SHBKF

The delicate little kite on the dangerous fan blades, What an Adventure! But seriously, all these posts, all these pictures, if this doesn't get you gliding juices flowing well you're just not quite there on your path through the KiteLife. I have watched this topic daily & even thrown in a little myself. And again I am taught by the Masters. Western Australian has shown us that he's not the only GMM, Glider Mad Man.Thank you all my glider friends.

For times when a Power Blast 2-4 isn't enough & a Power Blast 4-8 is too much, pondering stacking a Blast in front of a Power Blast 2-4. Anybody have comments or experience? Probably won't try two PB 4-8's, but could do Blast, PB 2-4 & PB 4-8, maybe once anyway.

Know Eye Deer, but seems to me the extra frame spars make the kite stiff, like the speed & power series Revs, keeping it flatter in the glide. Also they triangulate the kite frame giving more ultimate strength in specific directions, change the rotational center with the added mass, provide a kick-stand while parked & give your kite a cool look which may be an important custom feature. Being an inland flyer I may have to make some out of some of my extra too short spars left over from some dramatic duelie flying sessions.

Thanks for the kite, it's a beauty!

Hey Danny, glad to see you on the forum, welcome. KiteLife is a great forum to join. I had forgotten about the clips that had been on one of my first Prism kites. Now I remember that I took them off right away as I did not like the looks of them. Join us on chat, we'd all like to hear from you. I too flew kites many years ago & recently got started again. Now it is something I do year round. Your Quantum is a great choice. Hope you're enjoying it every chance you get.

This is my kind of Karma! Or is it Deja vu?

PM sent

Great pictures everybody! Two years ago I had Know Eye Deer, especially anything about glider kites. Now have a couple gliders as daily companions & have seen something further that I would have never thought of, indoor gliding in a home. I think the shots of the iFlite sneaking under the ceiling fan may be the newest inspiration that pushes me even further down the path of KiteLife.

Yes, when I simply zoom around with the stacks & tails, people stop to watch, a very visual pretty sight. My single kite tricking efforts seem to have others embarrassed by my apparent lack of control & they keep going.

Wearing gloves is a good idea anytime you are handling a line that might slip quickly in your hands. Even a light glider line can remind you. Just came in from moving the horses to another field & the cold wind caused the younger one to spook. We danced around a bit, him on a halter & me on the other end of the lead. Even a large rope jerked suddenly can cause considerable pain. Didn't have my gloves on. It is also a must that you do not allow yourself to get caught in a looped line. Rob's walking the line down is much safer than having loose line laying around that you may step in. Great advice from Rob.

Here's Donald's Wala flying in the front yard with a few puffs of wind on a misty 39F day. The breeze swirling down into the little hollow make direction changes almost constant. It is actually easier to fly at this location in a dead calm. Getting a little better at taking still images of the kite with the little point & shoot camera while trying to keep the kite in the air. Usually crash right after I snap the shutter hoping I got some kind of presentable image to post. I love the browns & grays of winter. It is such a contrast to the solid green summer.

I have been following your posts & videos for some time now. It is a privilege to have met you through KiteLife chat. Thank you master flier.

Western Australian has started a ripple in the pond that seems to be developing into a wave of enthusiasm for gliders. I know it's inspired me to have one of my best glider days ever. I got so carried away I found a new flight site. Thanks my friend. pulling out to climb again, then sun is down but still gliding, at the local soft ball field

Some of my favorite kites have come from other people so I always refer to them as the previous owners kite. I have several OPK's. You've already seen Nick's Zero G. Here's Donald's Wala in the car parks of my two work sites.

After work I went to my second job & after work I took my first ever "I'm flying my kite & took this picture" pictures. This was in a small parking lot of a small business in a small town in the Highlands of Virginia. I present "Nick's Zero G going to the Moon".

Been working too much to get in many glider flights but have had a few. Don't seem to be able to glide & take pictures either. But here's a picture of the back seat of the kite cart with the Zero G ready to go. It had been raining & was just changing to snow this particular morning. At the end of the day the little car had a two inch blanket covering it. There were five kites in the back seat & nine more in the trunk, expecting to fly. Some vehicles are more suited to carrying big kites than others. A Rev Blast fully assembled inside the Yukon

This discussion inspired me to dig up my original documentation that came with my Prism SnapShot 1.2. The attached tag has this information: SNAPSHOT 1.2 SPEED FOIL (Lime) $69.99 Specifications Skill Level Novice - Intermediate Wing Span 48" (122 cm) Sail Area 2 sq ft (0.6 sq m) Wind Range 6 - 25 mph (9.5 - 40 kmh) Pull Light Speed Very fast Sail Ripstop Nylon Flying Lines 85' x 200 lbs Spectra tm (25.9m x 90.7 kg) INCLUDES: Kite and tail, carry case, 85' x 200 lbs, Spectratm line set with wrist straps and winder. The tag also has description of how the kite flies & some warnings/advice I believe this is what I actually have. This kite was purchased in a real kite store in October of 2012 & appeared to be fresh stock. The kite, lines & straps were in a sealed bag inside the carry case. The dealer mentioned that he sold many of these kites during the summer beach season. I have also experienced parts of ready to fly kite packages being substituted by shop employees when something was missing. But there are contradictions in the same package, probably due to changing production & keeping the same documentation. The included pamphlet flight guide says that the recommended line set is 80' x 100# Spectra. edit: yes, it does indeed say 2 sq ft of sail

As my collection of kites has expanded so has my stock of line sets to choose from. As my flying hours have accumulated so has my pile of trashed items. I have only broken a few lines, all lighter ones. It has been when flying in my gusty inland winds at the upper limit of the kite's wind range. Early on broken spars were leading edges snapped from ground contact. As kite control improved broken spars changed to spines & spreaders from flying in the upper limit of the wind ranges with gusts low in the window doing the damage. Now I have more high wind kite choices & I also tend toward higher strength lines when the air speed will support the weight of them. If the lines are sagging from light wind I switch to lighter lines or a different kite. But really what I wanted to add is when a line or spar breaks I consider it like blowing a fuse or tripping a breaker. It's my warning to change to a more robust combination of line & kite. I have thought that the supplied line set with my Prism Snapshot 1.2 was a good compromise for the intended use of the kite. But these days I tend to fly shorter stronger lines than many of my kites have come with. I believe I'll fly my 1.2 on some different length & weight line sets just to see how the fast little kite responds.

One fateful day I was in Freeport, Maine. I had a bit of time & wandered into the clearance store of LL Bean. Did not intend to buy anything, you know, just lookin'. Now right inside the door, on the first table, I see the word Prism. I had seen their kites in a few kite stores & was scared off by the price. But I remembered the high quality materials, cool designs & nice packaging of the Prism line. I picked up the kite & thought it was an interesting small kite. The tag said it was a returned item. Careful inspection revealed no flaws & a line winder that looked like it had never been unwound. Tag showed an affordable price & I bought it. I had "Know Eye Deer" what was about to begin. My KiteLife would sprout from this moment to a grand reawakening. Now the kites just keep coming & the journey has taken me to the Dark Side & ultimately to this forum. Here's a picture of my precious little Prism & it's Triad buddy. Great kite no doubt about it. Already have this one so I'll pass on this Karma drawing. My wife has flown this kite for hours. Just that is quite a thing to consider. Good Karma should go to the one that needs it most. (actually five different Prism kites show in this image)

I believe I can fly down to about 3 or 4 mph with the mid & 3 wraps now. Of course that involves some footwork. Usually when the winds in this area are dropping off they become little puffs of wind 0 to 3. So you can set on the ground upright, wait to feel the wind on your neck, give it a few moments to get to the kite & launch. Fly around a little bit improving your light wind skills, land it & wait for the next puff. I do this when I don't want to quit flying quad even though the evening calm is approaching. You can prolong your flying session considerably if you want to this way even with the mid-vent Rev.

Despite considerable advice to put in the race frame I have flown my mid-vent B exclusively with the three wrap since I got it. I keep a race frame in my full sail B & fly it only with that set up. Well I did recently put 2 wrap verticals in the full sail while keeping the race as the leading edge. I might start a session in light winds flying the full sail with the light frame & switch to the mid-vent & 3 wraps as soon as the wind picks up a bit. Then I fly the mid until the wind drops off. As my skill has improved I have been able to fly the mid in lower speed air. By the time the wind slows below my mid-vent range I'm usually done for that session. I like the blue & gray mid-vent

One of my quad foils has it's lines on two separate winders, top lines or flying lines on one winder & bottom set or brake lines on the other winder. The flying lines are 300# x 100' & the brake lines are 150# x100'. Unwound both today to check equalization left & right, top to bottom. It was quick & easy to run them out. With two kite stakes I can run them out at the same time. The flying lines were equal but twelve inches longer than the brake lines. Brake lines were slightly off so I first equalized them & then matched the heavier top lines to the bottoms. These sets were purchased separately so it was not too surprising that they were that far off. I decided to wind them up on their separate winders just to see what I thought about the time involved & the ease of it. When I pack up is when it might take more time but I don't think it really is going to be significant. Some of the desire to put all four on one winder may just be our desire to conform to the norm. Checked another heavier set of quad foil lines & they were all on one winder. I noticed the line winding went fast & handled more easily but the heavier set seems to want to get little kinks from the twists in the line itself. Sort of like yo yo strings do. Glad that line set was all close enough to being equal as they had sewn sleeving. Now that would be a challenge to change lengths but you can just knot it for small incremental changes.

Good luck & welcome to the KiteLife. I bought a Snapshot 1.2 for my kite reawakening a year & one half ago. Flew it a bunch. Next was another Prism a Zephyr. Wishing you fair winds.

I don't have spectators too often but I have come to the realization that many people watching us are not interested in our amazing precision or tricks. It is a visual pleasure they see in kites. So a big SLK or a five stack with long tails may be more pleasing to them. Had a good audience watching me try to buggy for the first time. When I stopped that effort, due to lack of wind & skill, I got a Rev up in the sky & they wandered off. I say fly the tails for their beauty if anyone is watching.

Some of the best outdoor gear I have is from Integral Designs, another great Canadian company.