Tag: Kite Flying

And Who Should Show Up

All plans for the weekend were changed in an instant.  There was a frenzy of straightening up and vacuuming the dog hair.  Well, maybe not a frenzy  but  there was some activity.  Dust the guest room, fluff the pillows, company’s coming.  With almost no notice, our daughter came home.  We got to spend a day together talking, walking the beach and eating.  Amazing how family times always come down to food.  Whether its home-cooking or eating at your favorite restaurant, that’s where connections are remade.

Anyway, Sunday became family day and we didn’t get to the kite fly.  All intentions were to fly together as a family.  But talk got in the way.  And did I mention food?  We did get to the kite shop for a visit.  And to beg forgiveness for not shoeing up to fly.  Since we brought the reason with us, we were forgiven and had a nice although short visit.  Then it was off to the beach for a walk in the sand.  You see, living your whole life at the beach and then moving to the mountains leads to some serious withdrawal problems.  And they just don’t go away over time.  More talking, more food and some indoor beanbag bocce ball and the visit was over.  Too fast.

So what does one do when the company leaves?  Well, go fly a kite, of course.  The winds were in the perfect range for some Vamp Devil flying.  The temperatures had moderated a bit and the skies were mostly blue.  We grabbed a couple of kites and made up for the missed flying day.  My husband committed himself to flying a quad line kite.  We have matching Vamp Devils and he decided that Monday was the day to learn how to fly his.  And he did quite well.  Yes, there were some crashes but no damage.  Some tangled lines but no breaks.  He even managed a reverse launch on his own.  Although he’ll tell you he has no idea how he did it.  We even got both Vamp Devils up together.  I should clarify that our Vamp Devils are not exact matches.  They are more of a set.  Mine is black with red accents.  His is red with black accents.  And they looked pretty good in the sky.  It won’t take long before my husband is comfortable with his and we can work on some team flying.  But first we must work on those landings.

Our local kite festival is only ten weeks away.  I’d better start thinking about a routine.

Fair Winds All.

Better Late Than Never

I live by that phrase.  I am perpetually late for most things in my life.  Yes, most times it only five minutes or less but it’s still late.  And so is this posting.  Right now it’s because there isn’t much to talk about.  The weather is still too hot to do much.  And, as usual, the wind is not cooperating.

Sunday was the weekly club fly.  We have been seeing strong winds most of the week.  The forecast for Sunday was for winds to moderate and be at an ideal level for flying.  Weatherman, can you ever get anything right?  It was howling a gale out on the beach.  There were a lot of people out that morning.  And there were quite a few kites in the air.  Most notably, a large Sutton with a banner tail and lots of line laundry hanging from it and a HQ Triangulation, also with line laundry.  Most of us foolishly listened to the weatherman and only brought mid-range kites and didn’t want to risk damage in the higher winds.  So we stood around a lot and talked a lot.

Triangulation by HQ Kites

The stronger winds did not stop the Revolution fliers.  There were several vented Revs and Super Sonic Revs in the air.  Now those kites are made for stronger winds and so they were flying great.  And one flier was having a ball launching himself with a HQ Symphony.  I think it was a Symphony 2.2 but I’m not sure.  Anyway, the pull on that kite was so much that at times the guy was sitting on the sand and digging his heels in to stay close to one place.  That’s way more that I want to handle.  So after a while we picked up our bags and headed to the kite shop for more chit-chat.

We did manage to fly one night this past week.  About an hour before sunset, the winds seemed to be just right for some flying and it was starting to cool off some.  I tried to put up the Goblin stack I had just put together.  No luck.  There wasn’t enough wind to launch the three-stack.  Rats!  But I did bring along the Nebula.  I hadn’t flown it yet and was looking for a good opportunity.  That night was the night.  I took off like a dream.  No pull.  Very responsive.  I tried a couple of “push” turns and it was fantastic.  Sharp turn, no oversteer and straight tracking.  I still need practice with those type of turns but it was so easy.  I even managed a square in the sky.  OK, so it was more like a lop-sided rectangle.  But that was the closest I’ve ever come to completing that manuever.  There is hope for making me a precision flier.  Sweet kite, that Nebula.  It was dark by the time we left the beach.  Oh. for more evenings like that one.

Fair Winds All.

Another Heat Advisory

I’ve lost track of the days that there has been an extreme heat advisory.  Extreme high temperatures plus extreme high humidity equals record-setting temperatures.  There is no reason to be out in the sun and the heat unless you really have to.  So we did not go to the beach and we did not fly any kites on Sunday.  It was the regular club fly day but it was just too hot.  And on top of that, there was no wind.  Usually a breeze coming off the water can make the day a little more bearable.  But not that day.  We called our friend from the kite shop to see if anyone was flying and if we were needed to come out there.  Only one other person arrived and it didn’t take much talking to convince him that there would be no flying.  So we all stayed in the air conditioning and avoided heat exhaustion and dehydration.  We can always fly another day.

The Goblin Stack

The day wasn’t totally without kites, however.  I have started sewing on my next kite.  I’m making a Dunston-Taylor Box Delta.  I’m kind of doing things backwards.  The colors were picked out to match some line laundry.  I can only hope the kite has the pull and the stability to haul the three-legged drogue.  As if that wasn’t enough, I’m also putting some appliqué to the wings and box to add interest.  I just can’t seem to do kite building the easy way.  If the drogue turns out to be too much for the kite, I will use the leftover material to make a pennant tail to trail behind this kite.  I’ve seen photos of this type of tail attached to this kite and it looks fantastic.

I also took my three Goblins and stacked them together.  Now I just need a little wind to see how they fly.  And I need some cooler temperatures.

DT Box Delta Ready For Assemby
Applique Detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For all those who have to be out in the heat; stay hydrated, take breaks in the shade, and don’t over-exert.

Fair Winds All.

What Am I Doing Out In This Heat?

There has been a heat advisory out for our area all this week.  Yet, it was the day of our weekly kite fly and I left the air conditioning and headed for the beach.  Let me tell you, it’s not all that much cooler at the beach than anywhere else.  Upon arrival, a couple of us spent some time in the parking lot trying to decide if we should fly or not fly.  After all, who in their right mind would come to the beach today to fly kites?  We would.  Three of us headed to the flying beach, not expecting to have any other company.  On the plus side, the wind was the best it’s been in a while.  I grabbed only two kites, a single line kite and a soft stunt kite.  I didn’t expect to stay long and didn’t want to lug the bags in the heat.

 

After filling a sandbag for an anchor, I put up my Twin Tail Dragon by Into The Wind.  I hadn’t flown it in a while so it needed to get out of the bag.  It flew great.  The wind was blowing about 15 mph and was perfect for the long tails on that kite.  And I love the many colors.

Twin Tail Dragon by Into The Wind

Then I went out to play with my Symphony 1.8 soft stunt kite.  I had been ignoring this kite in favor of my quad line kite and my latest couple of delta-type stunt kites.  So today was to be a fun day.  Little did I know that the wind would pick up in just a couple of hours.

The initial plans to not stay out long didn’t pan out.  There were about three families from out-of-town joining us and flying their kites.  They also wanted to visit and learn about the kites we were flying.  Our local kite shop host pulled out the Symphony 2.2 for one of the visitors to try out.  This is a larger kite than my Symphony and it has more pull.  Both the father and the son tried this kite out and really enjoyed the pull and the speed.  They had just purchased a smaller soft kite but I think their will be a larger one in their future.  They had way too much fun.  Even when the flying line broke when the son was flying.  Guess the wind was picking up too much.  I know I was getting a lot of pull from my 1.8 so I can understand why the son was digging himself into the sand as he flew.  We’ll be looking for this family to come to the festival this fall.

Another family came down with their kites.  The father had a vintage Skywave kite.  I would love to have one of these.  He flew it for a while but, as the wind picked up, he decided it was a little too much and packed it away.  They also had a couple of smaller single-line deltas up and they also took them down so they wouldn’t crash and break.  The third family had a couple of smaller (shall I say cheaper) single-line kites that couldn’t handle the wind at all.  But they tried.  By this time I was ready to leave.  The sand was blowing across the beach.  The sign for me to pack my kites in the bags and head for the shop.  I may be too cautious but I don’t want to have a major accident or an unrepairable kite.

I will say that there was so much going on, I didn’t notice the heat on the beach.  I guess I’m becoming more confident with my ability and my knowledge because I’m beginning to interact more with visitors. Now when I got back to the parking lot the heat factor hit.  A little bit more visiting and I was ready for somewhere cool.  It was a pretty good morning but now I’m going into hiding, at home, in the air conditioning.

Fair Winds All.