Jim F.

Wow. That took a lot more work than it probably should have. My problem was too many megabytes I guess. The kite on the left is a copy of the right which is a 10 ft. Tori Tako. The two fly beautifully together and the new one does the slowest most graceful half axle! Any way, thanks John and Dean for your help.

I'm kind of computer illiterate. I can't figure out how to put a picture on the forum. I need stuff in really plain language, like, put picture here and click on this. Jim F.

Syruss, Glad you finally made it to the coast. That soccer field in Medford was a little crowded and the wind doesn't shift 180 degrees in five minutes and then back again on the coast. That beautiful on shore breeze!!. We were north of Ocean Shores yesterday and flew for about 5 hours. What a wonderful day!! Hope to run into you again one of these days. Jim F.

The pyro xs does extremely sharp, square turns and tracks very well. It also loves to be on it's back, so any trick starting from the turtle position is pretty easy. It flick flacks easily and does a pretty fair axle, although I have a very hard time doing a half axle with it. Try a little weight on the tail. It's not my favorite kite in the bag but I do get it out occasionally when the wind is right (5 to 12).

Cut two (inch to inch and a quarter dia.) dowels about 14 inches long. Drill a 1/4 inch hole about 1/2 inch from both ends of each dowel. Tie a 10 inch loop of heavy line through each hole and tie your kite lines with a larks head knot to these lines. It's cheap and quick and a friend of mine and I have flown for a couple of years using them. Prepare yourself for a lot of crashes, but in time you'll get it.

I agree with trilbymousie that a Beetle would be great starter kite. It was for me. After many crashes including a lot of high speed nose plants I finally had to sew the nose piece back on, but thats been the only damage. And I too have used it to teach with, knowing the kite could take anything they through at it. Jim F.

Hi Penny, Thank you for the lesson Sat (cute costume, by the way). I'm not sure if it was me or the wet kite and no wind that caused all those crashes! The next time we meet up on a field I'm hoping for some wind and sun (at least no rain) then maybe I'll get the hang of what to do with those extra two lines. :-)

After going to the weights link a couple of weeks ago I put some weight on the tail of my kite, went out and did my first Flick Flack. within in an hour I had a Flick Flack and Fade machine. Well, I was out today flying, did some Flick Flacks and tried some other stuff for about an hour. Then I decided to take the weight off to see if I could still do a Flick Flack without any weight. To my suprise the weight had fallen off. I guess the extra weight helped me to get the basic feel of the kite when it's doing the trick right.

I've read in several places and heard on Dodd Gross Flight School that about the first thing you need to do is be able to hold a nice steady stall for about five seconds or more because many other moves come off the stall. Well, I can hold a stall for maybe 1.5 seconds if I'm lucky. Three different kites do the same so I'm guessing it's me. I can snap into a stall but very quickly the nose starts falling right or left and I don't seem to be able to stop it. I see pictures of you guys stalling all the way across the window or in very light air, all the way around!! Wow! and I can't last for 2 seconds. Any suggestions?

Thanks YodaCal. I sent off an email, so Erv will probably get a good laugh at some one asking about a 12 year old kite. But then who knows, maybe he just happens to have on buried under a pile of stuff, or maybe knows someone who bought one and wants to get rid of it. Who knows. Thanks again, Jim F.

Well, I measured the "10 ft" Tori Tako and cloth to cloth it's 120 inches. Knock to knock it is about 127 inches. (this is all assembled). I have pictures but I can't figure out how to attach them here. We've decided to give up on finding another one so we are going to try to copy it. It probably will only cost about twice as much to make one as to buy on at the original price! Jim F.