Tag: kite fliers

Things Are Looking Up

It was a little on the chilly side but we had wind.  A light wind but wind.  Something we haven’t seen too much of in the past couple of months.  Because it is technically winter, there aren’t a lot of people on the beach.  Mostly fishermen.  And that’s a good thing because we don’t have to be concerned about people waking into our kite lines as we anchor out the single line kites.  There were four fliers on the beach and a variety of kites in the air.  The largest was Blackfoot’s Magic Gourd by Premier.   The wind was l little light for this kite and it settled to earth a few times but I hadn’t flown it in quite some time and couldn’t resist putting it up.  The second largest was the Powersled 24, also by Premier.  This is currently my husband’s favorite.  The rest of the kites in the air were smaller kites that the local kite shop owner was testing out.  They probably will be included in this years offerings at the shop.  Mostly they flew pretty well.

Blackfoot's Magic Gourd by Premier
Winged Box Kite by HQ
Pirate Shark Kite by Sky Dog
Rainbow Box Kite by Sky Dog

I tried to put up my three-stack of Goblins.  I trained these together this past October and haven’t had a chance to fly them yet.  Either there was no wind or I didn’t have them with me when the wind was up.  I thought sure today was the day.  So I took them out of the bag and spent the next twenty minutes untangling and re-attaching the train lines and bridle.  How things can get so tangled when all they’ve done for months is sit in a bag is beyond me.  Finally I was ready to go and had my helper give me a launch.  Well, the flight lasted about ten minutes.  There just wasn’t enough wind for a three-stack.  I put a lot of work into that ten minutes and ended up waling backward for about 75 to 100 feet.   Nothing was going to keep those kites in the air.   So, back in the bag they go for another day.

Airplane Kite by Sky dog

Probably the most interesting part of the day was watching the men working on getting an airplane kite in the air.  The kite shop owner worked on his a bit and got it flying pretty well.  So my husband thought he could get some help in getting his in the air.  Now he has been dying to get his airplane to fly for a couple of months with little to no luck.  So the two of them started working on it.  They were soon joined by the other flier on the field.  Now you have three men and two airplane kites, one that will fly and one that won’t.  And all of them too stubborn to give up making the one kite fly.  Watching this made for an entertaining morning.  “Boys” and their toys.  Did the kite eventually fly?  No!  We have a lemon.

"Boys" and Their Toys

It was a good morning that lasted into the afternoon.  Three hours on the beach.  A day many would envy.  I’m smiling.

Fair Winds All

Wind! We Got Wind!

After a long string of windless Sundays and some low temperatures thrown in, we have sunshine, mild temperature and WIND!  We joined four other kite fliers to celebrate the gorgeous day.  I decided that rather than haul everything out to the field (a job which seems like it takes a small moving van) I would selection a few kites to fly and leave the rest home.  All the while hoping I make the right choice and have the right kites for the right wind.  I put in my bag some kites that hadn’t seen the sky in a year or two.  They definitely needed the air time.

I first put up my twin tail dragon.  The last time it flew was about a year ago and the wind was so strong I didn’t get the tails wound up neatly, they were just stuffed in the bag.  So my initial job was to untangle and untie the tails.  Lesson learned – no matter what, roll up your tails before packing away a dragon kite.  Once in the air, it flew beautifully.

George Peter's Twin Tail Dragon by Into the Wind

The next kite I put up was my mesh diamond with roses.  This kite was given to me a couple of years ago as an anniversary present.  My husband gave me roses that will never wilt.  One of which is a yellow rose, my favorite.  It really is a shame I don’t fly this one more often.  It is easy to assemble and flies great.  It just hangs in the air for all to see.  Must mention that this kite is no longer available.  Maybe that’s why I like it.  I should try to remember and fly this one on each wedding anniversary.  Must make a note on my iPad.

Wili Koch's Mesh Diamond by Premier

My husband flew one of his latest acquisitions, a Premier powersled.  He got the largest powersled with the optical illusion/quilted pattern in rainbow colors.  The powersled is a real “puller”.  We found that out as we watched the large kite anchor being pulled across the sand.  And there was a lot of sand already in the anchor.  That’s one reason we really like sand bags and sand anchors for our single line kites.  they may get dragged a bit but they don’t fly away or run the risk of injuring a passerby.  We got out the shovel and added sand and the kite stayed put for the rest of the morning.

Powersled 24 by Premier

The rest of the sky had color from several of our friends kites.  Including one unconventional training of a Sky Flake and a Firefly 2.  Both of these kites are made at Kites Unlimited in Atlantic Beach, NC.  Both will hang in the air like they were pinned there.  But they will dance and bob around if you give their lines a tug now and then.  Neither of them like to fall to the ground and will rise before hitting the ground when the line is pulled and released.  It makes a good show for spectators as they think the kite is falling and it magically rises up again.  I’m not sure if they ever had been trained together before but it worked pretty well and they both behaved themselves.

Sky Flake and Firefly2 by Kites Unlimited
Vamp Devils by Flying Wings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At last my Vamp Devil did not fly alone.  Usually I’m the only one flying this quad line kite.  And, quite often, I think I’m the only one who really likes this kite.  But on this day, another Vamp Devil was in the sky.  It was the one from the kite shop, Kites Unlimited, and the owner had it out to give another quad one flier a chance to try it out.  Luckily, I had mine with me and we flew together for a short time.  Also, luckily, I had the camera and a photo assistant with me so we could get photos of the two.  It was fun.  Next time, we will have to have lines the same length so we can interact more.  That means I will have to untangle my longer lines which right now look more like a bird’s nest than a set of kite lines.  Ugh!

Fair Winds All