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I tried JB's at Long Beach on shorter lines (60'?), lots of fun. Didn't take too long to figure it out, but it is a bit weird having the kite in your face! But it opens up a bunch of new possibilities, interacting up close style with the kite. Mikey makes a real piece of art, using good quality parts, so it isn't cheap. But it is the best out there I've seen. JB and Mikey played with the design for quite a while, getting all the bugs worked out.

some good flying. I see the inverted side slide to loops. looking good

Wind was low and not ideal but threw a camera out to get a bit of footage

Hi from NE.Ohio, im Elliott 51, first of all thanks for the invite to your site! Now all I have to do is learn how to get around. I've been looking in as a guest and couldn't resist any more. Looking forward to all the great things everyone brings to the table.BEST POT LUCK EVER😉

“Goober says hey”, welcome Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

Hi, Elliot, and welcome to the forum.

Welcome Elliot. A real helpful group on here. What do you fly? Northeast Ohio, I grew up in Mansfield

If you look really, really, really close, you can't see the Bahamas!!

Well I finally got a dog stake and I can say it is more than I expected, truly awesome 😎🤙

https://www.kite-and-friends.de/international/groundstake-kiting-with-john-barresi/

Welcome! 👍🏻

Welcome to KiteLife!!! You'll find we are a friendly bunch.

Mikey Devereaux builds them, lines are 120ft.

Some strong wind Sunday at the Treasure Island Kite Festival. The KiteLife team was amazing to watch.

"take the best & dump the rest!" That means you accept advise that fits your needs and forget about everything that doesn't. You'll hear five ways to do it from a couple of individuals, you'll see it done a couple of different ways as well, then there's an explanation/dissertation by someone standing next to you (uninvited!), ... ultimately you might even play around with variables to try and recreate "IT" as a do-it-yourself project back home. If you go often enough to festivals and see it all done before your eyes repeatedly, it's easy to find somebody for particular advise with one issue that troubles you. It's unlikely there's only a single solution or path to follow, so seek out several folks and hear/watch what is recommended. Then decide if it fits you personally. How, where, why, when,... even whom!!! Take their best as your own & dump the rest

UPDATE 1-20-19... We made the drive to Treasure Island early this morning. Met up with Team Kite Life and got to pick their brains for quite a while. Everyone I talked to there was very friendly and willing to answer any and all questions from flying techniques to business to flying with intent!! 100 percent worth the trip and watching them fly is a real treat!!

I like to compare my setup to a standard transmission - neutral is my goal. To go in either direction - I must "put it in gear". Really helps in gusts, as the kite doesn't just take off, all by itself. Yes the launch can be a bit more effort, but the control gained while airborne is well worth it! As Paul said - everybody has to find their own "comfort zone". A lot of new fliers feel like they need that extra zoom they get with lines in. But the kite is locked into forward drive too much. Loss of control while airborne is the result. Moving the top lines out gets the LE to fall back. Then when launched, it is more "square" to the wind and able to keep all the energy in the sail. We call it "squaring up the kite". Top lines in, the wind just dumps off the sail, because the angle is too much forward. Nice inverted side slides!! My only critique would be to let your arms out. Learn to fly with what other pilots call - "long arms". The kite doesn't respond to where those handles are in relation to your body, as much as how the handles are controlled by your hands. Forward is forward no matter how your hands are. Catch those adjustments moving the hands, but really try to get back to a more central position. Think about it ergonomically - if your hands are in the classic "fighter's position", how much movement backwards does that allow? Hands and arms are already close to the body and movement is limited. Now try arms extended some - see how much more you can move? And in more directions. Many of us fly holding the handles almost sideways! With arms extended, we have upwards, downwards, and sideways movement available. Try this - let the kite pull your arms away from the body. Feel the kite out there. Learn to work with it, not against it. That's your dance partner out there, learn to work with it. PS: a side effect of "long arms" is that your tension levels will decrease! All that scrunching in the neck and shoulders will go away and you will feel relaxed!! TRY IT!!

Add still more "DOWN" to your tuning Corey, the kite is still trying to surge forward whenever you aren't truly focused completely. You want it so you have to make it go forward, the normal setting/action should more neutral, neither forward or reverse flight, but a stationary hover that is easy to maintain, so easy just resting the handle on one finger tip offers a perfect balancing point. Where that balancing point takes effect is why you tune the handles for your personal preference. Some like it high on the handles, above the foam, just like a trumpet player who manipulate the notes of music with just a finger flick. Some like to squeeze the foam into the hand, using more wrist than thumb. There's no correct solution, whatever works for you must be correct. Slow its down more and hover stationary!

No no confusion returning to normal flight, but flying inverted on the dog stake confused my brain a bit with regards to side slides, there where a few ground bouncing moments, your brain seems to sort most of it out and the fun is off the scale😁 Bit of video from my first flight on Facebook another enjoyable journey coming up, https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=501783390269187&id=100013125912925