hyzakite Posted April 5, 2014 Report Share Posted April 5, 2014 This topic brings back memories! It was late spring of 1957 on my 6th birthday. I just blew out the candles on the cake then I started opening my presents. You always gotta save the biggest presents for last and open the soft ones first, soft ones are usually socks or underwear. I finally got to the long present and started ripping open the gift wrap paper. How was I to know the pretty gift wrap paper wasn't gift wrap? The kite wasn't gift wrapped! After the ol' man ripped me a new one, I think I wished I would have blown out the candles after I opened my presents! I still got to fly it but it was now a newspaper kite. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger_Lingelem Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 I don't remember my first kite, But here is my 2 1/2 year old daughter with her first kite. http://kitelife.com/forum/gallery/image/5788-/ 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkieRob Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Love this thread, great stories. My first kite was a homemade diamond. Made from newspaper, suitable twigs, sticky tape and knitting wool. Man I used to run around with those till something broke. My wife bought the good ol' occy that was at the start of this journey. The first kite I bought was my Rev EXP. Bit of a jump but I slid right down the rabbit hole. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave362 Posted August 8, 2015 Report Share Posted August 8, 2015 My wife and I took a trip to Cannon Beach Oregon after I passed my graduate oral exams. I bought a Cheetah, which was a small dual line kite that was popular as an impulse buy for beach goers at the time (1990) i couldn't get over its rigid frame and swept leading edges. it seemed so serious, so professional. I spent the day flying it to the edge and holding it still in the smooth beach winds. To this day I think I measure all other kites by the feeling I got flying that first sport kite. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audit23 Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 I was a BIG kid when I got my first kite two years back! I won't tell you my age, lets just say I'm over the hill!! I flew my first Rev in Seaside just a few weeks ago and I'm hooked!! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makatakam Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 Bumping this topic so maybe the new members see and can add their stories. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevmort Posted November 15, 2016 Report Share Posted November 15, 2016 My very first kite was a HQ symphony 2.1 after flying a friends blade 4 meter I was hooked. Being a bit stupid and not fully understanding just how dangerous power kites can be on the 4th time out with my HQ I took it out in a wind that was way way too strong for the kite and myself and boy did I find that out fast !!! After being dragged up the beach just about managing to stay on my feet and heading to a busy road I did the only thing I could and let go of one of the two lines , that was a big lesson learned and an escaped trip to a&e with a lesson in untangling lines to boot , yes at the time I was in my early 40's well your never too old to be a kid !!! [emoji4] Sent from my iPad using KiteLife mobile app 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikefule Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 My dad made me a traditional diamond shaped kite. Being a joiner, he used square section spars and I think he even did a "halving joint". The sail was greaseproof paper - just plain grey. As I remember it, the kite was huge: nearly as tall as I was at the time. We flew it briefly on a local field and it pulled so hard that the line snapped and the kite landed on a house roof and was lost. A few weeks ago, I was flying kites on the same field and I'm pretty sure I still know which house it was! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esinger Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 My first kite was a Gayla Bat kite. A had a friend at the time that I'd fly it with and he had a Puffer kite.Sent from my XT1575 using KiteLife mobile app 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Clay Posted May 10, 2017 Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 Funny you should mention a Puffer Kite... That was my first kite. When I was 5 or 6 years old I lived in Brunswick ME and we had a huge field behind our house that I flew my Puffer in until somehow I let go of the line and it flew away... [emoji22]I recently found this pic online. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim P. Posted May 11, 2017 Report Share Posted May 11, 2017 Gayla Sky Spy or possibly the Bat, was the first one I remember, back in the late 60's or early 70's, in Orlando, Fla. I mainly remember the eyes, not sure of the color, but I think it was the white one. Such a LOOOOOOOONG time ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esinger Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 Gayla Sky Spy or possibly the Bat, was the first one I remember, back in the late 60's or early 70's, in Orlando, Fla. I mainly remember the eyes, not sure of the color, but I think it was the white one. Such a LOOOOOOOONG time ago! Speaking of Sky Spy. What the heck is this? Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/322513819685 Sent from my XT1575 using KiteLife mobile app Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netred Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 I flew my first kite when I was 7. It was a basic homemade diamond kite which I flew with my brother from the rooftop of our house when it was windy. There was once a local kite festival where I lived but I didn't enroll because I thought my kite was too basic and lacked aesthetics I still went to the festival and from that day I was hooked. kitchenlola | Headphone pit site 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makatakam Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 Hi, netred, and welcome to the forum. On this forum we like anything and everything that flies, no matter how simple or complicated. There's a bunch of good folks here with some serious skills. I look forward to sharing the sky with you some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffclown Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Welcome to the forum.. Many of us will remember our first kite.. The one almost ALL of us wants to remember is our NEXT kite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikefule Posted July 10, 2017 Report Share Posted July 10, 2017 I have replied to this thread before about a paper diamond my dad made for me, so logically one of the two was not my very first kite. The first shop bought kite I can remember was a type that was very common in the 1970s but has (thankfully?) died out. It was a square about 16" or so across. It flew with the straight edge to the ground, like a diamond. The bridle was 3 legged, with one leg to each of the two top corners and one to the centre where the spars crossed. Such a design was very unstable and the manufacturers dealt with this by adding a multi-streamer tail, hanging from a 2 legged yoke - one leg to each of the two bottom corners of the square. As a kid with no idea of aerodynamics, but a crude idea of physics, I tried to stop the kite doing the death spiral by adding heavier and heavier weights to the end of the tail. This reached the stage of tying huge bunches of grass stalks and quite heavy sticks to the tail, but it still spiralled and crashed. I cannot remember the kite ever flying for a sustained period. I remember two of these kites, one with a multicoloured geometric pattern, and one with a Welsh flag (white and green with a red dragon) and the words "Cymru am byth" which I was told meant "Wales forever" but which I now suspect means "Make this fly, you English b***ard." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansas Flier Posted July 26, 2017 Report Share Posted July 26, 2017 Howdy all. New to the forum. Great topic. The first kite I remember was a Burger King kite I got with a Kid's meal. Maybe the early 80's. Dad used an old sheet or pillowcase to make a tail. I must have flown the tail off the kite, because I remember needing more tail. I don't recall what happened to that kite. Fast forward to 1993, bought a Cheetah and a 5' delta conyne. They must have mated or something, because now I have kites everywhere. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted July 26, 2017 Report Share Posted July 26, 2017 Cheetah was my first kite, good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooljr Posted August 4, 2017 Report Share Posted August 4, 2017 As a kid, I went through countless paper and plastic diamond kites. $.19 for paper and $.29 for plastic. We would tear up an old pillow case to make tails for the kites. My first stunt kite was a Go Fly a Kite diamond with a 50' tail. It flew OK, but not like the deltas today, and you needed a second person to launch it. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiteKouple Posted April 14, 2018 Report Share Posted April 14, 2018 I remember it well... A Gayla Baby Bat. I remember placing the eyes on it and the paper sticker on the keel to attach the line. The line which was on the roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiff Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 My first kite was a red/white and blue diamond that came with a Hi-Flyer winder.. was a really cool winder for its day 50 years ago. A favorite that stands out was a white delta with big eyes on it. Then there was time I put a thread on the legs of a cicada named Max... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiNator86 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 My first kite was a New Tech Fire Cracker. I still have it. Is probably 16 years old. I still enjoy flying it. I couldn't afford a NTK Firestorm at the time so I got the Fire Cracker. It's been a good kite and have let many youngsters fly it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddobie Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 Around 1964 - 1965 age 3 to 4 years old, a Jolly Green Giant diamond kite. that we got from a tin cup label. We flew the kite so high and that lost the kite in a canyon, behind are old house in San Diego. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Klie Posted June 23, 2019 Report Share Posted June 23, 2019 Peter Powell Stunt Kite in 1987 or 88. It had a plastic sail. I bought in at Kitty Hawk Kites In Nags Head, NC. I think it was $35 big money for an 11 year old. Loved that kite. I flew it until it just disintegrated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Klie Posted June 23, 2019 Report Share Posted June 23, 2019 Peter Powell Stunt Kite in 1987 or 88. It had a plastic sail. I bought in at Kitty Hawk Kites In Nags Head, NC. I think it was $35 big money for an 11 year old. Loved that kite. I flew it until it just disintegrated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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