so I can continue my learning. What do you all think of my short list kites? Any other suggestions? Any insight would be greatly appreciated and don't hold any punches - I want to know from you more experienced folks if these choices make sense for what I want to do, or if are there much better choices I have not yet discovered.
  8. New to kite flying, got some questions about line lengths for various situations. I currently fly an ITW Spider with 65' lines (stock polyester lines were 80' - cut them down to 65' and equalized them after a few flights). Kite seems a little more responsive now (= a little more fun for me). I also have another line set - Dyneema 90# - was supposed to be 65' but came to me at 100'. I'm looking to cut these down so I can use them (I've flown them and they just put my itsy-bitsy Spider so far away...) I wish to improve my knowledge on line sets before I do anything further to be sure I'm not just butchering line sets and ending up with a bunch of scrap. So let the questions fly... With smaller kites, can you go shorter than 65’, or should you stick to longer (65’ to 80’) lines because smaller kites can be faster/twitchier and it’s better to maintain some distance/reaction time? If you’re just flying casually (not tricking), should you go with longer lines? If you are flying fast and hard (not tricking), should you go with shorter lines? Assuming you have the appropriate kite and wind conditions for doing tricks, and all else being equal, what are the advantages/disadvantages of using shorter lines vs. longer lines? What line length is best suited for beginners learning to do tricks (again; assuming the appropriate kite and wind conditions)?
  9. @Exult - The field across the street from my house is rather small, but I've also flown a 100 ft Dyneema line set I ordered along with the Spider. Actually thought I was ordering a 65 ft set, it came marked "65 ft", but I thought it seemed a bit long so I measured it - yup; 100 ft! So I flew it anyway and thought it was just fine albeit a bit long. I'll probably cut that one down as well. Honestly, I'm a bit impatient, an A-Type "I want it all and I want it now!" type person, and the longer lines just felt too slow so I shortened the stock set figuring they're an inexpensive (read "cheap") nylon set, so the experiment really won't cost me anything. I liked the shorter lines because they allowed this small kite (57" tip-to-tip) to come closer to me thus appearing larger - I could see what I was doing better, and I have pretty quick reaction times so controlling this small kite at 65 ft is no problem. I've started walking forward at the edges of the window to attempt a stall - haven't gotten there yet, but getting close. I reckon it's only a matter of time before I graduate to a larger kite. I'm willing to spend the money but I want to be sure whatever I get next will last me quite a while and one on which I can learn some slack line tricks as well as fly fast and accurate.
  10. Thanks, John. Just got into the hobby/sport last month while I was flying my 2-year old's little plastic kite - got to thinking about when I was a kid; I used to build and fly kites made from paper and soft pine sticks, and any old spool of string. Tails were made from strips of an old cotton bed sheet with knots tied in them. But they flew! Engineer, Father of one (and another one on the way...), and just moved to Ohio from Georgia to find that, across the street from my new house there is a small open field, and on most days the wind goes anywhere between a gentle breeze and 10-15 mph. Some gusts, some turbulence, but decent wind and I thought; why not get a kite of my own? So here I am - my ITW Spider has about 5 or 6 flights on it, already cut my stock lines from the original 80 ft down to 65 ft to speed things up, and am practicing away as often as the wind (and my schedule) will allow. I'm watching videos and seeing tricks I want to do, but still realizing there is a lot to learn about kites and wind and flying in general... which is why I am here.
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