ifitcanfly

thanks! My hope is to pick up a machine in early November after all the family events we have on the books this month. stay tuned :)

thanks for the comments! I'm excited to see if my sewing skills will rise to the challenge :)

Long time kite flier and many other hobby flying things. Have built flying models of all sorts for decades, but never have attempted to sew! It is time I dive into this and want to over the winter months. Reading through the above posts which are a couple of years old, I wonder what the current recommendation for a starter sewing machine would be? Any new recommendations? thanks!

"most drag on the anchor side" means the bigger kite laundry, which pulls harder, needs to be attached closer to ground anchor. The reason is heavy loads (ie, more drag) will pull the kites and other laundry down the higher up they are attached. take a look at this picture: the large circular 'line laundry' at the bottom of the picture happens to be one of my strongest pulling (big load) or large drag ones I fly. If I put it high on the line, it would pull everything down. SO, I put it close to the ground, close to the anchor (which is not shown) Hope this helps!

In a recent south texas beach visit, I decided to experiment with a home-made sand anchor on the big sled you see in my profile picture. Typically, I'll hold this kite down with a branded sand anchor (see attached picture) and then put another big kite (usually 75 foot octo) about 30 ft down wind with another. [note: both on #500 string]. Since I like to experiment, I made a homemade one out of ripstop and a few caribiners, and while having fun on the beach and not paying attention, the wind picked up....lifted the homemade anchor up, which dumped all the sand....which then flew it all into the octo 30 feet away which then proceeded to pull it ALL DOWN. The Sled landed over 100 yards away with the downed octo close by! SO, my advice when at the beach, don't wing it and go home made.... Buy one! ALL KITES AND LAUNDRY SURVIVED and unfortunately, no video of the event.

I to am a carabiner guy. Easy to add or adjust as needed. If loading becomes a concern, I have been known to send up laundry on its on line, but still using a carabiner to easily slide up the main. Just returned from a fun kiting adventure in South Padre.