Had another first the other day while kiting in the 115acre public park I use on a regular basis.

It was a windy/gusty day of 20 to 30mph winds. Thought I would static fly my 7.5 HQ Apex II to see how it handles gusts. Had the kite unfurled on the edge of the wind window with a wing tip folded back and weighted down with another kite backpack.

I was just finishing unwinding the lines and getting ready to hook into my harness when an old timer walks across the field where I was at. I said hello to him in which he didn't respond and he kept walking right towards my unlaunched kite.

The next thing I noticed he was bending over and trying to pick up the kite backpack I was using to weigh the kite down to prevent it from self launching. WTF! I yelled at him to leave it alone. I had to drop my bar and run over to him because he acted like he couldn't hear. I politely told him to keep his hands off that he was placing himself in harms way. I was thinking not only from getting tangled up with a launched out of control kite but an ass kicS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-n. I told him I didn't need any assistance and please leave my equipment alone. He didn't say anything and just walked away.

By the by, the Apex II did an amazing job at busting the gusts. It stayed at zenith with very little movement of the bar to keep it there. I could tell when a gust would hit it because the fabric would ripple but the kite remained stable.

The next day I was landboarding in perfect 15mph winds at the same spot where the old timer was trying to commit suicide with my kite. I was slowing down to change direction because of some small trees in my path when out of nowhere a 9 year girl riding a bike rode in front of me about 10 feet away. Fortunately I saw her in time and steered clear.

I have been landboarding at this park for a year and have never had any problems. Most of the regular walkers and joggers that use the park usually give me the thumbs up.
Learned my lesson to keep more vigilant.

I usually have to watch out for kids in the park i hang out at, when ever people have large gatherings there, they tend to ignore the kids, the other day, me, Trancein1, and another guy i fly with were out there, and kids were randomly running around trying to pick up the kites and what not. We told them to get away, but it seemed the parents didnt care much.

Yeah Jolt,

Parents become oblivious sometimes but I later saw the mother of the little girl sitting on a park bench. The mother made the park bench look like a foot stool so I decided to pick my battles wisely in fear of getting whopped or worse yet suffocated.

Quote:

Originally posted by lynx69 The mother made the park bench look like a foot stool so I decided to pick my battles wisely......