5 replies to this topic

[browndude3649]

UPDATE
Thanks for all the advice/reviews for my first kite!!!
I've been flying
L1 gen UL
Zephyr
Desire UL
FrenchConnection
Premier NightHawk
BLK (sold)
Premier Pulse
And Addiction

I have to say that i cannot axel my addiction. I mosdef click awesomely w/ mt L1 gen UL.
French alittle less
Zephyr even less
NightHawk, Pulse, and Addiction are too fast for me to axel with little adjustments to bridle.
They all make great tail twistin laundry kites!
@ slow pro Just for sh__s and giggles i might just call up that shop for tips or ship in for mods!

My first sport/trick kite. For those who've flown this kite, what has been your experience? Easy tricks, hard tricks, overall? Good choice/bad choice?

The Dodd Gross "Flight school" DVD is a big help in learning these cool tricks.
I'm OK with snap stalls, slides.
Tip stab landings and stuff like that is soso
but i can't wait to do my first Axle

[Fast EDDY]

Hey There,

Great Job on getting started with your Addiction. It is a Good beginner Intermediate kite that will get you through almost every trick out there. There are some thoe that will be HARD to do and some that are easy.

I have two of these kites. One is "STOCK" and the other is highly Modified to be Much more Trickable and stall worthy. From lighter winds to Higher winds up to 24mph and still easily flyable.

My Modified one was done by Mr Buzz and even in 24MPH winds it does not Vibrate all over the place. The sail doesn't rattle etc. It is CLEAN and SMOOTH and Little drag through the Air. As you will read from Slow Pro here who got his hands on my kite. It Dead Stalls in center window in 18 ish winds pretty easy with just a simple walk not a run and just starts tricking away'!!! I just LOVE driving that Poor MAN CRAZY flying around him.

FIRST and Foremost this KITE much rather you do ""PUNCH TURNS"" than Pull turns!!! I know how Hard a BAD Habit is to Break but in all hinesty MOST STUNT kites have been built to do PUNCH turns. Yet our Natural intstincts tell us to PULL back against the force that is pulling against us, Right???

If your Tip stabs are so so and slides are only O K. Remember this KITE is only about 6.9oz. to 7.4oz stock Not even close to the advertised 6.4oz as it is advertized to be. It wants to FLY away very easily. YOU NEED to get ""YOUR DANCE ON"" MORE Line in your snap stalls. and get your Feet MOVING. It will help you Emencly in sticking your Landing and slides etc...

This is to help you out with "MY EXPERIENCE" with he kite that is STOCK and in about 7 to 10 MPH winds O K... as well as my modified one in higher winds now as the season has been changing here in So Cal.

The Axel is fairly easy to do. However a Double axle is VERY difficult with this kite, even my modified one seems to want to die off the flat spin if IM not Perfect in the sweet spot. It is just too light and doesn't carry Kenetic energy well as it flat spins arond its axes... However a Basic axel is doable and it is about your timing. Oddly enough I found doing Axels INWARDS towards the center of the wind window the easiest. Just get your feet moving and clear those lines ASAP. Just short of the Edge of the window is easy.. (MOD) As for doing a Spin axel, I finally had the chance to get out in a good 15MPH the other day and it could handle it. I was doing it at about the 130 and 1030 position with ease. as well as Snapping a few Quick axel and spin 360 snap stall landings in this wind.

This kite LOVEs the fade. It will float around very easily and can maintain being upside down without the annoying Bobble once it gets to its happy spot in elevation, VS weight and tension of the stings. It does take a Bit if a Snap to get it to come thru all the way and a quick release of the lines there after. Again here you need to get your Feet moving if the wind is not Perfect.

You can do all the Coin toss stuff you want to do with this kite. First thoe you Must have sensitive fingers to ba able to stand this kite on a wing tip and move it from one tip to another is not easy. The thing to remember is how flexable this air frame is. It will want to bend Back if you get to much of your hands into it. Get your fingers onto your strings and learn the slightest of differences in the tention. (MOD) On super light days when it is about 3 or 4mph and your on short lines. this kite will do a yo yo over the top into a lazy susan Half spin. The hard part is your Close to the ground and if the wind dies it will not fly up high enough to unroll it.

You can also launch this kite in 10MPH wind from the ground Backwards. Stand the kite up Facing away from you. Line over the top of it so as it falls onto its Back it will be in a Fade position. It is a real TRICK to watch and see this kite leave the ground. Just Mind your tension on the lines. It needs to have "slack so it can climb away or it will rotate over and nose in really fast!! So let it climb and keep walking towards it until you "DEEM" that’s good and fly away with your own desired move out of the fade launch. Try it a few times and see just how tricky this one can be.

The Back Spin from the cock eyed fade with this kite is a bit easier in closer to the middle of the window. I found this kite to only really like to do about 2 maybe 3 spins and it is just wanting to not do any more. It could be "MY POSITIONING" in the air. Every kite has its knacks and the such. Again keeping the lines SLACK is a biggy here. Remember this kite is a "LIGHT" kite and will Wrap up easy and Flex to much if your not careful.

Flic Flaks are easy enough, just be aware of your tension and Flexing of the air frame. I found that LIGHT flying and doing so with my Finger straps was a BIG help. The kite tended to want to flex up and loose its energy if I got too heavy handed and not fast enough on my feet. SMOOTH consistent hands and paying close attention to when and where your nose is when you pull/snap back is relevant. As is, when you let it fall back through and the right amount of slack in your lines, so the kite does not go to far past level.

It will Yo yo easily if you get it over once it will go twice. It will unwind into a fade easily. Just be ready for it to Pitch down if the lines are not Slack enough coming out. Just get your feet moving in the wind and allow this kite to MOVE and have PLENTY of slack in the lines. The double yo yo was on my Modified kite.

I have switched to Using lighter lines. If you can find a set of Lazer Pro ULS somewhere. They are smaller and less weight. At 80ft 80Lb it has made a difference that is very Noticeable by not just myself but others who fly with me. Not to say the Dynemas line set is bad that the kite comes with. They are a Great set. I am just saying There are better ones out there.

Doing combination such as the Jacobs ladder and full monte is something that is a bit tuffer. It is doable and easier on my modified kite. Yet it is something that this kite was just not truly designed to do. So is the 540 right at the bottom of the dive near the ground. ALl the new Pieces that Buzz Built and small sail mods and Bridal changes he Made really Cleaned and speed this kite UP and made it do thing differently.

If you get through all these and get them to be comfy in your doing. Let me know. Send me a Private message or just reply back on here... There is more for me to write but I will just stop here for now. Its time to go flying!!!

Fast EDDY

[slow pro]

just a few words on the addiction. Iam one of the "others" who have flown fast eddys kites most recent his modded addiction. let me tell you what: first this kite stock is in my opinion under rated. I have had the privalige of flying most all the kites in this class. the addiction is by far more flyable. So as a solid little platform from which to build your trick skills off of, once modded this little kite becomes a gem'. HARBOR WIND AND KITE out at the Ventura marina at 1575 Spinnaker Dr. ventura PH# 805-654-0900 ask for buzz, does the mods .there are three or four levels possible covering all areas of the kite,briddle and lines as fast eddy eluded to. MY personal addiction is at level one modded. fast eddys is fully modded his kite is like flying with power steering while on thought control.i have done a dead stall in the center of the window in 15 to 18 mph winds with his kite. any one out there that wants to have a great stress free flying day in higer winds(this kite is almost indistructable) AND I KNOW, you gotta get out there and check this out

[Hedgewarden]

I'm still near ground zero in ability. I can semi-reliably get an axel from most of my kites - with favorable winds, at the edge of the window, etc. Let me compare the Addiction to one of it's direct competitors (size, price, intended audience) in my stable. I was very impressed by the addiction's ability to axel without snagging wing-tips. It's tracking accuracy is also good. I have not found any real faults.

Yes, I'm sure the wing-tip snags I have with some of my other kites are caused by my lack of technique. But, if one is just developing technique, it helps to have a forgiving kite like the Addiction.

I'm so far away from needing mods to the Addiction, that I cannot comment there-upon.

My main serious kites are Silver Foxes. Nicer, bigger, slower, but much pricier. But that is not because I outgrew the Addiction. I had the SF's before I snagged a bargain on an eBay Addiction. If I did not have the SF's, the Addiction would be one of my main kites.

My opinion of the Addiction is that it is as good or better (usually better) than anything else in it's price range and size. Comparing it to all my other kites, I would recommend it whole-heartedly as a great kite to learn basic flying and basic tricks.


-Howard

[slow pro]

hello addiction fans!! i fly out of ventura county ca. so this is how and why i know what i know about what harbor winds kite shop is doing to the addiction. there are a few of us fliers out there with these kites some observations and comments were made to buzz the owner and the modifacation egg was laid. why? most of the time the winds are 10 to15 mph or above this kite being rather small and light needed to be "tamed". being the best out of the box kite in its class and bullet proof the time was spent most of this summer testing the whole idea it worked so a couple of use posted these last few addiction reviews let buzz re work your kite and youll be able to do tricks much easier with more control the axle being one of them

[Frequent flyer]

slow pro, on 28 November 2008 - 12:45 AM, said:

hello addiction fans!! i fly out of ventura county ca. so this is how and why i know what i know about what harbor winds kite shop is doing to the addiction. there are a few of us fliers out there with these kites some observations and comments were made to buzz the owner and the modifacation egg was laid. why? most of the time the winds are 10 to15 mph or above this kite being rather small and light needed to be "tamed". being the best out of the box kite in its class and bullet proof the time was spent most of this summer testing the whole idea it worked so a couple of use posted these last few addiction reviews let buzz re work your kite and youll be able to do tricks much easier with more control the axle being one of them

The addiction was my second kite and i loved it out of the box. The first kite i pulled an Axel on. Its super fast and touchy , easy to fly i think. Great kite for people that want to start tricking:)