Jump to content
KiteLife Forum

Recommendations for low wind Int/Adv Stunt Kite


podenbeck
 Share

Recommended Posts

8 hours ago, Palmahnic said:

In my experience the upper spreader removal works best to get lower wind range on full kites that have heavy, 5mm spars there. But as Rob pointed out, it compromises the frame's structural integrity.

What's the frame on your ATM?

Not worth it to remove the upper spreader on the zephyr then as the wind meter seems to indicate. We only had about an hour to fly it yesterday so we'll experiment more another day. I don't have a reason or would have thought to do it on a full kite as we have plenty of options now for the upper wind ranges. It's the lowest end that still gets us hung up some. I've looked quite a bit for something affordable, I find it hard to go with the 4d because its a smaller kite. I've also looked at the fw zero and airwave too but haven't done enough research on those yet. We went to boxcar park tonight looking to fly the zephr and guess what, we ended up using  his vented 2.5 for about an hour. It was nice though. As for the ATM, the lowers are d10 and the spine is d15 I didn't pull the covers off the leading edge to see but I guess their D10 as well. I had see the damage to your ATM about a year ago on the other forum and took the precaution of putting some gaffers tape on the trailing edge to try and prevent the kind of damage you had. I also put a little on the nose and the nocks. My boy flys well at standard flying but is trying to learn tricks the hard way, by trial and error. He's making some progress but it's slow. It was a fun day, a dog went by while he was flying, I thought it was going to pee on his leg but then he almost tripped over it, it was just a puppy. Aren't you not supposed to stand still when you fly?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another kite that has received good reviews here is the Skyburner Nik Nak. Captain Bob preferred it to his 4D. Search this forum and read his comments. Size-wize I think it's a six footer, right between the 4D and Zephyr. Others say it flys more like a full size kite.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, kitedad said:

As for the ATM, the lowers are d10 and the spine is d15 I didn't pull the covers off the leading edge to see but I guess their D10 as well. I had see the damage to your ATM about a year ago on the other forum 

Yup, that sounds about right for an ATM SUL frame. finding an SUL that you like is hard. Maybe a 2nd hand Tattoo? 

6 hours ago, kitedad said:

 Aren't you not supposed to stand still when you fly?

HA!:lol: Have you seen JB fly?? Actually I prefer to always be walking, back or forward, or sideways, that way the balance is always maintained, slowing down or speeding up.. like a human Gyro, always spinning.. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, szobelda said:

I can recommend the Besom DeepSpace ultralight. The kite loves flying and is very trickable for my view

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 

Nice, but is the only option to buy one here in the us is directly from Benson?  I'm thinking more like fw airwave zero for 100$. Yes I know you get what you pay for but I can go through three zero's for one Benson till he gets over the learning curve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, kitedad said:

Nice, but is the only option to buy one here in the us is directly from Benson?  I'm thinking more like fw airwave zero for 100$. Yes I know you get what you pay for but I can go through three zero's for one Benson till he gets over the learning curve.

I agree with the learning curve thing, but, you've got enough kites to get through the learning curve. Flying a heavier kite in light wind will teach you more about light wind flying than flying something light as a feather. If I could go back, I would've saved a lot of $$$ not buying every kite that looked like it would help me out, especially $100-$150 kites. I have a bunch of kites that I only flew 2 or 3 times... that's a waste of Kite Bucks ! Looking back, I realize that I learned more about flying in light wind trying to get my Hypnotist to fly in 3mph winds than actually flying my Skyburner NikNak in those types of winds. The NikNak will fly indoors with a little effort, and you can fly flat-footed without moving in 2-3mph wind...

That's not what light wind flying is all about. It requires effort, you have to at least walk forward & back... if not run. Even the best SUL kites require you to move when the wind is tough to find. I haven't flown all of the SUL kites (like the FW AirWave), but I do have at least 10 that I fly, and probably 5 more that I don't. Light wind flying is my kiting passion, I fly all kinds of kites, but enjoy dual line light wind the most.

Benson makes a top-notch kite, I have a couple of those. They're finely crafted, and worth what Tim charges for them... especially with the exchange rate in the dollar's favor these days. I'm not saying that Benson is the only choice, but certainly not a bad one. Save your kite $$$ and do your research, you might spend the same money at the end of the year, but I think you'll be a lot happier with what's in your bag down the road.

:D

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fine food for thought. Yea I can see a lot of times when he flys that he should "get the lead out" but that's him. Not only with kite flying but a lot of other things too. I know it- I've let him know it- now it's up to him. I just want to help him out the best I can. I don't want to give the impression he stands still all the time but I can say I think he would prefer to if he could. {natural born quad flyer maybe:) I think I will just spent some money on a line set and replace the spars in the z that have been spliced. It's very tempting to go and buy a new kite, we have one more festival to go to and they have a used kite loft thing there.....last year I almost grabbed a used quantum pro sul for 200.  If the right kite lands in my lap I'm not sure I can contain myself. Maybe if I just take ten dollars with me.

42 minutes ago, RobB said:

Save your kite $$$ and do your research, you might spend the same money at the end of the year, but I think you'll be a lot happier with what's in your bag down the road.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I totally get that... wanting to get every kite that you put your eyes on. I bought about 1 kite per month for years. There isn't really anyone else around me who flies seriously, so if I wanted to try a particular kite, I had to buy it.

That has left me with a number of kites that I don't fly, that have only been flown 2 or 3 times, even after selling off a couple of bags full. What I'm left with is a bunch of kites that aren't worth my time to sell & ship... mostly beginner/intermediate kites that didn't really measure up to their marketing hype. I'm hoping that they'll be good to hand out to kids at the beach, to be used & trashed as learning tools.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is Tim Benson...just a typo...but to the issue: once I gained my basic flying skills, I followed a good advice and started buying only secound hand kites made by recommend builders. For me, with less then one year in this addiction, this is working fine. I am not to afraid to brake the kite and can experience real high-end products. Believe me that you can always see and feel the difference in the air.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is Tim Benson...just a typo...but to the issue: once I gained my basic flying skills, I followed a good advice and started buying only secound hand kites made by recommend builders. For me, with less then one year in this addiction, this is working fine. I am not to afraid to brake the kite and can experience real high-end products. Believe me that you can always see and feel the difference in the air.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk





Good philosophy.

I like to get a bit of dirt or grass on a new bird BEFORE I fly it. Takes the pressure off.


Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Difficult pulsing winds last night 0-5 mph and changing directions like crazy.  But I still got the Zeph to fly and it is far more responsive and tracks much better than the Quantum as predicted.  Really psyched to try and progress with this kite!  Thanks everyone for all of the help.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like my session with my Zephyr today. While difficult conditions to fly in they pay dividends when the smooth winds come. If you can hold a fade in those conditions you can do it one handed at the beach. Sometimes keeping it in the air is the exercise of the day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...