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I'd have to agree.. i like the diamonds look. I started playing with the layout and used the two strip widths to skew the vertical pattern a bit.. The diamond panels can now mitigate the wear strips and give me a solid pattern vertically. It aligns the solid material with the spars. The center panel in this Photoshop mock-up will be a throwback to my diamonds patterns as well emphasizing the front side and backside of this fabric. One side is shinier that the other and depending on the light angle, looks either very dark blue or almost black. This is one where the entire pattern will have to be laid out flat and basted before doing any sewing.. A true mashup of both designs . The Diamonds have to be fully basted before sewing, the mesh kites have different requirements but this kite will need to have all the techniques done at the same time to keep the sail flat.

Started hemming some more strips. Starting with 2' Wide finished width and the 1.2 finished width I used on the Snowflake kite (Winter Jacket).. I'm thinking I'll experiment with orientation a bit more this time. Still using the Challenge PolyMax for this venture.. Great fabric without the cost of Icarex. I was able to choose from the wide variety of one color.. The key point here is if the experiment is a failure, it's not an expensive one. This image is about 80% Photoshop with just the base mesh and diamond filler panels in place for one side.. Then mirrored and a center panel drawn in to give me a bit of an idea of what it will yield. Opinions please?? Should I? build this, Go diamond Mesh without the filler panels something entirely different (suggestions are welcome.)

It almost comes across as denim like. Neon green or yellow 1/2 inch outlined bird wings in the center would pop. Maybe bright red or sky blue.Not like the Phoenix but a thin outline that goes edge to edge.Seagull? The Air Force insignia on the one kite was super cool.10 miles to the SSE of me is a military proving grounds. The Air Force Academy cadets fly past my place often for training. When out flying and they come past I'm reminded of that kite quite a lot. Makes me smile.Hey eyeballs always look cool too LOL.

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I like the look of the bigger diamonds they should allow the kite to be flown in lighter winds. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

I tried parking lot flying once in the past. Why not, my friends had done it. Hmm, the big drawback~ No where to stake your lines down to while you go fix the kite. The wind wisked my kite away, onto the roof, 2 ft. under electrical wires and I found myself standing on top of my van with a rev pole trying to coax my kite off of the roof without flipping onto the elctrical lines and saying.."God, I'm not having fun anymore" Whew, I was lucky. didn't have to call the fire department. Walked across the parking lot to have a rum and coke and think about the follies of my way. **Oh yeah, my friends broke an almost indestructible Rev. 1 spar on the driveway or the rocks, or something that was hard and unforgiving. What was I thinking? (that I wanted to fly now) I stayed away from parking lots for years after that. If I fly on concrete it's usally w/a field next to it that I can at least stake down the kite. Good luck. BB Penny