Breezin

Was at the center of window on my Nighthawk going for a snap stall landing. Was going to take a break and was trying to land the kite as close to my beer as I could with out knocking it over. Nose down I missed it and instead of starting over tried to correct. One more nose dive in the books. Winds were around 10 mph and it was pretty hard. Kite stopped about 2"" from spilling the beer. Lucky me. Looked over the kite really well and nothing appeared to be wrong. 1/2 hour later was checking over the kite again and the sunlight glinted off the fracture. I've broken enough spreaders to know that the crack was from the nose dive. The subsequent flights made it visible. It looks like someone etched it. The inward end of the crack is square. . No fibers sticking out. Weird but still broke . Love my Nighthawk but I'm sure rough on it. Kinda rough on all of them.

Didn't feel comfortable with my skill set on 50' with the PDSUL or Zephyr. The size of the Solus would at this point be very intimidating on short lines. Hopefully that will change. Can see the advantage of practicing closer to the kite.

Flew the zephyr and PD on 100' 90# set. Winds went down to 0 to 3. Made a 114' x 50# set of Spiderwire and flew the PD for a bit. Really felt different. Wasn't up long and the winds picked back up. Got paranoid and quit. Will have to fly longer to have a better impression. Temps stayed in the 20's and when the cloud cover came I about froze. Still chilled but the Brownies are helping . The lines are dark green and they silhouette really well. On the ground they're hard to see. Iv'e flown the Micron in 15 to 25 on 100' 150# and 90#. I felt the kite pulled the lines really well. Flew the Jewel in 5 to 10 mph yesterday on 150# 80' and it dragged a bit. Had 3 kites out and to lazy to get out the Jewels 80# set. Shudder is a lot worse on the 50#. I'll blame the crash that snarled up my lines so bad on the squirt LOL. Now I only fly the Micron and 1.4 foil when winds are going over 15 unless I have company. Pretty sure I'm going to like the Micron on the long set. I'll have to put the tail on so I can see it. Jon T said the PD works well 65' x 50# in 0 to 4 so I'll finish that set tomorrow. Note to self dress more appropriately. In 6 months I'll be whining about the 95 degree temps longing for these winter days sipping beer instead of guzzling water.

If you can handle that kite you can handle the Widow ng. Widow was my first kite and has been thru hell. Sail is broke in now and flies better then new. Flew it for a couple hours yesterday with no crashes. The kite was very appreciative .

If related to Spider kites Zodarian I'd say no. That kite reads more like my Addiction. Most obvious reason would be size difference. Out of my kites though the 65 inch Jewel flies most like the 8' Widow ng by design [Premier series Jewel, Wolf, Widow ]. Rookie here so not much help. If I lost the Widow ng today I'd have another on the way by tonight because I can't afford the Widow Maker Pro right now.

Yesterday winds were 15 to 20 mph with gusts a little higher at times. First time I flew the Micron on 50' x 50# in that high of winds. Crashed around 20 mph. Lower spreader popped out on one side and kite relaunched. Kite started spinning and snarled the lines like never before. Got one line untangled. While working on the other I was laying on my side trying to enjoy myself. Wife came home from work and freaked out. Thought I was dead or dying. Then I got my butt chewed. Sigh. At least she cares. Started noticing how much damage my finger nails were doing and quit.Plus I really wasn't enjoying myself as much as I was trying to. Read that folks are having good results flying SULs with 20 to 50 lb Spider wire stealth. Got some this morning and it sure feels slicker then the 50# I have. Lines have been beat up though. Flown the Micron, Zephyr and Pro Dancer on 50' x 50# and didn't like it. Going to make a 110' set and a 65' set.See how it goes. For $10.00 might as well try.

Good to know about the batons. I'll put a little rip tape across the center of each. Couldn't pull off a good 1/2 axle so that is also good to know. Went to right side of window into a tip stand. Going back to center doing cart wheels. On 2nd attempt way to much input and was sure I broke lower LE. Got lucky. Kite is a little faster then the Zephyr. Winds were probably 12 and came from top center down trying a flare to fade. Got to low missed it, nose dived and broke c clip loose. While glue was drying did the same thing on the Zephyr. Wish all my kites had a spine like the Z. Good thing glues cheap. Apparently not good enough in the upper wind range. Better stick to snap stalls in those wind speeds for awhile longer. The Hydra is the easiest to turtle of all my kites but for now is pretty hard to hold. The only fades I could get were from spin launch.A little easier to hold but not by much. Precision flying the kite made me look good. Pretty convinced that's because of batons and Mylar on the trailing edge. Sail lay out is different then the Focus Hydra. Supposedly adjusting the handling for the ITW version so people like me wouldn't destroy it from the start. The more I learn the more amazed I am by kite designers. The sewing beats the snot out of the Zephyr and the Zephyrs sewing is great. It's going to be a couple weeks before I can get a Kymera. Hope they still have one.

One of the best justifications is a variety of kites will develop a nicely rounded flying style. At the start I tried to be very mechanical learning the lines. I do this and the kite does that sorta thing. Probably kept me from breaking things more often than I have. Now that I'm learning to be more fluid with the wind [ getting a little dance on ] the mechanics are coming easier. Someone said that the variety actually enhances your learning. Have to agree. Bouncing from kite to kite gives me little epiphanies that are starting to snowball.Only 9,928 more hours of practice to go. YAY

After flying today lines were off again. Just an inch this time. Should be awhile before having to do it again. I hope. Getting fairly good at adjusting though.

You telling me I'll be walking around 5 days a week giving you free advertisement John ? Wow I will happily do so . They're my size too !!

Cool that in the head thing is normal. Was starting to worry about myself a bit. Flew the Zephyr and Hydra for 3 hours this morning. Hydra is different then any of my kites. It's a keeper. What sucks about this whole thing is I am going to go back and get a Kymera for sure. Thinking I'll be missing something amazingly different if I don't. Starting to figure out that this kite addiction thing doesn't need much justification.

Had a Excel tee instead of a Magellan. The spine and rods fit snugger in the Magellan even though both are 6 mm. When I put in outer baton I put it in last and had the sail in to much tension. Will start putting them in first on the Pro Dancer from now on.The sail needs to be tighter and flatter on a speed kite so less tolerances. The end caps were lost in crashes and had electrical tape instead. The kite needs the long end caps so they'll be less flutter on LE line in high winds. Apparently not that big of an issue on trick kites that fly in less than 15. When flying high end precision kites in higher winds maybe that's where the importance of end caps other than for protection starts. Curious if anyone with a Skyburner Solus has flown in low 20's and could tell a difference. Replaced batons with 2 mm instead of 3 mm which also added to the LE line to be to loose. When I did get the kite to fly that's why I would feel a pulse coming thru the lines. I glued the c clips and thought I had the tee snug enough. Didn't seem any different than my other kites. The slight movement of the tee would get worse and break the bond . I had re glued the right LE c clips also. I believe he said 2 mm difference across the lower spreader from edge to edge would throw the kite off one way or the other. Seemingly trivial things added up to major imbalance. It makes perfect sense to me. Pretty simple stuff. Man you'd think I was a rookie or something. The Hydra I believe is going to be less tolerant of poor flying skills. More so than any other kite I have. When I can successfully fly that kite maybe I'll have enough knowledge to fly and maintain a framed fast kite. In the meantime snapshot and Micron. Spider kite 4' 2" is a real maybe.If the tolerances on a Jet Speed are that critical imagine the trial and error that went into the Tiger. I don't think the Jet Speed failed my expectations. To high of expectations for myself and ignorance is what ended my time on the kite. For now. Starting to really understand that in speed and power kiting you better know what you are doing. People can and do get seriously hurt or killed.

Okay alright I got a Hydra instead. Got to thinking that gunning for Paul is pretty much the same as gunning for John.I'll give it a try though .

Jet Speed Reloaded is gone. ITW were fantastic. Showed me the error of my way's. A+ service. When I am a better flier I will consider Elliot again. Very frustrating lessons from that kite but that's on me not the kite. Could have been much, much,worse.

Lucky you !!! There is no doubt it's a treasure to treasure. Touched my first quads today. One was mostly black with some grey and light grey coloring. Stunned at how striking a mostly black kite could be. The pull to the dark side is getting stronger and stronger. You ya lucky flier don't have to worry about it . Have a BLAST!!!

Uh oh multiple ufo sightings being reported over Virginia.

Put the kite together in the house and checked it over as good as I could. Winds were around 25 with gusts close to 30. Would not want to fly in much more. Set up at window edge with 100' x 150# . After 4th launch attempt spine c clips came loose again so I quit. Had to give it 1 more try. Hate,hate,hate giving up on that kite. If someone at ITW can show me it's me that will be fine because I'll learn something. It's not like I'd be the first to not bond with a kite . SUCKS !!!

Sigh you are probably right.

I'll be hanged but as I was taking down a kite this afternoon I glanced to the west at our 14,000' mountain. I swear peaking over the mountain top were a pair of Air Dragon eyes looking right at me. The shortest distance from Pollo to me is from the east. Apparently the kite is taking the long road home.

Read quite a few opinions that the Fearless vented over came that and still very flyable over 25. Different placement of the mylar and where the vents are makes the sail flatter? Going to replace the Jet Speed very soon and a boutique kite is not an option right now. Suggestions cause I'm at a loss except for trying another speed kite.. Without having to go to the dark side of course .

Gave it my best shot and I'm done with thispiece of kite. I'll see what ITW does Thursday. No matter what the kite will be left in Boulder. Don't care if it's me or not. Flies better on 100' 150 lb lines but still feels wonky. It just doesn't feel right. Went up in 15 to a little over 20 today on stock lines and it just sucked. These are not the lines that ITW advertised and had to adjust the stretch twice in 45 minutes. Every time I fly it a line adjustment is needed. Gave up and blew around on my snapshot for awhile. Then put up the micron on 100' and had a ball. They saved the day cause that Jet Speed just about ruined it. AGAIN. Next up HQ Ninja.

A kite that handles higher gusty winds is what I need next. A strong gust blew up my Zephyr lower spreader and still not sure if I could have avoided that cause I didn't here it coming. Last time I flew the Jet winds popped in and out pretty fast and were swirly.from 15 to close to 25. Think that contributed to losing control in a power dive blowing the kite apart. More my skills though. Doesn't seem like there are many kites designed for inland gusty winds. Going to look at the 7 again.

Ouch. Hauled milk from the dairy farms to the processing plants for 11 years. Night shift for 7 of them. Sat on the side of the road many times waiting for one of you plow boys to clear a path to a farm. Always happy to see those flashing lights. 18 wheeler with a 1/2 load in a smooth bore tank makes for some real tense moments on a slick road. Miss not being able to work except for those times. When the winds dropped could not bring myself to put the PD into the snow. The thought gave me more of a shiver then the cold.

So glad you posted this. After all I've read and learned the last few months I think the Fearless vented light is the next kite for me. Really having a hard time not getting a Hydra, Kymera,Enigma or Ocius std. because the prices are so good. Talked it over with the wife this morning and she thought it would be okay to get 1 of those 4. Really leaning towards the Ocius. When I brought up the Fearless at $550.00 I slammed my head into the proverbial brick wall. The air around me started turning into beautiful shades of blue. Lot's of it's a kite Rightly so.Do not have the skills yet to even justify in my own mind. Out flying today trying to make up my mind I got to thinking about how much I've got to learn and trying to figure out which one would be the least like what I have.. Went to checkout on the Ocius and decided to read a little more. Saw this video and got a much needed check your goals dude. Money back in the piggy bank. It's going to take lots of wonderful hours to get my Zephyr and Widow ng to look 1/2 as good as you guys on those Fearless.Hopefully in a year I can justify a call to Lam . It's not like I'm suffering on crap kites thanks to these forums . Lam might even recommend something other than the Fearless. It's a call I'm itching to make. In the meantime practice till it's not fun. Keep practicing till it's fun again. Goal make sure it's fun all the time. Well at least relaxing.

Weekend sucked for flying. Thought the winds were going to howl but just snow and cold. Warmed up a bit and went out with the Zephyr today. Man I missed that kite more than I realized. Prism sent my lower spreader really fast. Pricey but pleased.Winds were running 3 to 6 with a few drops. Really nice for a couple hours. Winds dropped o to 3 mph and had to give it up. Did you know that when snow and ice build up on your kite you can't fly very well in low winds . Still fun though. 2 days without flying and by yesterday afternoon all I could do was play sad sad blues songs. Played myself right into a bout of mild depression LOL. Got over it today though .