And a great time was had...

Patrick from Ozone Kites showed up today...you can never tell what you will find parked on the side of the road.
After introductions, and the cooks tour of the shop, we got down top the business at hand...Flying kites.
It is so cool to watch a pro do this, he makes it seems so easy...
Then when he hands you the controls, you know it really is.
Got to fly the Imp Trainer, the Flow 4 meter, and the Access.
I must say I was impressed.
These kites are amazing, made all that much cooler by Patrick's laid back and awesome coaching.
I confess I had never flown a 4 line kite before, but 3o seconds after taking over, it was as natural as walking...well, walking attached to a 4 meter power kite that is..
We will be stocking the Ozone brand, that is a given.
So look for them soon.
Thanks Patrick, and Karabeth...hope ya liked the wings and pizza.

Sorry For The Delay

It has been a while since I posted anything, for that I have been remiss.
Setting up and starting a brick and mortar store is far from an easy process.
No like building a website that things can be done with a mouse click.
Now that we have the store up and running, and doing pretty well,
I need to get the website done...
The problem there is getting it to look like what I want.
The internet connection we have here at the store is weak, and attempts to upload stuff to the webhoster has been slow and difficult...
But I will press on.

Kite flying and running a business do not mix.
Too many days I am sitting here with no one to watch the store while decent 12 to 17 MPH winds grace us...
Then when I do have a day off, I am lucky to see 2 MPH.

There is nothing more pathetic than a kiteflyer standing in the open field with a stunt parafoil in hand and no wind...

Yesterday was not such a day.

We had our daughter babysit the store while we went over to the park and flew.

We took two, one the Symphony Beach 2.1 from HQ Kites as well as the Symphony TR 1.8 also from HQ Kites.

This was the second time the lady kiteflyer has had a stunt foil in hand and the 2.1 had her number.

With a decent, steady wind of about 11MPH, the Beach took to the air...

And promptly took her right out of her flipflops..

There is a important safety tip there. Good shoes are as important in kiteflying as any other outdoor activity. You don't have time to worry about your footing with 2.1 meters of stunt foil attached to your wrists.

So she ended up barefoot.
Not the best solution, but short of calling it a day...

Not that she was giving up the kite anytime soon.

The Symphony Beach kite is a great way to work out the kinks, and give ya a few more according to her this morning.

I love this kite. The park was freshly mowed, and taking a stunt foil down low in side to side pass actually kicked up grass clippings in its wake...What a hoot.

Then we got out the Symphony TR 1.4
This kite is a great way to learn the control needed for a bar controlled foil.
It is not as fast as the big Symphony, but the pull is as big.
And the relaunch ability makes for a quick jump back into the air.

They are two very different kites, for very different uses, but both are amazing flyers.

The high point of the day was two young adult males cruised by, radio thumping. They saw us flying and we overheard one say "What the hell is that" as the big 2.1 Symphony tore by in a roar of wind...

Something tells me they will be over to see us soon.

First Fly Day.

Well, we got our first day of flying in today, after the really poor showing yesterday. It's hard to fly a kite in literally no wind.
Of course, our new Horvath .200 zero wind kite came today. Figures.
More on that later.
Today was a different matter.
With a decent wind from the east, running about 15 mph, it did two things.
One, it got us in the air.
Two, it dropped the temp to around 28 degrees with the wind chill.
Which all told made for a kind of short flying session.
I did get to try out the new Xkites Stunt Diamond.
One word describes this kite.
Fast.
Ok, it spent a lot of time on the ground.
But it got there really quick.
Guess I am gonna have to spend some time with that one.
I must say that Xkites builds them tough.
If you get a chance, add one of them to your collection. I just happen to know where you can get one.
Hint.Hint.
On to the new Horvath Zero Wind Kite.
I got it into the air briefly out in the front yard before we went to the kite field.
This one just wants to fly.
Literally.
Can't wait till the next no wind day.
When was the last time a kite flyer got to say that?

Let It Fly

Our first flyer..will be getting them printed this week. Look for them on a car window near you.

All Over The World.

In my almost never ending search for kite info and ideas on the Internet, I came across this great blog entry by a very nice fellow kite flyer from India.
I am re-posting part of the entry here and invite you to visit his blog for more. It has lots of great information on kites from India as well as a section of awesome color graphics that are used for Traditional Indian kites.
This entry proves that kite flying is a universal love, transcending political and national borders. The sky truly is the domain of all of us.
Here is a taste:

"Some of the fondest memories of my childhood are related to kite flying. I don't know when I took to it, but it was one thing I really loved and spent, more or less, all my pocket money on. There's something about kite flying which makes it so addictive so enjoyable?? ..."

Sounds familiar doesn't it?
Here is the rest:

http://lalitsingh99.blogspot.com/2008/08/kite-flying.html

Take a few minutes and go have a read.

And thanks Lalit for your contribution to my page.

Thought for the day.

Taken from a list of "rules" about flying an aircraft, it is what flying a kite is all about...


No one has ever collided with the sky.

How Windy Is It?

Ok,I admit it, I am addicted to wind. Without it, what I do for fun would be about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Because without it, a kite won't fly.
Then I have to go break out the frisbee and my dog just don't get the whole bring it back phase of that game.
So how windy is it?
Each kite has a wind range where it flies and performs best. Now I have an electronic wind gauge. (it's called an anonometer) but unless you are really serious and are willing to shell out about a hundred bucks for a decent one, you are kind of left out of the loop.
Here is the solution.

THE BEAUFORT WIND SCALE
One of the first scales to estimate wind speeds and the effects was created by Britain's Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857). He developed the scale in 1805 to help sailors estimate the winds via visual observations. The scale starts with 0 and goes to a force of 12.
The Beaufort scale is still used today to estimate wind strengths.

Here is a link to the wiki article on the whole thing. The Chart shown is the best I have found.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale

Take a look, learn the "Land Conditions" section and soon you will be able to gauge and measure wind speed as well as anybody with a fancy gadget.
Then when somebody asks if it is a good day, you can say "Sure is, looks to be about 3 on the scale. Time to break out the diamond"
Makes you look really cool.