18th July 2009 and the annual music night at St osyth was today,I have been to all these events from the days when it was held on the priory green to todays one that has now been moved to the meadow over the road from the priory,and I have enjoyed every one rain or shine.This year I had arranged with Lynda Spinks to do a kite show from 4pm till 9pm then pack that away and get the night kites out for when it got dark.
It was a mad rush to get there to set up by 2.30pm as I had been at work from 2am till 9am then had to go to Kaywoods till midday before rushing home for a quick wash and brush up and get the kites loaded into the car,but I just managed to get there around the set time allowing me a couple of hours to set up the flying area.Lucky for me Colin arrived about half an hour after me to help me and I had already got the velcro banner up with ''KITES ON THE MEADOW'' written on it.I gave Colin the jobs of setting out the turtles,aeroplanes,kite arch and other bits while I got up the lifter ready for some items later.
The weather was very changable but the sun shone down till around five and it was a beautiful afternoon even though the wind was in the 20's and a little strong for my inflatables which made me limited to what I could put up in the air.The stuff on the ground was working well with the turtles,ladybird,bouncing bear heads,f-stop,spikey ball,kite arch and planes all flying or bouncing around the meadow.On the sled 36 I put the cat and mouse and a couple of dogs and later had the gecko and guitar up all these were at their maximun wind strength and were being a bit over powered causing them to fly erratic,once everything was as stable as could be Colin and I set up the vented revs and showed our skills to the public and the kids trying to catch hold of them around now it was when Carol drove in with Danny(Nippa) and said could she leave him with us till later when she got back,as he is no trouble and in fact always give me and Colin a laugh it was a pleasure to have him there with us.
The rest of the Matello flyers were otherwise engaged with other events or places to be but were sure missed by me and Colin,as I said the wind was very changable and at time swung round 90 degrees making some things get in a right mess,like the kite arch and pole spinners these I had to retrieve and put in the car ready to take home
to untangle today (still not done yet) and as the wind got more stronger I was keeping a careful eye on the rest of the items,by 7.30 pm the wind was taking its force out on the kites and the cats bridle snapped making me think it was time to pack it all away and get set up for when it got dark later on.
It took Colin and myself till 8.30 to clear the area,set up the six banner poles with my lights on and get the revs changed over to night flying mode,this left me enough time to have a wander round and see what was going on and get some video done,back at the cars I relaxed with a drink and a fag while it got slowly darker and darker.
The first group were awesome and some great tunes blasted out onto the meadow, I took the time to listen to the last band on the stage some heavy metal group which was not to my taste but by the way the public were dancing in front of the stage was enjoying the music,but to be fair to this group once they got he heavy stuff out the way I started hearing tracks I new and liked and they whipped the crowd up into a frenzy,maybe a little to much as it was around now that the teenagers had had to much to drink and some caused a lot of hassel around the site,swearing and shouting at each other and the odd fight.The police were there at the end to control the drunken teens and double the amount of police had to be used the previous years.Shame if a few idiots make this annual event be shut down as it is such a great VILLAGE event that all the familys love going to,to be fair most are good parents but a few just let their kids do anything like the ones that broke my banner poles with the lights on or the two in the day that thought they could kick my display around making me asking them to clear off and dont come back over.There are always a few when ever I do a show and its something that I am used to dealing with all the other kids make up for the little horrible ones and we had plenty of good ones enjoying the kites and being chased by the revs.
Darkness fell about 9.30 as it was very cloudy with the chance of rain coming but it didn't lucky for us.The banner poles were lit up and the rev spun up into the sky looking like flying christmas trees all three looked good but I have to say mine was the most colourful and brightest (heads swelling got a pin anyone) the wind was good and strong and flew the revs with ease,public wanted to by the banner pole (could have made a killing on them) and we had enquires about the revs and kites in the day time,giving the kiteworld site to them for enquires.
Just around 10.20 the first of the fireworks exploded into the 
sky and lasted a good 15 
minutes of firework pleasure making the perfect end to the event,for me it was great to do something free for the village and show my kites at the music on the meadow I hope Lynda and the others that organize this event were pleased and will allow me back next year for more fun at the villages best event of the year......... Click here for the events picture
New quad line kites from China
Lets not start the old topic of we shouldn't buy copies cos as far as I am concerned the Revolution company is over priced and in this day and age we all need to look for the best deal around.
I have as yet had a chance to look at one of these imports but looking at the specks and pictures of them I will certainly be getting one for me and the martello flyers to try out,and at well under half the price of Revolutions its like a buy one get one free.The quads come with line and handles and everything else like bag,spare rod,end caps,ferrul etc...within three weeks I should have one in my hands for testing out and letting you know what we the martello flyers think of them.If it gets the ok from Prof Bruce then I will defo be getting my quads from China,something different in the sky will make a nice change from the Rev designs and I for one is not prepared to pay over £300 for a rev cos it has a new design and the word revolution on it (new Baressi quad) WOW comes in 17 colours designs,so what,its just too over priced for a quad,even the revolution today have issue's with them like bad stitching and saggy sails and still have not been improved on the fittings,yet the price has rocketed.
So its China quads for me and maybe for all times to come,just look at these awesome designs and prices and tell me your not interested in changing over to these great looking quads.
Product details
95 inch leading edge
Sail...ripstop nylon & mayla
Free line and handles ..Dyneema 4x25m 150lb
Price......£74 to £98 inc all p/p from China (WOW WHAT A BARGIN)
Jaywick summer fete
I missed out on this event due to work commitments but my fellow Martello flyers didn't let me down and done it for me here is some of their views on the day... Yet again without Young Pete and Lynn the day would have been cancelled but thanks to them and the help of the other Martello flyer it all went ahead for the Jaywick summer fete....THANKYOU ALL
Hi Rob, sorry you could not make it today thought you might like a report of the day feel free to edit as you see fit Colin.
Jaywick Summer Fete
Venue : Beach by Jaywick Community Centre
Unfortunately Rob couldn't make it to this event due to work commitment's so at the last minute Young Pete stepped up to the crease as opening bat. Arrived to find Peter and Lyn putting up a beach shelter, after a quick chat and catch up and despite the forecast of 36mph + wind for later in the day Pete said he was going to try and put on a display. I went back to the car to get my Rev bag and bumped into Bruce, as we got to the beach Pete and Lyn had a couple of sand anchor's sorted and a sled with a long tail soon went skyward, as there was a chance that the tail would be in the road if it came down it was changed for a shorter one. As the 17mph onshore wind was staying constant an array of spikey ball's were soon attached. As some people were sitting on the sea wall watching I set up a Vented Rev while Pete and Bruce put up another sled to which some Tail's/Penguin/Seahorses and Nemo were attached. About this time "Hop-along" Pete, Val and Simon arrived to lend a hand, despite the increasing wind Simon set up a Delta and put on a fine display of two line flying while Pete and Me tried to knock some people of the seawall with our Rev's :-)) wonder what the person at CCTV Control thought of it all, at one point they no doubt had a good view of a Rev, he he. Bruce set up one of his Kapping Rev's to try out a new camera mount, at the end of the day he had a few hundred pic's to sort through at home later. Had a lot of interest from the Public, Lyn sold a few kite's and handed out some Kiteworld Business card's and answered a never ending stream of question's about spikey ball's and Nemo ( Nemo soon to be seen on a carnival float ) Refreshment's were provided by the people in the Community Centre, thankyou, and the Hog Roast was also very nice. At 4pm and as the wind was increasing the Fete was drawing to a close so everyone pitched in to help Pete pack it all away, as we did so a chap came along and said he was looking into buying that stretch of Beach and would have no objection's to us having the use of it as a " Kite Club Beach " and could also sort out the car parking issue's, what a nice man ! A great day was had by all and I would say this bit of beach is as big and as good if not better than the one at the Martello Tower and that's saying something, sorry Rob and the other Martello flyer's could not make it, think we will be there again though, see you all soon.
Big fly at Frinton on sea Sunday 2nd August
At last I had a free Sunday to do what I liked and yep it was a days kite flying with friends,I was so Arrived at around eight and set up on the normal field and tried to get the sled 81 up but the wind was to light and the houses were making what wind there was even worse,by eight thirty Colin arrived and talked me into moving down to the lower area near the toilets as the houses were futher away and the wind would be better,so we collected up all my stuff and drove down to the end of the road once again setting the 81 up,this time the wind was much better and the sled sat in the sky better,nice call Colin. As I was setting up items a Back up on the hill Colin set up the racing turtles near the fishes and both looked stunning on the top of Before I knew it I see young Pete and Lynn taking down the sea horses and checked out the time it was four thirty and I thought that with all the inflatables that I had up I had better start getting em in,every one started to help and asked what to do for me it was soon all in the bags and the cases were zipped up ready for the car,thank you all for this help it just makes me want to put more and more of my kites up in the day knowing that it will not be me alone packing away as it would take me hours to do by myself.
looking forward to my day off and had the car packed with the sea life theme,rev and the racing turtles and headed of to Frinton by seven thirty,music blasting from the car as I drove the 30 minute drive,sun shining and a light wind all looked good for a great day out.
The wind was still to light at round 3-8 mph and the sled came down,the wind was like this all morning untill around midday when it swung round and picked up to 8-15 mph making it time to get the inflatables up.By this time loads had turned up...Old Pete and family,Young Pete and Lynn,Bruce,Colin,Daz and family,Roger and his wife,even Sue and her mum arrived.Got to say the wind in the morning was making it very hard work to keep up the inflatables but the display was well worth it.
chap came over and was telling me about a kite his wife brought him three years back and that he had tried to fly it with no success I told him to come back later with it and I would go through the setting up and flying of the kite.When he returned it turned out to be one that I had had in my days of power kiting the firebee 3,by the end of my training the chap had the kite in the air and was quite shocked at the power these kites have,I let him have the peg for setting up the kite and he went away a very thankful and happy man indeed,but thats what I am about for to help out others to mend,fly or just give advise on the hobby of kiting.
Up one the hill I put out the fishes with the sea grass and as doing so got stung on my little finger by some creature making the finger swell and sting for the day(that why my rev flying wasn,t as good as normal...LOL ) but nothing was going to spoil my day today,not even when a policeman rode up on his bike to explain there had been a complaint by someone who said we was breaking by-laws by lending or selling kites,the 'special' policeman know localy as 'Laptop' as he was rather short was very nice about it and said it was just something he had to do for the busy body sad person who complained and even said how nice it is to see the kites,If it was you reading this that made the complaint why don't you next time come over and chat with us and find out the facts instead of wasting police time,you can be arrested for that you know,twat.
the hill and the kids and public loved em,Yes a lot of people asked if I was selling them but we was not but do aways say where you can get them and thats at WWW.KITEWORLD.CO.UK .Once the inflatables became more stable it was out with the 'Revs' and thats when the public really started to ask some questions about them,at one time six revs were in the sky dancing around folowing each other or 'playing with the public' kids laughing at the walking revs and screaming as they got near them its great to interact with the people and let them see just how controlable these kites are.
It was a awesome day with sunshine throughout,great kites and friends that had fun all day long,Thank you also to all those Frinton people for the nice comments on Petes and mine kites and if you want any advice on where to get or just help in the hobby of kiting just contact me at thekiteden@tiscali.co.uk .
For todays picture from the kite den click HERE
IT'S HERE the new china quad
Well after a short wait of just over a week the new quad from Albatross in china has arrived and ready to be unpacked and checked out,I have been eager to see this quad and I know so have a lots of you kite den readers,so wait no more and read this report and I bet I will be seeing these quad around the Haven soon.
Looking on e-bay I came across the new look chinese quads and I was gob smacked at the cool designs out,I decided that I like the ones with the designs on that look like eyes which come in three colour ranges...GREY,RED and BLUE (as seen above) I went for the grey and asked Colin to order me one as I have no paypal account,Colin said the kite was very simple to obtain and even a tracking number for you to see where on route it is,total price £99.40.
What is the first pleasant thing that you get is that there is no hidden charges like DUTY,god we do hate that word in the U.K,the price included all the postage and it is delivered to your door much quicker than from the U.S.A.
So looking at the brown oblong box with all the chinese writing on it I opened the end up and slid out the contents onto the grass,out come the sail,line on winder,handles,spare spar and ferrul,and a spare bag of end caps(handy for me as I scrape so many along walls and buildings)and a nice bag to keep it in,it also comes with a large manual that come to you via e-mail as the china goverment do not allow documentation out of china,the manual goes through every detail of setting up and flying and would be great for a first time buyer,WOW what a nice bit of kit for the money and in the reach of us mere mortals that dont get a big fat wage packet each month.
As I started to fit the quad together I could see some new techniques that I have not seen before on other quads which I will go through later in the review.The kite went together with ease and looked awesome and now to get the lines set up on the handles,the line looks good quality with a nice sheen to it and the handles are the lightest that I have ever held in my hands before,with plenty of extra pigtails for that all important adjustments.I larks head the line on the handles and the kite and pegged it down to get the photos and my first impression of the kit was,'I like it,I like it a damn lot'.
Now the important thing how does it fly and bearing in mind that I always have flown a rev 1 (bigger sail) I was shocked at how light the kite was not something I am used to and remembering that I was flying it from straight out the box (no tinkering) it took me all of a few seconds to get the feel of the new quad and after a few minutes was doing my usual flying of slow,fast,clock moves,landing on people and windsurfers and generally have a brilliant time with it,nothing at this time needed changing and after Colin had his test fly he gave the quad a 8 out of 10,me I will say 9 for the reason that its well under the price of a Revolution.So with the quick review of this chinese quad I am now going to give it to our kite proffessor (Bruce) to weigh,measure and do all the technical side of the kite for you all...which we be on here asap.
In the meantime all I can say is WOW...SUPERB AND AWESOME.....
more coming later so stay tuned
Laboratory results from Prof Bruce
After having flown and now had a good look at Robs new quad from China I have to say I am quite impressed, it is nicely constructed from cleanly cut panels and with good sewing it compares very well with kites costing a good deal more.
The accurately made sail measures 234cm (92in) by 77cm (30.25in), Rev 1.5 spars up to 3 wrap will fit perfectly but the bungee's would need adjustment as the supplied spars are longer than 1.5 spars, I like the way top upright bungee's are rigged (I would, I have been fitting mine the same way for some time).
With the sail layout creating a flat sail and taut trailing edges the kite flies as well as any other similar shaped quad I have flown and better than some.
The carbon fibre spars measure 77cm (32.25in) in length with a diameter varying between 7.60cm at the centre to 7.85cm at the ends, presumably reinforcing the ends for ferrule loading, the leading edge spars are thread whipped at the ends where ferules are inserted to give additional support, spars weigh in at 17grammes each and the full set of 5 being 92grammes (including ferrules) they have a similar stiffness to 3 wrap Rev spars.
Total ready to fly weight of the kite is 217grammes, a well made bridle features neatly sewn loops giving a clean look, and it has been knotted in such a way as to prevent the bridle coming apart during handling.
Again good workmanship is shown in the supplied handles, though with the lightweight handles being 10.5in across the clips and having a shallower bend of approx 30 degrees they might seem a tad strange to some folk more used to standard handles, total weight of 25mtr lines and handles is only 156grammes.
While on Holiday I met a guy flying one of these Quad's, after a while He let me have a go, it flew as well as anything I have flown before and it was made properly, then it would be the Chineese have a few thousand year's of experience of making kite's.
Stick to your guns mate........Look forward to seeing the new quad tomorrow as I am interested.The REVOLUTION world is getting so expensive,And us meer mortals can't afford the new quads,don't get me wrong REV'S are the dogs bo##cks but if I can get a cheaper just as good version you know where I will be sending my cashola
Well as far as I can see the chinese makers are doing nothing wrong in making quad liners the patent filed for a kite like flying device (ie the rev) was issued in 1990. http://tinyurl.com/mzm6vg Patents last 17 years before expiring (before 1995) and their american patent has done just that. Regardless of that theres no such thing as a worldwide patent anyway. As long as the chinese makers are not copying sail designs or selling them as revolutions (trademark/copywrite law) they've no case against them and you can buy them guilt free. i think rob's treatments a little unjust. All he did was buy and review a kite and behaviour like that will push more customers away.
It's a competitive market out there and the sheer price puts me off buying a rev. Think i might buy a chinese one now just to spite them lol.
Sod em rob :)
I hold a similar view to you Kelley, back in December last year Barresi informed me the Rev Co. hold a "copyright/trademark of the shape". Whilst they no doubt have rights to the name I would imagine that if the copyright claim for the shape was sound then it would be a straight forward matter to bring any possible infringements to the attention of the relevant authorities.
The Patent might have appeared innovative in 1990, had they applied for it in the early 1900's far less so, the Wright Bros among others had already been flying 4 line kites and controlling flight by wing warping the kite.
I personally find it ok to fly, but then I'm not an expert!
For the money I think it is excellent and feel that more people will be tempted to take up flying four liners if they won't be inhibited so much by cost.
Brief is the word I don’t think it was in the air for longer than 30 seconds before I ran out of field, but I’d have one if I didn’t have a handful of quads in the bag already. Though the price is definitely on the rise not sure if it’s due to popularity or the week pound.
I might break the habit of a lifetime and let the moths see daylight on this one.
Don't know about the four liners, but general experience of chinese kite builders is excelllent quality at a very affordable price. They are the masters of imitation, so give them an existing kite, or whatever, and they can make pretty good replicas, at a much lower price. My guess is that this is what has happened here. Basicallly the sail looks fine and th equality of the stitching looks good, so the only niggle might be in the frame, so go out and buy some decent carbon, but be aware that this will sharply increase the prices.
Lets face it - all prism kites other than the Qpro are now made in China and quality isn't an issue or I'm sure Mr. Reed would kick them into touch. Likewise Premier and G-Kites kites are made in China with no quality issues.