This week I am missing the Carolina Kite Club fly. But I had just finished the pigtails and train lines for a Revolution kite stack and really wanted to get out and try it. Yes, lately it seems I’ve been “stack” crazy. I stacked my Dream On and my Little Dreamer and added to my stack of Goblins. Now, I’m stacking quad line kites. I had seen stacks of Revolutions on photos from some of the large kite festivals. They looked like fun and a challenge.
Kites Unlimited Custom Kites by Revolution
Not being an expert flyer, I decided to start with a small stack. I have two kites that have the same sail pattern, the Kites Unlimited Custom Revolutions. One is a full sail and the other is a vented sail. So I went out one evening when the wind was about 10 mph and the temperature had gone down to something bearable. My mind was picturing tangled lines and ugly crashes. instead I had a wonderful time. The two kites flew as one with just a slight pull on the lines. The only time things got wobbly was close to the ground where the wind got a little light. And, even then, it was controllable. I’m looking forward to taking these out again. And again and again.
Kites Unlimited Revolution Stack at Fort Macon State Park
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 UnlimitedVamp 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!
Winds have been rather light these past few weeks. Things started changing and we actually got to fly a couple of extra times this week. I’ve decided to do something that I’ve never had the courage to do before. I am working on a performance routine for the upcoming kite festival. The first evening we went out I didn’t get much practice done at all. Instead I played with a little girl. I was flying the Vamp Devil and along came a family with a little girl. She loved the kite and I made it swoop and dive and dance near her. She giggled and giggled. Her family wanted to continue their stroll but she wouldn’t leave. She and her Dad ended up staying by me as I continued to entertain her and the rest of the family went walking. We had fun together until the sun began to go down. I didn’t get much practicing done but I had a great time, too. And that’s what kiting is all about.
The second evening we went to the beach, I did get some great practice and planning in. I had the iPod on continuous repeat of the music. So I improvised and planned as the music went on and on and on. It was a good practice. I was flying on short lines to get used to the response of the kite and see what worked and what didn’t. Again, we stayed until the sun was going down. I really like flying in the evenings. The air is cool and the beach is quiet. There are some people out walking but not too many. Everything is peaceful. It’s just you and your kite.
Then there was a very short morning fly. I was testing a new kite that I’ve been waiting to arrive for the past nine months. I had seen this kite in photos from the kite trade show in February. It intrigued me and I just had to have one. It is a new design that I just had this gut feeling it would be a good flying kite. The initial flight was really an eye-opener. It is fast and touchy. I had it on short lines and my inputs were really too strong and the kite was all over the sky. I have a lot of learning to do on this kite. But I like it. The winds that morning weren’t helping me at all. They were gusty, at times blowing strong and at others ceasing completely. I need to try again on longer lines in smoother winds. It may take me some time to fly this kite competently but I’m planning on continuing to work at it. And what kite am I talking about? It is the Mojo by HQ Kites, a new design quad line kite.
Mojo Quad Line Kite by HQ
Sunday morning was our regular club fly. We had wind. We had a lot of wind. If you left your kite bag open when you flew, it was filled with sand when you got back to it. There were four of the kite club members in attendance and about eight kites in the air. The wind was so strong the selection of kites that were fly-able was limited. Larger deltas flew well and a Sutton with a trailing pennant banner stayed in the sky with no problem. I flew a large dragon kite. It should be noted that the kites in the air all had long tails to stabilize them. No small kites could handle it and no stunt kites were flown. This was a feast of wind after a wind famine.
Things are coming together for the kite festival. Hopefully the temperatures will stay moderate and the winds will be a steady 10 to 15 mph. With an emphasis on steady. It’s only three weeks away. Can you believe it? I had better get practicing.
The sun was bright in the sky. The water was aqua blue with white caps breaking on the beach. The temperature was cool and, best of all, there was wind. It was a weekly kite club fly day and we could fly. Yippeee! I will say flying wasn’t easy. The weatherman lied a little. He forecasted wind in the 10 to 15 mile per hour range. Perfect wind. In reality, it was about 12 one minute and 3 to 4 the next. So we spent a lot of time picking up the kites that drifted to the ground and putting them back up in the sky. But that was all right. We had the chance to get together with friends and share the day. There were several fliers that were down on vacation and we caught up on news and made plans for the upcoming Carolina Kite Festival. The sky above looked like a small kite festival. That’s the way we like to see it. And we like to see others enjoying the sight, too.
Another reason I was so glad to have a good flying day was that I had two new kites to put in the air. One was a large dragon-type kite by Premier Kites called Blackfoot’s Magic Gourd. I’ve been eyeing this kite for a long time. And kept talking myself out of buyng it. Well, that only works for so long. It’s mine now. And it really puts a show on when it’s in the sky.
Blackfoot's Magic Gourd by Premier
The other kite was a custom kite by Ray Wong. It is a rokkaku called “Windows”. Mine is the pink version. The owner of the kite shop has the blue version. In fact, it was the blue version that I saw initially. I saw the pink version in the kite shop when looking at the kites in the special kite bin. Special because they were hand-made custom kites. I also saw this one in the sky at one of the kite festivals. This past month was our wedding anniversary and my husband bought me this kite as a present. Seems that is what we do for special occasions, trade kites as presents. So I finally got to fly it. And it went straight up. I was rather surprised at the angle of its flight. It was directly above our heads. In fact, a couple of times I thought it was lost because I didn’t look high enough in the sky when checking on it.
"Windows" Rokkaku by Ray Wong
As I mentioned before, the plans and preparation for the Carolina Kite Festival are moving ahead. Although it often seems like we take one step forward and two steps backward. So many changes this year. Some of our invited guest fliers can’t make it. That’s really sad because we look forward to visiting with them and watching them fly. I guess the local fliers are going to have to take up the slack and provide some entertaining flying (or crashing as the case may be). Hopefully, most of the viewing public will be in so much awe of the wonderful kites, they won’t notice the flying miscues.
Guess that’s all for now. I’m going to try to get some extra flying time this week. The dust on the coffee tables will still be there when I get back.
Freedom In The Sky - A Kiter's Blog 