Go fly a kite! The kite flying thread

[Trbo323]

Anyone else around here fly kites?

I'll fly pretty much anything but my passion is in the power kites. I'm not a water person so no kite surfing but anything land based im a fan.

Currently fly an apex 3, 7.5m. it's a good platform. Also have a snapshot.... 1.3? I forget it's size, it's nothing crazy.

And a prism e3 if I'm in a stunt mood although I'm not that good at slack line flying

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[Chuck E Ducky]

I got a few different ones. One is like a small parachute. I have a single line that’s got a swivel it spins and when you pull it flys in whatever direction the tip is facing. Then I have a 4” ish stunt one. I use to fly them a lot when on vacation at the beach in NC.

The parachute one has launched me in the air a few times NY winds aren’t consistent enough. It’s drug me a few times. Good thing is when you let go the kite collapses. I have a video of my brother struggling with it. If I get a chance I will load it to YouTube and post it. It’s pretty intense to fly.

As a kid when eBay was just starting up around that time we purchased a Decommissioned parasail and thought it might be a good idea to hook it to the back of a large ATV. Well we learned a few things about lift that day. Not before we had my cousin 40” in the air attached to a tow rope from a boat. That’s on VHS somewhere. It tipped the quad over on me and my brother who was on the back Videotaping the entire process. Hardest part was getting it going fast enough. A snow sled was involved because you couldn’t run fast enough. When it lifted off boy did it lift off. My cousin was uninjured quad took a beating I dislocated a shoulder. My brother was thrown off but managed to get footage we later watched on my dad’s big screen. He was not happy about the quad.

[Levi]

I don't so much anymore, but as a kid back in the 90's spent lots of time flying. We had a big flexifoil wing that was about 8 feet wide and it could drag me down the beach in a good wind. Had one of the 4 line revolutions and several 2 line stunt kites of various flavors. Still have a handful in the closet. The one I remember being my favorite is the Flexifoil Psycho (which I still have). Like this but a slightly different color combo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL-kH9PtKEg

[Trbo323]

I got a few different ones. One is like a small parachute.

Parafoil is the kind of "catch all" term, it "foil" for short. There's single line foils often called "sleds" dual line, typically those go up to about 3m in size, 3 line, typically these are power kite trainers, the 3rd line is essentially a break. 4 line power or "traction" kites which have many different versions.

I've always wanted to fly a revolution but never have. I've heard there's traction versions out there which seems like a wild idea.

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[Levi]

The revolutions are neat but I ended up getting bored and preferred the challenge of doing freestyle stuff with a good 2 line. Now a traction Rev... that could be really cool! I've never done the traction thing, but the control you get with a Revolution is probably a huge benefit there.

[BrickHaus]

I like my plastic 5 dollar triangle Easter basket kites. Then I tie it to a fishing pole and feed line til it flies itself.

[SignOfZeta]

At our place we have a nice box kite that’s easy to fly. I think I paid $40 for it 15 years ago. There isn’t a lot of wind in Michigan unless you’re on a lake or something so flying kites honestly isn’t something I do with my kid as much as model rockets, RC cars, RC planes, etc which are all easier to pull off.

At the same park I go to fly kites, rockets, whatever there is sometimes this pro level dude who shows up with some hardcore stuff and he manages to work with nearly zero wind. I notice he’s always by himself too though. Also his kite looks like it cost more than my entire RC buggy and all the spares I ever bought for it so I’m not sure I’m into that kind a thing. I don’t need the “autococker of kites” or whatever.

[Tracker]

Hey I do this thing! stunt kites only

bought a foil kite recently.. definitely prefer that to a delta.

[Trbo323]

Hey I do this thing! stunt kites only

bought a foil kite recently.. definitely prefer that to a delta.

Lol, that's basically what I did. I was never very good at the stunt kite, got that snapshot and was like damn this is cool.

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[Tracker]

Lol, that's basically what I did. I was never very good at the stunt kite, got that snapshot and was like damn this is cool.

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im not bad with them, i cant do any of the "post stall" stuff i see guys do now with spinning them and stuff, but i can make figure 8's and generally enjoy myself, i wore out my delta, i had it for many years, but eventually there isnt enough thread in the world to repair the hole thats gets worn through the nose from crashes (mine had a nylon front pocket/nose)

[Trbo323]

What foil did you get?

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[Alexndl]

I have a HQ Beamer 2.6m trainer kite (4 lines no depower)
and a Concept air freestyle 7.5m

I used to do snowkiting on frozen lake in the winter.
Have not used them in couple of years. Wind never seem to match my schedule lately...

[Warmongrel]

Old school sport kite flyer here. I recently went through my collection and updated it a bit. I have a new Hawaiian Team Kite that Chicago Kite shop now makes. I have a couple Revs, but suck at quad line flying. I usually use it like a two line kite. I also suck at two line slack line flying. I prefer the old school loud kites. I have a Wizard kite from the 90's that I got from Into the Wind back in the day and it's loud and fast and attracts a ton of attention.


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[Trbo323]

Went camping at the Washington State international kite festival. I didn't know this ahead of time but it's actually the largest kite festival in North America. It did not disappoint. Very very fun. Highly recommend. Long Beach WA is a very cool beach town to wander around. My girls had an absolute blast, the night kites were so amazing and I was not expecting much. They had some low winds to battle and shockingly, a moving object that is far away and changing colors is hard to photo but still got some!



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[martix_agent]

With all those kites flying, how do they not get tangled with each other?
Visually, it looks really cool, I bet that was a great experience for your family. I see a lot of jackets/hats. Is it already getting cool where you're at?

I imagine living near the coast, there's a lot more predictable wind than we have here in Indiana. Summer means no wind. Spring and fall aren't bad but are unpredictable. winter has lots of wind, but you'll never see anyone trying to fly kites because it's just plain cold.