FierceCritter

Thank you so much for clearing up the mystery of the round kite! I'm willing to bet my dad added the venting on the SUL Rev. Thanks for your input!

Thanks for all your input. I can't get into all details, but I have to limit how many of the kites I keep. I tried to pick out sets of dual and quad lines that encompassed a full range of winds, plus a couple extras, and some single lines just for fun. Since Dad had such a close relationship with Skyburner and the Trennepohls, they hold a special place with me. So I leaned more toward those than some others I might have liked based really only on design/colors. I have 4 sisters and a brother-in-law who also will be deciding which, if any, they will want to keep for themselves. As far as I remember, 3 of the sisters and the BIL didn't fly at all, and the last sister not nearly as much as I did with Dad. So they probably won't be keeping a lot, if any for some of them.

After a ton of research, including gathering responses here, these are the kites I'm keeping. Curious what others would think of my choices.

I'm keeping an Overdrive, Afterburner, Pro Dancer, Baby Burner, and the Fulcrum. I'll ponder the Tica. I picked based on flying style/strengths first, color/design second. Not crazy about the gray on this Tica, but I'll consider it. I currently live very near Plymouth, where Skyburner is based out of. As mentioned in my intro post, my dad spent every Wednesday at the store for years, then flew at Schoolcraft in the evening. An original Skyburner was my first kite. Sad I don't still have it.

Hi again. Could you tell me why you say this? This is an original design Tica, not a 2020. Came out somewhere between the Heat and the ADX. Thanks!

I'll have to take a look at it and compare it with the indoor models. Dad customized some kites, including Revs. He may have swapped out some of the sail with the venting. He also swapped out the ripstop on kites to make them ultralights, as well as the spars. I don't know if he did that with any of these, it may just have been on ones he customized for other people. Thanks for the heads-up.

I responded.

Hello. I've got a post in the Introductions forum that gives a little history of what brings me to the KiteLife forums. That will give a little insight into myself and my Dad, Gene, who got me involved with kites back in the 80's. As mentioned in my post, Dad passed last year. He left behind a collection of over 170 kites. Primarily stunt kites, dating back as far as the 80's, but primarily the 90's. I intend to keep some of these, and I could use some advice now that I don't have Dad to consult anymore. I don't want to pick them based just on color/design. I do know how to fly, but it's been a while. I want to get back into it, and broaden my horizons as far as the types I fly. I'm not well-versed on the ins-and-outs of what each kite is best for, so I'm not quite sure which to keep. I'm attaching a PDF inventory of his collection. Feel free to educate me if you think I've identified any of them incorrectly. Dad left some notes, but not on every kite, so I relied on internet searches to fill in the rest, and I'm sure I got some wrong. Here's a list of what I'm looking for as far as what I want to actually fly, and for which I need recommendations: A kite for strong winds - I always liked a kite that required some strength to handle A kite for light winds/ultralight A kite for somewhere in-between - My upper body strength is actually pretty lame. So I'm not always going to want one that requires a lot of muscle. But light wind kites sometimes just don't feel great to me. My main go-to in the past was always an original model Skyburner, because that's what Dad gave me, LOL An indoor kite A quad - If there are such things, both a strong & a light wind models. Quads are one type of kite I never managed to find time to learn, so I don't know if they come in both types A rokkaku If there's a category I'm missing that you think I should have to complete my collection of flyers, I'd love your insight. I will be keeping a few single line kites, but that's primarily going to be based on design, so I'm not looking for insight into those, unless you want to share something. Thank you! Kite Inventory With Photos.pdf

Hi, John. Thank you for the welcome! Whereas I am sure to be a stranger to just about everyone on this forum, my dad, Eugene (Mean Gene) Remisiewicz will probably be known to at least a handful. Dad was active in the Kite community dating all the way back to the mid-80's when he befriended John Antaya of Grand Bay Kite Company in Traverse City, Michigan, who sadly passed in 2009. I can remember him coming back to our campsite in a campground in Grawn, MI, with his first Trlby. He was a great coach right from the start, showing me how to get it in the air, do spins, etc. His collection of kites and his involvement in the scene ballooned exponentially from there. He befriended Jon and Marieanne of Skyburner, and frequented their store, Kites & Fun Things nearly every Wednesday for years. He was usually at the field on the campus of Schoolcraft College weekly as well. He befriended the members of the WindJammers out of Detroit. I'm pretty sure he had a friend or two from Revolution Kites. He became acquainted with Lam Hoc, Steve Rutkowski out of Traverse City, and so many others, the names of which I can't personally pull easily from memory. Dad had a natural understanding of how stunt kites worked, and an uncanny knack for customizing bridles, spars & sails. He customized kites for many a flyer. Many might still have one of his original handmade sleeving needles in their kit - one even appears in a picture book about kites published in the 80's or 90's. I could go on and on with names of people Dad knew, and things he did. He never competed, but often coached. He worked safety at many a competition, riding his bike across the field, probably up into his 80's. I used to fly with Dad quite a bit. He initially tried to encourage me to compete. But once it became about competition, flying lost some of its fun. So I just enjoyed going out to local parks and fields and flying with Dad. I loved accompanying him to kite festivals and exhibitions from the Howell Balloon Festival to the inaugural Detroit Kite Festival, which we attended on Belle Isle in 2017 when Dad was 91 years old. The photo I'm attaching is of him being interviewed by Channel 4 that day. He was over the moon. I'm very sad to say that Dad passed in 2020, just 3 days after his 94th birthday. I lovingly mounted a red, white and blue Skyburner over his casket, and a smaller dual-line delta placed in the hallway was all anyone who knew him needed to know in which room his viewing was being held. I can just picture him in Heaven, showing the angels a thing or two about what it means to fly. I am joining the forum out of an interest of getting involved in flying again myself. And while up until now I've only been lurking, it's brought back such great memories of Dad, and thus much joy. I'm looking forward to reading and conversing with both veteran and new flyers. Camille Remi