Sport, Trick and Freestyle Kite Flying Forum

Moderators: Craig, Andy S

 
User avatar
Zippy8
Posts: 4865
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: Vihtavuori, Finland
Contact:

Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:36 am

I've tried to make this roughly chronological but.....

Action Kites Sky Dart
Image
My first swept wing stunt kite. Bought from The Kite Store (RIP). Something of a miracle I've stuck with it after this.

Action Kites Fire Dart
Image
My first full-sized kite. State of the art for the time and show all of the form and general layout that we're still using today.

Kite Store LiteFlite S
Image
A contemporary of the original Phantom and challenger for the title of "best kite in the world" at the time. I liked it, others didn't.

Kite Store LiteFlite Heavy
Image
It may have looked like a LiteFlite but it wasn't. Very weird behaviour at minimum wind - it just switched on when the wind was enough, bugger all below that.

Vlieger OP Speedwing 6
Image
Just the three spars, a single scoop of sail and an odd bridle. Lots of power but tricky to take off.

Raaseri
Image
Simo Salanne's design based on the Tracer. One of the most popular plans available and the reason why I buy my kites, not make them.

Wolfe Designs Big Brother 2 and Big Brother 2 Vented
Image Image

Rare Air Pro Cheetah Spectrum
Image
I flew this almost exclusively for over a year. It ended up reframed in 5P which was a problem as it used 34" spars. The vents aren't for high winds. A great kite for sundown.

Benson Box of Tricks
Image
The definition of the first wave of trick kites. This is a Carrington/Fizz model updated with an incut, active trickline and original style Active bridle. I wore it out in many, many places.

Rare Air X'n'Trik
Image
From the same period as the BoT. A bit mental. Icarex, Carrington and vented wingtips......

Ground Zero Jester 2 and Jester 2 Arc Lite
Image Image
A bit smaller than was usual (a Midi-sized kite). I flew both of these sails to destruction.

Airdynamics Dharma SP
Image
My first "custom" kite. The SP version had a coated nylon sail and kevlar-reinforced spars. I reframed it endlessly and never grew tired of Flat Spin Takeoffs.

Airdynamics DarkStar (3 ?)
Image
Light pulling kite (for multikite flying) that I came to too late.

Flexifoil Matrix
Image
What's this ? A Team kite that tricks !! Madness I tell you. It'll never catch on. This one is from the EuroCup 2000 auction, signed by the brothers Robertshaw at what was their last appearance as Evolver.... for a while.

Mullins Area 51
Image
From the second wave of trick kites and one of the clutch of smaller kite makers that populated the UK at the time. Famed for the weirdest bridle ever to be dreamt up and backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, line lock, oh no it's OK, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin, backspin.

HQ Midi
Image
The second iteration of the Midi (Sandpiper) and a kite that many people will still happily call their favourite kite even to this day. Just a nice fly.

Mike.
 
User avatar
oldflyer
FA Supporter
FA Supporter
Posts: 978
Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, England

Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:35 pm

Zippy - great photos!

The venting on that BigBrother2 looks unbelievably extreme. Does it need 20mph minimum wind speed to fly???
 
User avatar
Zippy8
Posts: 4865
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: Vihtavuori, Finland
Contact:

Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:11 pm

oldflyer wrote:
The venting on that BigBrother2 looks unbelievably extreme. Does it need 20mph minimum wind speed to fly???

You have to remember that venting wasn't very sophisticated back then. The BB2 Vented even has the same framing as the STD kite :shock: With huge mesh panels right at the sail's pressure centres it did make it very inert but I don't recall the min. wind being utterly ballistic.

In a similar vein...

TC Ultra Hurricane
Image
Another "related to the Tracer" kite, albeit a distant cousin. This thing is dual- or quad-line and barely pulled even in a howling gale. A very flat sail and curvy LEs meant it was very spinny once it got going. A heavy frame meant it got going quite easily too.

Mike.
 
User avatar
uktotty
Posts: 393
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:55 pm
Location: Newbury
Contact:

Mon Jun 22, 2009 4:56 pm

Does my Tramontona qualify for this???
Benson DS - Fury Full Size - Rev 1.5SUL - Rev 1.5 SLE - Alpha Plus - Cody - 3 Symphony's - 2 NPW's - Viper - Vento - Wild Thang - Flexifoils - Elliot Mystic
 
User avatar
Zippy8
Posts: 4865
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: Vihtavuori, Finland
Contact:

Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:04 pm

uktotty wrote:
Does my Tramontona qualify for this???

Which generation ? :wink: If the spine is in front of the sail then definitely yes.

Mike.
 
User avatar
Craig
Site Admin and Supporter
Site Admin and Supporter
Posts: 5240
Joined: Tue Sep 23, 2003 6:46 pm
Location: Epsom Downs, near the red cross.

Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:29 pm

My Skynasaur Tracer :cool:

Image
 
User avatar
Bill Lancashire
FA Supporter
FA Supporter
Topic Author
Posts: 357
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:57 am
Location: Bassaleg, NEWPORT, Wales

Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:33 am

Having posted plenty about Phantoms recently perhaps I should post pictures of my own designs of the 1990's as I flew nothing else from 1993 to 2006.

At the Weymouth Kite Festival in May 1993, I saw a Mike Simmons-designed Skynasaur 'Trixter' doing what I later learned to be the 'axel'. Wow, this was new!. Why couldn't I get the Phantom to do it?. I concluded that the sail was too 'loose' and noisy ' and poor trailing edge wash-out. I soon started designing and building a kite for this trick:

'Ballerina' and 'Pirouette' (75% version)
I had my first 'Ballerina' test kite flying at the May 1993 Great Yarmouth Kite Festival. The sail was cut to be generally taught with lots of 'wash-out' near the tips and curved trailing edge with a leech-line. It could be 'axeled' so I was pleased with it.

Here are the two kites:

Image

I made quite a few for people during 1993 and they were later (Spring 1994) more mass-produced by 'Air-Crafts Kites' with different names:

Air-Crafts Kites 'Legend 250 and Legend 190':

Image

These didn't fly like my originals, but still quite nice.

Here are a couple of my later generation 'Ballerinas':

Ballerina III (1995)
(Outboard stand-offs, short spine)

Image

Ballerina IV (1996)
(Deeper sail, Icarex and wrapped spars)

Image

'Trick Kites'
Next milestone was seeing Andy Preston's 'Stranger' at Blackheath 1994. It was back to the 'drawing board' for me.

I worked on a couple of designs during the second half of 1994. They were originally ideas for a new model in the Air-Crafts range, but maybe I was taking too long and in the end they did their own thing. Here are my final versions:

Jive (December 1994)

Image

Flamenco (April 1995)

Image

I still fly these when I'm in the 'old skool (school?) mood'.

Bill.
 
Andy S
King of FA
Posts: 8218
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:53 am
Location: In my house
Contact:

Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:43 am

That blue fade Ballerina III is really nice. I like the spine panel detail too.
 
User avatar
oldflyer
FA Supporter
FA Supporter
Posts: 978
Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 1:33 pm
Location: Bristol, England

Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:08 pm

Bill

Those are beautiful kites! I love the spine detail – great touch.

Like you, I was really impressed with the Trixter at the Weymouth 1993 festival. I watched in awe as Mike Simmonds axeled it. It was the first time I had seen an axel and it looked stunning. I bought a Trixter from him that day on the beach before he left to fly home to the USA. It was very radical compared to anything else available at that time. I really wish I still had it (I sold it about 10 years back).

Nigel
 
User avatar
Bill Lancashire
FA Supporter
FA Supporter
Topic Author
Posts: 357
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:57 am
Location: Bassaleg, NEWPORT, Wales

Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:25 pm

Andy S wrote:
That blue fade Ballerina III is really nice. I like the spine panel detail too.


Yes, you could really go to town with blue fades back in the 'Carrington' days. I think they did 6 different blues. Just a pity about the white. After much daylight exposure, it went an awful creamy-brown colour.

Bill.
 
Involo
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Italy

Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:48 am

Here are some of my favourite Classics Prism:
Vapor, Radian, Eclipse, Total Eclipse, Ozone, Alien, Illusion, I2K, enjoy them :D

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
 
User avatar
Zippy8
Posts: 4865
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: Vihtavuori, Finland
Contact:

Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:20 am

Involo wrote:
Here are some of my favourite Classics Prism:
..... I2K

So we've extended the definition of "classic" to "8 year old brick" have we ? :?

Mike.
 
User avatar
Bill Lancashire
FA Supporter
FA Supporter
Topic Author
Posts: 357
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:57 am
Location: Bassaleg, NEWPORT, Wales

Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:00 am

Involo wrote:
Here are some of my favourite Classics Prism:
Vapor, Radian, Eclipse, Total Eclipse, Ozone, Alien, Illusion, I2K, enjoy them :D

Many thanks for posting those images. I don't know much about Prisms and I guess many others on here don't either.
Zippy8 wrote:
So we've extended the definition of "classic" to "8 year old brick" have we ? :?

A really unhelpful reply in my opinion. We need to encourage infrequent posters and newcomers to come forward more and not make them feel uncomfortable about making posts.

Bill.
"You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows." - Bob Dylan.
 
Involo
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Italy

Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:08 pm

Zippy8 wrote:
Involo wrote:
Here are some of my favourite Classics Prism:
..... I2K

So we've extended the definition of "classic" to "8 year old brick" have we ? :?

Mike.


Ok Mike, maybe it isn't a real "Old" kite, but surely it's a Classic just because it's a discontinued one, and for its shape/design, curved LEs low aspect ratio etc :D

Bill, thanks for your kind reply.......and your defence :D . I have almost the full set of Old-Classic-Discontinued Prisms and I really enjoy to fly them along with some Modern Nirvana, BMK Exile, Mantis STD & UL.
Last edited by Involo on Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
 
User avatar
Zippy8
Posts: 4865
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:43 pm
Location: Vihtavuori, Finland
Contact:

Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:17 pm

Bill Lancashire wrote:
Zippy8 wrote:
So we've extended the definition of "classic" to "8 year old brick" have we ? :?

A really unhelpful reply in my opinion.

We-e-elll :-k I could withdraw the brick but the rest stands.

I've got an Androgyn that isn't made anymore lying around somewhere....

Mike.