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Wow. Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful responses. In short, I've gone from "end of life?" to "good as new" in response to this thread. rporonga and several others nailed it right off the bat. Several of the c-clips holding the elbow connectors had come loose. The left upper was an inch low, left lower was 2 inches low and right lower was an inch or so high. I'm embarrassed that I didn't see this myself (it was obvious once primed to look at it). I had checked that the elbow connectors were flush against the c-clips but hadn't measured them for symmetry. I repositioned them to the factory positions, glued the c-clips in place and she looks to be good as new (minus a little Tedlar tape). The slack sail noted by Jon T (thanks Jim for emailing him) and Wayne was also remedied by moving the elbow connectors to the correct place. Thanks again to everyone.

One minor note. Classifications for these foils is very specific and the foils you've mentioned are all known as sport foils. Speed foils often fall into this category but not always.. The Sport foils are numbered roughly to denote wingspan.. Traction foils a.k.a. Power Kites are measured in square meters. A 2M Traction foil is significantly larger than and more powerful than a 2.2 Sport foil.. Here is a 2.2 Sport foil (Symphony) on top of a 2M Powerfoil (HQ Crossfire). All that being said, the Sport foils fly pretty much the same all other things being equal. I prefer the Symphony Pro kites by far as the bridling is superior.

you probably want "Hi-Test Bridle line",... by LaserPro, that would be my first choice. it comes with a Dacron cover over the spectra woven fibre center. It comes in various thicknesses (strengths) as well as various colors. I have it 100#(spectra w/40# sheath of Dacron), and if your kite is for higher wind ranges (I live in the land of NO wind) it also comes in 170/200# (?) w/dacron overwrap. Complete over-kill for a quad-lined kite but probably perfect for some hard yanking' Duallie! The Dacron sheath means you can easily tie and untie the line, whereas you could just use the bare spectra, but now EVERY knot is totally permanent. Spectra (raw) comes in 50#, 90 or 100# (depending on brand selected), 150#, 170#, 200#, 300#,.. and there are probably some even heavier for traction kiting's needs. If you select the raw spectra option, you could "paint the high stress areas" with nail polish, (STIFF) or the "dip vinyl coating" applied to pliers (somewhat flexible) from your favorite home repair center so you can't get shocked working on electrical. Measure a piece of line (scrap) and make a knot (I recommend the doubled figure of eight knot). Make a mark on each side of the knot with a fine tipped sharpie. UNTIE the knot and see how much length of line is used inside that knot. Try a doubled overhand knot (it can move after placement on raw spectra, as opposed to the figure of eight, which tightens in both directions,.. it will NOT move). It also uses less length, in case that matters. Again paint the knots with nail polish, so they are smoother and don't catch a flying line unexpectedly. Measure everything and insure both sides are PERFECTLY identical. Experiment, since you are doing it yourself. What happens if,......????

Here's another clip of my wife flying - Symphony flying

Since I got the White Widow I believe I'm now at level 4. Taken me longer to get from 3 to 4 than 0 to 3. It'll take even longer to get to 5. 8 could be as much as 3 years away .Maybe more. Gets harder the higher you go. Iv'e always admired the skills of watching a great flier.As I get better the appreciation for the finesse it takes to make things look smooth and seamless keeps growing.As does the respect for the time, effort and dedication that it takes.It's not nearly as easy as most of you make it appear. I've been a little intimidated by this kite. Not because of it's nature but because how I got it and who had sewn the sail.It's the one kite I truly cherish. My basic skills are just recently improving to the standards that this kite demands. It is the least forgiving kite I've flown but the most elegant and rewarding. Not the high exciting fun factor on other kites. More like the Lam kites. Something that seeps into your being and is just so incredibly satisfying. I've not read anything from someone who has a Tapp sewn sail with the wing tip tweaks. If you have one please chime in. I'd read quite a bit about WMPs sewn by Heads Up Kites and I'm sure some of the reads were from WMPs sewn by Jon T or someone else. The info I'd gathered was from doing research on the Widow ng. I was more than startled to say the least when I didn't feel the same in comparing the 2 kites. Been some chatter about the Premier Widows lately and been thinking about it. Today winds were running between 10 and 15 mph. This morning towards the low. This afternoon towards the high. A little gusty but very nice winds. Couple hours this morning on the WMP and close to 2 this afternoon on the Nighthawk.Started getting tired. Had such a good day quit early so I didn't ruin it.The end of the day is when I'm most destructive. This is speculation so take it with a grain of salt. Had to sell my 1st Nighthawk to get the WMP. Knew I'd miss it the most and did. My new one has around 12,13 hours in the air. I believe the Nighthawk and Widow Maker were designed around the same time. To me their shape and flight are far more similar than to the Widow ng. Nighthawk being obviously faster and easier to over steer . Due to size easier on the ground work.The Widow ng was designed as part of a series. Don't think it was built to be a cheaper version of the WMP. Designed to be the big sibling in the spider series using knowledge gained from the WMP development.I say this because the smaller Jewel I had seemed more like the Ng than the Pro does.Read the Wind of Change review of the Jewel. 100% agree. Haven't flown a Wolf ng yet.I'm guessing Pam and Dennis started sewing the WMP around the middle of the Spider series development and promotion. Life happens and Steve showed up adding another layer of magic to the kite. Read Steves tweaks on the Blue Moon Elixir. Having been here long enough to realize how much kite people love and appreciate the innovation and progress of others makes me think the tweaks on those 2 kites put a big smile on the faces of Ken and Jon. Now a newbie has a very different opinion of the Widow Maker Pro except that most of us think it's just awesome. Really keen on hearing from the folks who get the next batch of Blue Moons and Sky Burners.Tweaks will have been made.It's what masters do. Hydra has to be replaced because of the way I fly. Love that kite. Don't know what to replace it with other than the Benson Superfly. Been wanting one of those anyways. Watching videos it doesn't seem to be much like a WMP. Now Ken has a next gen Mamba and a couple other kites that I haven't seen disclosed yet up for grabs. I've become pretty enamored with the older kites and how things have evolved around the world. Blew my budget for the Superfly on classic kites and just starting to get it back. Then along comes a run of Blue Moon sport kites. AHH desicions. I'm so confused 😁.

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.

Choose whatever intrigues you, but leave room for dessert. Don't limit yourself to only having one kite.

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

When it's damp I grab the Black Dog . 1st one I let go but always remembered how smooth it was. Realized pretty quick that I should get another if the price was right.Glad it's back. Didn't have the same experience with my Widow ng. Took a few months but I could fly it in 3 to 4 w/o the weight. Wasn't good enough to trick but got good at window hunting and bouncing the kite practicing ground work.5 to about 14 was sweet for me. 15 up and the pull started my back a whining. Did not have the other issues you describe. Had to replace a couple spreaders but that was on me. LS on my Zephyr,Nighthawk and Hydra all more than once.I'm at a cross roads I wasn't expecting the last couple weeks. Love my Pro Dancer but I got issues that I'm not over coming. Kite is very precise and light on the lines. Not a trick kite and I knew that going in. Jon T also made damn sure I understood that when I ordered it. PD has taught me the most about loading and unloading the sail.The other cool thing is I can practice the set up for tricks that I can then try to complete on the other kites. Problem is that 0 to 3 I am not agile enough to control the kite other than basic moves. That bores the hell out of me real fast. I put the kite into a fade,turtle or pancake and most of the time it floats away on me. Can't back up fast enough to keep tension in the lines. When the winds are 2 plus I'm better off on the Tekken or Zephyr because I'm always trying to trick. This morning winds were 0 to 4 mostly on the lower side. Perfect for the PD but grabbed the Z because of those issues. Going to sell it. Do some research on it. Might be what you need. I am 90% sure I'll get the Solus UL when my turn comes at Sky Burner this fall. Between it the Tekken SUL and the Zephyr UL my low wind will be covered until they're wore out. They are pretty different from each other. The Z has the widest wind range and in low winds is almost methodical in it's moves. Very easy going kite up to 10 or 12. Tekken takes some concentration and timing needs to be more precise. Extremely rewarding to fly for me. Very agile kite. Stays the same throughout it's wind range.At 100" the Solus should be quite different. Not going to go big bucks on my next 0 plus kite. It'll either be a Kaiju or ITW Echo. Want both sigh. My other issue is my Hydra. Love that kite and it's the kite I've flown the most. I don't think it's construction is conducive to how my flying style is developing. I think it's well made but I am tearing it up. Today my right bridal extension sleeve split from stress. I've repaired and reinforced the battens but keep popping them out. The TE is frayed in several places with the leech line exposed. It's been repaired a couple times. Once by ITW. Fixed several tears at the center.One major.The issues keep appearing. Do not have the problems with any other kite. It is the shape of the TE not the build quality. Several repairs at the center tee. I push the envelope with this kite all the time.I believe I took to it so well because of my time on the Addiction. Hydra gives me that same go for it feeling. Tons of fun. When I put those 2 kites in the air they seem to start taunting me. Sissy man you can't do that. What's the matter scaredy cat SCARED. Then I have to prove them wrong LOL.I know that sounds a little Psycho but I got one of those too.Don't want to replace the Hydra but I'm going to have to sooner than later. Don't know what to replace it with that is similar though.Sucks.

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. ;-)

I would suggest going to a smaller kite in higher wind conditions. It won't pull as hard. It will be faster. Prism Nexus, Premier Osprey or Vision, HQ Bebop or Limbo, Beetle, and like sized kites can be fun in higher wind. ETA* To me, these kites feel like they track really well, especially the Bebop, Limbo and Beetle. Add a tail. 50'-100' of plastic tape(I think it's called "flagging" tape. You can get it at a hardware store), can make a nice tail, on the cheap. Just be aware of how much space you have behind your kite. ETA* The Nexus, Osprey and Vision are my tail pullers.

Broke my Widow NG in 10+ mph wind. The tail weight piece collapsed into the spine, the lower spreader female end broke, and 2 c clips on the upper spreaders came loose. But then I got it fixed, and had some good wind conditions and had the best flying session I have ever had.