Exult

Nice to see you around here again! Same here, have only done some occasional kiting related stuff lately. (“Excuse list": The nearby parking (previously used for quick quad line kite fixes) has mostly been more of a construction site since a year soon. Apart from some personal reasons, much (non-summer) spare time has been into daily operating the tiled fireplaces after work and chopping a lot of logs. This to avoid the heating costs that has turned "impressive" lately. Also picked up another hobby, scything and maintenance a meadow to help a couple that we know with their hobby sheep farm. Well it is still on a field, but without kites.) However during the last few days I've been watching several (mostly oldie goodie) educational/inspirational kiting videos and felt the hunger: Flying Techniques. Tips for Tricks, Precision, Freestyle & Team Sport Kite Flying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8TSDhKcahU Freestyle Pilot - Full Length https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXavCyyJCog Thailande 2020 Sparrow, Switch, Revolution Indoor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPj1a_pRcpY ...

In case you are living in the Stockholm area, I have a few kites that could be beneficial for you to try: The HQ Quickstep 2. A small kite that turns left and right while feeling somewhat like a larger kite. Go on practice until you have it built into the muscle memory that you always slack the lines before hitting the ground (perhaps you already do?). This kite has survived other beginners, also total beginners. Not a trick kite. HQ Maestro 3. The kite you considered. Spiderkites Smithi Pro. A very manoeuvrable small foil (flies even backwards) that can be used for learning quadline kiting without breaking any spars (because there are none). Can also be piloted as a 2-line kite, especially when making the brake lines longer. Nope, but the ”give slack on the lines before the kite meets the ground”, ”powering up of the kite by tensioning the line(s)” and the wind window can be learnt (with some differences) with a DLK (dual line kite) and even a fighter kite (dirigible single line). Yes when having that one down the consideration to get a robust beginner kite is gone to a large extent. Almost a slack line trick. I think that the first thing on the first session should be about having the kite meeting the ground, in whatever manner, with slack lines. In light wind, make small jumps (one or a couple spine-lengths up) and then land. When you have this down, proceed to make the kite fly forwards in a more ”normal” manner. There are other risks to the kite than the more obvious crashes. Long lines as favoured by beginners means that it is hard to see the kite well before taking off. The fabric in the sail can get torn if getting caught on a small woody plant. A stand-off might snap if one of the lines accidentally would be around one kite instead of going directly towards the pilot. Do the walk of contemplation all the way to the kite before every take off until you get hold of this and continue to be suspicious every time, especially if the landing was “unplanned”.

Thank you for this nugget of info @Outlaw! This goes into this discussion: http://kites.aerialis.com/are-you-ready-for-the-third-test-flight/ (see comment section at the end of the blog post) Here negative camber line curvature (like the Sky Burner Fulcrum or Benson Air Bow http://airbow.org/flying.html ) is introduced to a Rev-like wing. For the start of this interesting series of development work see: http://kites.aerialis.com/adding-3d-to-an-old-quad-lined-kite/

Hello @hallthor, Another Swede – that is not every day one shows up on KL! I agree that there are not so many options here, but we are not completely without shops. You can get a Prism Quantum from “Fler Bollar i Luften” an HQ Yukon from “Drakjohan” (I bought a HQ Photon (a fighter kite) from him two weeks ago btw) and also from “Skånehobby”. If you want real fancy kites try Sportkitedesign (though it seems like SKD “ is currently taking a break and not taking orders”). OK, so abroad I have tried: Metropolis Drachen, Drachenmarkt, Bilboquet, Spiderkites, Elliot, Andykites and Kiteworld. I have never been disappointed with the delivered goods. I’m currently waiting for a delivery after a recent order from Polokites (but custom kite orders tend to take a while compared to something that is already in stock). I have not tested De Paddestoel, Korvokites, Space Kites, Kitehouse or Feine-Drachen yet (I’m sure I have omitted several shops here unfortunately). You can also buy used gear/kites from Fractured Axel (For Sale & Wanted) and Drachenforum (Börse). Funny, kids had the opposite effect on me. With few exceptions I took a 15 year break from kites when the children were small... Good luck with your return to your hobby! Added 19th Sept 2021: I forgot (in addition to Kite-Lab/Thomas Horvath as mentioned by @Bunduki Vlieger) to mention the shop Kitebg. I have not yet tried their services though. Perhaps not a very large stunt kite relevant assortment. On the other hand gokitinggr, (to my understanding) the corresponding Youtube channel, is much varied.

Sharing the result my colorizer work: http://www.polokites.com/revopolo/shop/shop.php?prod=spl150 The idea of the design is an inner glow inside a cage/basket of cast iron. While still making use of the colour gradients available, the end result should be relaxing to the eye. Polo Kites spotted that I had used gold instead of orange (hard to see in the editor) on just one pair of the panels and kindly assisted with advice before the design was finalized. Now the time of agony has begun – the long waiting for the kite to be finished and shipped... I have always imagined that if I’d ever get a Polo quad it would be a vented one. From quite early on when learning to pilot quads this video with its very distinct kite movements served as an inspiration/goal: But considering that my Rev B-series std is almost worn out while the mid vent is just a little worn and the full vent is hardly worn, it is the UL (Custom) I “need” (want). Also considering that I’m going to use this kite for many many hours I chose a custom one so I could have the graphics just the way I want. So I originally imagined getting a Polo for high wind, but seem to have ended up on the other side of the wind spectrum. Most of the time in no/low wind I’m using the Rev Indoor, but once I receive the new quad, it is going to be interesting to try the low wind properties. Indoor piloting by Polo Kites: https://www.facebook.com/polosite/videos/10215362764635371/ Not very much footwork seems to be required (if using a proper technique of course). While at it, I ordered a set of T1s to try out no/low/rather low wind T1-T2-frame combos. Crystal T2s come with the UL quads by “optional default” to my understanding. Having access to various frames is something I first learned to appreciate with my set of B-series Revs, where two sets of frames with different stiffness were included per kite.

I think that a contributing factor to why this happens is that with a Rev-like quad the flexing of the LE is a natural part of the control – you are thus constantly being updated/reminded about the load on the spars. I have not broken any Fulcrum spar so I have no direct feeling of when the UL-spar(/spine) is unsuitable. He didn’t happen to say anything about if the handle length was in important factor when flipping the kite (pitch-wise, on its back i.e.)? Is there a recommend handle length (range)? Are the 13 inch (33 cm) Rev-handles “the best option”?

TVTropes - “Move Along, Nothing to See Here”: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoveAlongNothingToSeeHere

That this is very well piloted goes without saying. However a question: When being at the top how was the wind quality? I mean air get forced along the ground over the top which could cause turbulence.

🙂😄, I couldn’t help smiling at this childhood prank. (OK, since all kite pilots are very visible ambassadors I probably shouldn't appreciate this…). Naah…, get some spare spars, repair tape and a bottle of CA-glue. You can only fully learn by doing. How to know where the limit is if you don’t crack something occasionally? You seem to be relaxed interacting with the public. I always see that as a bonus (except once when a very drunk person stayed for far too long with “non-brilliant” questions). Allow yourself to fail in public (if you don't do so already) so your progress rate isn’t reduced. Good luck learning!!!

A fresh breeze so to say, but in the same time also very traditional. Though it was decades ago since I ever tried to make something out of tape, wire, bamboo and garbage bag plastic sheets, I really appreciate various aspects of kiting being presented and also the DIY element as well. Looking forward to see any project of yours.

Would the mould and scent of vintage go away after a couple of sessions in the rain? I’m sure that that is an excellent advice. Is this to be considered as a general ripstop cleaning agent or is it something more geared towards mould? Is it necessary to clean kites at all? I’m quite relaxed when it comes to stains and wear. I believe: “A worn kite is a feather in my cap - Any stain is an insignia of use.” That sounded real good – I think I’ll change my signature accordingly!

The kite with the strongest frame that I got are my HQ speed/power(/though quite trickable) Fazer XL and XXL. By design the lower spreaders are strong. They are plugged both on the inner and outer side and are also the thickest of the spars - 10mm on the XL and 12mm on the XXL. Tip stabbing the rather heavy kites can then instead have consequences for the LLE (and split nocks):

Did the pultruded 6mm carbon spar by any chance break at the edge of the above mentioned centre-T fitting? You likely know the trick to glue 4mm tube or rod (a few cm long) inside the 6mm tube at the fitting to strengthen it. I had previously broken lower spreaders in mid air when snap-stalling until I added these plugs inside the 6mm tube. I occasionally use my few old kites for their different flying properties, nostalgia or returning to and old model with hopefully new skills I was about to say. But then I realize it has been a long while since doing DLKing… Still, ”1998 lol” I have difficulties in fully accepting.

I’m glad to see that the old fashioned blue car (the avatar) has returned here after a long pause. Nice to hear from you again!!

I should (talking is always easy...) challenge myself here. Short line quad piloting is something I do in no/low wind on a sheltered parking or in clean non-turbulent wind on a small jetty. There are no corresponding turbulent wind sessions in medium (or high) wind in in my repertoire. Well, at least the challenge/I-also-want-to-be-able-to-do-that method has worked before. This “provoking” video, https://kitelife.com/forum/topic/8859-progress-so-far/?_rid=10687 (*), was an inspiration to start practising 90-deg wing tip pivots with sudden start/stops. The quick 90-deg wing tip pivots are now a standard component to practice/maintain in all my sessions. * The actual video in that KL-post seems now to be missing though. Be proud of that 2-year milestone!

“Limestone pavement”? - I had imagined some street kiting in a historical environment. I like the rising axels at 00:48 and 02:08. Are they something you actively achieve or is it more a consequence of the wind speed? The multi rotor camera video looked nice, adding the feeling of extra volume to the sky. However, being focused on the kite it took me several seconds to realize that the camera was moving.

Yes, there was also some mess 12-13 years ago about the originally green colour of “Kung-Fu Pandas” eyes, green being somewhat malicious: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/panda-film-is-a-national-insult-say-chinese-871869.html

Not directly an answer to your question of why there are many green shades, but more a comment of when and where green is considered to be bad luck. A Chinese former college at work informed me that green was a colour for being deceived by one's wife and, I believe it was, also not knowing about it and then something about a hat? So I had a look at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_in_Chinese_culture#Blue_/_Azure_/_Green There green, infidelity and hats are mentioned in the same Wikipedia sentience: "Separately, green hats are associated with infidelity and used as an idiom for a cuckold." Ahh, and there was some historical connection between China and kites wasn’t it? 🙂 Come on, go on being passively aggressive. Just blame it on those Swedes again… !! 🙂

You are a kind fellow kiter. When it comes to lending kites out to beginners, I have only done it with DLKs (in light winds) and the Smithi Pro (being a foil) quad. When I comes to framed quads I think that I still have too little redundancy to lend them out to beginners.

Cheating children (not that you did) isn’t generally a good thing to do (except when it comes to the Tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and Santa Claus). I was instead thinking of a grown-up neighbour's reaction here a few months ago when I was out on the parking with the Rev Indoor. She asked: ”How is it being propelled?” I thought and : ”It is electrically powered and is propelled by an ion drive (like e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-r-p2iHoDA ). You see the lines are not only lines. They are also thin insulated high voltages wires. Being high voltage only a very small cross section of the wires is required. Sewn into the trailing edge of this wing there are fine metal wires forming a simple more or less continuously distributed ionic thruster. High voltage generators, such as in bug-zaps, are nowadays very small so that they are nicely fitted into the handles.” No I didn’t say this. I’m sure that it would only add to the perceived strangeness of this regular activity that the neighbours are already too polite to express anything about.

An ”Outdoor Book for Boys” from 1907 on Gutenberg got a chapter about kites: Harper’s Outdoor Book For Boys, Joseph H. Adams, 1907 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53705/53705-h/53705-h.htm#chapter_viii Perhaps a kite builder could find any inspiration from the detailed figures (in clarity often outperforming many modern photos IMO): About these 13 - 15 ft Maui kites: ”It would glide about in graceful curves or dart suddenly towards the ground only to soar upward just as suddenly”. The text didn’t say if they were fighter kites or not though. Also, very easy to relate to: ”I watched for some time their graceful, birdlike motion and then tried to buy one. They seemed loath to part with them, however, and it was only after I had exhausted nearly all my persuasive powers and all the small change in my pockets that I succeeded in obtaining one.” The pain to part from a well flying kite is timeless I’d think. Kite reel. Don’t get rid of your old bicycle, you never know when there is a use for salvaged parts? Re-cycling (no pun intended) has come into fashion again. Yes the content may not always be compatible with modern views on gender and supposed favoured activities and that of original population/ethnic groups, but is very interesting as a historical document and contains detailed figures of kites. 1907 tinkering/tinkerers ”becomes alive”. The book is by no means limited to kites, on the contrary it is a kind of a diverse DIY book with a positive optimistic spirit. Do you want to build a pumping windmill, pigeon-cote, a fountain, ice yacht, snow shoes, traps, a land yacht (no kite buggies though), a tree hut… as they did it in 1907? Also this book encourages not to stop playing during the winter: ”All real boys welcome the approach of the winter season with its glorious opportunities for sport on the snow and ice. Toboggans, double-runners, skees, and snow-shoes—the very words make the blood tingle in one’s veins, and happy is the boy whose home is in the Northern climes where there is real winter for at least four months out of the year.”

Didn’t notice any ”lateral slack” in the connectors. But perhaps I’m a kite pilot brute? 🦍 Nope, I have never broken a vertical tube including the 2PT ones. I have heard that the verticals should be sensitive, so of course I switch to other downspars if it is windy and light downspars are no longer needed. Use them 50% of the time in the midvent though. I remeber having seen a picture in an old KL post somewhere where a downspar had snapped in three pieces. At the time I ordered them I hadn’t seen any recommendations – I just wanted a light downspar. After receiving the 2PTs I removed a few cm to get the same tube length as the other tubes. I chose to remove the narrow side because it ”looked reasonable”.

Weights? – didn’t know that there were any. I never got any that I can remember when buying my set of B-series. Yes, axels are possible to do without them as we know, but I find the Fulcrum more forgiving especially when learning axels and the bridleless Rev Indoor more naturally prone to do (flat) axels (not that the Rev Indoor otherwise would be a beginner friendly kite). I most often use 2PT as downspars on my B-series std and midvent. Just out of habit I have the thick side of these light tapered spars closest to the LE. Perhaps I instead should have the narrow side closest to the LE and the slightly heavier side closest to the TE?

Thanks for the info @Caller Stephen! Link in English (Google Translate): https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&u=https://kinetic-art-kites.jimdofree.com/deutsch/onlineshop/vierleiner/ The pictures of the manual/assembly instruction give a quite clear idea of the details of the design.

I don’t know anything about this video/kite, but I sure know that I have not seen any quad like this: