windofchange

Hello kite flying family! As the title states, we have just finalized the release of our new 2010 Calendars! Like last year, we have two calendars for everyone to enjoy this year. One is our general kiting calendar and the other is our official Revolution calendar. Both calendars are filled with some incredibly beautiful pictures of some really awesome kites - all pictures have been taken by "The Godfather" John Chilese. This years calendars look to be the best ones yet and we have really stepped it up for all of you Rev flyers out there! If you are looking for that perfect gift for the kite flyer in your family or group, one of these Calendars makes an awesome Christmas or Birthday gift that lasts a whole year long. Calendars can now be purchased at our Cafe Press store by clicking --> HERE - A Wind Of Change Cafe Press Merchandise.

Why bother with all the work and hassle of stacking and re-bridling, just get a Revolution Powerblast 2-4 or Powerblast 4-8. Already rigged for 4 lines and has way more power than the Arbitrator has. Or you could just go for a foil.

Your best (and cheapest) option would be to contact someone down in Oregon (Sunset Beach area) and meet up with them to try out their buggies. If you can make it down here to Vegas we would be more than happy to do the same. We have all the gear so you would only need to bring yourself. Another option would be to contact your local shop where you are at and talk to them about buggiers or places that people may be buggying. If you can hook up with local people then you will probably be able to get a test run in their gear to see if that is something you enjoy. Hope that helps.

Yes, the adjustments that comes with the Shadow is not enough (IMO). I have found that it works a bit better when you give it a little more adjustment - bringing the nose in towards you a bit more. IIRC, my tow point was about 1.5 inches up from factory, then you can adjust as needed for wind conditions from there. Also, I had our local machine shop make a bunch of the tail weights. I have a few left if you need one. Shoot me an e-mail if you need one and we can work out the details.

The Shadow is an awesome kite - it is sad that this kite was discontinued. We still have a couple in stock and I also have one as my personal light wind machine. If you are breaking rods, then my first impression is that you are flying it in way too much wind. The Shadow works best from about 1-2 mph winds up to 7-8 mph. Anything more than that and you are better off flying a standard kite - the Shadow is an SUL and is not recommended for the higher winds. If you have one of the earlier Shadow's, it would have come with two different tail weights, one is a solid bar type weight that replaces the plastic "T" on the end of the spine, the other is an internal weight that slides into the spine. I found that the external weight is best. If you have one of the later releases then you would not have the external weight as HQ stopped shipping the kites with those. You might want to add some extra weight - est. 5-8 grams. right on the tail. This will give you a tiny bit more oversteer but will allow the kite to do roll up tricks easier - as well as sit in the fade / turtle better. I have also found that moving the tow point up about 1.5 inches helped the kites light wind flying a lot better. You may need to play with your tow point adjustment to fit your style, but I think you will find moving it upwards is a lot better. The Shadow can trick very well in 1.5 to 4 mph winds. Roll ups are probably the hardest to do but can be done with the extra weight. You will need to add in yo-yo stoppers as well. Most other tricks are very easy to do and can be done quite well. Cascades, flick flacks, taz, slots, lazy Susans, back rolls, 540's, axle & 1/2 axles - all very nicely done by the Shadow. The Shadow LOVES a very delicate light wind touch. If you try to drive it hard - it just doesn't perform. As your light wind skills build, I think you will find the Shadow to be a very nice additon to your collection. Hope this helps.

I fly foils quite a bit. That NEO is one saweeeet kite!!! Watch out for the power as it sure knows how to deliver. Very nice indeed!!

Awesome, glad the kite got to you ok and everything is good. Let us all know how your first flight goes. Remember to take your time and try not to get too frustrated. Quad can be a bit different than dual line and may take some "Un" learning. Once you get it figured out then it will all be good.

I have a Thor's Hammer and it is a great kite. What is so amazing about it is that even though it is such a huge wing, it can really do a lot of tricks and is actually fun to trick. The axle's are so flat and so sloooooooow that you can actually talk your way through the axle as it is being performed. Kind of like watching a DVD on how to do an axle but in very super slow motion. lol Some of the other tricks I have done with my Thor is Cascade, Jacobs, Slot Machine, Flic Flac, fade, backspin, lasy susan, 540 and maybe a couple others - not coming to mind though. For the Cascade and the 540, you gotta be ready to run as you have to throw in about 15 feet of slack to get the 540 to rotate around....and then you gotta run backwards to pull the slack back out. It's a serious workout but major fun!!! Last I heard was that the Thor's was not being made as of about 2 years ago....but again I may be mistaken on that so if anyone knows differently then let me know. I know that the price on the Thors was somewhere near the $800.00 or maybe even more now that the dollar has lost so much value in the last year or so.

The Thor's Hammer is no longer being made - IIRC.

The Soul is a pretty awesome and very underrated kite. We have a demo kite that was given to a couple of the local pilots here to try and they all came back raving about it. One of our local pilots wrote up a review on the Soul and I have it posted up on my kite blog if anyone is interested in reading: Soul Review Whoever wins this prize is getting a very nice kite! I would be very thrilled to put this one in my bag as well even though I already have one.

I would highly recommend getting lessons from a qualified instructor, even though you are already skilled in the kite flying. Your instructor will have all the gear you will need, as well as a good assortment of kites for you to try out and use. He should also have many different types of boards for you to use and would be more familiar with the wind/water conditions which is detrimental to your overall safety.

Are you flying it with a tail? Most parafoils will need some kind of tail on the back to add drag and stabilize the kite. Without the tail it would have the flight characteristics that you are describing. You may also want to put a different tail on the kite to add even more drag if your winds are more turbulent.

Still being amazed with my Skyburner Widow Maker std. and UL. I recently had the chance to fly the new Infinity from HQ and I find myself looking forward to pulling this new beauty out of my A Bag. Very nice kite indeed. http://www.skyburner...elone/jump.html ?????????? Now I am not sure what happened, but I did NOT include the links to the video's above in my original post. The WidowMaker Video is awesome but I don't want anyone to think or get the impression that it is me that is in the video. I have been reprimanded before for pointing to a video of someone else's without permission and don't want the owner(s) of the video's above to get after me for using them as I wasn't the one that posted them up here. I don't know how they ended up on my post - John, can you see what happened? I didn't mentione the Level One Jump at all - although that too is an awesome little kite. Personally I like the larger wings myself. Now the picture of the Infinity is my kite - taken by John Chilese and used with his permission. **edited to include the above comment - don't want to offend anyone.

It's called the Travel Frame. Works great and makes the 1.5 series kites pack down smaller than the Rev II. Here's more details on the Travel Frame and others. Revolution Frames

I don't really see that much crossover from dual to quad other than the experience you gain from the wind and overall control of the kite in the different wind conditions. Even the Axle is very different from quad to dual other than the abrupt tug on the line to initiate the rotation. I tend to compare the two against each other the same as comparing an off road truck race to that of a NASCAR race. Sure you drive in both and some drivers have commented on how their off road or dirt track experience has helped them in the NASCAR style of driving but overall, they are very different types of racing from each other and knowing how to do one does not in any way make you an expert in the other. I feel this to be the same between Dual and Quad. There may be some knowledge gained from both that can cross over to the other but in most cases, they are very different and not compatible. Knowing how to fly Quad will not make you an expert or even somewhat skilled on slack line flying on a Dually. It may however help you progress in dual slack line flying faster because of your knowledge of the wind and overall kite control....but that's about it. There are tons more tricks that you can do with a Dually than a Quad - or that aren't even possible on a Quad. Not that one is better than the other, they're just different style of flying - just like off road racing and track style racing. Just my opinion anyways...

The TC Ultra has been around for quite some time and it does work as a dual or quad....but... It doesn't really do that well as a dual or a quad. Quad line flight is ok but very difficult to do compared to a Rev. Reverse flight is cumbersome and jerky and not very fluid at all. Forward flight is like a dual line but not nearly as sharp or precise due to the drag and fuss of the lower bridle setup. It doesn't trick as a dual line kite anywhere near that of a decent priced dually and really lacks in its trick capability compared to the newer kites like the Silver Fox or Widow. Roll ups are difficult or impossible because of the lower bridles and unless you are happy with figure 8's and general basic stunts you will be bored with it fairly quickly. It does reverse flight and will hover but again, not nearly as nice or precise as a Rev does. Also, if you have it in an upside down hover be careful because if you let off the brakes even a touch it will lawn dart into the ground just like all the other dual line kites and you'll shatter the spine. I would rate the kite as a novelty that is fun to play with but if you are looking for Rev like performance or Silver Fox type stunts you will be disappointed. Just my opinion anyways.

Bout the only way to relaunch a two line parafoil is to give one side a good hard yank and hope the kite spins enough to put the leading edge into the wind. You need some good ground wind to do this though. I usually walk back to take out any slack and then give slack to one side and pull the other so that the foil rotates. Once or twice will usually do it but if it gets tangled up then your walking. I mainly fly quad line foils now because of the added control and power but also because you can relaunch them very easily from pretty much any crash as well as land (and park) them whenever you want to.

Very nice!!! We got a chance to fly the E3 and found it to be quite a treat to fly! Prism has another top winner with this one!

Happy B-Day Mike!!!

Right now, with the exchange rate and customs, the cost is around $380.00 for the Deepspace. The dollar is just not worth that much against the pound right now. Still, this kite is well worth it IMO.

The Elixir was one of those kites that was way before its time. I may be interested in that Alien you have T..... PM sent.

I have a couple Benson kites in stock that aren't listed on our website. I think I still have some Innerspace's and a couple Outerspace's and one Outerspace UL (rare from what I hear). I can also order in new Deep Space's and Gemini's for special orders - just get with me and we can make it happen. Benson is in the process of bringing out a Deep Space UL....but the time frame has not been set on it's actual release.

The Elixir is was discontinued and is no longer available - unless someone has one stuffed away in the corner of their shop which would be rare. It was a great kite back then but I feel today's kites are much better in trick-ability and flight. Where exactly are you in Utah, I do know of a couple others that fly up that way, a bunch of them that do powerkiting and snowkiting. Most of the buggying is done out towards Tooele on the flats. I have buggied out at Saltaire a while ago and it was pretty good, other than the brine shrimp and it didn't smell that great in some areas....lol but it was fun blasting across the beaches....if you can call them that. I will try to let you know next time I head up that way and maybe we can hook up and fly. I have family up in SLC and visit from time to time. Same goes for you if you ever get down to Vegas, just let me know and we can hook up. The Beetle is a great kite and awesome to learn on. Once you progress past the "Lawn Dart" stage, the other kites that you have mentioned in this post will be perfect for you. I still recommend the Widow just because it is a full sized sail and just wonderful to fly. I don't think you would be outgrowing the Widow for many years. Hope to hook up with you soon.

I can relaunch from any position - except the dead launch. I can get it to work most of the time but - as mentioned - it puts so much wear and tear on the kite that I just refuse to do it anymore. When the kite ends up in the dead launch position, thats what we call exercise time and we walk.....