makatakam

Works just fine on my end.

Congratulations. I smell a stack coming.

Yup, longer lines make you feel less attached. If you look down the length of the lines you will notice that they sag -- have a belly in them -- which means you must remove the sag by pulling on any particular and/or all lines to remove the slack before your input is transmitted to the kite, so there is some delay between input and reaction. It also dampens the energy of the input, so you must give it greater input than you would on shorter lines. For this reason it is very easy to pull the kite out of the sky on very short lines. On very long lines, like 250', it seems like eternity before the kite reacts. Adjusting the leaders is something that's somewhat counterintuitive at times. Keep letting the top lines further each time you go out to fly until you can't launch the kite when it is standing upright. Now try it with the kite inverted and it will launch and fly. That's only one aspect. You would think that for lighter winds bringing the top lines in would be appropriate. The opposite is true. More brake puts more pressure into the sail, and pressure is what keeps it off the ground. Smile, have fun and don't forget to breathe. It's a life-long journey.

Where are you? Maybe we can guide you to someone who can help. Get out to some kite festivals and try other people's kites. That's the best way to find what suits you best. Don't be afraid to ask to try one of our kites. We don't bite and 99.9% of us will be happy to let you. Go to a brick and mortar kite shop and talk to the pilots you meet there. Ask questions here. There is no perfect kite. Only the ones that are right for you. You can only find the one for you by trying many.

This one really pops. I like it because adding successive venting doesn't interfere with color distribution.

There's a bunch on KitePaint already.

Intentionally bowtie, let the bowtied kite make one spin, recover from bowtie, land. Very tricky timing on that spin to recovery move. Takes a lot of figuring out how to best recover from the bowtie. Really beats up the sail. I spent some time trying to make it look good, minus the landing. Still very sloppy. Haven't really put any time into it lately.

Yeah, one thing I forgot, as Paul mentioned, is to throw your arms forward and step towards the kite immediately after the pop so it has complete slack during rotation. P.S. -- If you don't go to Berkeley you will miss out on cutting your learning curve by about one year.

"Can it core a apple, oh chef of the future?" (If you're lost, Google it)

Of the three shown I like the green more than the others. To me the color "pops" more than the others. YMMV

I have never personally done business with them, but just looking at their website and the fact that they show interest in upcoming festivals and other kite-related events, I believe they will follow through with no issues.

.

Hi, Jards, and welcome to the forum and the dark side (quad kites). You're gonna love your new journey. If you have any questions along the way just ask. You're in good hands here. I look forward to the chance of flying together. Smile, have fun and don't forget to breathe.

Leading edge axels are about 300% harder to do and you will have much better results in 6-10 mph wind. The Samurai Slide is different than just flying forward with the kite at a skewed angle. The purpose is to get the kite face as close to parallel to the ground as possible before you initiate the move. Google Spencer Watson or Watty axel videos for a really good idea. You try to get that bottom tip as far away from you as possible so that the top tip is nearly pointed at you. The kite can even be stationary. You can also do an axel when you are gliding the kite away from you as you do when recovering ground.

HI, Hiett, and welcome to the forum. Get out to as many festivals as you can. That's where you'll meet the serious flyers and the serious fun. And if you talk to and fly with them you will learn more in one day than you would in one year on your own. Drive a couple of hours one way if necessary. It's worth it. I look forward to flying with you someday. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

Hi, SCV, and welcome to the forum. I look forward to sharing a field with you some day. I'm a west coast guy too. West coast of Lake Michigan, NW burbs of Chicago. Any questions about anything kite can probably be answered here, and we will certainly appreciate any input you may want to share. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe. (The prime directive of kite flying)

I went to a stealth workshop once. No one knew I was there. I guess I didn't need it.

Fly what you brings you joy. I'm 67 and not as agile as I was ten years ago. Do what you can, but don't be afraid to try something new. I'm retired and on SS, so funds are limited. Haven't purchased a kite in over three years. I can fly my Revs sitting down most of the time if I choose, and I have enough to last the rest of my life. The Karma drawings are a great way to try something new and pass on what you no longer fly to someone who will.

You could try to connect the lower attachment points of the bridle to each other with some string that is shorter than the normal distance between them to bring the brake lines closer to the middle of the kite.

I have had the following dual lines deltas: NTK Diode -- my first. I flew a foil before it, so I was somewhat ready for it, but found I still had things to learn. Prism Zephyr -- This started my journey into trying to trick and fly in light wind. Prism E3 -- Started looking for the "perfect kite". Prism E2 -- Still searching. Flew many OPK's also, only to realize that it's me, not the kite, that needs perfection. Gave up the search. Benson Gemini -- Won it in a raffle. Very complex bridle. Can't fly it worth a darn. Love the design. Level Seven Stranger -- Won it in a raffle. Totally hate it because I don't have the talent to fly it. Google this one. The name is dead on. Nirvana N3E -- Won it in a raffle. Low wind princess. I love it. Still did nothing to improve my talent. I still have the Diode, Gemini, Stranger and N3E. I gave away the E3, didn't like it as much as the E2. The Zephyr and the E2 were stolen. My overall favorite is the N3E that I won in the Karma drawings here on KiteLife. I would not have purchased the Gemini, the Stranger or the N3E as they are pricey and my interest is more quad-line than dual-line. I only fly dual when I get bored. To give you an idea, I haven't flown a dual yet this year, and if I don't it won't upset me. I am not even close to being a capable trickster with a dual, but am quite far beyond the novice stage. The kite only touches the ground when and how I want it to. Got the basics, the advanced stuff is way beyond my capability. Knowing that, your best bet is to wait for more people to respond. Just remember that with some kites you just won't connect. The best way to find out what you'll like is to try them. Ask. We don't bite. Most folks want you to try them. It makes us feel good. What I'm trying to say is that you don't know what you'll like until you try it.

It's a fast hard POP with the brake line towards and slightly beyond your thigh. When first trying to learn it, it is easiest to do the axel from a Samurai slide in light to medium wind. Remember to practice both directions. It's more difficult with your non-dominant hand. You want to POP the end of the kite that is closer to the ground and immediately give the other complete slack. Later, you will be able to try different directions of entry.

Once you gain some experience you begin to realize that kites are like everything else. You start with a Chevy Cavalier and it flies and you learn to fly it, but you notice it doesn't perform as well as others. So you trade it in and get a used Mercedes. You can see the difference immediately, but the Corvettes and Ferraris are all still leaving you in their dust. The reality is that it takes more labor, better materials and better design to build a Ferrari than a Cavalier, and building them one at a time costs more than mass production. You can buy used to keep the price as low as possible, but a used Ferrari is almost always going to cost more than a "brand-spankin'-new" Cavalier. Of course, you can try to build the Ferrari yourself. I'm not being a wise-ass here, just saying that you get what you pay for, and this is especially true with kites. Spend as much as won't break your budget. You won't regret it. Also, the kites I like you will probably hate. You may like them later, but right now you'll hate them. In the end, the best recommendation I can give you is to take your time with acquisition and fly as many "other people's kites" (OPK's) as possible to see which ones talk to you.

Of course, we're turning kite flying into rocket science here. If you just fly the kite often enough all these things will come to you naturally with time without realizing that it has happened. Sometimes it's better to just fly without trying to wrap your brain around what you are doing.

Did you try coming in 3 or 4 knots on the top lines? That might help. I'm guessing that you are using your Rev handles and lines.

That's up to you. What do you want the kite to do? Move forward? Slide? Spin? Input, then load. If you load first, then you lose some of the momentum from the loading if you lose any time before the input. Some would say that it should be simultaneous, but if you fly in low wind you'll notice that a very slight hesitation helps. The amount of hesitation necessary to maintain fluid motion decreases as the strength of the wind increases. If the input has already been enabled when you load the sail it takes effect immediately.