The Blade arrived yesterday and it took flight today. I always like getting and flying a kite from a fellow PKF member but this one's special. It's from across the pond and was one of Redsky's kites whose buggy videos were one of the main reasons I wanted to try this sport out. I didn't actually set out to win the auction but I didn't want to see it go too cheap. I actually thought someone would out bid me at the last minute. Anyways, its here and I'm going to fly it

Also, it flies great. The blades are just about the most fun you can have static flying in my opinion

That is so weird to see my kite flying on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. I really appreciate the picture Sean. I feel better now that I can see it flying. It's giving you a good workout and it looks happy!

Your blade was used by a woman competitor to haul her sled on an expedition across the Greenland ice sheet. It then flew with me for many summer days in the park and gave me a grass PB of 39mph. Now it's your turn to continue on with the adventure in Indianapolis and maybe beyond.

Thanks Tom. wind was about 3mph - 9mph today. I'm still wearing grass stained jeans and may go out for round 2 tonight :D

Do you think bridging across the seam with tear aid would help keep the seam from getting worse? You were right, it doesn't affect it's flight at all but I wouldn't mind containing the area

Yeah it is a low wind machine and a great workout. I'm keeping my 4.9 & 7.8 for exercise.

A simple tear aid should be enough. The tear has never grown since snagging it on a goal post all those years ago. These light wind, low speed kites do not suffer stress. More importantly the tab next to the tear is unaffected.

A session in the cool of the evening sounds great. This would make a good street kite do you think?

We shall see. I had sold all of my fixed bridles before I started longboard so I've never had a chance to use a foil on the street yet.

Hey Tom, I had a very inexpensive repair done to contain the tear. It was an older sail repair guy that fixed it at his house. I think he was 152 years old and I was scared to death he was going to trip in the bridles (for his safety not the kites). Super cool guy. He used a 3/4" wide piece of double sided clear sticky tape placed on the seam and used peel and stick sail repair tape (he had a roll 4' wide) placed over that and bridged around the tab. I flew it yesterday and it looks like it's holding nicely. It's hardly noticeable in the air.

That's great. The old guy did good and I bet it wasn't easy. I imagine that the fabric has to be lined up perfectly before applying the tape to prevent trapped creases. I thought about sending the kite off to be repaired but the bill would have taken a good chunk of the kites value.

This should give you the confidence to fly it a little more aggressively without the worry.

It flew beautifully without repairing it and I had total confidence in the kite. I was more worried I'd accidentally trip over that bridle and tear it further. He gave it a good tug after repairing it and it held. So hopefully it will survive my ground handling.

It was funny, he was in the back getting supplies and he asked what color the fabric was. I replied gray and he came out and put black on it. Of course I didn't question him. I let him do his thing. He got a kick out of it when I explained what I do with it and that I bought it from someone in England. I told him I'm sure to break more stuff so I would be back.

Ha! It's worth knowing someone locally who can repair stuff. He sounds like a character and now the kite has a bit of extra character too. Thanks Sean, I really appreciate all this.