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I've grown tired of attaching and detaching my lights, so I'm building one for a permanent home. Fingers crossed. 11 panels (5/1/5). Based roughly on the B-series because of the straight lines, but slightly different dimensions to help with the weight of the rig, plus some other refinements. Planning on midnight blue, fluorescent green, and white/reflective trim. The lights will ring the kite and be held in with the sheer trim. Here are the lights in action, held with packing tape on a Djinn.

This is normal, and not just kites. There have been tons of social experiments around it. World-class violinists performing and ignored, sometimes a person will stop and listen. World-class singers out busking, singing at the corner. Groups like the Harlem Globetrotters play around by a crowd, but are either ignored or asked to move along. Without the context most people ignore others, don't give them a second thought. Occasionally some people notice and comment it is good, but it is rare.

This will make a great kite for someone, and green shows up great against blue skies and clouds. So exciting.

Looking online I only see one person doing it, Riff who just replied above, with his kites flown by others but saying converted by Riff. After some quick web searches I only see results showing kites by Riff and his real life name posted in various locations. In addition to "making of" and flying videos, he posted instructions: http://www.riffclown.com/kites/HQ2.2.4Conversion.pdf I'm curious if it has quietly become a bigger conversion, or if the ones already done all come from Riff despite publishing the instructions.

Image to show it: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ktG4W98qK8bUhmUk8 Even at rest you can see lines in the fabric from tension. It takes no effort to fill the sail.

Regarding the tension mods... As shipped the kite had almost no tension. The leading edge was completely slack, and the verticals had only the slightest tension. My tension increase on the verticals requires a bit of leverage to install them. After the second round, putting endcaps on the leading edge now requires a significant ark (maybe 15-20 degrees) to get the slack to slip it on. Now the sail is taut even at rest. The effects are dramatic. In order to fly there must be tension on the sail. For a loose sail you must be supplying effort not just to keep it moving, but also to keep it tight. When you drop pressure the leading edge recoils a bit requiring a burst of extra energy to recover and get back flying. You can do it, but it takes more power so subtlety is out. This gives a burst flying effect, which matches what happens when you first fly: big tug, stall, tug, stall, versus low continuous pressure. I also have 1/4" internal diameter nylon tubing over the lower endcaps so it stays put on the ground. I replace the little nylon nub occasionally, just a half inch or inch of tube. Without anything it will slide around on the gym floor. It needs something to give traction as the stock caps are slippery on hard floors.

What are you working on now/recently? Most recently for indoor quads it was getting consistent with reverse 360. You can see my posts here on the channel with this as my first video asking for help trying to unlock it back in February, and compare that with my entry in Windless 2021 this month, about ten months later. You'll notice that even though I've got a back injury in the recent Windless video, I can now transition into a reverse 360 from just about any orientation/position, and I can usually stay in it as long as I want, such as until I get dizzy. Currently I'm working on cementing and solidifying all my current indoor skills. I want to make the transition from "I can do it right" over to "I don't get it wrong". What did you learn and how did you do it? What do you think your hands/body were doing (if you were successful)? For the reverse 360, there were a three big keys. The first was a "properly" adjusted sail. Even though I had earlier adjusted the kite per Watty's indoor modification guide of increasing tension and tuning bridles, I found this had a huge effect. Tighter leading edge tension made this easier, even tighter than my first adjustment attempts. Completely removing the lower leaders and lengthening the upper leaders was also essential for me. The second was the feel of the indoor sail fully loading. This requires both a mix of foot power to put air in the sail, and hand position to ensure the lines are engaged. If the sail doesn't fully engage it won't stay in reverse. Consistently getting that initial air pressure load was a big challenge for me, it doesn't come for (mostly) free like it does outdoors. The kite's previous motion and momentum, the kite's speed and drag (how it is cutting through the air versus gliding through versus catching like a parachute), springiness on the leading edge spar, the air motion in the room, these are all sail loading inputs in addition to the pilot's motion. I cannot put into words how that sail loading actually feels, and each attempt is a unique combination of conditions requiring a different input. The last was keeping that fully-loaded sail engaged the entire time. Too much foot power is wasted and can make the kite harder to control, too little and the kite drops. Keeping the kite balanced under load in reverse requires continuous adjustment. Trying to fly 360's reverse square to the ground is the easiest position, trying to maintain it at an angle is trickier, and I cannot describe it other than developing a feel for what motions and tensions cause the kite to depower. In trying to overcome the difficulties I actually spent several outdoor sessions flying reverse side-to-side while being mindful of how different loads felt, how the different loads affected speed, and how different hand positions affected it. I practiced flipping from forward flight to reverse flight in the same direction, and reversing direction. Even though all grip orientations work, because different people recommend different things I learned to fly in all the grips from a strict up/down handle orientation, a 45' grip, 90' grip, T-shape grip, all the way out to a more flailing 'freestyle' motion, and at different heights. I experimented with flying in all of them (which also helped me fly outdoor) to gain a physical feeling and better intellectual understanding. It took a lot to unlock this, but I learned a ton in the process.

I use latex tubing found at the hardware store. 1/4" internal diameter stuff takes some doing to stretch over the endcap, but is cheap and since it comes in 10-foot tubes but only used an inch at a time, doesn't feel bad to replace as it gets chewed up.

Same on all counts, it isn't just you. I've pushed the Kaiju beyond those limits, but as I wrote above, it was after first getting comfortable with the kite and being in a position where if something broke it wasn't a big deal, plus a lot of fear and worry. It is small, it feels somewhat fragile (especially compared with full size kites). I've been more impressed that it survived some of the abuse I've given them. When compared to putting down a kite with sturdy spars (e.g. SkyShark P3X's) and putting together something with the tiny thin sticks (the website says 0.098 and 0.118 microcarbon) it can easily feel like a toy. Given my 'druthers, I'll take a full sized kite and strong steady winds over a SUL and calm air any day.

Then what you described is the opposite of what Club 38 offers. While the other levels they presented are somewhat of a progression, they aren't linear. They won't tell what the other "skills" are when asked, saying you must progress through each level before unlocking the next. When I've asked a few times over the years I've been told that I could easily work through the videos to be declared a master, but they won't disclose what they all are. I was one of the first people to publicly view the program, one of my kites included their flier and I posted in their forums about a month before the program was officially launched. They were charging at first, and eventually made the program free. I ended up going through the first four levels, and don't think it was worth the small investment. Makatakam also paid up at the time, and I'm not sure how far along he went. Just as examples... Level 1 which is publicly available are all about the core skills, but badly taught. Setup is important, but the official Rev video is garbage. Watch JB's videos on line management and setup/teardown. The next skills of launch, turn, and back down do need to be taught first, but Joe's videos are not good at demonstrating them. In addition to the KiteLife videos, there are plenty of others on YouTube that are better tutorials. Sills 5 of landing on feet nicely and 6 of flipping over are duplicates of skills 3 and 4, just explained differently (and badly, struggling to keep the clips in frame and not showing hands and kite simultaneously). Their skills 9 and 13 for spinning, what he verbally describes is actually called a bicycle turn as he says the kite shouldn't drop at all, but then he doesn't describe the bicycle turn, instead he just describes a basic spin done quickly which is guaranteed to lose height. He then verbally describes the skill but mixes up three different types of turns, then he attempts to demonstrate them; he described that he was going to do a 360 hovering in place (a bicycle turn), does a quick turn that doesn't hover, does a half turn that loses height, does a lost-control 540 that drops considerably, and struggles to maintain control at several points, but never properly demonstrates what he described as the goal. So many FB posts ask the same question about how to not let their skills 9 and 13 do a spin spin without dropping so much height, but because he explains it as a fast turn nobody will do it as the bicycle motion required. When people recommend developing the skills required for a bicycle turn, specifically working on hovering in all orientations especially inverted, they get poo-pooed saying those are later skills that don't need to be developed yet. It isn't until #20 that he gets to reversing the kite, but it is a skill needed for 11, 12, 15, etc. I'm curious what their higher level skills are, but based on the videos people post on their FB page as people pass off the skills, they're all just the basics of control. There are so many better resources, even distributed directly from Rev (but not their creation). Their flying techniques page is okay. Rev is also one of many sites to host copies of the old flying manuals, although they didn't author them. While they're great salesfolks, they aren't great teachers.

This type of In Search Of post works well for old, out-of-production models. Sometimes it can be the only way to obtain a decades-old model that is gathering dust in someone's closet. It doesn't make as much sense right now since it is the current production model. You can easily get them direct from the manufacturer in any color you want. Is there something I'm missing? Is this post just because you don't want to buy one new?

I love the Kaiju on light wind days. If wind is too weak to hold up other kites I can still fly the Kaiju. If it goes completely calm I can switch to indoor techniques but I rarely need to. At first I wasn't sure it could handle it, so I bought a second for outdoor flying, then within a month I won my third. Now I have two I fly outside whenever winds get light, plus one I fly indoors. Usually I set one up after my Djinn or Rev is struggling to fly, and keep at it until somewhat beyond the kite's rated maximum. My only difficulty in light wind is forgetting the nature of the kite. Too often I have tried to pop a trick or get a tight hairpin turn, and instead have a spar pop out from the stress. While I have not broken one yet, one of the leading edge ferrules is somewhat bent on one of my kites. There have been many times I was certain I broke something only to see one (or rarely TWO) spars popped out. I have had three times going out into the water accidentally, one I was sure was broken but by luck my wife found the lost spar in the waist-deep water, not broken. I would not do it intentionally but I have seen them hold up to the stress of underwater flying. I have found up to about 5 mph and a little stronger it can be a great lazy kite. I can sit in a chair, hook lines on two fingers, and casually fly one handed. 30' to 50' works great for that. It requires very little input for basic control.

My measurements also match. Also hopefully helpful, I took a video a few months back for something else. You can pause and zoom in as needed on various attachment points. https://photos.app.goo.gl/fZywNEbrnW6822LW6

I know the other two by reputation only, so I am not really qualified for a big comparison. Overall the Quantum is a beginner to intermediate skill kite, tolerant of poor handling and very forgiving to crashes and abuse. Those same qualities make it difficult for advanced work, where pilots need something stiffer and more responsive, which also means more sensitive and twitchy. It can handle some tricks, and repair parts are available everywhere. By reputation I understand several of the Benson kites are more advanced fliers. People could likely do more with them if they have the skills and experience, and they are flown by people accustomed to maintaining and repairing as they are used.

Probably not necessary, but might make a few things easier if the program doesn't add margins. That would give you a continuous sheet in one of the two directions. However, if the programs quietly add extra printing margins it won't help anything. When I have printed patterns in the past, I print as a multi-page with registration marks (the little markers on the edge of where the printable area is supposed to be). Then I tape all the pages together into a giant sheet using the registration marks to overlap/the paper to the correct locations.

It appears the common factor is you. So it must be your fault! More seriously, I agree with the ebb-and-flow thing. Many northern popular kite-flying places are taking a break for winter. If you are talking about kiting in general across decades, there has been a decline in most outdoor activities that is easy to see over the past 40+ years. Parks, beaches, and outdoor venues that were once filled to capacity every day are often sparse or empty. Outdoor activities of all kinds have been on the decline. Also consider the nature of this type of discussion board. Mostly it is beginners and intermediate skilled people asking questions until they become self-sufficient. It is easy to watch as people have progressed -- even for me -- looking at posting history. People stop asking questions and instead start answering them. This is great for the individual and the community, but it does slow down discussion boards. This isn't unique to kites or this forum. I'm in several forums related to my day job, and we get a flood of beginners and questions when school starts up, then it settles down. You can also watch as people transition from beginner questions to intermediate questions, then start answering questions and slowly transition to industry professionals, and eventually stop posting questions at all. Students eventually become the master or leave. The easiest approach to re-invigorate discussion sites is to ask questions, like you did here. Plenty of people still visit the site, plenty of people fly every week, some nearly every day. Rather than preaching to the choir, we wait for new folks to ask questions and then pounce.

Actually ITW is well regarded nationally for their online and mail orders. They have room to improve like all retailers, but they have a good collection of beginner and intermediate kites. All the kite stores I have been to keep the expensive kites in the corner, and the cheap bright children's kites on display, much like you called it feeling like a tourist trap. Families are much more likely to buy a fancy $19 kite than a $100 kite. The $300+ kites are kept behind the counter or in the back. People who want them know to ask by name. The Quantum is a good learning kite. It is solidly built and has a big wind range. It can survive many hard crashes and parts are readily available when spars break. It uses elastic which is forgiving and does not require tying. The kite can fly most basic tricks without difficulty. I have one to set up for strangers who want to try.

You also mentioned foils. Think the difference between a fighter plane as the dual, and a helicopter as a quad. A solid parafoil might be a passenger jet or even a cargo plane. Sport foils are smallish, between about 1-3 meters across. Their more powerful siblings of traction or power kites are often 2-4 square meters of sail. Your kite will pull roughly the same as a 2 meter sport foil. Since they don't have a frame you can't do those fancy acrobatic tricks, but they can pull fast and hard. They range from a moderate workout to something designed to haul you around in a buggy, or even kiteboarding. Don't go beyond a sport sail size without some safety training. Once you get into power kite range they include multiple ways to kill the power. Kiteboard kites always include at least 3 kite killers and people still get overwhelmed and injured occasionally.

This is universally true, no shame in that. As you grow into the hobby, you can start saving money until the budget grows into it. Some people also build their own, choosing to save a lot of money in exchange for time, sweat, blood, and tears. Line sets cost about half as much but require buying in bulk up front; yards of kite fabric cost have some waste as you cut around, but then you've got people like @riffclown who make impressive patchwork kites from hundreds of tiny scraps of fabric. Assuming you stick with the sport, you'll have one, then another, then another, then you'll talk about your collection with pride, then you'll talk about it with embarrassment as you forget how many total kites you own. (I'm at 24, but Christmas is coming, plus I've saved up for the Djindoor when it is released...)

That's the normal scenario, beaches are only a small part of the world. Most of us live with wildly variable wind. Stealing Paul's normal quote, there is really no such thing as bad weather, only a poorly equipped kite flier. Want to fly in dead calm air or indoors? There are kites for that. Want to fly in a gale, or in hurricane force winds? There are kites for that. You certainly can choose to fly a kite near the upper end of it's rated speed. Even if the spars don't break (they can be replaced), the sail fabric stretches and has a risk of tearing. All sail fabric stretches out over time, it's just a question of if you want to enjoy the kite for thousands of hours, or only a few. Many kites sell a range, from ultralight (UL) and super-ultralight (SUL) versions for light wind or no wind, up through to vented versions that are mostly mesh or fabric windows. Dual line kites can also have air brakes, basically a piece of fabric or mesh along the lines placed on the bridle mounts that add drag to slow it down. 15MPH is a great forecast for the vast majority of kites. Usually for inland wind there is considerable variability, so even though the forecast is 15MPH from minute to minute it may range from 8 to 15 to 20 to 12 to 6 to 10, and so on. That is strong enough to get the massive kites up in the air, and still low enough that most of the cheap plastic kites the kiddies bring can fly like a dream. Learn to use the wind window so when wind is pulling hard you are flying out on the edge, where pull is minimal. As wind dies off, fly back into the power zone. What kind of kite do you have? You may have missed an ideal flying day, or if you have an SUL, you may have dodged a bullet.

From the specs it looks like it ships with 90# 80ft lines, which are quite common. (Or 40kp 25m if you prefer.) Eventually you will get a large collection of both line lengths and strengths, but that is a good set to start with. Think about what that means, pulling 90 pounds on each arm maximum. For most people that kind of pull ranges from uncomfortable to stronger than them. A few kites recommend 150# for strong winds, and power kites often use 300# or stronger, but at that point you're looking either for man lifting with body tethers or for anchored flight, and not for casual flying. Eventually you'll likely have a range in your bag, from 30# short lines for super ultralight kites on calm days, to 50# and 90# for everyday flying, and 150# and possibly even a set of 300# for kites designed to drag you around. But most days you'll be using 90# or similar for casual flying.

Sounds about right from Rev. AWOC probably sent the custom order immediately to Rev, and then the factory sent it directly to you weeks later after it was built to order. Depending on the custom colors it may be difficult to sell to anyone else. I have had only positive experiences with AWOC. They closed the physical store years ago and have a high volume of online business.

Might be either. When balanced to neutral flying positions, the lines take effort to move forward or back. It often takes less effort to back up than to move forward. As for control, that takes hours on the line. Inverted practice is not the only way to go. Practice going up then backing down, practice diagonally up and diagonally down, flying to one side then backing across the sky. Pulling too hard can cause the kite to bowtie, flip, or depower. That takes time on the line to learn how it feels, and how to react. Five or twenty hours focused on reverse flight can get you the experience.

Plenty of people experiment with weights. Experience can teach you a lot. Designers have settled on the spine for good reason. If you like destabilizing effects for unpredictable flight, as some freestyle pilots do, you may enjoy it.

Scrolling back, I think we all mentioned that some kites are specifically designed for it. They are usually beginner or intermediate kites. Tricks and precision do better with a stiff frame (which break rather than bend), and tricks especially are often easier with straight edges and nothing to snag on, except yoyo stoppers designed to snag and release. You absolutely could add whiskers that keep the nose off the ground when belly-down. But the same whiskers would be in the way and snag on axels and other tricks. Even curved leading edges make some things more difficult. It's all about tradeoffs.