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I had bought a (Don't Laugh) FireBee 1.0 just to learn quad line control. I attached the lines to the kite and this thing will not fly with 15 MPH winds! winding up the line after a few choice words :lol: found none of the lines are the same size some as much as 3" difference, Thinking to my self I am going back to a pair of lines... I was thinking of putting it back on Ebay or trying to fix the lines if it would even help it to fly :) any help would be greatly appreciated. If I choose to sell I was looking to get a Prism Fanatic or an Illusion any thought on either one?

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The reason I ask is that some friends complained about their lines being off.. none of them the same size. I checked and yup about a 1/4 of an inch. Perfect is best, but it wasn't enough to make a difference. To them, it did as beginners with their mind sets.

A quad being quicker... takes a different control then a power kite. It takes a bit to get use to them.

I'm not kidding... I had major problems learning to fly a power kite... they don't respond the same. Knowing how to fly Rev. and having preconceived ideas, I'd say it took me longer to learn then people who had never flown.

Sorry, I've not seen a Firebee, so I can't help much here.. if you had a rev... :)

BB

Penny

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3 inches is too much for sure. I am very familiar with the firebee and it is a fairly good traction kite, the 1.0 is quite small and will be a rocket ship in the higher winds (where it needs to be flown) so control could be a little difficult. Coming from stunt kites the speed shouldn't be that bad for ya (assuming you have flown stunts before).

Okie.....first thing first. You may need to stretch out your lines and get them all the same length. I am not familiar with the actual lineset your firebee came with so I will just list some of the basics. Most quad line foils will come with two different sets of line of different test strength. Make sure the lighter lines are on the bottom of your handles. If you put the lighter lines on the top (or mix and match the sets) you will stretch the lighter lines more than the heavier lines making your sets very uneven nearly every time you fly. So heavy lines on the top, lighter lines on the bottom. If your linesets are stitched then you may have no other choice but to cut the loops off of one end and re-sleeve the sets to make them all the same length again. If they are sleeved and knotted just untie the knots and slide the sleeve up the line and re-tie them to match the shortest line of the set.

Unlike a Rev, nearly 80% of the control of your firebee will be on the upper lines. When first learning to fly a quad line foil, the rear lines are not much more than a brake or used for landings. Keep the rear lines very loose and in most cases, act like they aren't even there (so loose that they are drooping during flight). Most pilots will put their pointer finger (first finger next to thumb) on top of the flying line so that the top flying line runs through the pointer finger and index finger. This usually gives you better control of the kite and allows you to hold most of the power from the top lines directly in your hand. All power kites will stretch the lines out eventually. A very easy way to be able to adjust your lines without having to re-tie them all the time is to add a series of knots to your leader lines (lines coming off of the handles that you attach your flying lines to). I usually add knots in 2 inch increments. The distance between the knots is not really that important, just make sure that the knots are equal from one handle to the other.

Here's a cheezy graphic (hope this works)

||-----X--X--X--X--X

||

||

||

||

.\\

...\\

.....\\-----X--X--X--X--X

each X would represent a knot in your leader line. Once you get the knots in your leader line it is very simple to adjust your line lengths by connecting your larks head to the next knot in or out to shorten or lengthen the line. If you find out that your brake lines are too tight and your kite will not get off of the ground, attach your leading edge lines in to the next knot towards the handle (shorten the leading edge lines which lengthens the brake lines). If you find that you have no brakes and can't stall the kite down, attach your brake lines in to the next knot towards the handle to tighten the brake lines up a little (and lengthen the leading edge lines).

You may need to adjust your kite several knots until you find the correct setting for flight. Every person seems to feel comfortable holding their handles in different postions so your adjustment will be very personal for you and may vary quite a bit from someone elses adjustment.

15 knots/mph of wind should be plenty of wind for your 1.0 to get off the ground and fly - should give you a little bit of power as well. Fly it just like a two line kite - pull left to turn left, pull right to turn right. After you get comfortable with that then start to use the brake lines to really whip the kite around (like a Rev). Pull left and tighten the left brake and the kite should spin on its axis instead of making a larger loop.

Hope this info helps you out. Quad line is really not that difficult - I would imagine your line lengths are what are giving you the headache and not the kite itself. Once you get your lines set up right you will have a blast.

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Thanks so much,

I had readjusted the lines as you had suggested (Slid the knot and tied a new loop for connecting to the kits leaders all the same length now. :w00t:

Then adjusted the break lines for slack it flew better... ;)

But I would not be at the edge of the flying window, you could feel the pull (greater at a spin in place) and then all of a sudden it would just fold up and fall? :devil:

It is new does the skin being (new) or crisp have any thing to do with the ease of flying?

I have put it up on Ebay going to get a Prism Fanatic.

I did not like the tag on the kite stating (Made In China) I was hoping it was made like the canopy I skydive with, tabs to attach the control lines and not just having the lines knotted together :innocent:

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