nus

fair enough...... i suppose cheap is a realative term....

This is hearsay as I have not flown both.... however I frequently hear the only thing they share in similarites is the name which I tend to believe. The Quantum Pro is competiton ready kite with a much higher pricetag... oh and your previous comment.... "this is a cheap hobby" DON'T BE FOOLED!!!! that's just to get you sucked in, soon you'll be unable to stop buying kites and you'll quickly change your tune ). I started getting an acrobatx saying only $70 bucks that's cheap... now a got an E2 $130, Beamer 1.8 $100, Flashlight $50 (used), over $100 in linesets, and looking to get a 5M HQ crossfire running about $400.... also I'm super interested in Rev's I really wanna get one and try that out that's like another $200+ and this is all just within about 3 months..... there are a TON of other kites i want to just cause I wanna try them the only thing that stops me is my wife and bank account, and I'm sure I'm on the lighter/mid end of the spectrum

Well I guess I would suggest after the first push with the wing more of a pull with the same hand and don't worry so much about the bottom wing yet, i think that just comes naturally.... as for full axels one thing I notice is my Acrobatx looks AWESOME do'n an axel super flat right on it's belly, on the other hand the e2 doesn't go as flat and somtimes does more of a flip... now I don't know if I'm not doing it right or if some kites don't flatten out as well... but watching the Prism video I didn't think the axels where all that flat when they used the E2... just my 2 cents... i don't know if it's worth anything to ya...

Well considering I'm the OP of the thread I'm sure you all know that I'm by no means an expert... however, this trick has been one of my faves so I do it ALOT now. I learned of course on the E2 and have been able to transfer that to the Acrobatx and finally i got it. Anyway..... what kinda of imputs are you using... there are a couple different methods i've heard however this works for me... fly across the window when at the edge push the top wing hand forward and then pull that hand back while stepping forward (depending on wind bigger step would be required.. this will probably help with tip wrap) this usually does most of the trick for me from there somtimes you need input from the lower wing but i find that's more of a fine adjustment to flying off at an exact 180.... atleast thats what i think i do.... if somone finds these to be bad instructions please let me know I will edit or remove them if i'm giving bad pointers.... also one thing to note... when I first did the trick I thought the rotation was messed up like it was rotating the wrong way... but it wasn't..... i dont' know if that means anything to any of you......

My fade is actualy pretty good I think from a fade launch (for only really do'n it for a couple days) i'm able to rise it up pretty well and keep it fairly even. I have 2 issues i think with the fade from the half axle, I'm popping to hard at times and the other issue is my line keeps getting caught on my nose. I was told to put some tedlar (?sp) on the nose to so hopfully that will help out. Mostly it's jsut finding the right touch I think, once I get to go a couple times in a row I'll be good from there on, that usually seems to be what happens. Oh also the other big problem is the damn Sun... it keeps go'n down to early!!!!

I was trying to learn getting into the fade from the half axle but I'm still a little shaky on that. I've got it a couple times but extremely inconsistent. As for the cascades.... I'm sure with time they will come but man i just seeems like so much for me to handle right now the hand movments seem crazy. I think my biggest problem is learning the right touch for tricks. Somtimes my head is kinda like a 2x4 at times... and idea's being are like a nail. What I need is an instructor (the hammer) keeping on hit that idea and hopfully it will sink in that 2x4 of a head I've got. Luckly I hed one of those this weekend and was finaly able to Fade launch, and tend the fade after he finally pounded the idea of "SWEEP! your hands back" instead of snapping them, however for going to the fade from the half axle he only got that mail most of the way in ) ........ sorry for the crazy analogy

Well here's the thing... all the video's say if you having problems with the axle and it's breaking cause you're not giving it enough slack the you're probably doing half axle's already ). The only difference is that you're not doing them while going horizontally across the window to get that sweet looking change of direction that they provide. For me it was two things... one my other kite the acrobatx really wanted to fall on it's back do'n this trick so it was tough for me, secondly I don't think I was really visualising the trick properly... In the matter of 30 min I was able to get the half axle down once i had this new kite (E2). As with any trick, I read some peoples post saying this was the first trick and the eaisest to learn then others that say it was the hardest ::shrug:: so I can guarentee 2 things will help, if you have somone to explain it WHILE you're flying or if they show you up close on YOUR kite, and practice. I must say though this is one of the coolest looking tricks for me... other than the side slide (which seems impossible, and is my favorite to watch) I love the way the half axle looks.

SO just an update, I got my E2 and was finally able to fly it today... FANTASTIC!!!! man what a kite. Got it up in the air for a bit tried to feel it out and then went right into trying the half axels. after about a dozen or so tries I pulled out a sloppy one and was pumped!!! couldn't believe in the matter of 20 - 30 min i was able to make such progress. I continued to fine tune the trick getting it cleaner and cleaner and then was luckly enough to get some additional instruction from another flyer which helped a bunch. By no means are my half axel perfect..... nor are they totally consistent yet however I am able to do them and I'm loving it!!!! Thanks for everyones advice. OH yeah my method that worked was flying across the window push the top wing, and pull it, and them pull the bottom wing to get the rotation. When getting the instruction I was advised to do just the push and pull of the top wing to see what that was doing to the kite and getting used to the kite being on it's belly as this is a key position for a bunch of tricks.

I'm flying an Acrobatx... Usually what happens is that I do end up in a turtle. It's very frusterating to me, however I was lucky enough to run into a very good flyer at the beach I fly and asked for a tip... he hadn't flown the Acrobatx so wanted to give it a shoot... he explained what he was gonna do and then....... BANG! he was in the Turtle )..... He was shocked.... he quickly realized the adjustment required with the acrobatx and easily nailed it on his next attempt. I still had troubles though, he stated the Acrobatx is probably gonna be a really tough kite to learn the trick on and suggested looking into a new kite as the Acrobatx is GREAT for some tricks horrible for others.... well since I had an excuse to buy another Kite I got an E2 as this one of the kites on his list of suggestiions in my price range, unforutnaly I have yet to fly it as I'm on the East coast and we're getting pummeled wiht some rain and some really fierce winds. Anyway hopfully the E2 will be able to help me with this trick a bit and then I'll be able to adjust it for the Acrobatx... Thanks for all your suggestions I know I gotta keep practicing but it's nice to hear the tips as somthing might finally click in my head to get this right.... so anymore tips keep them coming.

So I'm having troubles learing the half axel. I think one of the problems is the two videos I've watched have said to do it different ways. I have watched Flight School which says tug the Up wing then the Down wing, and then I watched a RandyG Tutorial and it said to slightly tug lower wing, then top wing???? Which way should I be doing this and does anyone have an additional advice when first learning this trick.

Well I figured I'd start a new thread even though this is kind of a continuation of my broken spreader thread... however I have taken the advice of a couple others here and purchased some P200 Sky Shark rods from midwestkites whom I actually bought my kite from, they have been extremely helpful to me and very paitent with a newbie like myself. However now I'm at the point where i need to install the new center T (which is a totally differnt style). I have been given a description of what I should be doing and I'm confident the instructions are correct however I was wondering if anyone could point me to a write up on replacing this kinda thing maybe with pictures, or give me any of your own advice on things to look out for. I'll probably hold off making the mod until tomorrow just so I can build my confidence some more.

I'm fairly new to the game here but also have the Acrobatx... one thing that I've found is you really have to find a good location to get yourself started. Obviously a beach with the wind coming off the water has been the best flying I've had and can get the kite to stay up in the lighter winds, however in those same winds if I'm at the football field down the street from me that has a treeline along one of the endzones and sidelines, and then some other buildings/structures not to far away it's alot tougher to get the kite to stay off the ground, the wind seems to be alot less consistent, I blame it on the buildings and stuff but I could be crazy. The one nice thing about the lighter winds you can practice landing your kite alot more safely BTW: Any of the more advanced peeps here feel free to correct me if I'm off base here.

Thanks for the info.. I didn't even think of using the dremel... and the masking tape is a great idea... however I think i'll keep the carbon away from my drill chuck I would be one to break my new nicly cut carbon making it useless......

So I bought some regualr rods just to get my kite back in working condition however I'm looking into getting the p200 (they don't sell it at the kite place here). But my question is when cutting the carbon is there any tricks? I was told just to use a fine tooth hacksaw? Anything else I should be doing other then just cutting it to size?

Thanks for the info... and since I really am a noob here, P200 and 3PT i'm pretty sure is a type of carbon tubing correct? how is it different and when you say "feel better on the kite" how so.... I'm considering your suggestion however I also think I'll end up breaking another spreader soon cause I'm still starting out....

So although the weekdays this week where no good for kiting I was able to get out there and enjoy the weekend trying to further my skills..... I think I completed my first axel (looked good to me atleast) however the stall that it came from wasn't quite expected but it all worked out in the end..... anyway after much flying this weekend I've managed to break my lower spreader on my acrobatx. Obviously I know I have to get a new one and that shouldn't be an issue, however here is my question.... Where i broke the spreader was toward one of the ends, so can I just cut the spreader to the size of my upper spreader so I have a replacement for that?

The lines where atleast 3 inches off.... I know I totally should've noticed right away i was just way to happy to fly, I think that i've fixed them... I untied the longer line at the sleeve and slid (is that a word?) it down abit and have retied it with two figure 8 knot which is how it came orginally. I saw another post about getting incorrect lines from FlyingWings... is this common?

Thanks for the info... I was figuring that was what they are but still kinda unsure how to get them on the tail... does the piece on the bottom of the tail pop off? I went and did a bit more flying today and I just noticed my kite lines are off... i think i was so excited to fly I never noticed it before and I think this is part of the reason it seems over repsonsive (i'm sure that's not the right term) at time, so now I'm gonna look around and figure out how to fix these bad boys. Thanks everyone for all your help, I hate being a total noob but am enjoying the kiting a ton.

Thanks www.wunderground.com is fantasic, exactly what I was looking for, thanks a bunch!

Thanks...so I guess the next question would be.... how would I put them on and what would be the benefits of having them.... On side note I got out this morning and had a much better time flying, winds where good and the location was decent, and I had a blast. At this point I'm still learning how to finess the controls as I seem to go to hard at it (which I had to do with my smaller kite), but I'm still lov'n it.

So I got my kite the other day (Acrobatx).... very excited but I must admit I was overwhlemed..... obviously it's alot bigger but also it's a different setup which although wasn't that complicated too my a couple min to figure out..... BUT i do still have what look like a couple of brass bushings? with a couple of rubber spacers... NO IDEA what they're for, nothing in the documentation or anything. So i did take it out... however niether day has been optimal but I must say it is a huge difference from the Typhoon i've been flying. obviously I expected it to be diferent but not this much.... anyway, the kite is definatly a ton slower which is cool I can see where this is totally gonna help me when geting into the trick stuff, and also seems like I can land it way easier if the wind disappears. The kite also seems a ton more responsive almost over responsive but like I said the days/locations I flew have not been optimal. All and all I'm toatllly excited to learn and progress...... however right now I think one of the things I need to learn is good flight locations for a ceratin direction of wind.... Does anyone know of a website that has historical weather data... even if it's only a week back just so I can have a good idea of some of the places I have flown in the past week and my experiences?

so of course after I ordered the kite I find someplace in my area!!! arghh... althoguh frusterating this is VERY good news to me as I have somplace to go and look at things here's the link for anyone looking in the Northshore MA area. .... http://www.funwithwind.com/about/ContentPl...p;articleID=253

the lower wind speed ratings is one of the reasons I made this kite my choice. I guess my next really big ? is how important are the kite lines? The kite is coming with lines which seems standard but should I look into purchasing a "better" set and what exactly qualifies as a better set. If this has been answerd in a previos post feel free to direct me there.

ordered a Acrobatx.... i'm very excited can't wait till it gets here...

well thanks for all your input so far... and you're video's are crazy!