New victim… I mean member!

Hi all.

I've been kinda into delta stunt kites for years…. currently fly a Prism Hypnotist. Although I never have enough time to really practice and get good at any real tricks, so I mainly stick to a lot of high speed dives, spinning, etc. Love the pull I can get with it and the awesome whistling and other noises it makes in strong wind. The force of the pull and the high speed is what I really love about it and I want more. I was originally looking at some 2-line parafoils like the Prism Snapshot and the Peter Lynn Vibe, but decided to jump right up to a 4-line trainer power kite. So I'm currently waiting for Brown to deliver my Ozone Quattro 2.5! Seemed like a solid choice to learn the ropes so to speak.

So what I'm wondering is what I can expect from this kite compared to what I'm flying now so I don't do something stupid and make an :moon: of myself. Power? Speed? Handling? Been watching a bunch of tutorial vids and I'm getting a real good understanding of setup, controls, first flights, etc.

Also, how far can I go with this kite? Initially I'm just looking to have some casual fun and catch a few thrills. Eventually I'd like to get into land boarding… over grassy areas. Would I eventually be able to get a board and start to learn using the Quattro and then upgrade kites once I get some confidence? Or is it not strong enough? I'm a 40yo active male, 5'8", 160lbs.

Thanks in advance for any comments/advice.
Looking forward to having some fun!

Welcome to the best kite forum on the web!!!

The Quatro is a good solid choice for a first time 4 liner. You are going to really appreciate the control you get from four lines. Start in lighter winds first and foremost until you get the feel for the pull. You are gonna really love the pull :evil:. Avoid the gusty wind days also until you learn the wind window. A helmet is a must as well!!!

As far as how far you can go, well that's all pilot skill. I will promise you this much, it will NOT be your last power kite

Rule # 1: Live to kite another day. When in doubt, pack it up for the next try. Be safe, and have lots of fun.

Welcome to the addiction!

Dittos to all of the above, and great call on a first kite. A lot of folks in your shoes think (like I did) that stunt kite experience translates into power kite experience, but only on a very basic and minimal level. So since they think they have "experience" they can get a bigger kite for their first (like I did)... Good first choice.

What kind of wind is typical to your flying spot?

After you get a good amount of experience with the Quattro, if you're interested in Landboarding, look into Depower kites. Almost all guys who landboard fly depower kites because they give you a good neutral pull for you to mount the board. I have found it really hard to get onto a landboard with Fixed Bridle kites. But I don't landboard anyway

Quote: Originally posted by 3shot

Welcome to the best kite forum on the web!!!

Thanks, guys.

I have a park right behind my house so that's the easiest thing for me. We live way out in the burbs where there isn't much around so it's usually windier than downtown houston but it's not near the coast or anything so it's usually not a steady wind. A bit more gusty i guess. Ups and downs in wind speed. The park is a grassy area about the size and shape of a neighborhood baseball field. Kinda open, very flat, hardly any trees and the ones that are there are small. Downtown near my office is a large park (memorial park) with another open field but this one is surrounded by trees. Haven't ever flown there but it may be an option for some quick lunch hour flight time. If there is any decent wind. If anyone knows anything close to the downtown/montrose area of houston that would work for flying, let me know!

I have to admit, I'm a little surprised to see a helmet mentioned a couple times. Maybe this kite has more power than I originally thought. :D

Quote: Originally posted by 3shot

d2mini, might be worthwhile to hook up with BigMike in the North Dallas area. www.bigmikeskites.com They have several kite events in Texas anually and have lots of kites to demo.

Yep, that's who i bought my kite from. Should be here today. One day shipping FTW! lol
Too bad mr weatherman says storms tomorrow.

And i forgot to mention in my previous post, in response to earlier posts… trust me… i know VERY well there will be more kits in my future. :D I'm really into saltwater reef aquariums, too. They seem to keep getting bigger! haha

I was just curious in my initial post how far this 2.5 Quattro could take me. Although maybe not the best choice, could it at least give me a taste of something like land boarding or jumping once i have progressed to that level, with the necessary modification like a bar? I also have a longboard (skateboard) that is whispering dangerous thoughts in my ear. :o
Or is this kite just too underpowered or completely not designed for anything like that? I'm really asking purely out of curiosity as none of this is my intended purpose with this particular kite. It was purchased soley as a trainer/weekend family fun kite.

d2mini- since everyone is happy to say hi and not answer the question- ......welcome........the 2.5 quattro will probably not work for you on a land board in grass but could work with a longboard in a parking lot- oh yeah if you dont mind lossing lots of skin learning. could be a good high wind buggy kite but for landboarding your gonna want something bigger and i would recommend depower- in general makes it a lot easier on a board
Scott
ps you got a perfect kite for your intent - trainer and fun

Well holy cow... that was an EXPERIENCE... and I haven't even flown yet! :o

So Mr Brown dropped off a brown box.
I quickly open it and pull out my new kite bag. I open the bag and pull out the kite, lines, manual, etc.
The lines are wrapped around a line winder and attached to the kite, which is somehow wrapped around the handles, which are attached to the kite.
For the life of me, i could not figure out how to unwrap the darn thing! It was a mess... and I had just begun.
So i disconnected the lines from the kite, and finally got the line and line winder detached from the handles.
Now i had to unwrap all the line from the winder.
I did that and now had four lines all twisted together that I knew I had to separate if I was going to reattach them to the kite and not have a big mess.
Well this process took over an hour!
But i finally got it and reattached all the lines to the kite and handles.
Then I dragged the kite to the end of a long hallway so the lines were spread out and proceeded to wrap them around the handles and then wrapped up the kite and put it in the bag.
And of course now the wife and kids will be home any minute so no first flight for me and it looks like storms tomorrow. Poop.
Oh well, at least its in my grubby little hands and ready to go.

Fixed that for ya



Looks like fun to me.
Advice? Fly, grin, repeat :D

Oh, a smaller wallet too. Wont be much cash left in that anymore :evil:

Thanks! I dunno why the forum's own code wouldn't work.

And good advice. :D

Quote: Originally posted by d2mini

Thanks! I dunno why the forum's own code wouldn't work. And good advice. :D

When you copy and paste, just use the video id only in the brackets. No http: etc.

These kite line winders have it all wrong, FYI. (Disclaimer: this is a subject of not insignificant contention amongst fixed bridle enthusiasts.... But I'm right :-) )

Parapacking saves me a ton of time and gets me flying faster, while still staying tangle free and preserving the quality of the lines. Socks and winders and rubber bands and Velcro or such are all just things I forget to keep track of, so I (and many others) go with parapacking instead. Its certainly not for everyone, but its certainly easier for me to sort my lines and identify problems. There are a ton of videos on how to do it, but the upshot is that you fold the kite up into a cylinder, put the cylinder into the bag, make a big hole in the middle, stuff the lines in as deep as they go (all 4 at the same time), put the handles in the bag (not in the hole), zip up the bag and go.

Then when next you excurt (yeah, I just made that up), you just unzip the bag, grab your handles, walk out the lines, pull out the kite and fly. I'd highly suggest it, unless you're weirdly OCD about winding every time.