Fractured Axel

Having been fairly inspired during the exmouth kite festival watching a guy trick kite in about 3 knots of wind in the sunset, i fancy getting one! Something for when its a light evening and i can just go out and mess about with a trick kite instead of powerkites. Used to fly stunt kites with my dad as a kid, I'm a kitesurf, powerkite and landboard/buggy instructor so i know my way around a kite a fair bit.

After having a browse through the plethora of kites that are on the market, I'm a little confused by it all! As i only really want it for 10 knots and below do i need a light wind specific one? I can spend anything from 15 quid to 200 by the looks of things! I'd like something thats relatively easy to fly, not too twitchy but i can learn all the funky tricks and stuff on!! any suggestions? I work in a kite shop but we dont really stock many of these kites. should i look at a decent kite second hand? I'd like to spend around 50-60 quid i suppose!

Also, where do you start?? I'm used to four line powerkites and can do all sorts of things on these in decent wind. i imagine the 2 liners are a little different to stall and trick!

Cheers!
Sam

oh yeah, and how difficult is it?!

Try to start by meeting up with other kite flyers. It's much easier to get started by being shown the kind of inputs and timing you need. I'm sure your power kite experience will give you a head start with left hand/right hand coordination. Try different kites when you meet other flyers before spending any money.

Oh, and welcome.

Hi Sammy!
I haven't been flying these sorts of kites for too long but I have already discovered that trying to get anything that tricks well for reasonable money is like looking for pork chops in synagogues.
Anyway, I have an HQ maestro II which I haven't flown too much and is in pretty much perfect order if you're interested. I can't do too many tricks but it will axel, half axel, turtle, lazy susan and fade.
If your not sure what all these tricks are just type 'DPmama74' in you tube and you'll see some of the best tutorials for these tricks I've found.
The Maestro I have is exactly like the one in this following video where this guy gets some nice results from it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoJ7WUYJowI

I live in France so I'd have to check on postage costs...

All the best,
Jules

Hi there,

I would imagine you will find duel liners very different to 4 lines that you're used to, probably a steep learning curve. You won't get anything worth having new below £50. The more expensive kites are easier to trick on but it's a lot of money to invest if you aren't sure if you'll like it and spares can be a bit expensive. In the price range you mention I would look at the HQ Jive 2 - about £70 - it's decently made, pretty tough, 4-18mph ish so your 10 knots would be ideal, and it will do pretty much all the tricks you'll want to start with though it would be worth getting a decent set of lines as the ones that come with it aren't that great. Otherwise you could look in the sales section for a second hand quality kite, you will probably need to spend £100 ish for something good.

How difficult is it?...how long is a piece of string! Some people pick it up very quickly, most of us probably learn a couple of new tricks a year. Basics, stalls, axels, backflips, lazy susans you can probably pick up in a few months with practise, the good stuff, JL's, cometes, yofades etc may well take a lot longer. If you can fly with other dual line flyers it can be much easier.



HQ JIVE

Cheers for the advice!

To be honest its probably just something i'll do in the evenings after work a couple of nights a week. i live right on the coast. I love flying kites (i do it for a living!) so its something i'll definitely get into especially when its not particularly windy. I'll definitely look at the Jive. its kind of what i was thinking about! we stock HQ so i can probably get a good deal.

Any similar to the Jive from any other brands i should take a look at?

Sam

I'm flying on the Exmouth festival site 2 or 3 evenings in a week just now, and was at the festival each evening from Thurs onwards and most of the day Sunday, so may have been me you noticed... Wasn't a white / light grey or black kite you saw it?

If you fancy a 'try before you buy' type meet, shout out and I'll meet you there with a few testers.

Bryan

Hey bryan,

It was a black and red kite flying right next to the trees about 9pm. I live right on the gut so i was watching it from me garden! let me know next time you head down there and i'll pop on over if im not at work! thanks very much!

Sam

Sounds like the Pulsar - Friday evening? Be down there tommorow (Thursday) evening quite late - maybe 8 - 9 ish.

Bryan

So i met up with Bryan this evening (thank you very much!) and have a much more of a solid idea how it all works! Flew a mix of kites and he's even let me borrow one for a bit (again thanks!).

Most enjoyable.

'Thumbs up' smiley. No worries - I'll join in with the kite-surf stuff at some point as well....

Late now, but I'll sort ou some links and stuff to look at next time on-line.

Bryan

Think it's time one of you guys going to Stella prised the Slash out of Mayet's hands.

Watching him fly isn't remotely representative of how the thing flies in the hands of an ordinary mortal.

Bleedin' Demi-Gods.

wrong thread Jon...

Bryan

Sure got me fooled why it hadn't appeared in the Slash thread.

have to say i was a little confused by that!

What are folks thoughts on the HQ Maestro II and the Infinity?? Both kites i can get a decent deal on as we stock HQ in the shop.

http://www.kiteworld.co.uk/acatalog/HQ-Infinity-.html

Infinity looks like it could be a winner to be honest. Not quite a cheaper beginners kite, but not quite the high end stuff. Something that i would be able to keep and is capable as i progress?

Cheers,
Sam