Power Kite Forum

Chris Calthrop

kitedog - 1-11-2009 at 09:37 AM

Hey Guys!

As you probably know, I'm trying to sell my Blade. When I first got this kite, I did a lot of research and found this guy, Chris Calthrop. He is REALLY old school but I thought he had some interesting input. Check out his website.

http://www.k48.com/bladeinflatable.htm

This link is his pros and cons of a Blade versus an inflatable. Interesting stuff. If I can't get what I want for the Blade, I may take it to the water. Crazy, huh?

Greg

Bladerunner - 1-11-2009 at 09:58 AM

What a shame that we lost Speliopowers interest. He was our , real life , old school reference. Flying F.B. on water even today :cool2:
I had HOOJ respect for Him and we lost him to the LEI. debate

His best tip was to take a mesh bag with you. If you crash the kite you can stuff it and swim to shore with it on your board.

NO PROBLEM :D

manitoulinkiter1 - 1-11-2009 at 10:21 AM

Neat stuff.
Unfortunately I don't get enough sessions to get good enough to try that.
When I get out I want to ride not roll up and untangle. would be my fault not the kites but thats what would happen.

John

stetson05 - 1-11-2009 at 11:26 AM

I wondered what happened to Speliopowers. He is exactly who I thought of when I read the info on the site

bigkahuna - 1-11-2009 at 01:34 PM

There's a guy here that flies Blades (at least I think they're Blades, they're some sort of open cell Flexifoil kite) in the ocean and in the surf. He's really quite good and makes it look easy. I noticed he uses a similar technique to the site you listed and dumps the kite over a sand dune and then lets go of the bar. Seems to work, at least it did the few times I saw him do it. There was another surfer in California that flew Flexi's in the ocean and became pretty well known, but I can't remember his name.

Kamikuza - 1-11-2009 at 09:08 PM

The comments on that page mention 2009 so he must be around still doing the open cell foil thing - mad props! :thumbup:

... how could we lose him to the LEI debate around here - there's only snobr and everyone else rides arcs don't they :lol:

snobdr - 2-11-2009 at 06:47 AM

Dont underestimate the power of the darkside

lunchbox - 2-11-2009 at 09:18 AM

Quote:

What a shame that we lost Speliopowers interest. He was our , real life , old school reference. Flying F.B. on water even today :cool2: I had HOOJ respect for Him


Agreed...Let's hope he makes his way back here!

I've been really thinking seriously about giving this a go. Smooth coastal winds make such a big difference in stability. Unfortunately, I don't have any Blades yet but was thinking about using my PL Reactors. Probably use them on handles though and use the strop for the initial water start. Gotta say, I love the simplicity and safety of the launch. If I end up dunking it, I might have to reevaluate my decision ;-)