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Anyone here fly kites?

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Candyman

'Cuse is in the house!
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Now, I don't mean your average Walmart special. I mean the real deal kind. 8' span. Ripstop nylon sail. Carbon fiber framing. Slick Specra flying line.
The reason I ask is that before RC, I was an avid flyer. I still own about 7-8 kites. And I'm thinking of selling off a few of them. I haven't flown in about 4 years and they're taking up space. I'm just wondering if anyone around here is interested in them.
 
I have a 12 acre park in my front yard.
I've been looking at getting into kites but don't know where to start.

Have anything for a :n00bie: or point me in the right direction?
 
I had a 6 footer.. nylon, with the Carbon fiber frame. It took me a while to get the hang of it. (we dont have much wind here)

After I got the hang of it, you couldn't get me off the beach. I got to where I could dive bomb, and pull up at the last minute..do a slow sideways hover across the sand and rip it back up skyward.

I loved it, the sound of the nylon cracking, and enough pull for me to lean back a little was just a kick.
 
Well, Eddy, my advice is this. If you're looking into flying, first decide what you want to fly as far as a category. Single line, dual line or quad line. I have flown them all. I prefer dual line. They use two lines to control direction. They really aren't that hard to learn the basics. But if you've got the means, I say get a good, big kite to start on. They fly more stable in lighter winds. They have a more solid feel so you can get used to control inputs. Don't go for a freestyle kite at first as some of their flight characteristics can be tricky. I actually have a great beginner's kite that I'm looking to unload. It has a 8' span. Flies on 150' Spectra line. It's rock solid. And the cool thing is that it's a bit loud so people just love to watch it. I'm going to get some pics up here soon to see if anyone's interested in buying a few. But if you're serious about starting, first trick is to find a place to buy.


Lykan-I know what you mean. Right now, my 2 favorite kites are a 1997 HQ Jam Session Ventex White Rainbow and a 1999 Flexifoil Psycho. Both are dead quiet until you start throwing them around. Both are full freestyle kites. But there's nothing like that snap when you're done with a good move. I usually just warm up with stalls and slides. It shocks people when I can do a ground pass at 40 mph and suddenly stop the kite in midair. Then I slip into more agressive stuff. I thrive on axels of all types. Stall axels. Spin axels. Then into pancakes where you lie the kite on it's back in midair. Or a fade where you put the kite on it's belly in midair. The lazy susan where you lay the kite on it's back and then spin it around.
It's funny when you're going full tilt in a freestyle binge and someone walks up to you and says "Having trouble flying that thing straight, aren't ya".
 
I love the attention and the looks on peoples faces.. I've heard.. "look look! that big kite's gonna crash!"

The only thing that bothered me were the kids who would run under it. I had a dual line, when I would rip it in a huge dive, and have a kid run under it, it would scare the hell out of me. I could just imagine a 6' carbon rod piercing a kid at 40 mph uhhg.

I bought mine (gave it to my brother in law) on a lark. I was spending a very boring christmas week out of town at the beach with my family. The town was dead. The kite shop had 75-80% off going out of business sale. I thought ahh what the heck..I didn't expect the fun that followed.

For those of you who are remembering standing bored holding a paper kite, things have changed. They can be just as adrenaline pounding as RC's sometimes even more so.

I think the physical connection to the kite adds something to it. You can actually feel the kite riping at your arms as it climbs near 40mph.
 
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