Leaderboard

I would check the position of the rubber connectors for the upper and lower spreaders, which are held in place by some c-clips. If the c-clips got unglued or were glued incorrectly at the factory things can move asymmetrically and out of place. If this was off since it was new, you can try sending a picture to Premier to see if they can help you. Also Jon T at kites and fun things should be able to help with measurements and suggestions as he designed the kite. Check your PM.

First a preface that those are all reliable kites from established brands. They're all good in that regard. They're the same class of kites. All of the kites you mentioned are parafoil speed kites. "Para" with its roots the same as parachute, the kites have no spars. "Foil" referring to the airfoil shape, similar to an airplane wing with internal cells. There are several sub-classes of parafoil kites. Those are speed kites, the bridle lines on the kite put the kite at an angle to make the kites move quickly, even in relatively light wind. You are right that these kites feel twitchy, that's because they are speed kites. Among the other sub-classes of parafoils, one popular style is traction kite or power kites which can have enough pull for buggies or skiing, and another popular style is lift kites or show kites that are large and stable rather than being designed for agility. The twitchy feeling is part of the style. All the parafoil speed kites move quickly and are sensitive to input. They CAN fly in a straight line, but it requires experience and skill. They are not designed to move slowly like kites designed for slackline tricks, nor move like quad line kites. Fast and nimble are intentional. Some difference, but they're similar because they're all the same class of kites. The bigger kites have a bigger sail area and generate more pull. The 1.3 is 130 cm across, relatively small. It has bigger brothers at 180 cm and 220 cm that can generate more pull. The Synapse family has similar sizes at 140 cm, 170 cm, and 200 cm. All of those sizes are still in the speed kite category. Parafoils are not usually considered power kites or traction kites until they reach about 3 meters across. (Different people use the names differently, commonly power kites are 2 line, traction kites are often four lines, but that isn't universal terminology.) Turning speed is going to be a matter of several factors. The wind speed, the kite's bridle configuration, and the pilot's body movements will all make a difference. Bigger kites tend to have more drag (slow down) due to their size, but with some experience a pilot could make a small kite turn slowly and make a large kite turn rapidly. Even so, they're all parafoil speed kites so they're going to turn fast and fly fast. The kite is marketed as a beginner kite. Parafoils are very resilliant kites because they don't have spars (no parts to break) and this one is smaller making it more gentle than it's bigger brothers. Combined this kite is easier for beginners, but that doesn't mean experienced people can't or won't fly it. If you like the parafoil style consider keeping the smaller kite in your bag and picking up a larger model. When winds are strong a large kite can be damaged or be overpowered, the smaller model with less surface area can let you have a similar flying experience. Whatever you decide to do with it personal preference is important, fly what you enjoy flying. If you live somewhere near others who fly, such as on a beach or near a kite store, consider asking about flying a variety of kites. Many people have a collection of different kites and will help you experiment a bit to find kites you enjoy. Flying other people's kites is the cheapest way to go when starting out. You'll be addicted in no time. ;-)

A further thought: One of the best bang for buck kites we got was an Into The Wind Hata. A single liner. Think they run about 20 US dollars now, and it includes line. It can be flown with its tail on as a standard single liner (which it does quite well, pretty stable in a wide range of winds) -- or as a simple fighter variant. Tail off, it is much less stable but can then be lead about the sky by pointing the kite in the desired direction, pulling in and releasing line when you want to speed up or slow down or stop in that direction and send it off into another. A controllable kite (in a larger sense!). A little hard to describe but google fighter kites and you’ll get an idea. Fun learning curve. (We do not use glass covered line however!) In tail-on mode it is a good gentle flyer for beginners or indeed any flyer. In more advanced mode -- yeee hawww! Nothing at all wrong with starting with a simple GOOD single liner. Just a thought for your upcoming week if you are able to grab one in time. .

Shared your post with Jon Trennepohl of Sky Burner Kites and he had this to say: By looking at your photo’s, the spine and outside leading edges are not all the way into the nose. The cause of this is most likely that the leading edges are not pulled tight at the wingtips. If the lines that are holding the wingtips are not adjusted so it puts tension on leading edges it could have this effect on the nose. Also the spine needs to be tight with the Velcro pulled tight over the weight in the tail. All of this would then cause the top spreader to not line up with the rub patch, which in turn would result in the sail damage . If all of tubes are pushed into the nose like when you first got the kite, it should not have folded over like your photo shows. Did the stiches on the nose fail? If so this could also be the problem. Flying on the beach does create more wear but if you keep up with adjustments on the kite it should last longer than the time you have had it....I have been doing maintenance on kites for 30 years, as long as the sail is in good shape it has a lot of hours left on it. Suggest you contact him if you still have trouble after following his suggestions.

The top spreader fittings look like they have moved down towards the tips. Move them back up and fix in position. They should ideally be in the center of the LE cutout made for them or just slightly above. In the photo you can see the left one and how far down it is. I'm thinking the right one may be similarly positioned. I think this should be all you need to do, but it wouldn't hurt to check the bridle for symmetry.

From the pix it looks like it might be several things. 1 - Your wingtip tension is uneven. Is it possible you've tightened one side more than the other? If it came that way, try undoing the tips and re tension after making sure you have all spars fully in place. Do not overtighten! You are trying to get rid of most of the creases, but don't pull so tight it adds more. 2 - Is it possible the top spreader is too short? It should hold the top of the sail out fully, yours looks a bit "collapsed". None of my dual line kites show this kind of "wear", and they are 15 to 20 years old. Massage the nose to get the spine and LE to properly line up, then put in the top spreader and see if it will help hold shape. Remember to fully insert spreader. 3 - Measure from both the top and bottom of the leading edge to confirm that the fittings for both sides of the top and bottom spreaders are the same distance on the leading edge. If off, they would contribute to the asymmetric look of your sail. Just some ideas to check ....

wow, one of the most complete answer i ever see. Good job frob. i will add this, for the parafoil you have you need minimum 4-5 mph wind to fly and you will do that till around 30. with a 2.5-3 kite you will launch in 2-3 mph but because of pull be careful when the wind reach around 10-12. not all the time bigger is better and that depending of you weight and wind speed. at 200 Lbs i have for static fly i never go bigger than 5 on low winds dual or quad

9 AM Trixie showed up . About an hour later after much wobbling ,crashing and burning she got the basics . Kinda like flying a kite. Once you get the basics you're good to go. Takes some persistence though 😊.