SHBKF

Appears to be Interstate 40 zoomin along behind you. Quite a sharp contrast to the flight of your kite. Well done Master flier. SHBKF

No laughing from out here in the sticks. Looks like a great collection to me. I never thought I would own more than a couple kites but things changed when I found out how friendly kites became. Greetings from the Dark Side of the Blue Ridge, SHBKF

Thanks for the suggestions. I indeed have used a smaller screw, a #8 Zinc plated steel flat head wood screw. After looking at my on hand hardware I suspect it is a matter of what I had available at the time. It also may be the recommended screw size for the wall anchor used. The #10 screw is nominally 0.026" larger shank diameter & 0.053" larger head diameter if a flat head type. I notice that I have deburred & smoothed the tube ends very carefully so that may have made it come loose more easily. Looks like I will stop by the hardware store for some #10 screws tomorrow. Appears that yours are round head sheet metal screws Nick. I only have two sets of handles with this modification so it won't take long to correct them. Appreciate you guys, SHBKF The below set, still in use, has not had this failure.

The "just starting out" topics are definitely my favorite on the forum. You get to meet a new flier & maybe hear some different questions. I always anticipate the the insightful answers usually mixed with a little humor. The sincere kindness is consistently very apparent. I also likely learn new things from the experienced fliers & from the new flier. It is so refreshing inspiring me to look forward to the next time on the field. I noticed I had "liked" more than half of the responses already so I went back & "liked" all twenty-two posts for good measure. Guess I am just getting soft in my old age. But after all I have always thought it was best to get better, not bitter, as growing older. Keep em in the air, SHBKF Me in the gold shirt telling an observer about flying Stuart's Invictus

Flying a Rev 1.5 SLE full vent at the beach in high winds I had one of my modded bottom connectors pull free causing a crashing bow tie sorta in control landing. The bottom left line shot forward going out about fifty feet or so. Guess the wind was pretty stout & I overloaded the brake popping the connector loose. Pressing it back in with a little sand for a snug interference fit held for a bit but popped out again eventually. Now, back at the Kite Dungeon, I will investigate the issue & perhaps install a new wall anchor or just epoxy the old one into the tube after careful cleaning. Fortunately I had a small day hiking bag full of handles back at the camper so a field repair was not necessary. Below image shows the kite loaded up quite well. SHBKF

Congratulations to all! I seem to be too shy to even have a video of any my kite flying efforts. Don't know if I'll ever participate but I sure enjoy the spectating. I might have a chance to be an also ran in the kite collecting category though. SHBKF

As Nick said punched holes are indicated by the type of burr I have seen. I spent many years buying punches & dies in an industrial setting. As the punch & die sets wear the clearances open up from ideal as wear occurs. The punch diameter gets smaller & the die opening enlarges. Punching stainless steel is especially problematic. The enlarging die & shrinking punch open up the clearance to the point that the smearing of metal occurs instead of a clean break. A punch & die is actually just a circular shearing operation. An ideal punch presses/cuts part way through the thickness of the material then a fracture occurs breaking the remainder of the way through the metal leaving a nice clean hole. As you might visualize a die that fits inside of a small tube is a very special piece of tooling. We did this type of punch operation with similar outcome. The normal good practice would be to simply deburr each piece as part of the process. It is a production compromise to merely cover it with a vinyl cap. The first time I saw a handle with these burrs I said "Ah, production trumps quality once more." If the hole size is not too critical you can keep punching until the punch breaks. SHBKF

Here's what a five stack looks like. Plenty of pull, great fun to fly. SHBKF

I would give the above post two likes if I could. I admired Rob's kite so much I got one for myself. It is a beauty! SHBKF

Great advice up above. I did not do hardly any of the correct things starting out. I survived it all & had a great time in the process. I eventually achieved a fairly decent flying ability despite my worst efforts. I did really excel in acquiring kites, but that's another story. SHBKF

I am beginning to learn international morse code. That is my amateur radio license in morse code. In phonetics it would be" Kilo November Four Kilo Quebec Tango", quite a mouthful & difficult for other hams to get on the first try when I am transmitting on SSB. I recently got my ticket as a General class operator. Kind of a "secret handshake" for anyone out there listening in the ether..... But you likely figured it out. Currently running only a hundred watt station so even SETI may have a hard time hearing me. Too bad I can't get SHBKF as a call sign. Quite a bit off topic, I digress, SHBKF

Get a full size dual line kite, close to 96" tip to tip, in a modern design. Even 90" would be considered nearly full size these days. You'll do better for several reasons. Just trust me on this. I have many, many kites. (Wow, I finally admitted it.) It will fly better in general, fly in lighter wind & most importantly likely fly more slowly. May cost a bit more but you're headed there eventually anyway. Not going to say told you so if you don't & do so later. Going to say just follow your heart. You'll find yourself there eventually if you like dualies. Personally, I love em'. SHBKF

Love the image showing the sun dog. Most times when I show a sun dog to someone they have never heard of one or noticed the beautiful sight in the sky. Look up & view the glory I say, the sky is half our world. SHBKF

Stranger things have happened, SHBKF