Power Kite Forum

UHG! Had to sell a bunch of kites..........

djsiryn - 9-10-2015 at 01:27 PM

So I just got word that my Jeep Wrangler is totally dead! I had to sell off most of my collection so I could get a new car. Fortunately my best friend sold me his 2007 Saturn Aura with 60K miles for fairly cheap and I have wheels again... So my buggy dreams are put on hold for a while but here is my question.... Can I somehow hook up all my big kites and buggy in my new car. LOL! All I need to do is cut off the roof........Right? :D

Windstruck - 9-10-2015 at 02:46 PM

Sorry to hear about your Wrangler finally dying. I owned and loved a Wrangler in the early 90's; great ride! Shame to have to dump the kites to pay for something as trivial as transportation. Where are your priorities?

If there is a silver lining to this set of events is that it forced you to get rid of your giant LEIs. Those were going to be potential death traps in the buggy! When the time is right and you can again think about growing a quiver you may want to think about kites that are good inland buggy engines. A number of us are quite enamored with single skin kites for this purpose, either Flysurfer Peaks or Born-Kite NASA STARS.

You might be surprised just how much buggy gear you can get in the back of a vehicle. My buggy transport ride is an old Subaru Forester, hardly big by anybody's standards. For a Texan it is practically an Austin Mini! Here are some pictures of my rig geared up for a buggy session. What you are seeing is a stock PL BigFoot, some miscellaneous items like kite weights for set up and pack up, helmet, harness, knee and elbow pads, and two backpacks containing all my kites.

The packs were hard to see in the first shot so I pulled them out. In the larger pack to the left are four RTF FS Peak-2s (4, 6, 9, and 12m). In the smaller pack is a complete quiver of NASA STAR-3s (2.5, 3.2, 4.0, 5.5, 7.0, 8.5, 10.0, amd 12.5m) plus two control bars (one with 7m lines and the other with 21m lines). I imagine each of my backpacks would have fit one of your LEIs (maybe).

As you can see I didn't need to saw the top of Forester off; far from it! If you gear up with a buggy you can easily break it down a bit and some single skin kites you will have no problem getting them around! I realize the Aura is a sedan, but can you pop the middle of the back seat down to make a pass through into the trunk? The rear axle would be the longest thing you'd need to worry about.



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Bladerunner - 9-10-2015 at 04:30 PM

Freewheelin' Franklin once said something like:

Kites will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kites. ;)

djsiryn - 9-10-2015 at 09:13 PM

Thats so awesome! I do have about 500 bucks left so maybe my buggy dreams are still there. LOL! YEP, I am already looking at what I can fit back there, I am happy that I have ARC's now and pretty much fly whenever. I am looking at a PL buggy right now and i think it will fit, I will even take down my rear window to make it fit if I have too. LOL!

djsiryn - 9-10-2015 at 09:14 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Bladerunner  
Freewheelin' Franklin once said something like:

Kites will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kites. ;)


AWESOME QUOTE!!!!

djsiryn - 9-10-2015 at 09:16 PM

MY friend got ticked at me for putting PL stickers and Trampa and other stuff on the car, but I had t let him Know that it was not his car anymore..... It's now a kite transportation vehicle, or a KTV for short. LOL!

Windstruck - 9-10-2015 at 09:25 PM

Great that the buggy is still in play. Please note that PL has gone through an evolution in their buggy designs over the years, particularly regarding the diameter of the rear axle bolts. Accept nothing short of 20mm IMHO. Older ones wee first 12mm, later 15mm, and now finally 20mm.

djsiryn - 9-10-2015 at 09:25 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck  
Sorry to hear about your Wrangler finally dying. I owned and loved a Wrangler in the early 90's; great ride! Shame to have to dump the kites to pay for something as trivial as transportation. Where are your priorities?

If there is a silver lining to this set of events is that it forced you to get rid of your giant LEIs. Those were going to be potential death traps in the buggy! When the time is right and you can again think about growing a quiver you may want to think about kites that are good inland buggy engines. A number of us are quite enamored with single skin kites for this purpose, either Flysurfer Peaks or Born-Kite NASA STARS.

You might be surprised just how much buggy gear you can get in the back of a vehicle. My buggy transport ride is an old Subaru Forester, hardly big by anybody's standards. For a Texan it is practically an Austin Mini! Here are some pictures of my rig geared up for a buggy session. What you are seeing is a stock PL BigFoot, some miscellaneous items like kite weights for set up and pack up, helmet, harness, knee and elbow pads, and two backpacks containing all my kites.

The packs were hard to see in the first shot so I pulled them out. In the larger pack to the left are four RTF FS Peak-2s (4, 6, 9, and 12m). In the smaller pack is a complete quiver of NASA STAR-3s (2.5, 3.2, 4.0, 5.5, 7.0, 8.5, 10.0, amd 12.5m) plus two control bars (one with 7m lines and the other with 21m lines). I imagine each of my backpacks would have fit one of your LEIs (maybe).

As you can see I didn't need to saw the top of Forester off; far from it! If you gear up with a buggy you can easily break it down a bit and some single skin kites you will have no problem getting them around! I realize the Aura is a sedan, but can you pop the middle of the back seat down to make a pass through into the trunk? The rear axle would be the longest thing you'd need to worry about.



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Anything short of a Ford, Dodge or Chevy Dually is a small car around here. LOL!

djsiryn - 9-10-2015 at 11:19 PM

On a plus note, I managed to save enough cash to buy me an Ozone Access 8M for a steal. Arcs and foils are what I am flying now. :D

volock - 10-10-2015 at 05:44 PM

Speaking of kite car... I once Kited a Polaris Ranger (for #@%$#!s and giggles) down my parents ranch road with my 3.6m Beamer, bracing myself in the back, and having someone else steer. I kind of wander if I could chicken loop to a gooseneck hitch and pull a big truck with one of my LEIs....