Hello,

I'm a new member, and new to the sport of Power Kites.

Less than a year ago while vacationing on the coast of N. Carolina I saw a video of someone kite buggying in a kite shop. There was a collective "oooooh" from my dad, brother-in-law and myself. It's now our to have a kite buggy when we go back this year.

I'm experienced with moderate size dual line kites (I personally own an Alpha+) and now I'm just looking into getting my first quad kite.

I want to make sure I get a big enough kite to pull the buggy, but small enough for a beginner. I'm a big guy, 6'5" 260 lb's.

I've been searching online and I'm a little overwhelmed by all the options! I was looking at a "Prism Stylus 2.8" as a promising choice for my first power kite, but really have no idea what to look for!

Also, I need a buggy. My first thought is to make it myself. I'm an artist and know how to weld and sew, so making the frame is not a problem, it's finding the right wheels that has me stumped. All of the options I've found so far are $100+/wheel. Add other materials and time and it's really just easier to buy one. Can anyone recommend a source of wheels? And the basic dimensions?

Or if I end up buying one, the only one's I've found for sale in the US are the Competition and the Flexifoil. Is one better than the other? Are there other options? (that I wouldn't have to ship from over seas!)

Thanks for any advice!

-Chip

There really are a lot of options. depending on the winds where you want to buggy, I would suggest you go with at least a 4m. esp. if you are gonna be on a grass surface or beach with soft spots. I'm sending you an e-mail with a deal you might like.

The perter lynn and flexifoil buggies are both designed to do pretty much the same thing although the flexifoil has better built quality and from what I've heard is a bit more comfy. I own a PL and after a couple of years buggying am now wishing I'd spent the extra and bought the flexi. The flexi also has lots of extras to add on which means if you want to use it for a bit of speed with the extra rear axle available you can improve the upwind performance. If comfort is really important Libre do their 'special' buggy which is a scaled down version of a full race. This is a much smooter and faster buggy but still able to be used for a bit of freestyle as well and it costs not much more than the flexi. So, it really depends on what you want to do in the buggy and how much money you've got to spend.

Greetings, Chip, and welcome to our obsession!

For a first-time buggy pilot, I would recommend looking for a kite with plenty of power (you're a pretty big guy), but with friendly and forgiving flight characteristics, to keep you out of trouble.

The Ozone Little Devil series fills this order, quite nicely. The 4.5 is big, but not scary... power when you need it, but rather slow-turning and stable in the air, with very little lift while in the overhead, parked position. This means you can fly to the top of the wind window during gusts and overpowered moments, and the kite will remain stable and not lift you skyward, in most instances. In the deserts of the American Southwest, you can get in real trouble, real fast, if you're flying too much kite... ask anyone who's been to Ivanpah Dry Lake. As a rule of thumb, fly the smallest kite that will pull you, until you become more proficient. There are lots of high-performance kites available, when you're more experienced. While learning, you want something that does not overfly the "edge" of the window and collapse, then fall back into the power zone and re-inflate under power, yanking you from your seat, if you're lucky, and from the planet, if you're not. Lower aspect ratio kites, generally, are more forgiving. Higher aspect ratio are faster and quicker turning, but require more skills to manage.

Come to Spring Break Buggy Blast or any of the other buggy events here, and you'll have help, advice, equipment to "try before you buy", and lots of sympathy when you bollocks it up. <grin>