Stunt kite flying at the beach

Yesterday I drove for about 30 minutes to fly my Prism Nexus at a nearby beach called Sen-bon-hama in Numazu, Japan. Instead of sand though it had pebbles and a lot of washed up seaweed. On the plus side though, it was so easy to fly my stunt kite in the wind coming off the sea!

It was the first time I fully appreciated the wind window effect. As I flew towards the edge of the window my stunt kite would begin to loose some power. Then bringing the kite back into the center of the window sped things up again.

Even launching after poor landings was the easiest I've ever experienced. Admittedly I'm still not sure the best way to go about re-launches from various positions, but the consistent winds certainly helped.

After one particularly poor landing which included a few twists in my lines I had to perform the walk of shame (going back to my kite to move it into proper launch position). As my lines were still attached to my wrists, it had the effect of tangling my lines up amongst all the seaweed and debris on the beach. Sorting them out again took me about 30 minutes! Much worse than the walk of shame itself!

By the time I had sorted my lines out, the wind had died down considerably. So I practiced launching then gently lowering my stunt kite back to the ground into launch position.

Flying-wise, it was great fun to feel a consistent wind in my kite's sail. Still so much to learn and it was great fun too. I was experimenting by allowing my lines to get twisted multiple times as I rotated the kite one way then back to straighten things out.

Even though I have only been flying a stunt kite for about a week I can already see that as I put time into flying, I am improving. I look forward to improving my stunt kite flying skills on a daily basis!

Wind Power Sports review

I bought my Prism Nexus stunt kite from Wind Power Sports in Las Vegas. I decided to order from Wind Power Sports because the website looks professional; there was a wide variety of kites to choose from, in my case it was the stunt kite section I was interested in; there were also detailed descriptions of the kites; and finally I had seen some online videos of the owner Corey Jensen flying a stunt kite. His instructional videos make flying seem simple and exciting! So Wind Power Sports online kite store seemed the obvious choice.

As I was going through the ordering procedure I became concerned as my credit card billing address is in a different country from my delivery address. However I discovered that Wind Power Sports accept payment via PayPal which meant I could specify any delivery address I wanted.

After completing my order and payment I received some auto responder emails confirming the order and payment. However that's all I received prior to the shop closing for about ten days. I had placed my order with Wind Power Sports on March 25th, two days before their holiday was to begin so hoped that my kite would be sent before the shop closed for their vacation.

I sent an email to Corey the day before his holiday to ask about the status of my order but didn't receive a reply before he went away. So I was left to wonder whether my order with Wind Power Sports had been shipped or not.

As time passed I resigned myself to having to wait until Corey returned before my order would be shipped. Then another week or so for my kite to reach Japan.

However to my surprise, as I was leaving my apartment on the 3rd of April, only nine days after placing my order, there was a postman standing at my door holding my Prism Nexus stunt kite from Wind Power Sports.

It shipping instructions indicate that the parcel was dispatched on March 25th, the day I actually placed my order with Wind Power Sports!

In the end I was very happy with the speed at which Wind Power Sports dispatched my kite. The only improvement I could suggest to their customer service would be to send an email advising when an order leaves the shop. However overall I was happy with the speed at which Wind Power Sports turned around my kite order.

As I become a better stunt kite flier I can see myself using Corey Jensen's online Wind Power Sports kite store again.

Stunt kite flying at work

Flying my stunt kite at work is how I spent some time this afternoon. It looks like I may well get the chance more often than I would have thought! If I'm able to fly my Prism Nexus and get paid for it, that suits me fine.

Even though I've only been flying for a few days I can already feel that I am gaining better control of my stunt kite. Realising that crossing my lines isn't a mistake has allowed me to pull off a 360 spin one way (lines crossed) then back (lines free again). I was really chuffed with that beginner stunt kite trick.

Also it is becoming apparent to me that flying somewhere that doesn't have trees or buildings so close is probably going to help improve my stunt kite flying skills. Today though even though I wasn't in a completely open area, there did seem to be a general lack of wind.

Next weekend I plan on making a trip to the coast. In the meantime though any kite flying time I can get at work is a bonus.