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GlynH

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    Peter Lynn UNIQ

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  1. Many thanks for the quick reply and advice David. Well it seemed like a great kite before I got involved and became the weakest link but your post has inspired me to give it another go. I might commandeer my girlfriends grandson tomorrow as she and his Mum plan to take him shopping. I’m sure he’d prefer to go fly a kite. I suspect I might have a similar problem with the lines when I lay them out but I’ll follow your advice when wrapping up and see if that helps the next time out. With an extra pair of hands there is a possibility we might actually get it up in the air tomorrow... Thanks & kind regards, -=Glyn=-
  2. Been looking for something to fly when the wind is too strong for my drone which is a lot of the time where I live it seems which has bought me here! After some research I decided to start simple...bit like my good self really. The Peter Lynn UNIQ Play 1.5m seemed to tick all the boxes for me being; Not too large to begin with - I remember being dragged up a hill many years ago by a big kite and that was scary Single skin - virtually indestructible when I pile it into the ground over & over again 2-line fixed bridle - simplicity itself (see later) Lightweight - ready to fly Nicely padded wrist straps - but why is Red left & Black right? Seems the wrong way round and messes with my Chi Cheap - always loved a bargain Planned family upgrade path to the PL UNIQ Quad 3.5m - which I might have ordered as a kite-in-waiting other than it seems to be out of stock everywhere So I ordered the Play 1.5 yesterday and today it was on the doorstep. What could possibly go wrong? Well just about everything as it happened! Now I should have videoed myself taking it out of its case when I unwrapped it in the garden for a dry run but that would have been far too easy. After getting a ‘feel’ for how it should work in my mind I stuffed it partially back into the case and took it into the field to fly. Or so I thought. Despite being a stiff breeze the field is shielded on all four sides so little wind for flying although I did manage to keep it up in the air for nearly a whole minute. Buoyed by my success I carefully wrapped the lines around the supplied line winder walking towards the kite keeping my finger in between to keep them separated and was careful not to twist the lines. Or so I thought. Driving @20 minutes to an open place where there will be more wind I attempted to prepare the Play for flight. First of all I couldn’t keep the damn thing from blowing around in the wind despite trying to position it leading edge down while attempting to unravel the lines which had twisted & knotted to themselves and each other and took me half-an-hour to untangle. So much for being careful. During this time I nearly suffered ‘amputation by Dyneema’ when the kite started to lift and I instinctively grabbed the lines to stop it. Won’t be doing that again in a hurry. But it does pull! With the kite accidentally airborne the by now slack lines got caught around a metal refuse container which luckily for me prevented a flyaway and when I finally managed to free them I threw the kite in the car and shut the bridle in the door while I tried to sort the lines outside of the vehicle. After what seemed like hours but was probably only 20 minutes or so I took the kite out and left it close to the side of the car to shield it from the wind while I attempted to walk back the 18m needed to launch before the kite started to flutter in the breeze and one of the lines promptly got caught in the boot. Anyway long story short I managed less than a minute of flight out of the 90 minutes I was out before I shoved everything in the back seat of the car to drive home, lick my wounds (fingers) regroup & repack everything carefully. Sounds easy right? But the lines were so tangled again I spent a full hour untangling everything including disconnecting the lines from the bridle to fully separate them so I could wind the lines back on to the line winder. And of course nothing fits back into the case properly and I am dreading taking it out to fly it again. So here I am asking for help before I reach the sad conclusion that at 60 years old as a Technician who has also Project Managed contracts worth millions I have been outsmarted by an inanimate object and return it, cut it up or burn it in twisted revenge. I guess my questions would be; How best to wind the lines back around the line winder without twisting to allow them to unfurl easily so I can fly without hassle next time? How to fold/repack the kite, lines & padded wrist straps so it actually fits back into the case it came out from? How to prepare it for flight without it getting caught in the breeze? Definitely going to take another person with me next time just to hold the kite, provide moral support & possibly first aid! I’ve Googled, searched on forums and YouTube but nothing specifically on the UNIQ Play & so much contradictory advice in any case. Figure of 8 wrap? Straight wrap? I watched John’s video on here and I’ll give that method a try next time as I started from the wrist strap end and walked towards the kite leaving the lines connected. Maybe that is the key to no tangles! Feeling confused, humiliated & hurt so any hints, tips, resources gratefully received. Thanks & kind regards, -=Glyn=-
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