Fractured Axel

Hej,

Im very interested to learn how to fly a quad-line kite? There are a lot of different kites on the market and I dont know which one fits best for an absolut beginner... For example I found the revolution kite but this one is soooo expensive and 4bft is max Wind for this kite...

Do you have any suggestion which is a cheap but good quad-line kite... What do I want to do with a 4-line kite??? forward backwards and some spins and some slides I think that would be all that I want to learn and therefore I thought it doesnt have to be a rev.

I think it should be a kite with spars or would you recommend one without spars as my first 4 line kite? Btw. I fly a flexifoil stranger, and do also kitesurfing.

greats
markus

well, there's a rev, or you can choose a rev!
There are variants within that make, but I would say save up and go for the 1.5, look out for secondhand ones as there are some nice series 1 versions going a very resonable prices, we all want series 2 nowadays.
The Blast/Sonic/etc will excite you but they can be quite "twitchy" to control.
Also watch out for the cheap ones on evil bay, there are a lot coming in from China that are copies - pucker ones are far better!

I learnt on a skydancer, but unfortunately they are now vertually non exsistant due to the demise of the designer/producer. there are a few others about, but Rev have the market tied pritty well.

thanks for the fast reply!

I found e.g. Vision, Elliot - Dropkick, HQ - M-Quad, HQ - Mosquito,
these kites are cheaper than a rev... none of them would be a good choice for a beginner?
4bft is the max wind for the rev exp, but in my region we often have more then 4 bft. Did you fly the kite with more wind?

What do you think about 4-line kites without spars?
what does "pucker" mean?

greets
markus

I've got a Vision, but none of the others you mention, so can't comment on those.

The Vision can deal with a decent amount of wind (have flown it in over 15mph, and it does fine; it actually doesn't like anything less than 5-6mph), but it is a kite which isn't as stable as some other quads. I've added 25ft tails to the two vertical spars, and that does make it much less twitchy, so I basically don't fly it any more without those tails.

In terms of control, it doesn't compare to a Rev. I enjoy flying my Vision when the wind picks up, and I can tear across the sky, tails flying, but it can't do all the stuff you mention with the same precision as a Rev (which may also say something about my abilities to fly a quad, obviously!).

I started off flying quads with a Bat Cat, then got a Vision and a QuadFun, and a few others (including a rev); a Skydancer will join my quad bag soon, I hope. None of the quads I have comes close to a Rev in terms of precision.

Quad kites without spars are a completely different beast (got a Nasa Wing and a Bullet), and are for power only. They don't come near anywhere near any of my sparred quads in terms of precision, but they're not designed for that, so fair do.

Hej

In terms of control, it doesn't compare to a Rev. [...] but it can't do all the stuff you mention with the same precision as a Rev

thats the question. For a pro it is probably more important that the kite is very precise as for a absolut beginner. So therefore the question is, do I need a sooo precise kite? btw. what does precise mean for you? does that mean that a 90 degree turn has to be exact 90°? In the moment it doesnt matter for me if these are 70-80 or 100 to 120 degrees, because in the beginning im probably not able to fly exact 90°

thx
markus

It means that if you try a 90 degree turn with a Vision, it will turn, but then overturn. So you turn back, oversteering again, etc. I'm far far from being a pro, and really consider myself just one step up from a total beginner. A Rev will be much more stable (maybe a better word to use than 'precise'). So it's not just a case of being able to turn 90 degrees (rather than 80 or 100), it's also a case of the kite responding to your input in a predictable and reliable way.

markus78 wrote:

Hej

In terms of control, it doesn't compare to a Rev. [...] but it can't do all the stuff you mention with the same precision as a Rev

thats the question. For a pro it is probably more important that the kite is very precise as for a absolut beginner. So therefore the question is, do I need a sooo precise kite? btw. what does precise mean for you? does that mean that a 90 degree turn has to be exact 90°? In the moment it doesnt matter for me if these are 70-80 or 100 to 120 degrees, because in the beginning im probably not able to fly exact 90°

thx
markus

With kites, the easiest kite to learn on is one that is well balanced, full sized and well tuned. Such kites are those that the 'pros' fly with.

Cheaper "beginner" kites tend to be:

Smaller.. which means they will be twitchier to fly and not fly in light winds. Frustrating for beginners.
Faster.. good for crashing before you know it
Overturn / underturn.. therefore does steer how it should. Like learning to drive a car with one of the wheels fallen off!

So buying a cheaper kite will turn out to be a false economy for you.

When talking of 4-line kites, the revolution is the only kite you should be considering. No other kite has come close.

I would recommend the Rev 1.5.

But please note.. flying 4-line kites is not easy and completely different to that of flying a 2-line kite. Try to find someone local who can help teach you the basics.. maybe even let you fly theirs so you can see the difference.

"pucker" is English slang for 'original/authentic' rather than a fake/copy/clone.

Thanks Dave.

I was given the suggestion that I should wear handcuffs when learning to fly a four line, as untill that day I was a two line person. basicly you dont need the large movements you give a stunter to turn, you find you will apply break on the kite to turn instead. in surfing you use much more movement on the bar for turning that I would on a rev. but that experiance will give you an insight of what fourline can do initially. rev flyers are into tthe control, say tip stand the kite on someones uptuned hand....

Markus.... save your pennies and buy a Rev - a genuine Rev, not a copy. I have flown other peoples cheaper rev-alikes and copies and have to say that they are rubbish in comparison. Yes, a genuine model is a lot more expensive - but as said in previous posts the cheaper versions just do not perform as well. You will get increasingly frustrated that you can't control your cheaper kite like the pro's do their expensive one's, and in the end you WILL give up.

Be careful though - it's kinda addictive. I now have 15 in my quivver.

Cheers
STEVE.

Peter wrote:

I was given the suggestion that I should wear handcuffs when learning to fly a four line

An interesting image!

But yes, the concept that you are not moving your arms to begin with is kind of right. Lock your elbows in together (like a skier does with his poles in a tuck I guess)

I always made my own kites, and ended up with some Nice kites.
BUT, they are not so easy [hard even] to tame/fly.
Two years ago I bouhgt a B-series Rev.
Turns out, also this kite needs a lot of practice, to make it do what I want.
The advice I always give is: "Try a kite or 2, or 3".
There's always a nice flier, who will lend it to you for a sec or so.
Take that chance, and then, make YOUR choise.

FWIIW,

mobius wrote:

Peter wrote:

I was given the suggestion that I should wear handcuffs when learning to fly a four line

An interesting image!

yeh, yeh, there's a number of you that would like that done to me

PUKKA is slang for 'original/authentic', 'proper' as in "Pukka pies'.

PUCKER is what your lips and sphincter do in unison when told the price of a Rev spar.

love'n'joy
Lloydsan

bumping an old thread as I have a similar and related question

what about HQ M-Quad ?

my 6yo is keen to learn to fly "proper kites". My revs are a little too precious (and possibly pull a little too much) for her to learn on I reckon

My EXP is getting tired now so she could fly that but I still think it is too big for 6yo and I am unsure if you can put nappies on a Rev to slow them (or would want to). Rev 2 is smaller but significantly faster so may be a non starter

thoughts ?