wingstone1600949555

I'm 39, weigh about 13 stone and have only really messed around with a 1.5m Bullet before. I bought the 4m Crossfire from Prokites (via eBay) and it arrived 24 hours later. The bag is big with plenty of space for mobile phone, water, anemometer and sandwiches. In the bag was the kite, a ground stake in a sheath (with a belt loop) and pre-streched lines. I opened the kite up in my sitting room, and my first thought was 'it's BIG'. It seems well put together and the handles felt comfortable, although not as chunky as flexifoil handles. There were no kite killers in my bag, so a visit to the kite shop in my lunch hour and £7.95 later, HQ kite killers were attached. I checked the line lengths, and everything looked in order. All I needed now was a light wind. I waited for the light wind for a few days, got fed up with waiting and went out in about 5mph. Having read reviews and advice I attached the brake lines to the 4th knot. The kite semi-inflated, but the wind was too low to get it to sit up properly (the flying area I use is surrounded by trees which really mess up the wind). Still, it went up, although only to about 20 degrees. I could feel the weight of the kite in the air, and even with hardly any wind, I could tell it would eventually pull. Hard. I spent the next few days watching tree tops. The branches started moving, so I went out. As I walked to the park, the phrase 'start off in light winds' kept coming back to me. The anemometer showed 11mph, but gusty. I set out the kite: staking the handles and untangling my first attempt at parapacking. This time the kite inflated really nicely and sat up, ready to go. The wind was picking up a bit, but I attached the kite killers to my wrists, picked up the handles, pulled back on the main lines and the kite lifted. The wind lifted too, and the kite shot forwards. The kite killers work then! Another few days of no wind, or high winds, or perfect wind (with rain). Then yesterday, it all came together. Wind at the park was fluctuating betwen 6 & 11mph (those trees again). I set up the kite and launched it from the side of the window. Had to play it a bit, but once it got past about 40 degrees, it went straight up. Parked at the zenith I felt as if I was hanging from a trapeze which was being slowly winched up. Other reviewers are right when they say this isn't a resting position. The red crossfire looked great against the blue and white of the sky and it just sat there, solid. A gentle pull on a handle and it responded immediately. Once it moves into the power zone there's an immense amount of pull. It wasn't a snappy, throw you to the floor pull though, and I found it responded well to a little bit of brake. Easing it to the left edge of the window, it slowed and parked on it's left wing tip. Full right brake brought it down so I could stake the handles. All in all, for around £200, this is a great step up to bigger, liftier kites. But, if you've not flown a power kite before, I'd recommend only having a go with the Crossfire in the company of someone who knows what they're doing. And it's definitely worth waiting for a light wind for your first flight. By : wingstone