makatakam

Truth.

Nope, no way the manufacturer would put the leech line where it could contact the ground repeatedly.

Great kite. Great moves. Keep up the good work.

The bowtie, when the bottom tips point in opposite directions, is caused by over-control. Smaller inputs will eliminate this tendency. You're trying to do what you've seen others do with a quad kite, and it's not going to happen the first few times you try if you have no one to assist you. Launch gently and go up, then give it a smidgen of brake and come straight down. If it starts turning in one direction, give the opposite side a bit of brake. Practice this until you can go up and come down under control. Try going up 3/4 of the way to the top and see if you can just hover and keep it balanced. Come in a couple knots until you develop a "feel" for keeping it balanced. Once you can do this it will be time to start practicing turns. The kite will turn to the side you apply brake to. Learning on your own is harder, but not impossible. If you can fly with an experienced pilot, do it. Don't let it get you frustrated. Remember that you're doing this to have fun. I guarantee that you will shortly be smiling from ear to ear.

You could inquire about a substantial discount, especially from Prism directly, since they have a few "throw-away" Zephyrs on hand now. You might be able to work out a really, really sweet deal. From 80 feet or more most kite stains aren't very noticeable. For a beater to learn on I would offer $50 and see if anyone bites. You could get lucky and get three for the price of one.

Congratulations, Mitch.

Bummer. What was the issue with the Zephyr?

Where in PA are you? Near the ocean or way inland? Double check the average wind speed for your area. Remember, summer winds are the lightest of the year, pretty much everywhere. Come September, things normally improve. Look at used kites to get more bang for the buck.

Hi, shirillz731, and welcome to the forum. The Premier Osprey is an entry-level dual line kite with a 5-foot wingspan and weighs almost 6.5 ounces because it has tubular fiberglass spars. This, and the ripstop nylon sail material make it quite heavy for its size. It comes with 80 to 85 feet of 100-lb test line, and the recommended wind range is 5-18 miles per hour. It will be easiest to fly for a beginner in the 7-15mph range. It is not designed for low-wind flying, but instead to survive the bumps and bruises that a novice will inflict upon it. It is not designed to fly the tricks common to dual line kites, so learning to trick with this kite will be very difficult, assuming you would want to. To be able to fly in very low wind you will need a different kite. A full size performance kite that you can fly in low wind and trick with will cost $150 and up because of all around better and therefore more expensive materials used. The Osprey is not designed to do anything other than just fly around doing just basic figures. No matter what you do it will just not be any fun in wind less that 5mph. Remember, the whole point in flying kites is to have fun. Using shorter lines will make it move faster, which you don't want when just starting out. I recommend lines of 100-lb test at a length of 50-60 feet once you can fly without crashing using the lines you have now, unless they are more than 150-lb test. Shoot for wind in the 8-12mph range until you feel you can control it fairly well. Good luck in your endeavors. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

Hi, shirillz731, and welcome to the forum. The Premier Osprey is an entry-level dual line kite with a 5-foot wingspan and weighs almost 6.5 ounces because it has tubular fiberglass spars. This, and the ripstop nylon sail material make it quite heavy for its size. It comes with 80 to 85 feet of 100-lb test line, and the recommended wind range is 5-18 miles per hour. It will be easiest to fly for a beginner in the 7-15mph range. It is not designed for low-wind flying, but instead to survive the bumps and bruises that a novice will inflict upon it. It is not designed to fly the tricks common to dual line kites, so learning to trick with this kite will be very difficult, assuming you would want to. To be able to fly in very low wind you will need a different kite. A full size performance kites that you can fly in low wind and trick with will cost $150 and up because of all around better and therefore more expensive materials used. The Osprey is not designed to do anything other than just fly around doing just basic figures. No matter what you do it will just not be any fun in wind less that 5mph. Remember, the whole point in flying kites is to have fun. Using shorter lines will make it move faster, which you don't want when just starting out. I recommend lines of 100-lb test at a length of 50-60 feet once you can fly without crashing using the lines you have now, unless they are more than 150-lb test. Shoot for wind in the 8-12mph range until you feel you can control it fairly well. Good luck in your endeavors. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

@Robertsepolen I'm assuming that you're in the Walla Walla, Washington area. The least expensive way to get started with a quality quad-line kite is to purchase a "ready to fly" (RTF) package in the Revolution Kite model EXP for about $210 including shipping. It is available in a standard sail only, which is meant for wind in the 3-15mph range. This will get you started, and if you get really into it you can expand your collection to cover the higher wind ranges. There is no "one size fits all" kite, so you will be limited to flying in winds of 4-12mph initially until you gain experience. You won't get off the ground in wind less than 4mph, and will have no control of the kite in wind over 12mph until you have at least 40 hours of flight time. It's not rocket science to learn to fly a quad, but at the same time it's also not a piece of cake. If you have any questions please ask. We'll do our best to help you.

Congratulations, Juan. I see many happy kids in your future.

I tried that lots of times. Never caught one. Always end up having to pay for mine.

If you go fishing with your friends, but bring a kite in case the fish aren't biting.

While you're waiting for delivery, watch the beginner tutorial videos, assuming you haven't flown quads before, over and over until you are sick of watching them and then watch them 3 more times. Everything John Barresi says in them is Gospel. Do as he does and you will have no problems. If you have flown quads before, then at least watch them once each as a refresher course. Watch the line management video and pay close attention to that one. Line twists and tangles are where most people have problems when starting. If you have any questions, ask. That's what we're here for. Welcome to the dark side.

Denial is good for the soul. Yeah, good for the soul. I must move on now. Good for the soul. Working on OKP. Yeah, working hard. Good. Soul.

OKP? I'm not OKP! I only have about 25 quads and 4 duals. Definitely not OKP, yet.

Most of all, relax and have fun. That's the main reason to fly kites.

Weight in. No upper spreader allows the sail to billow and increases the physical depth of the sail. Sequence to follow is: 1.Spreader and weight installed, 2.Spreader removed and weight installed, 3. Spreader installed and weight removed, 4.Spreader and weight removed. Of course, bridle adjustments will be necessary at each of these four steps, not only for the change made but also for wind conditions. Once you experience the difference each change has made to the way the kite responds to the wind and the inputs you give it, you will be able to choose the ideal option for wind conditions and your flying style or flying preferences. Not as complicated as rocket science. Not as simple as a fidget spinner.

Dyneema line is made from spectra fibers. It is fine for dual-line kites if you fly alone. If you fly with others and cross lines, or fly a quad which has four lines by default, you will notice that it begins to bind up sooner when the lines are twisted. The looser weave allows them to stretch more and feel spongier than those with a tighter weave. The lines commonly used for quad kites are made of a different weave pattern and weave density. They are palpably smoother and a bit thicker for the same strength/test for this reason, and therefore preferred for quad and team flying. If your lines bind up it will drastically limit the effectiveness of any inputs you give the kite.

Good choice and excellent price. Fly it at factory settings in 8-12mph wind a couple of times to get the feel for it before you adjust for low wind. Remember, it will react differently with less or no tail weight and no upper spreader. It will fly in 2mph wind with the weight and spreader once you have enough time on the handles. You can also vary the amount and location of the weight. More on that later. The first few times fly it at factory settings in decent wind.

Hi, ChopperChuck, and welcome to the forum. I look forward to flying with you someday. There's a couple or three guys flying quads in your area. Click on the map tab at the top to see who. You can try sending PMs and ask where and when they will be flying, or just start a topic and ask on the forum. I would recommend a Revolution 1.5 B-Series standard sail if you can find one (out-of-production) or a 1.5 SLE. That's what most folks in the Midwest start with considering the winds we get. Good luck on your quest. Smile, have fun and don't forget to breathe.

It took you this long? Wow! Welcome to the forum.

The typed one is a screen shot of a pdf file. Try opening it with Paint.

General rule of thumb, assuming the wind is not gusting to more than 10mph more than its average, is to plan for the lulls, especially in team flying and competition. In other words, if the wind is blowing at roughly 10mph and gusting to 19mph, you want to fly the kite that you can keep airborne at 10mph so you can keep it up in the air. At 19mph I would normally fly an extra vent, but when the wind drops back to 10mph after the gust, the extra vent would be difficult to fly without doing a lot of backpedaling, so in this case I would start with a mid vent with a 3-wrap or green race frame, and maximum brake. No, there's not a chart that will give you this info. It is something you will just know instinctively once you've been flying for a couple or three years, and how you want the kite to behave will have a lot to do with your selection of kite and frame. In other words, you will know which best matches your flying style.