Leaderboard

Some days I laugh... the wind apps show great conditions and real life is another story. Today was one of those.. App showed 10/15 @ ese, ideal for this ne Florida stretch of beach.. real life was 0 to maybe 8mph..if that... but the direction was spot on. So with optimism,I took the 12 Phantom with some proper spars installed and I set up anyways being I was there. I wanted to finally fly larger than 12m with the low conditions...but alas I was on a small bar...and didn't feel like any over the bar line grabbing today...as I rode fixed bridles yesterday Trusty battery back up fan got me filled and airborne...without the fan it wouldn't have happened. Once airborne and the twinskin moving ...riding began. Nothing spectacular but still achieving smiles. A small climb in wind and I headed for a wider stretch of beach about 1.5 miles away. Played there for a bit....and poof...nadda...not even a puff. Sunset was upon me, so I deflated and rolled up for the walk...2.2 miles later I felt redemption.A block from my "base" the wind was back and stronger than all evening..Still single digits, but high singles and that works for me. I quickly set back up once at the fan...All I could think was one more ride before sunset. I got that and more! Rode until dark and enjoyed some park and ride fun with some beautiful colors over the horizon. Last ride got me the best casual speeds of the day.. A quick glimpse of that ride on Instagram. In the end... never give up. The rewards are always worth the effort. The struggles will only make you a better pilot. Be it buggies.. stunt kites...and yes even SLK. Ride on... until then

I've been asked about what I use to do particular things for kite making. Thought it'd be a good opportunity to share a quick overview of pretty much everything I use. Some are more obvious than others. My kite making tools.. I use a sewing machine (obviously) 2 - 6' Long Metal rulers 2 - 3' Long Metal Rulers 1 - 18" Ruler (metal) 1 - 12" Ruler (metal) A Fiskars Rotary cutter. A Paper Cutter (Office Style) The normal assortment of Scissors (Including a heavy duty pair for cutting plastic) Masking Tape, Double-Sided Tape, A Dremel tool for cutting spars and these two pieces of Lumber. All my strips, diamonds, LE, Mesh etc are made on these two boards.. One is also my updated Bridle Board. The other board is my full template for LE's (including Fold protection and wear strips. I have another marked out 72" LEs and another for 96" LEs. I also have an industrial style metal hole punch I use to punch the holes for the bungees. These tools are pretty much the entirety of what I use to make a kite.

A video of me practicing inverted side slides...

Add to that a HUGE dose of creativity and...BAM!!

No, not on this kite.. this kite will react to black light but it's not a dedicated night kite.. I have another one of those in my head. And I hope to include UV/Black lights embedded in the Leading Edge to light up the kite.

Love mine. Really great quad.

Good Work. Building those foundations..

So far, no kites. It looks like they never made it to it's next facility per the usps tracking system. Will keep you all posted.

Last nights flying conditions...