RobB

I would be so happy to fly with any of you Kitelifers, it is so rare that I get to fly with anyone. I have given some lessons, but mostly on quad line kites recently. I got the most instruction from watching Martin's videos... https://www.youtube.com/user/DPmama74/videos But watching other's videos always offered a hint or a tip of how I could get some trick done. The main reason I started filming my flying was to try to figure out what I was doing wrong, and maybe how to fix it. I shared my 'what am I doing wrong' videos with others, and asked for their input, too. We had a great group going a few years back that had a bunch of newbies like me, some intermediate pilots, and some of the great pilots also chimed in from time to time. RandyG and Martin were among them. Unfortunately, the forum that had most of this important content went dead in 2009, and all of that good advice & instruction vanished into cyberspace. Maybe we can get something like that going here ? I'm still trying to learn some tricks that have been eluding me, and would be happy to comment on other's videos.

Hey guys, thank you very much for the compliments on that one... It's taken a number of years & the input from great pilots like JB through this and other forums that got me flying. One of the original videos that inspired me is JB's Sea Devil promo, and as you can see, I'm still flying my Sea Devils, trying to fly like him. As far as the OP's question... I would strongly recommend the Zephyr as a good kite to learn light wind flying. It isn't an easy kite to fly in 1-3mph wind, but it can be done. In the 3-10mph range, it's a great kite. The Zephyr is built pretty strong, and will take a lot of abuse without breaking, too. A little secret about learning to fly in light wind... fly a heavier kite. Before I had an UL or SUL, I learned most of my light wind flying technique trying to get my kites to fly when there wasn't enough wind. Once I got a true SUL (my first SUL was a Skyburner NikNak) flying in light wind was easy. Trying to fly tricks in light wind is another story... but the biggest trick is actually getting a kite to fly when there's little to no wind !

Wow, Dave, some cool old artifacts ! Did you find any old Into the Wind catalogs ? Those are some of my favorite trips down memory lane, from the days before I could afford to even buy a Sport Kite. I have that Prism guide that you mentioned scanned as a PDF document if you or anyone else is interested...

Yeah, I hear that ! There hasn't been a dual-line clinic in my area since 2008. Wish I could do this !

My kids really liked the Ghost Deltas, they're super easy to fly. They're big enough to be impressive for the kids, too. Really, If the kite isn't so big that it lifts the kid off the ground, they'll love to fly it !

The difference in inputs shouldn't be that drastic between the Prism kite & the WM. Something else has got to be contributing to your troubles with the WM. I never had to adjust mine in the whole time I had it. I have learned to try not to adjust the kite, maybe only once or twice when I first get it, but once I find the sweet spot, I stick with it, no matter what the wind conditions. I will say that my Solus came to me with a mis-tied bridle, and the kite didn't fly well at all. It is possible that your WM has a bridle issue that needs to be sorted out, however that would be rare. Start with posting pictures of the kite, try to hold the bridle out, too. We might be able to spot an issue from that.

Hey Kris... One big difference is that the Widow Maker needs much lighter inputs than the Quantum. Like Brian was saying up above, you might be overpowering it. That may be it, but it may be more than that. When I first got my Widow Maker, I could fly the snot out of it the first few minutes out of the bag. It is one of the few kites that I instantly took to with no period of adjustment. Speaking of adjustments... have you compared the bridle, right vs. left ? Have you adjusted it any ? It sounds like it could be set wrong, causing the kite to be too loaded up, making it twitchy. I'm going to agree again with Brian, pictures & videos will do a lot for us to help you. When I was learning how to trick, I made a bunch of 'What am I doing Wrong ?' videos, and got a lot of help from some great pilots. It really helped me, as I don't have anyone to teach me in person. It also helped for me to watch them, and I could actually see what I was doing wrong. I don't think you could've made a better choice in a kite, we'll get this figured out... ~Rob.

The mesh on my full vent finally gave out. 5 seasons of tough use, the last flight with dipping into the icy water did it in... The superglue fix didn't work very well, I think I'm resigned to take it out of my bag & send it out. Is it worth having repaired ? I don't have a sewing machine and am wondering if it might be more cost effective to get a sewing machine vs. the cost of one professional repair. Ideas ?

Who needs one of these ? Well, I wouldn't say 'need', but it's a fun thing to have in the bag. It kinda solves that little argument in your head about how hard it's blowin'. This is one of those things I wouldn't buy for myself, but was happy to get as a gift. The one I have has lasted for a long time, it's on it's third battery. The winner will get a meter just like the one in the video below, NIB (moderator's edit: This means "New In Box" in case you were wondering). Good luck, the drawing is March 31st. 2015...(moderator's edit: enter using the phrase "I'm in") Standard Karma Note from the Moderators This is a Karma Drawing. The winner of the drawing is expected to pay it forward by offering their own prize for the next drawing. Please do not enter unless you are willing to offer your own prize, preferably not the prize you just won. Drawings should be open for entry approximately 2 weeks, and the next drawing should be posted as soon as possible to keep the Karma rolling. These drawings are run by and for KiteLife members. The moderating team only ensures that your drawing post contains all of the pertinent information (drawing date/time, adequate prize description, drawing rules) before approval. If you are a KiteLife member from the US or Canada, you are eligible to enter. You do not have to be a paid subscriber. Members from Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii are welcome to enter the Karma drawings provided they are willing to pay half of the Karma prize shipping cost. The method and timing of the payment will be agreed upon between the two parties after the drawing for a particular prize. Here is the link to the original Rules and Guidelines thread: http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/5426-rules-and-guidelines-please-read/ The mechanism for the drawing itself is entirely at the discretion of the person offering the prize. In the past, entry number has been determined either by order of entry or by the post number in which the member declares entry into the drawing. The drawings have been performed using the RNG method (http://www.random.org/sequences/) or by choosing the numbers out of a hat (I believe an adorable daughter did the picking in that scenario). The only requirement is that the method of selection is clearly spelled out in the drawing post. Entry into the drawings is done by STARTING a post in the drawing thread with the entry phrase chosen by the drawing host (Traditionally "I'm in", but "I LIKE" has been used as well). In order to remove any confusion or misinterpretation, only entries with posts that START with the phrase will be considered. As with all other KiteLife drawings, bantering is encouraged. This is for fun after all. Well, the new wind meter arrived today... ready to ship out to the lucky winner ! Looks like the odds are pretty good for those in the running so far... just a little over a week left to get 'IN' ! 1- RevRookie 2- dragonfish 3- Fred van Curen

WOW ! I am psyched ! I haven't flow anything with four lines that's fast. Thank you, Mark, for such a great offering... it's a great looking kite. My mind is spinning, what a great kick-off for kite month ! ...now I'm starting to rack my brain for the next drawing !

Fred, it's mostly in the big arm sweep, I don't really run that much. And always move forward when you're flying down, it helps to regain your spot on the field. You can see my movements better in the video I posted last month, the winds were really low, about the same as the winds with the white kite in this post...

That's the trouble with typing out your thoughts... a lot gets lost in the text !

Looks like the wind was a little light today... the big kites weren't getting off the ground too much. So many Revs, though. I did see one QPro getting beat up a bit, though.

That's a nice, big grass field. I might fly on grass more if we had fields like that around here.

IDK, I've got a friend who's been flying up in Buffalo this winter. Footing gets a little tough when it gets that deep, though.

Thanks, Fred. That's why I like flying in low winds the best.

It's the same link... they both come up the same in my browser. I'm using Chrome, BTW. I saw about 8 people flying Rev formations earlier, and a bunch of others in the background. I saw someone flying a NYM, maybe that was Marshall ?

Just thought I would share the link for the webcam if you hadn't seen it elsewhere... http://pixelcaster.com/live/kiteparty/

Roll bars pack in just like long standoffs... I am looking to fly the Seven soon, or maybe the Gemini. Both of those have roll bars, so maybe I will catch the unpack/packing up of those...

Hey, I put together some clips that show the worst part of flying, made as easy as possible. A lot of my flying sessions are less than an hour, sometimes for my lunch break, sometimes on the way home from work. Setting up & breaking down have to be done as quickly as possible, I like to dedicate less than 5 minutes to that... so this is how I get the packing up done. Yes, I do cheat a little and leave my kites long...

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed ! Hopefully the video showed why low-wind flying is my favorite kind of flying. I wait for days like this most of the year...

Probably the last kiting in the snow video for this year, I made an update to the 'Snow Devil' video. The white kite isn't usually the first choice for snow flying, but since it was just about sunset when I got out to fly on this day, It would've been tough to see any of the other kites in my bag. It was a very low offshore wind that was also changing direction as the sun set. As always, the Sea Devil SUL made the most of the situation and provided the kiting fix that I was craving. Full screen & HD helps, it got a little dark towards the end.

A French Military & DC fly in a wider, higher range of wind than a Delta. The Delta can probably fly ~2mph lower wind, but you give up stability in winds over 10mph. The one exception I can think of would be the Ghost Deltas.

This is how a Rev got in my bag... wanting something that was fun to fly in 15mph+ wind. I got a full vent 1.5b and flew it when the winds were past the fun range of dual line kites. The Rev turned out to be more fun than I thought, so I ended up eventually getting a mid vent, a standard, and a Zen. Although the full vent is good past 20mph, I'm looking for an Extra vent now, since the wind around here over powers the full vent once in a while. I have since sold off all my high wind duals except for the Prism Alien.

Still pretty good odds on winning this one. Fingers crossed, I sure would like to see what one of these looks like in person, let alone know how it flies !