Fluke's journey

[Fluke]

I am back to receive some more enlightenment XD

 

I would like your honest opinion about a potential next buy: the flyingwings silverfox 2.3 or the premier widow ng? 

[Fluke]

also does anyone know about this version of the widow ng?

https://premierkites.com/collections/sport-kites/products/67816

 

seems like it's only a cosmetic change but is also slightly cheaper

[TonyB]

How soon do you need the new kite by? If you're willing to wait a few months I'd recommend the upcoming version of the Silver Fox being redesigned by Lam Hoac (a boutique kite maker that creates high-end kites). Flying Wings hired Lam Hoac to redesign the Silver Fox so you'd be getting an amazing kite for about half the price boutique kites normally sell for (under $200).

Here's a video of Lam Hoac flying a prototype version of the kite:

 

[Fluke]

that's great i had no idea 

 

is there a thread where i can follow its progress?

 

[TonyB]

1 hour ago, Fluke said:

that's great i had no idea 

 

is there a thread where i can follow its progress?

 

Not that I'm aware of. It is possible to contact Lam Hoac directly via email. Search for Sky Sport Design if you'd like to see his site which has his contact info posted.

[mwp]

On September 19, 2017 at 1:55 AM, Fluke said:

I am back to receive some more enlightenment XD

 

I would like your honest opinion about a potential next buy: the flyingwings silverfox 2.3 or the premier widow ng? 

I flew with a guy recently that had multiple silver foxes and some other very nice kites but was selling the premier widow as he was not too fond of it. I flew the silver fox a bit and it seemed like a nice kite.

[Fluke]

i actually like the widow ng design but the new silverfox seems nice too. i saw a post where they say it may be available in oct/nov. If true that's great timing

 

still interested in views for the widow vs silverfox 2.3 vs 2.5 though

[Fluke]

ok couldn't wait

New bird was ordered

meanwhile this came for it in the mail 

[Exult]

A pair of handles without a kite looks very incomplete, but yet ready for use. I assume that it increases the joyful agony of kite waiting. I have only tried either wrist or finger straps, yours look like some combo. Would you mind sharing what you think of them after some time using them (compared to other straps if possible)? And finally but not least - which kite did you go with (and no haven't tried any of the abovementioned candidates)? Is it so instead that the image hold any clues, Freilein, Spider kites...?

[Fluke]

Yep it's a finger/wrist strap combo. I have a very limited experience but its lighter than my prism equalizer straps. looks like it's made of the same material as keychain neck straps and is actually very well made. 

 

As for the kite, i went for a silverfox 2.3 pro  but i must admit i looked at freilein a bit and they do look interesting whether be their qlk or dlk

 

oh and i also bought a small hengda stuntkite and a few cheap slks

funnily enough i've found out that the slk (which i anchored on the field) along with the tailed stuntkites are the one that draws crowds

here's a small video of my latest kiting session with a friend of mine. I'm with the red hat with green kite

 

Edit: Sudden realization - i am becoming a kite hoarder....

[Fluke]

Life of an online shopper

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[Fluke]

Looks like a trip to the flying field is in order 🤣


I have some qc issues (missed stitches and some stains) but nothing i can't live with.



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[Fluke]

had the silverfox maiden flight yesterday and man it's a whole another beast. i was thinking about selling my hypnotist but i feel i need more air time on it first. managed to do 1 rollup but had no idea how to roll out of it . besides a minor cut on a wingtip vinyl cap all went rather well aka i don't lawn dart as much or as hard as i used to . now learning basic snapstalls and axels

[Exult]

9 hours ago, Fluke said:

i was thinking about selling my hypnotist but i feel i need more air time on it first

In my opinion (as always) keeping is a good decision - a used kite gives you less back when selling it and different kites are prone to do different tricks (in your hands). Some kite will always be the first kite that you managed a trick on and then you might be able to transfer it to the next kite. But then again I'm prone to keeping stuff (ask my wife).

 

9 hours ago, Fluke said:

besides a minor cut on a wingtip vinyl cap all went rather well aka i don't lawn dart as much or as hard as i used to 

It must be a really hard environment you are flying in for a vinyl end cap to quickly get damaged. Sharp splinters of flint-stone pointing upwards everywhere? Typically you lose the vinyl end caps instead (and that is why I mostly use tape to hold them). On the other hand I've damaged many wing tip nock fittings when landing on hard ground. I've seen end caps crack when putting on a too small cap using force, but that has been very rare.

 

9 hours ago, Fluke said:

now learning basic snapstalls and axels

First you do a fade launch with a fancy ending (at 0:46 in the above video) and then you want to learn snap stall and axel? Well OK then, before practicing anything requiring a stall I'd recommend a nose back setting so that you don't need to run forwards to maintain it. It will also be easier to do a stall without too much forward drive (nose towards you in harder wind). Obviously not nose too far back so that it gets much difficult to have the kite going forward. B.t.w. can you already do any form of stalls? - e.g. by making a small 1.5m jump followed by a landing (or perhaps considering this a start immediately followed by landing with the nose always pointing upwards?).

[Fluke]

i think my line wrapped around my wing tip and slightly gnawed my end cap

 

I can stall (and sometimes axels) but t's not very clean and crisp.right now it looks like i'm just tumbling in the air. that's what i want to work on. i kinda manage on the hypno.

3 hours ago, Exult said:

can you already do any form of stalls? - e.g. by making a small 1.5m jump followed by a landing (or perhaps considering this a start immediately followed by landing with the nose always pointing upwards?).

i theoretically know how to do it, i still lack to reflex/timing to move forward to maintain the stall. that's the focus of my sessions atm. but overall i'm pretty happy with my progression so far. and B13 is a great teacher 

we also managed to get 4 other people to start out. 

oh and i'm a pro at ground recover now  

[Fluke]

Wait i'm getting confused on the nose setting. So in light wind = nose towards me, high wind = nose away from me but in very high wind i pull the nose towards me?

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[Exult]

I'd say that when you have nose towards you in high wind it is to reduce pull in the lines. You have more or less given up on stalling the kite then, except for possibly at the edge of the wind window. Last week I did tests with my Infinity to see how far back I could have the nose. With the nose in the rearmost position the turns felt very keen, but it had some difficulties in maintaining height in the beginning of a side slide, so I adjusted the nose one knot towards me (about 0.5cm). The wind? Well the forecast said 4-5m/s.

[Fluke]

Ok so it's a matter of pull vs lift?

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[Fluke]

I've found links to a near 100 page book by philip chatelain on kites. very very informative but in french Le Cerf-Volant acrobatique - La Synthèse, de Philip78

 

he also has a 20 page document on bridles Bridages - La Synthèse, de Philip78

[Fluke]

Dramatized  story coming 

So since i'm on holidays, yesterday I decided to take my kites out for a spin. wind was very low but then gradually picked up to 10-12km/h. At this point i was experimenting with turbo vs 3p bridle on the sf (and i by far prefer the 3p right now). 

So here i am floating around. managed some axels and lazy suzans and occasionally landing on the nose. no full impact high speed lawn darts mind you, but little taps.

Following one of what i called "gentle taps" my kite was on the leading edge. no problemo: cartwheeled like a pro (felt proud of me) and relaunched. and that thing was LOUD. 

Thought to myself "oh well, must've loosen the leechline on that little impact". so i land (still like a pro. worked hard not to look like an idiot in front of an audience...of which there was none that day ) and walked towards the kite. 

This is where i got my first "oh crap" moment. from the distance i could si the sail all crinkled up at the centre +. ok no biggie maybe the + moved. been there, done that. 

So i move to the kite, straigten the sail. no rip/tear so that's good. so i try to move the plastic + piece up... and oddly it's right where it was supposed to be on the centre spine.... that's odd.....

so i pull on the keel and felt slack under the velcro. I was like "oh crap, i broke a spine......". so i brought the kite towards my field bag, already calculating how long would replacement parts take to come (at least 2-3weeks). unfastened the velcro and the cylindrical weight falls out along with a piece of plastic. and i'm like "great, the keel T piece broke too". proceeded to check out the actual spine and.... it is perfectly intact....

But it made no sense. it was too short so something must be missing...... 

My moment of confusion passing, i take the keel T and try to fit it in the spine.. hmmm doesn't fit... wait what about the plastic piece that i thought broke off?.... oh wait it's a c-clip... a small c-clip....

putting 2 and 2 together i concluded that there should be a carbon rod in there between the keel and the spine. but where is it? I let out another "oh crap" as i raise my eyes, gazing at the football field as i contemplate the possibility of having to look for a carbon rod in the grass...

So i set off in my search (so much for not looking like an idiot) as i was thinking how to replace it (i'm into archery as well so i got plenty of 5.5mm carbon rods lying around). then it hit me: i store my upper spreader in the lower spreader..... what if....

literally ran back to the kite. removed the spine, shook it and it rattles!!. a few taps and the rod comes out! The let out the loudest sigh of relief ever!

So back home, glued the c clip back. and now writing to you while i wait for it to cure fully.

In retrospect i was lucky i didn't break anything... even luckier i didn't loose the weight and c-clip.

tl/dr idiot thought he broke his kite. drama ensued 

 

[Fluke]

Had a great time Sunday with B13 and his bro giving me tips. Those guys are very chill [emoji1]

Anyway i've been DIYing a bit. First is a kite stake made from a tent spike bought off ebay and a hard rubber ball. The clip is for when i equalize lines. Bringing me to the equalizer made from a plastic protractor, paracord and some dremeling skills (color matched to the rubber ball stake). Basically hook the lines on each sides, pull on the paracord and if the center notch aligns with the cord, the lines match



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[Justin2kites]

I enjoyed reading about your progress. I'm fairly new too, but you seem to be progressing much better than me.

The Hypno and the Silver Fox look good together! I've been flying my Hypno lately, and eyeballing the S.F. online too! I know what you mean about becoming a kite hoarder. In the past year I've gone from one to a dozen..... or so....

[Justin2kites]

BTW, that looks like a beautiful place to fly kites!

 

[Fluke]

Thank you [emoji1] the hypno and the sf are two veeeerrrry different beasts. I even did fades and yo-yos on the sf completely by accident (followed by the infamous "i meant to do that" lie [emoji28]) it's very (too?) responsive. I can barely control it on turbo bridle. But i'm trying to have as much fly time as i can on it to tame foxy. Right now hypno is still my go to learning kite. Even bought a 25m ribbon to make a tail .

About being a kite hoarder: i'm actually trying to control myself. I now have 3 single lines, a parafoil, a small delta, a pocket kite in the mail and a friend is sending me an orao feel'r160 [emoji14] but to be fair the feel'r will be a loaner kite. I've seen people crash this thing hard first hand and it stills fly like new so it's going to be the one i let people try on.

But i still have a prism 4d eyeing me... And lets not go into the revolution stuff [emoji24]



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[Exult]

11 hours ago, Fluke said:

But i still have a prism 4d eyeing me...

Awfully portable kite I'd say. It took some time before I accepted it as a "real" kite. Controlling the kite by setting an almost pre-determined speed of your lower arms and hands as for the other kites no longer held water for me in this case. This kite really requires gentle input. For me as such - educational.
Another thing gradually learnt was the 360 (still work in progress before I'm happy with them). When running around to get the kite go around, to get the timing (or phase perhaps?) right make sure that the kite is flying into tighter lines not out from tighter lines. Imagine a temporary wind window that is a result of your circle jogging, the kite should be somewhat closer to the leading side of the wind window, rather than the trailing side of the wind window. Next step, I'll try to replace the circle jogging with rotation as far as it is possible.
I guess that the above would apply to other smaller low wind kites as well (had I seen them). If you would compare to the HQ shadow, it only requires slightly more wind, feels more like my other DLKs and is trickier.

11 hours ago, Fluke said:

About being a kite hoarder: i'm actually trying to control myself. 

...

And lets not go into the revolution stuff

To get by the first few sessions of my first QLK, the B-series 1.5 Std., I pretended that the brake lines were the input of a DLK. The top leader setting was not then at the outmost position, but more towards the centre to give it some forward drive. It took some sessions to get used to the inverted hovers, yes, and even after that occasional flash back normal/inverted hover mode confusion could take place. Then move the top line to the outmost position so that you need to pull for forward speed, but this you already have built in as a DLKer. As a DLKer you already know how to give slack to the line just before any impact with the ground. When you also manage to transfer this to a QLK, don't fear going to the light frame.

If you compare getting into QLKs to DLK trick learning I'd say that there are not too advanced DLKs tricks that are a bigger issue to learn (reliably) than that. I'd say that after having watched some informational videos a few times here, going into QLK from DLK is not such a big issue. I did say going into QLK, not becoming really good. Kind of reminds me of the slogan of Othello (Reversi) game: "A minute to learn - a life time to master".

So where is all this leading? Well  , you appear to be a quick learner. There is really nothing preventing you from going QLKing as well you know  !