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What would Father's Day be without The Child...?! A little Buka fight on the freshly mown field. The Buka is absolutely beginner-friendly and very easy to fly.

I'm sure that any of you, that fly dualies, have had, or come close to having, an unattended self-launch, of your staked kite, when you weren't quite ready, or weren't quite back at the "business end" of the lines. I'd like to know, if anyone has ever had a self launch, the went up all by itself, and stayed up ? The reason I ask, is that I have a dual line, diamond kite, that I have had for over 15 years, and have never flown it, until today. I happen to be on vacation this week, on the coast of NC (OBX), so as usual, I brought a bunch of kites with me. But today, after an extended period of Rev flying, in a wonderful 15 - 20 mph, NE wind (off of the ocean), I decided to pull out this old dual line diamond kite, that I've had in the bag for so long, and see if it would even fly. Note: Sometime back, I had made a new bridle for this kite, because I didn't like the one that came with it. I also took the lines off of the separate, left and right hand winders. I sleeved them, equalized them, and then wound them onto a regular dual line, figure-eight winder. Then, back into the bag, everything went, in anticipation of the day, that I would finally find time, to check out this kite. Well, that day was today. Again, after the day's Rev flying was over, I went back up to the cottage, and got this little jewel out of the bag. It was only about 4:30. The wind was still cooking. It was time for the "virgin flight", maybe (?). After struggling a bit, to put it together, while fighting the wind, I finally got the lines laid out and attached to my, "bridle retro-fit", put on a home-made 25 foot tail, and now, it was time to "do it". When I pulled back on the lines, much to my surprise, this big old beauty took off, unfurling the tail as it rose. Ok - up it went - pull right - it went right - pull left - it went left - extended pull to the right - and a graceful, but perfect loop. Darn, this thing will actually fly. I was amazed. So, on this went, for a while. Did you understand that this was a "diamond" kite ? Anyway, while flying, I began to realize, that if I put both wrist straps onto one index finger, side by side, the kite went straight up overhead, and sat there, pinned to the sky, as if it were a SLK. Interesting, and I was amazed, as to how stable this kite was, when flown like this - both lines on one finger. Ok, now the surprise. This is one of the older diamond kites, that was fashioned, somewhat after the famous old TRILBY's, however, this kite is quite a bit larger, and it has a much more substantial frame, which is continuous, around the entire perimeter of the sail. It comes with an eighty foot tube tail, and believe it or not, it flies great. Yep, this is a "Cayman" (ever heard of it ?), made by a company called, "The Caribbean Kite Company" (ever heard of them ?), another one of those older companies that bit the dust, years ago, but what a great little kite ! Now, get this !! On one of my trips back to the kite (yes, the walk of shame), I set it up, a bit to "upright", and guess what? Much to my amazement, and my wife's, this kite self launched straight up (glad I had it staked well). Oh $#!T, I was 100 feet from the kite stake & straps, and hoping they would hold. No problem. That kite went straight up like a bullet, just like it had good sense, and then it just sat there, pinned to the sky, waiting for me to get to the wrist straps. Who would have ever "thunk" it ? The kite was just sitting there, 100 feet up in the sky - picture perfect...no right - no left - just sitting at the top of the window, waiting for input. I was in such disbelief, that I actually landed the kite, and tried this self-launch, several more times. Perfect every time. You can actually sit in a beach chair, with one hand on one arm, and the other hand on the other arm, and fly this kite with one finger, on each hand, as you sit back, and gaze at the sky. Again, an amazing little dual line diamond kite.. "The Cayman" - by "The Caribbean Kite Company" - and to think, they are no longer made, and the company is gone......... (and to think - I've had this kite in my bag for nearly 15 years) What a neat little kite !!