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Showing results for tags 'freestyle'.
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I'm new here. But...I'm not a newbie. I'm an expert kite pilot, even though I don't fly as much as I used to. I hope that will change with your help. Some history for context: I owned a kite store in Cocoa Beach Florida 20 years ago. I only sold Prism, and I sold a truck-load of them. I still own many Prism kites. Probably a dozen or more. From a Radian to a Vapor to special edition I2K Illusion in Red/White/Blue and everything in between. I was talking with Revolution Kites often when I opened the shop back then. I even have a special edition Y2K red/white/blue Rev. I spoke often with Mark Reed from Prism, and even got to fly new kites he was introducing. I flew 10-12 hours a day. My shop was 27 steps from the sand. I was on the beach all day. I gave flying lessons daily (learning from Bill Ochee from the Kite Loft in Ocean City Maryland) and I made unlimited free repairs for any kite you bought from me. Dodd Gross would come and practice; spending the weekend in my house. I still have a signed prototype from him. On September 11, 2001, the Terrorist attacks ended everything. I was 1 mile from the Launch pads at Cape Canaveral. I was 1 mile from Patrick Air force base. I couldn't get to my store. There were armed guards in sand-bag bunkers protecting the Space Coast. Eventually, I had no choice but to close the store. I went in another direction and although I keep flying, I have been out of touch in the kite world. I'm a lawyer now; living in Marco Island Florida. I see Kite surfing took over the world. I remember seeing the first re-launch-able kites. They were cool. Before that, the guys starting this sport had a backpack harness to bundle their wet kite in. There was no relaunching back then. I fixed many parafoils that got torn in the waves and rough surf. I had to have a lot of bridle line on hand back then. I stayed on the beach doing ground maneuvers and making my Elixir and I2k Illusion do ballet moves in the air. With the detachable Ailerons, the I2K was unstoppable in high wind when you wanted the finesse. And as far as Freestyle tricking, nothing could touch the Elixir. That was 20 years ago. I can still fly with anyone, and there are only a small group that I would consider better flyers than I am. I don't say that to pat my back. I'm getting older and don't care about those things anymore, but I say it so you can understand that I can still compete, and have no doubt I can still win; indoors or out. Speaking of Indoors...I bought so many spars and fittings from Avia Sport, that they offered to sell me their custom-made Avia Sport indoor kite that won internationals. It till has the hand-written instruction on how to use the amazing Herb Weldon active bridle. I am proud to own it. I wore out my Vapor and even starting sewing new panels on it top replace the shredded sail panels. Even after Prism fixed it twice. What a great kite... That was 20 years ago. Avia Sport doesn't exist anymore, and Prism Kites looks like they refocused on kite-boarding rather than 2-lines. With all that history, (and there is so much more), I find myself needing help. I haven't bought a kite in those 20 years. I still fly all my prisms. I want to buy new kites. My Revolutions are still in fine shape, even 20 years later. My Prisms are still in fair shape. I've beat them up and fixed them a million times, and they are still awesome to fly. But I want to buy new kites and fly regularly again. I want to lay out all the kites I have, and show people how to fly; encouraging them to pick up any kite they want to fly. I want to share the tips and tricks and stunts I learned from Doss Gross, Mark Reed, or other great flyers I met across the world. I want to show people how to execute the tricks they struggle with. This brings be back to the beginning. I'm new here. But I am not a newbie. I am an expert kite pilot and I need help. Money isn't my issue. I have the money, but the most expensive doesn't mean the best or most responsive or even worth the value in the price. I want the most responsive expert-level freestyle kites being made today. I want the kite that the best flyers in the world will take to competition. I see many posts on here about intermediate flyers wishing to crawl into the advanced kites. I even some advanced flyers talking about having mastered their intermediate kites. But I don't see much on which kites are the best of the best in the expert realm. I hope someone can bring me up to speed on what's new in the kiting world. I have a lot of time to make up, Even though I never stopped flying, I stopped being involved after that fateful day 20 years ago. I have much to give and I need some help as I launch a new beginning.
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Hi everyone, this is my last project, the Noname EV at 90% Hope you like it....