Jim Mol

Oh, well. It turns out I have the Peter Powell stunt kites so I cannot help you. Best of luck.

I have a stack on my kite shelf in the garage. I will see if it is a Tribly and if so, will get some picts and measurements. Hang in there.

Shared your post with Jon Trennepohl of Sky Burner Kites and he had this to say: By looking at your photo’s, the spine and outside leading edges are not all the way into the nose. The cause of this is most likely that the leading edges are not pulled tight at the wingtips. If the lines that are holding the wingtips are not adjusted so it puts tension on leading edges it could have this effect on the nose. Also the spine needs to be tight with the Velcro pulled tight over the weight in the tail. All of this would then cause the top spreader to not line up with the rub patch, which in turn would result in the sail damage . If all of tubes are pushed into the nose like when you first got the kite, it should not have folded over like your photo shows. Did the stiches on the nose fail? If so this could also be the problem. Flying on the beach does create more wear but if you keep up with adjustments on the kite it should last longer than the time you have had it....I have been doing maintenance on kites for 30 years, as long as the sail is in good shape it has a lot of hours left on it. Suggest you contact him if you still have trouble after following his suggestions.

I am going out on a limb and say it might be similar to a pancake landing followed by a belly launch. But that does not answer the hover question.

Being a kite flyer and a former commercial pilot, let me try to shed some light on the issue. Since I do not know where the park lies in relationship to the airport, I can only speak in generalities. As a pilot, you are constantly looking out for other aircraft so as to avoid collision. You are also dividing your attention to maintain corse to the runway. As you begin your final descent, you may or may not see that kite at the 1000 feet above the ground, maybe pick it up at 500 feet above the ground - remember, as a pilot you main job is getting the plane safely to the ground - so you cannot be looking for the kite all the way down. Even if you know there is a person flying a kite, when you are going through your last 100 feet to the ground, there is nothing more disconcerting than catching something out of the corner of your eye - Was that an airplane coming in low and fast? An emergency landing by a small aircraft? It might distract you for a second, until you verify it is that kite. With two pilots, the non flying pilot can pay more attention to the kite, but the flying pilot could still catch it out of the corner of his eye, and for a moment wonder. I guess the question you need to ask yourself is would you want to be on an aircraft where the pilot(s) is distracted, for even just a moment, from his primary duty to land the plane safely? As far as the regs you reference, remember, with the FAA there is alway a catch all. I am surprised that the General Concerns # 8 did not point that out. Going back to the eCRF 0 Code... part 101.11(below) it is the "and" that limits you. "and with additional limitations imposed by the using or controlling agency, as appropriate." So if the control tower or approach control impose a not kite flying limitation, there is not much you can do about it except honor it and try to build some bridges with the appropriate agencies. As a kite flyer, I did fly a kite on airport property, once, on the softball outfields after talking to the tower and explaining that I had a 50 foot string and since I was working on stunt maneuvers it would be 40 feet off the ground. It was in an area where the planes would be rolling down the runway as they passed by and I was well away from the runway. Still, as I spoke with a controller afterwards, he mentioned he would rather I did not fly in that area any more. I get it. Imagine how he feels when he is bringing planes in and see something out of the corner of his eye... What to do: Now that you know someone thinks you are restricted from flying kites near the airport, I would suggest speaking to someone on the airport property as to why they think that - so you can begin to build bridges. Now if the airport manager tells you that, he has authority over the airport but may not be the controlling agency. Unfortunately, these days it is harder to talk to the controllers in the tower with all the extra security, but if there is a tower, ask for a tour so you can understand what is going on as they bring the planes in for a landing - look for a time where there is not much going on to do this. At the end of the tour, you might ask, "How do you feel about all those kite flyers over there?" pointing to the park. Then you will know. Controllers are truly concerned about safety and if a kite on a 35 ft line will not bother them, they will tell you, but if it does , then please honor their request and fly elsewhere. Sorry I am so long winded but I hope all have a better understanding from the pilot side of things. §101.11 Applicability. This subpart applies to the operation of moored balloons and kites. However, a person operating a moored balloon or kite within a restricted area must comply only with §101.19 and with additional limitations imposed by the using or controlling agency, as appropriate.

Welcome to kiting, For me the best source of learning was Dodd Gross Flight School VHS from years back. I know it was in DVD form for a while. Now his instruction videos are on YouTube. I likes it as it was one of the first to show the kite and the hand inputs at the same time. Unfortunately, he brakes it down to categories of tricks instead of the progression you are looking for. But the basic video is a good start. There are more video by Dodd Gross so enjoy. He is sometimes stiff in his explanation on what to do, but he is a flyer trying to make a video to help the rest of us. There will be others that will have much more to share later. This is another video that covers the basics, some of which you may know, but it may help you as you get started.

When I have flown the NikNak, I just used the factory set bridle setting. Since it flies so well in no wind, it will get going in a light wind. Have Fun.

50' tailtail on the WM would be fun to see. please post back if you ever get a picture of it. Back to the original post.

I didn't think the WidowMaker was supposed to have a tail. Do you feel you need to add it for control issues or just for fun?

Prism Kites still carries it http://shop.prismkites.com/index.php/catalogsearch/result/?q=Tedlar+Tape 20"x 3" for $5.00. Don't know about shipping cost.

Beatifully done!

Thanks for the list. There was a wren or two. Jim

A twist on a old phrase: Sometimes it is easier to ask permission than to beg forgiveness. I learned many years ago from an older cousin to make the security guard your friend. We were walking through a construction sight that would later be a mall. My cousin saw the security guard approaching, stopped and waved him over. He carried on a polite conversation with him and he explained why we should not be around the place. We never returned but we did not get in trouble either. Next time you are there with some wind, wave them over, ask them if they want to try out a kite. If you can, stop by the school office and ask what are the policies for public use. Explain what you want to do and why you need to do it there. If that does not work, visit central office and speak with the school superintendent. I know soccer fields are expensive to build and maintain and having extra feet trampling the grass may not help. If there are not too many bleachers between fields, offer to stay off the main fields and along the sidelines. Hope you can secure this place to fly! Jim M.

Save your money for now. Start working on the basic tricks with the kite you have. There are other in the forum and maybe reviews of your kite that can tell you how far you can go. When you have learned the basics and most all of the tricks the Quantum can do, than take the money you have been saving up and buy the kite that you will not outgrow for a long while. I will be happy to share my thoughts on that when the time comes. There are only two times I might recommend going to a new kite: If the kite you are flying needs too much precision to get the tricks learned. Again, I do not know about the Quantum. Or if after you have a few tricks down you really want to try some tricks that your kite will not do. Even then, find a kite club or group of flyers, save up your money while trying some of their kites out, you will get to see what other kites do and will have even more money saved up for the really great kite you want. I am sure there are more comments to follow. Have fun flying Jim Mol

I have been told that a Wren and INak are very different kites, the Wren being Old School and the INak new school. Thanks for the tip, I will give a try next time I fly. Jim

As I learn to fly indoor, I find that many times the kites floats down to the floor and ends up on one of the leading edges. I hope as I practice, less of this will happen, but in the mean time: I am able to do an edge launch to get back in the air again but how much wear will a gym tile or word floor cause on my leading edge? Should I apply a narrow strip of tear aid to the leading edge to protect it? Thanks Jim

Now that I have my wren, I would like to watch what others are doing so I have an idea what I can strive for. There are some indoor dual line videos, but, truth be told, I cannot tell one kite from another and there are not to many references the wren in the members section. Does anyone know where any wren videos are posted? Thank Jim

I accidentally clicked one of the blue boxes next to the forum titles. It turned from dark blue to light blue. What did I do? I tried looking in the help files but could find nothing. Thanks Jim

What do people think about the Freestlylist by Sky Burner for Skyclad01? At 88 inches it is a bit bigger than he wants but it does axle well. As a novice, in my brief time using it, I found it easy to learn some tricks that I could not do on other kites. At my level, when messing up a trick, I find it very forgiving and it seems as though I can recover from most messed up attempts without having to walk out and unwrap the lines. I spent several hours trying out the standard version in my test flight and about 15 minutes on the UL version. A kitelife review of this one can be found here: http://www.kitelife.com/archives/issue47/f...ist47/index.htm (hope it is ok to post the link) Others who have more experience with the kite might be able to answer more to your situation, but I have found it to be what I would want for my "second kite". Of course the best thing is to try before you buy, as you have been able with some. Hope this helps. Jim

It is bigger than this link. On your web page, I can get to the forum page, even to a sub topic, but the individual topics will not come up. I have checked several sub forums and this is a consistent problem. Hope it is only an indexing problem... I started having some trouble late last night. One way it would give me this error, other ways it would work. The other sections of you web sight seem to be fine. Might want to check for the usual virus type stuff. Oh, T, have you got a ballpark figure on the wso sul - need to know if it is even in my budget. Thanks Jim

Hi Dan, I was looking for the same thing. Just became aware of the Inak last week. I hope to fly one out doors tomorrow if the wind is down and the owner shows up. How much are you willing to spend? How much are you willing to work - trotting backwards vs standing and using your arms. I saw a video of the CDC Stx 1.8 and the guy was doing some great things but trotting, almost running backwards to make it happen. Go to http://aubert.pauline.free.fr/ and select 1.8. On the other hand you see some of the videos here are kitelife and they move a bit, but not like the 1.8. Here are some more sights to deal with what you are trying to find. Take a moment and read through them: http://www.thekiteshoppe.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1597 http://www.kiteconnection.com/ubb/ultimate...ic;f=6;t=000063 http://kitelife.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1025&st=0 Hope this helps I have not found much about the Inak online yet. Maybe reviews will come in the future. Jim

The VIP looks great, videos show it seem to float and do some tricks, if money were no object... Someone else put me onto the Inak. Don't know much about it. The wren may be my best best to start off indoor and the Inak could be used out door. But if money were no object I could get a WSO SUL for my low wind (at least it looks expensive.) thanks Jim

Thanks John.

Could you point me in the right direction? I put different words in the search engine and nothing came up. Thanks Jim

Good Day, Found a Genesis UL down the road for a good price, but I really know nothing about them. A Search for Genesis found nothing and the web doesn't have much more information. Has anyone flown one? I have experience only with the New Jam and Prism Prophecy. How would low wind characteristics compare with say a Prism Ozone (which I have read about at least)? Thanks for you help. Jim