ozzymat

That's very generous Matzelkite, but if it is the Prism Freestyle pilot I have a copy as it came with my E2. You are right about practice, I don't live far from the beach so wind permitting I try and get out at least twice a week but even after a year of flying the trick list is short. The Tim Bensons Trick or Treat DVD is great but his technique vary against Dodd Gross and Prism, as an example Tim uses a short sharp movement to get the kite from vertical dive to fade but Dodd has a whole arm movement. I guess it's kite related. What works for You? Cheers Mat

The wind this afternoon was a nice 15 to 25kph (10 to 15mph) so the Soul vented and I when to the beach to try to put some of the advice into practice. I am glad to say we got on together much better. The fades stuck and I even managed a couple back spins and a few Axel to fade worked out, the rolling lazy susan's are pretty untidy (must practice more) but normal lazy susans floated well and I managed a few multilazies. The legs got a good workout but it was smiles around. Again thanks everybody for your help. Thanks Matzelkite, I have the trick or treat dvd as well as the dodd gross flight school, all great for people like me who don't have regular contact with out kite flyers. The soul is my first vented kite I normal fly in winds less that 10kph and not use to moving a great deal so the soul is a new experience. Next on the to do list is the 540 and slot machine. Cheers Mat Port Augusta

Thanks all for your replies. The verdict is unanimous, move more/ faster and don't fiddle with the bridle. Thanks for pointing out that the secondary vents can be removed, on my kite about 10mm of the top section of one of the Mylar pieces appears fixed to the inside of the pocket so I wasn't sure if It could be removed. Good winds and happy flying Mat Port Augusta

Hi all I am looking for some bridle set up and flying tips for my Flying Wings Soul Vented, what you found worked or didn't. I have flown the kite in 16kph (10mph) to 32kph (20 mph) winds on 25Mtr (85 foot) lines using the factory bridle set up, the kite will Axel, Half Axel and cascade ok but it won't stay in a fade (the nose bounces) also I can't Axel to fade at all, lazy Susan's are untidy and rolling Susan just don't happen as the nose doesn't drop enough. It could be me not walking/running down wind fast enough but I thought if I could verify the kite set up then I can focus on flying. Present set up-- I haven't moved the stand off on the lower spreader but I have tried the shorter stand off's on the outside with little success. The two opportunities I see for bridle tweaking are the upper out haul and lower out haul. The upper out haul has four knots, from the factory it is tied between 2nd and 3rd. The lower out haul/ pigtail, The larks head sits against the lower knot, I have tried moving the larks head away from the kite but the knot always move back to resting on the lower knot. Cheers Mat Port Augusta

Here's some tips for the newbies to help get you flying sports kites. If you want to get serious about sports kites you need set length flying line, that is lines that have been cut to a specific length and need to be totally unwound before you can use them. For learning the minimum length of lines should be 23 Metres (75ft) ideally 30 Metres (100ft). Most line sets will come with loops at either end, the knot that forms the loop is called a overhand knot. The loops can have a protective covering called sleeved or have a separate braided loop called a pig tail. Straps are used to protect your hands from the flying lines, these and the kite are attached to the lines with the most important knot in kiting and that's the larks-head knot. You can self launch a sport kite, all you need is a kite stake and the simples kite stake is a screw driver about 200mm long. Push the stake into the ground a little way and put your straps onto the stake, walk you lines out to the kite, connect the lines to the kite using a Larks-head knot paying attention to which line is left and right, put the pointy bit of the kite to the sky with a little tension to the lines just to allow the kite to lean back about 45 degs. Walk back to the handles, remove the stake from the ground and put in your pocket, hold each strap in the correct hand (your right hand should control the right side of kite). When you are ready to fly take a step back or pull arms back evenly and the kite should jump into the air. You can use the same technique to re-launch the kite after a crash, don't be tempted to keep the straps in your hand when you walk to the kite as the line will just knot up. The stake in the photo is home made from a tent peg and a golf ball. One last thing, when it's time to go home you should start winding the lines from the kite first, that way the straps will be on top of the lines so next time all you need to do is put the stake out with the straps on it and wind the lines out to the kite. Happy flying.

I've just retired my E2 with a Diablis by R-Sky. it's about the same size as the E2 and stunts nice, initially my inputs where to strong as its such a light kite compared to the E2 which I guess most new kites will be. As for light winds, I can stunt the Diablis on full length line in winds the E2 on short line only just gets off the ground with and you can forget about the lines getting caught on the bottom of the stand-off, their not concealed just well designed. One last plus is that some of the spares for the E2 like the APA's and P200 rod can be used on the Diablis. I haven't see any in the flesh but by all accounts some of the Aussie made kites can stick it to the overseas ones. Which ever way you go with so many great sports kites out there you wont be disappointed. Cheers Mat

Thanks Cesium The R-Sky is my second sports kite, the first being an E2 which was my introduction to sports kites mid last year after seeing some videos on the net and thought I've got to try that. For adding tricks to my portfolio the Frenzey has been great, I think because the kite is so responsive but the down side to that is it difficult for me to keep steady on longer tricks like the fades so to polish the trick I practice on the E2 or us to as I just got a Diablis to retire the E2. My sport kite experience is very limited but I am happy with my R-Skys and as a beginners kite the Prism E2 has been fantastic (thanks to the people at Briskites for suggesting the E2). Ha! not really on the topic "C Clips" but being out in the sticks I don't get to talk kites so any opportunity. Cheers Mat

On closer inspection of LE I could see the glue marks. Just in case someone else is looking for the measurements: Nose to top of upper C Clip = 275mm Nose to top of lower C clip = 825mm Thanks Jason

Hi Can anyone inform me of the C clip measurement for a R-Sky Frenezy evolution? After some unexpected landings I noticed that the leading edge connectors positions didn't match, on closer inspection I was missing two C clips and the other two C clips where loose. Now I don't know the right spots to affix the C clips as I didn't record them when the kite was new, lesson learnt and will be recording all measurements from now on. So if anyone can help It would be muchly appreciated. Cheers Mat

Hi My latest purchases a Pair of R-skys. Frenezy evolution in purple and Diablis in red

You are right Rob with the E2 I found two spots on the upper haul I like to fly with, one for light winds <5mph and one for stronger winds. The Diablis is real nice in light winds with the factory settings but after about 10mph its gets difficult to fade or roll up, most of the problem is poor technique and my reflexes so I am hoping to find a happy medium. Also I am a curious person by nature and I find all this bridle stuff interesting. To confuse matters even further for me last weekend I made up some brakes (Wah Pads?) from an article on the Internet and tried them out on the E2 in about 18 mph winds with surprising results so now I have two options on winder days. Has anyone else experimented with brakes I would be interested in how their affect some of the tricks or if I am wasting my time with them. http://www.kites.org/kitesandmusic/workshop.htm Thanks Kevin for your explanation and link. Cheers Mat

Thanks BobM and .Joel.

I've looked and looked but cant find how to put an image or smilies into a post can anyone help? The Helpful Links "How to post an Image" on the bottom of the edit page doesn't work and a search for image and photo returns little. Mat.

Going to answer my own question, can someone comment on its correctness? Moving the tow point vertically along the upper haul changes the vertical angle of the kite, nose froward will increase speed and nose back will increase the pull of the kite. Moving the tow point horizontally along the in haul changes the sensitivity of the kite, sensitively increases as you move towards the centre. For slack line tricks the bridle is set as low as possible without the kite being uncontrollable or falling out of the sky, to counteract the over-steer of a low bridle move the tow point out (towards the leading edge). The bridle arrangement on the R-sky's is standard European with the upper and lower haul one piece while the E2 bridle uses the everywhere else standard. Cheers Mat Port Augusta

Hi all I've recently purchased a R-sky Diablis and have been playing with the bridle to tune the kite for the wind condition and my reflexes but the Diablis has a "Turbo bridle?". The only other experience I've had with bridles are on my Prisim E2 and 3D and both only allow moving the tow point (pigtail) up and down the upper haul. The Diablis has the tow point attached at the in-haul and has a yoke (well I think that's what its called) so I can also move the tow point along the in-haul. The arrangement of the bridle is also different in that on the E2 the main bridle line connects the upper haul to the centre of the kite at the lower spreader and the lower haul line is attached to the upper haul below the tow point connection, while the Diablis the upper and lower haul line is the same and the in-haul line connects via the yoke to the upper and lower haul line with a larkshead. When I fly the E2 I start with the tow point up if the wind is light (<5kph) and slowly lower it to get a balance between how much running around I want to do and the pull on the kite, if the wind is a bit stronger I will start with the tow point in the middle and slowly move it down until I can get a steady stall. So to cut a long story short, now I have this extra in-haul adjustment and I am not sure when I should move it and if the two adjustment should be done in unison. Cheers Mat Port Augusta

Thanks for sharing your mods. It looks like in your photos that the standoffs don't protrude to much through the sail, the standard 3D standoffs protrude about 5mm to allow the rubber band to attach and the lines get caught on these often (it's like a wing wrap that you can't undo). I guess with the outer standoffs gone that should be less likely. one other thing What a good line length for the 3D with winds less than 5 mph? Cheers Mat

Thanks all for the help. l will make a set of leader lines tonight, maybe 5 knots long (150mm or so) and play around with different positions, having the bottom line shorter than the top sounds good as I have trouble getting any speed when moving reverse across the window. Cheers. Mat

Hi Got a question about Rev handles. The original handles supplied with my SLE 1.5 have a single knot about 80mm from the handle on both top and bottom lines. Can anyone explain the multiple knots on the handles in "Alex R" photo? Cheers. Mat

Thanks Kevin Was in Adelaide the other weekend for the AKFA family fun day (held instead of the kite festival), was hoping to catch up with some sport kite fliers but I think the rain kept people away. Thanks for the offer to fly at Moana, what's the best time of year for good kite flying weather.

Hi. I'm a freestyle sports kite flyer, well I think that's what I do! As I've only see people flying these kites on the net. I am interested in catching up with other flyers in the Spencer Gulf region of South Australia or even Adelaide so I can increase my trick portfolio and hopefully gain more knowledge on this type of kite. cheers. Kites in my bag Prisim E2 Prisim 3D Revolution SLE R-Sky Frenezy