riffclown

I think it was the additional size.

I've converted exactly ONE 2.5 and that was for Chris Shultz of HQ Kites. The instructions had to be adjusted quite a bit.. It flew great but was not as spry as the 2.2 version.

Very cool.. He's pretty good.. Even a casual familiarity with duals and the Symphony is a very fast stepping stone.. Great job and thank you very much for sharing.. Now, you're going to need another one....

So I used the dental floss method to replace the leaders on one of my sets. Pretty happy with the results.. TKB leaders rock..

Doesn't @SHBKF usually win the Sky Dog drawings???

@contactmic You are most welcome.. Glad it worked out for you..

Great choice!!!

I'll add you to the message group

OK, Made a bag instead..

So I came to a rude awakening yesterday.. Despite my best attempts, it's really hard to get all my framed quads in an easy configuration for travel.. Part of this is because I don't know how to leave ANYTHING behind.. Given that I've made a bunch of kites since my last outing to OBX, I decided to make a dig bag. I came up with a 11"x11"x44" pumpkin of a bag after visiting Joann's Fabrics this morning.. I picked up some Orange duck cloth and zippers that all combined with a tiedown strp I had handy to form this bag.. Definitely a first effort but also a usable item.,,Lots of space for Revs, Freileins and home mades. So far, it has my home made rolloup bag, My Freilein Dig bag with all the Revs and both the Freilein and Spectrum stacks inside with room to spare.. Pretty sure it will hold ALL of my framed quads without breaking a sweat..

The Flexifoils are very nice kites.. I have zero issues with them.. I have a larger Flexifoil Bullet myself.. I really enjoy flying it under the right conditions.. I'll reconnect with you to verify everything on the Symphony after I get back from OBX..

@Breezin Get ready to be tempted.. I'll offer to let you borrow a Symphony 2.2.4, lines, handles, and all BUT you need to know up front this one is not for sale. (two reasons it's not for sale, kite has been bombed and has had the baffles repaired plus it's Symphony 2.2.4 #1 and was my original prototype that I measure every new kite against..) I'll even cover the postage to you.. Only thing I'll ask of you is after about a month or so you mail it back to me at your expense. We'll get together on the timing of that return. Will be no hurry, I just want to make sure it's not while I'm on a business trip. Timing, You will have to wait until my April OBX trip is done, since this is the kite I allow the public to use and it will probably be used for some team flying there. Let me know what you'd like to do..

Well I am the village......clown. Thank you for the kind words..

@Mike Klaiber Only because you asked. Let's see, home-mades since last year's clinic, Purple, Yellow, Mesh #6, and MEsh #5 (PLaid) as well as the Spectrum stack (5 kites). You saw some of these at the Rogallo.. First non-tails kite, Indigo Sunrise, was added in October. The Night Brite kite, Jester, Midnight Royal, Yonder, Diamonds, Recharge and Jester 2 were all done since the new year but, Jester has a home in the kite dungeon now and Recharge is headed to Australia after the April Clinic. (SO, 7have been completed since the new year ) I have the Perspective stack unfinished and waiting until I have time to sew everything at the same time..Right now it's 4 kites but will end up being 6. While the panels might make the trip, they won't be kites yet.. Short answer is I'll have 14 kites you can try for the first time with a few of what you seen and flown already having found new homes in the hills of Virginia. There's a few I need to fly myself.. Don't ask me to list the non home-mades since last year. I'm not sure I could name them all without taking the bag out.. Short version, I know I will have 3 kites for @John Barresi to sign right beside of Bazzer's sig.. There's also more Freileins and another Rev or 2.

I was not a fan of the Smithi Pro.. It's one of the reasons I pressed forward with the Symphony Mod..

@esinger I'll also have a few spares on hand as loaners..

Recharge and Jester II both are completed.. After April in Corolla, Recharge will have a new home down under..

Winds in that first video were far higher than 15mph.. I'd estimate 25-30 based on the wind whistling through the lines and the speed the kite was flying. I've flown the beach 2.1 in high wind and it's a hoot!!! Symphony 2.2.4 in 30mph winds. Experience does make a huge difference. I'll also agree, under 16 should be supervised until they are familiar with the wind window and pull of the kite. This was just before buggying . Now in a related thought, Here's a 9 year old flying a 6.5 METER Toxic in light winds.. Yes that's a lot of kite, yes, it's a 9 year old flying it and yes, the winds are much lighter than described. My point is with experience will come the skills necessary to pilot the foils safely. Notice safety gear all around and supervision is close by.. FWIW, I wouldn't recommend anyone of any age fly the Symphony (or any foil for that matter) for the first time in 15-25MPH winds,, fly in 8-10 first.. Once your children's skills increase, higher winds are just another learning experience. I still say the 2.2 Sport size is a good starting point.. According to Edmond Earlier, it's literally the same 1.8 Size as the Beamer but will have less pull because it's not set up to be a traction foil. Can still surprise but ANY kite can surprise you in the right conditions.

Wait til you feel the power of the dark side... The balance of the force and the ability to control something as if it's on four lines...

Finished it yesterday and took a few minutes in the swirl to do a bridle check... This one is a keeper..

@Breezin FWIW, You know you want one.. I know a guy..

Symphony Beach 2.2 sport kite is a nice kite with a good touch of pull.. The pull of the foil isn't only about wind speed but where in the wind window you fly the kite.. even a small kite zipping through the power zone of the wind window has the capability of yanking you off your feet.. That being said it's a good choice for a starter foil and in consistent winds 5-15mph.. the Synapse, and Prism Snapshot kites are also good choices in the 2.x sport range.. You can go smaller but as skills progress the desire for a bit more pull with come quickly.. If quad is the future, I'd highly suggest staying larger than 2.0 in the sport range.. I've modified a lot of foils and below the 2.0 size they tend to be sluggish with rear bridles.. More on choosing a "power" kite here

Be very careful how you mix those sizes.. Beamer 1.8 is a power kite and is in square meters.. Synapes and Symphony are "SPORT" sizes and are not on the same scale at all.. a 1.8 Beamer is LARGER than a 2.2 Symphony.. Obviously I'm pretty partial to the Symphony. Here a 2.2 Symphony on top of a 2M HQ Crossfire.. There is a huge difference between sport size and power size. We need to be very careful not to perpetuate that size discrepancy.