Everything Else

Well they are generally called precision kites....a little bigger and more slower.... These daze kites are a lot quieter than in the past....I have a JS Neptune like in your pic and it is the only one I have that will make some noise...like a flying fish farting.....lol. Still an amazing kite after all these years!!! It has to be a real Sky Delight though...;) I am a no wind glider, an all wind Rev flier, and a low wind dual kitester myself. I’m also an old school flier that’s not into tricking per se as I fly kites to slow down and have no interest in the yank and spank flying....although I do admire folks who can do really kewl “tricks”....but whatever...to each their own. Ken Mcniell.....aka Kmac.....Blue Moon kites....makes amazing kites.....I have a modest collection...;)....that bridge the gap perfectly between old school/new school and precision and trick flying....my fav dualies by far!!!! bt          

I think @John Barresi has been busy, and missed the calendar reminders.

Thanks everyone.  I appreciate the input and updates.  I am meeting Kent from A Wind of Change tomorrow to pick up a Hornet (part of the reason there is less money for a fancy framed quad) and pick his brain a bit as well.

Did this drawing happen already?

Yeah, not many people there. I was always looking for people to join me before I moved away. A Wind Of Change is your local kite dealer, Kent and Daelyn are good folk. They used to run a brick and mortar store but have run entirely out of their home for about a decade. You might be able to work something out with either of them to meet out in a field on a windy day, or to look over whatever they've got available. They're a Revolution dealer, so that's what they'll mostly have for quads. A few people fly in the region but everyone is scattered. The current AKA regional director for the region, Sherman Myers, lives down in Alpine. He might know some people and you can meet up and try different kites. There are no significant kite clubs or gatherings, or at least, none were there nor have any popped up that I've found since I moved. While there is wind often enough and few people fly around there, finding consistent wind was always difficult for me. The best (but still irregular) that I found was the terraced fields in Taylorsville behind the Olympic Oval.  There are some decent flying spots at parks near the base of a few of the canyons, but even they are turbulent and rough for learning. The beach on the north side of Antelope Island usually isn't worth the drive, but might be if you're on the north end.     As for the kites, Revolution didn't go bad, it's just that the competition got better. Revs are still good kites. The Djinn, 3Wind quads, the Freilein quads, Shook's mesh quads, RevPolo, the Phoenix, and the rest, all are good kites, none of them are a bad choice. Each has differences that experienced pilots will feel, but for a beginner you'll not notice much difference between them. The EXP is the base model, and comes with the parts you need as a package. They're not the best parts, they're shorter lines than are typically used, and not that great of handles, but they work. If you know you will be in kites for the long haul I'd skip them and just buy whatever higher-end gear you will be getting anyway, saving yourself a few hundred bucks on stuff that would be discarded after a short while anyway.   Handles can make a difference but are more about finesse rather than beginner abilities. The snag-style have a loop on the ends that gets tied to, you can more easily snag on the loop. The non-snag varieties generally have a hole that the leaders are attached through. As a beginner you won't notice much difference there, either, but the length and curve of the handles affect how the kite feels.  120 foot lines / 35 meter are the typical length used in team flying.  They give an enormous wind window, often over 200 feet across so you've got lots of room. Smaller line sets give a smaller window, 80 foot lines may give 130 feet across, 60 feet lines may give 90 feet across, so you move more quickly through your available space, giving less reaction time. It can make for more exciting flying, but apart from the longer walk when something goes bad, longer lines are generally better for learning.