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Thank you for the comments. Perhaps you didn't see the enlarged image, The color beams are supported by a carbon fiber loop in the drawing. For the body, I can see how it would tend to get caught up in the line. I think I was thinking it would fly backwards, sort of like Superman's cape while in flight. But, in retrospect, that would not happen unless the kite was going faster than your typical indoor kite. Perhaps that can be supported by a string between the bottom points of the wings, if I shorten it significantly. I suppose another way to reduce the influence of the body is to make that part mostly netting. I have seen 1/2" gold colored net, and that may be a good way to make something visible there, but not add significant air resistance. But, as you point out, the Rev works. It is a design born out of years of experience, and then it withstood the test of time. Any variations will likely have a detrimental effect. I realize any ideas I have must be tested, but without really knowing the process of kite design well, I can see how I can easily get myself into territory where my design efforts will be so far off-base that I am wasting my time. Perhaps I should concentrate on coloration, and fabric choices. -Joe

I realize now that I had been mis-guiding myself. I had thought that outdoor flying would tire myself faster, thinking there was a greater amount of strength needed to fight the wind. But, I realize now that a light wind may be a significant help as I learn how to work with the kite. I should also mention that my ultimate goal is not to perform myself, but rather, to have others do the performance. I know that it is necessary to learn a performing art, before directing others to do the art form. It is also true that those who have a special love for an art form are the ones who do it best. And while I already have a love for theater and puppetry, it may be that I don't truly have a love for kiting. However I am flirting with it, and maybe a few dates will show how much love I have. -Joe

Since my goal is for performance, such a angels for a Christmas production, I realize I need to do a lot of investigation to understand what is possible. Color; I was at the recent Wildwood NJ festival, which had an indoor competition. I asked about the shape options and coloration, and it is starting to look like my choices are quite limited. The weight restrictions on indoor flying seem to be a major issue restricting color choices, because there are few raw materials, and paint or dye doesn't seem to be an option. Are there other fabrics that can be used besides the Icarus that seems to be the best choice for performance? Any materials, that perhaps aren't ideal, but good enough to be used, and is available in a variety of colors? I especially like the idea of dyeable material, since that is a way to color and even paint shapes without adding weight. Nylon is very dyable, and polyester to a lesser extent. I saw a single-line bird that used embossed holographic film. This might simply have been holographic "tissue paper" like you find in gift wrapping, but that is just a total guess. If it is simply that, then we have a much larger color pallet to choose from. Shapes; I only saw shapes like the Revolution brand that had 4 control lines. Is this because this is the only shape that works well for 4-lines? The vocabulary of indoor kite shapes seem to be limited to Delta, and bird shapes for single line, and the Rev shape for 4-lines. Outdoor kites seem to have an infinite variety, but perhaps because indoor kites must perform closer to their limits, the rules of aerodynamics must dominate the design. But, if other shapes were possible, then I can see a lot of new options for kite performance. Some quick examples; Dragon with the kite pilot as the dragon slayer. Cloud following the pilot Farmer trying to coax rain from the cloud.. Shark after a diver. Of course, art is flexible in how it depicts objects. So, aeronautical design can be adapted to many shapes. I sketched a quick concept of an angel based on a Revolution kite. I welcome any comments about its viability. The color beams at the head would be fabric strips. The body itself would be loose fabric hanging so it doesn't affect the wing area, but it is such a large area, it may affect performance anyway. If that is a concern, I imagine it could be shrunk to perhaps half the area. Comments? Speculations? -Joe

When a fabric is described as 0.5 oz, I imagine that refers to the weight per some area. What area? When I am searching for an indoor kite, should the word "indoor" be sufficient? I see some sites describe their kites as 0-wind. It is not always obvious on a web site selling kites how many lines are used. I think this is because there are few choices for the indoor kites with 4 lines. The only one I have seen for sale online is the Revolution Indoor. Some sites also use the word "Quad line". It may also be that the term "stunt kite" refers to a quad line, but I am not sure. If it does, is an indoor 4-line kite a "stunt kite"? Thanks for the help, Joe

Thank you all for the advice. There is a local field where I am told that people regularly fly quad type kites, so I will check them out. I have a little bit of a muscle disorder, so running around a lot will quickly tire me out. It would be good to get some practice with less effort. On my online shopping, the single-line indoor kites seem to start around $100 and then when you go to the 4-lines, the only choice seems to be the Revolution Indoor, at around $250. -Joe

I am specifically interested in indoor Quad flying, and am a complete novice. I attended part of the Wildwood, NJ festival last weekend, so I learned some there. I was surprised there weren't more competitors. I see that the last posting in this forum was August 2013. Is there a more active indoor forum somewhere else that you know of? The indoor kites even seem to have limited sources to purchase them. Perhaps there is just not a lot of interest in indoor kiting, so online forums will be scarce. The indoor Quad kites I have found, seem to start around $230 USD. I don't think that includes the control handles. So, the price will jump closer to $250. Is that the cost of getting started? Thank you for any advice as I hunt for indoor resources. -Joe Dunfee