All kinds of kites

I like #kites (real ones with sails and strings).

[timothymcmackin]

Is there any better feeling than showing something you love to someone new and having that person come away from the experience completely addicted to it?

[timothymcmackin]

The other day, KHK asked what kind of kite they should be looking for at the #KTAI show (the trade show for commercial kites). I said that the kite that's missing right now is an old-school, 2-line diamond kite like I learned on when I was knee high to a dogstake.

Why? Well, it's often the best kite for teaching people (anybody, not just kids) how to fly a stunt kite:

They're slow, unlike most deltas, and it's easy to adjust the speed with tails

They're cheap

They have no pull, even in high wind

They're hard to break (but not as tough as a foil, I suppose)

They're easy to put together compared to deltas

The disadvantage is that they take a lot of wind to get going -- 8 or 10 mph in the hands of a beginner, I'd estimate. (I've heard the same about the Switch.)

I deal with this by using extra-light string (usually 50# shanti skybond or speed), but it still gets difficult here in no-wind-land. I'd be thrilled to buy a two-line diamond that could fly down around 4-6mph. It's probably have to be made with SUL parts like light ripstop or Icarex and graphite rods like those in a Prism 4D. I'd be willing to pay almost as much as a 4D for it, and because the sail is 2D, it would have to be cheap to build.

Some current options for this kind of kite (if you've got 10mph to fly it in):

Simple 2-line diamonds at Klig's

Dynakites (awesome in a stack, still suffer from the wind range issues)

The Prism Switch (haven't flown this one)

[timothymcmackin]

My first kite, now hanging on the wall. I do take it down and fly it from time to time, though -- great for beginners to learn a two-liner. Got it from Klig's kites when I was six or so. The tails have gotten ever shorter over the years as I've had to repair them, but it's in good shape, as they go.

[timothymcmackin]

A string of mini Edos hung up in my house by a fellow kite lover

[timothymcmackin]

KAP from kite week, October 2014, Avon, NC. It was so much better to spend a week working on my kitesurfing rather than just a day here and there over many months. So much more time to experiment, figure out what works best, and spend time cementing good habits.

[asapscience]

Holy moly, best kite award goes to this blue whale kite!!!!  by Peter Lynn Kites

[timothymcmackin]

Those are amazing to see in flight because they're so big. Went to the cape Fear fest in 2012 and saw a whole sky full of them. It was like being at the bottom of a giant aquarium.

[timothymcmackin]

My Talons, by Mark Clements of Jest of Eve Kites. He's still flying but not actively making these amazing fighter jets of the kite world anymore. They're supremely agile and do some amazing things in the air. I hardly want to fly anything else.

[timothymcmackin]

I'm feeling the cold weather particularly strongly right now, so despite the fact that I really don't need an internet outlet to take up my time, I'm going to post pictures of kites and think about warm, windy days (or at  least windy days).