When did you start flying?

[John Barresi]

When did you first fly a sport kite?

What kite was it?

How did it happen?

After your first flight, what was your first kite purchase?

==

My own story... I first came across sport kites in 1990, when I saw someone flying a Team Hawaiian on the Marina Green in San Francisco... I went out, asked a few questions, he gave me a 60 second tutorial and handed the thing over... In about 18 mph, and I only weighed about 90 lbs at the time!

Needless to say, I got my butt dragged down the field and was hooked right away.

I went and bought a Cheetah by Sky Toys the very next day.

Running into the Hadzicki brothers (Jim, Joe and Dave) at an event a few months later, they showed me a Rev I and I bought one of those too.

[Grandpa]

About 15 years ago we were in Seaside, OR on 2 weeks vacation.

I was awed by the guys flying stunt kites and whined until my wife let me buy a Cheeta.

I liked the colors then and it is still in my bag.

As a matter of fact, I flew it in August on my lunch hour and again in September in Seaside.

I wear Jerry Garcia neckties and many times I wear a black leather blazer to work. It was quite the sight... some old guy flying a kite by the student union building in a black leather jacket with a BIG red coffee mug at his feet.

A few months ago I found a video of this guy wearing a wolfman mask flying this strange looking kite. His kite could fly backwards and hover and...

I now have an 1.5 SLE and it flies pretty much where ever it wants.

John's flying is awesome...

Mine is aw ...

[ant man]

my first was a peter powell dimond stunter it was blue and had a long 100 foot tube tail after a while i seen some fliers with the faster delta stunt kites thats when i bought my hawaiian at the time i had a summer job doing beach cleanups and my pay checks were going to kites after the hawaiian i started stacking my peter powell i had 3 but it taught me how to fly and set up a stack from there on i got other kites i didnt start flying revs and quadlines until 1997 when i bought my first EXP and i still fly it before that i was just flying dual lines and single line kites i started bugging 2 years ago and love it a great way to let out stress in the 80s i rember seeing guys flying foils and quadlines but couldnt afford the kites at the time to this day i have all almost all the kites ive always wanted i still have a few that i want to get and will get them i glad i could share this story with my fellow kitefilers here smooth winds to all

[Hyper Kiter]

I started in 1983 in Hawaii.

I saw some guy's flying stacks and thought it was cool, a friend told me about a kite shop near Daimondhead and I saw guys flying at the park across the street and I went in.

When I found out each kite in the stack cost $22 I walked out there thinking "They're crazy!"

Then I watched the guys in the park... I went back in and got one white and one black hyperkite (How Lame) with the plan of buying one every week or two. I had 8 by the second week.

The owner of the shop gave me a lesson, and over time we became good friends.

I must say, If it wasn't for Robert Loera (Owner of Kite Fantasy) I don't think I would have gone/done as much in kiting, the friends I've made (John you're one of them) It was a shame to see kiting change and his shop close.

Hooked.

[John Barresi]

Very similar to my story.

I'm glad you're still around Mike!

[mcruzzer]

Let's see...had just come back from a visit to Nags Head...went to the Mall in downtown Washington DC to see the Wings Over Washington kite club's First Sunday fly...walked up, started talking to this couple...she handed me the straps to an HQ Jam Session...needless to say, I crashed it a LOT but had fun and was hooked...bought a Beetle (still have it!)...got a Fanatic a month later for my birthday (October)...by December I had 22 kites! By January, I was in business as a dealer! LOL Started flying REVs about 5 years ago...but my best day was in 2003 at the Wright Kite Festival in Nags Head (Kill Devil Hills, actually). Joe Hadzicki gave me lessons and I flew for 8 hours that day...and again the next day...and I was actually there to work at the festival! One of the two best kite flying days I've ever had...

So, now I'm still a dealer and moving more to REVs than anything else (just got my "Eyes" 1.5s...beautiful kites!)

Jim

Sky Jewels Kites

[kellykelly]

I was looking for something new to do so I looked up kiting on the net and found WOW.

I e-mailed Jim Hodges (who was president at the time) he sent me a very welcoming

note about 1st Sunday fly's. I came out and had a blast, I was hooked. Dennis Hawley

showed me how to fly a stunt kite and it was hard, and I crashed it a lot

Dennis smiled and said that's OK your getting better. A few years later I'm

a little better. I have beetle , beetle stack, E-2, Yin- Yan, trick an track and a few others.

Dennis and I now fly pairs a little.

Thanks Jim for taking the time to e-mail such a welcoming e-mail!!

This year I have a REV on b-day list!

Kelly

[Team Performance]

When did you first fly a sport kite?

I started flying sport kites in 1995 when I was 4 years old with my dad. I love sport kites alot

What kite was it?

The kite I flew was a homemade sport kite that my grandpa made for my dad

How did it happen?

My dad called me over and said " Son, I think it's time for you to learn"

After your first flight, what was your first kite purchase?

It was a cheap 2 line sport kite I purchased from my local kite shop. I flew it for over 6 years and I sill have it today

I paid $34 for the kite and I loved every minute of it.

[quaa714]

When did you first fly a sport kite?

Had to be back around '84 or so.

What kite was it?

Team Hawaiian

How did it happen?

Was hanging with a college buddy in Greenwich Ct. His brother and a couple of friends were wowing everyone with their "mad" skills with these cool rainbow colored kites. I didnt know anything about kiting at the time but was hooked instantly. One quick fly was all it took.

Walked away from the park with two kites. A team Hawaiian and a Hawaiian UL. Both given to me by Bill Edison.

After your first flight, what was your first kite purchase?

Was so long ago I don't remember. I was spending alot of time up in Newport RI where I became fast and lasting friends with Sue M and Steve S. who have sold me numerous kites over the years and have given me invaluable tips and intro'd me to many in the kiting community.

[Hedgewarden]

My wife and I took in the 2007 Long Beach, WA kite festival. Watching the kite ballet comps and the iQuad team made us both very curious about these stunt kites.

Went to a kite shop - wife picked a 70" (XL Sport), but I convinced her to try a smaller (Ignitor) kite first. Took it to the beach, learned to keep it in the air for several minutes at a time, and ran back to the kite shop to get the XL Sport.

Now we have, in addition, a Diode, a Hornet, a BLK, a Yin-Yang (new - picked up on eBay for 1/3 retail), an HQ Floater (also eBay bargain), an old design Alpha+ (eBay).

I'm not interested in tricks, now. I'm trying to learn precision control still. So, the Hornet, Alpha+, and Diode may be my main kites for a while. I still have not had the opportunity to fly the Yin-Yang - but it is the awesome looking black with tie-dye yin-yang symbols - worth it just for the appearance.

We love turning the Ignitor over to someone who has never flown, and watching them catch the fun.

I'm delaying interest in quad lines for now - I enjoy the way the deltas slice through the air.

-Still a newbie learning basic stall and speed control,

Howard

[Spence Watson]

I first saw stunt kites at WSIKF 2005. I learned to fly revs, and haven't stopped flying since.

[Baloo]

Dont remember the first tim I flew a Sport Kit, seems so long ago. Was flying home made single liners for ages as a kid. Eventually got a Peter Powell stunter.

BIG gap in flying till about 10 years or so ago. Bought a delta and a soft foil while on holliday.

Then somewhere near Dorchester at a festival about 4 years (maybe) ago saw a chap in the arena flying a strange Revolution thingy. I spoke to him and he just sort of gave me the handles. Of course being used to dual lines I gave his kite the beating it deserved. I can remember thinking if it can stand up to this it must be good. I was frightened of breaking it so gave the handles back with thanks.

Found the price and was a bit frightened, the most I had paid for a kite up till now was about £40.00.

Anyway made the mistake of buying a cheaper HQ quad (not a bad kite, just too fast for me) Then got an EXP off eBay, still couldnt figure it out so bought a Flexifoil Sting as a slower quad kite to learn on. Got the hang of the handles, than a Rev 1 off eBay, then a Prism (ex Ben from Rev) in a raffle on here, 3 Rev 2's a Supersonic, 2 B's 2 Sedgewicks, a Sea Devil and more, I am hooked.

Still no good, just hooked!!

[Will S]

I got interested in kites late winter/early spring of 2004, when a into the wind magazine somehow showed up on my doorstep. I still don't know how it got there. I looked at all the kites, and thought that the e2 must be the best kite in the world I couldn't afford what looked to be the best cheap kite out there, the beetle, so I went to the bookstore and got a book on kite building. I made tons of little sleds out of straws and trash bags, eventually using some of the rainbow mylar ITW used to sell and dowels. I even made a 6' sled out of tyvek, which worked well until the 1/4" dowels broke and ripped through the sail.

That Christmas, I got a beetle and the book stunt kites.I learned to fly, and had no difficulties. I flew that for about nine months, and then I got a screaming meemie. It is about a nexus, except faster, smaller, tighter and faster turning, and less trickable. I thought that it must have been the best kite around. Little did I know . I went to OBSKC, and there met a bunch of people who pointed me in the right direction. I started going to a few flies with the local club, flew an STX, and got a COMP and UL. At the next competition, I actually got a first in novice precision I wasn't expecting that. since then, I have gotten into revs a bit, but I still like dual line kites better.

[ant man]

1987 to 2008 .. 21 years with kites ... man where has the time gone??

[Jeff]

In August, 2006, by pure chance I went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens the day the Chicago Fire kite team was performing. I was blown away. I didn't know people flew kites like that. Zach and Josh Gordon and the rest of the team were all there flying duals and quads. I was hooked before I ever picked up my first kite.

I went home, surfed the 'net, decided a dual would be easier to learn than a quad, and bought an Acrobatx. So it was Sep. 2006 when I actually flew. Toyed around with that a few times before winter, hooked up online with a new kite club in my area, the Illinois Kite Enthusiasts.

The following spring, I met the IKE crew for a club fly. Mike Kory put the quad handles in my hands, and the rest is history. I'm a complete addict. I got my first quads (Rev 1) in May 2007 from a very generous club member, and now I have 6 Revs and I'm working on team flying.

[Chris Michaud]

my first time flying was when i was a year and a half old with my first delta. my first stuntkite was a diamond and 2 years ago i recieved my first rev.....kiteflying has been my DOC ever since

[mikenchico]

A freind called one day and said "hey run down to the drug store and get one of those cheap kites, we're fighting them" seems they had independently discovered that if you slacked the line they would turn a bit and were cutting each other down. We were well into our 20's this being around 1980-82 and I thought it sounded a bit lame, but it also sounded like a challenge so off I went. A week or two later I found some cheap gayla plastic two string thing that I figured would beat them at their game, well it didn't fly at all. But the idea of a controllable kite was intriging. Soon I discovered a TRLBY, $12 for a kite??? I had to try it, and it flew, it didn't fight well though, first cross of dacron lines with cotton and I was toast. But I was hooked too, we quit fighting but I kept flying those TRLBY's for a couple years. Then an Avenger, then a TOTL Team Chevron, then a Spin Off, then a .... & a .... plus a .... until I now have more kites then brains obviously. Heck I just purchased another $2000 worth of kites last weekend.

BTW: I still have that plastic eagle delta I fought with that first day.

[sky fish]

Fist was a delta -then I came across a cheep two line stunt at wall mart maybe 15years ago it could do loop de loops and I thought that was prity good I had never seen any real sport kites.then ten years ago I bought a detonator $18 at ocean shores.then a nexus $29 5 years ago .Then I found out what those little or big buggers could do and went to my first kite competition .Now I have a bag full of kites and a park full of deep snow.

[SKITCH]

I started flying SLK's back in the late 90's on trips to Long Beach, WA.......how can you not fly kites when you visit that place a lot. Started with basics and then got hooked. Got into bigger and bigger SLK's and always just watched the guys flying duals and quads. Then I went to my first WSIKF a few years ago and really got into watching the folks flying Revs. I had to try it. Went to the Rev area and tried it out.....up...flip right and crash....time after time. It did not go very well. (Actually think it might have been Penny that was manning the display area at the time.) Kept watching over the next few months and then caught a few guys flying Revs again at the summer festival in Lincoln City...damn it looked fun. Spoke with John and Ben briefly while at that festival and then could not take it anymore. I walked across the street and bought a 1.5 SLE.......and ya know what? When I finally got the courage to actually put it together and try to fly it...it wasn't so bad. Not only did I pick it up pretty quickly (just the basics.....) but I was amazed at how many people came around and helped me learn. One guy really helped me out at Ocean Shores and I CANNOT remember his name but I really appreciated it. His help boosted my abilities and allowed me to move along much quicker.

I still only have the one Rev...but I've flown it quite a bit and am always looking for a chance to put it in the air. I've got a bunch of older duals in my collection....never even tried to fly them yet. I really want to get good with that Rev first.

Standin' out there on that beach by myself, early in the morning with no one around....flying that kite......it really takes me away. All the stress and worries just go away for a while. Sure wish more people would give it a shot.

That's the story I'm stickin' to.

P

[CLTKiter]

My first encounter with sport kites was back in the early-90's when I was at the Outer Banks of NC. I bought a plastic diamond dual-line with a tube tail -- it might have been a Trilby -- I don't know. Only flew it every year or so when on vacation. Then in 2000 I bought a Megafoil from Kites Unlimited in Atlantic Beach and it pulled me around the beach -- COOOL. That was followed in successive years by a 6-stack of Hyperkites and an HQ Breeze.

Then in late 2002 I saw Mark and Jeanette Lummas fly Rev 1.5's to a popular love song at the Carolina Kitefest in Atlantic Beach. I absolutely couldn't believe that a kite could do what they did with that kite. I had to learn, so at the kitefest I took "Rev flying lessons". Picked up my first Rev 1.5 in February 2003 and it's been deeper and deeper into the "Dark Side" ever since. Now I rarely pull my dual-lines out of the bag. Many times I'll put up a single line, but I can usually be found flying my Rev's next to it.

I've dabbled a little with fighter kites and own a few SLK's, but I always go back to my Rev's

Doug

[Charlie]

Stumbled onto stunt kiting like lot of us, by accident.

In May, 2007, I was looking for updated single-line kite plans that I could make for our youngest grandkids. I found a super resource in KiteLife Magazine on-line, ordered a delta plan, and joined KiteLife.

The delta was rocking along fine when I rec’d an e-mail from KiteLife informing me I had won an Acrobatx in their monthly drawing (I didn’t even know about the drawings). What the heck is an Acrobatx? Well I found out and after it’s arrival, I became addicted. I bought a Beetle, since I was a beginner so I wouldn’t have to keep repairing the Acrobatx I continually crashed. I got a ITW Whisper UL for the lighter winds and now since I rarely have violent crashes, I just got a NewTech French Connection and can’t wait to fly it.