Treated to steady 10MPH winds today and took the 3m out for the first time. Everything as new as can be and here's what I saw. It appeared that the kite only wanted to fly backwards. I reeled in a foot on the power lines and then tried again but it was only with the handles so twisted back that the bottom end literally touched the flying lines that it would head in a general "up" direction.

Assuming the kite has bargain barrel lines on it is it possible that the powers stretched more than the brakes? If so - should I toss the lines or keep shortening the powers until it goes well. I suspect the powers will wind up being a good 2 feet shorter than the brakes.

Otherwise in flight it was okay at best. It would not go up to the zenith at all - far from it in fact. 30 degrees at best. got it to 45 degrees twice and the power really turned on but those two times were fluke I'm sure.

Any help is appreciated. I have a Rage 4.7 on the way but think this poor thing deserves at least a chance to tune it up and getting it flying right.

Kite size and brand/model?

Are you using flying lines provided with the kite?


Sounds like the brakes are still tight, one side note, usually when flying on handles, if you put one finger over the power line leaders and the other three under, it'll keep you from accidentally pulling on the brake lines which is a common mistake. I'm not sure if you've been doing this or not, but it's a good habit to get into.

Either way, you should check your line lengths, take them off the handes and the kite, hook them on something, wind them out and make sure the lines are all the same length at the other end. Let us know what you find.

I've never had any problems with line lengths as long as their ALL the same length... I've checked them out before my 1st outing even with a NEW set, then pick out the shortest of the 4 & cut the remaining 3 "IF" I need to, within 1/4" leaving enough over for loops &/or knots, resleeve the set & Im good to go...

I assume you've figured it out by now but if you want to really get some flight on those lines cut a 3 foot piece of paracord and tie it to your brakes and attach the lines to that but tie knots down it until the tuning is just right, then cut them to length.

where would one buy some paracord ?

You can get at most stores that sell climbing rope. I got mine at a army surplus store, thats probably your best bet if you have one near you. Also I have discovored some great things about paracord pertaining to kiting. First off it is what they use for leaders so it works great for replacing them or lengthening them like in this situation. The way it is constructed is a sleeve with like 5-10 lines inside that run the length of the cord. These lines can be used for many kite related things such as a ton of line for a single line kite if you have kids or use them as a gear marker. Not to mention that the lines are either spectra or nylon or dacron which is probably going to melt before your lines if you clip it, so you have a little bit more of a fighting chance. Also the sleeving is a SUPER cheap source for obtaining sleeving. About 100 feet for $5. I used it on my NPW.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the replies all. I think I've learned about line stretch in all this. I nabbed an Airush bar which to my delight came with a used set of proper (20m) lines. Put them on the handles (thus discovering that the lines supplied with the kite were in the neighborhood of 40m), took it out and it was a different kite altogether.

Before it would flop, curl, crash nose down, reverse launch okay but not be too keen on turning upright, barely hang around 30 degrees off the ground, not even able to touch 45 degrees, NEVER the zenith, etc. With the lines replaced?

Like a bullet right up above me at full zenith, not overflown, incredibly responsive, turns on it's own axis with ease. Thank goodness.....I thought I had thrown some money away. Not the case. Full review coming - watch for SportAir 3m (eBay).

Note to other newcomers - I verified my line stretch lesson on a new Rage 4.7. First shot up - a beautiful thing. Flew a bit and then became a turd...wouldn't even take off. Tightened up main lines on day two as an experiment (just wrapped around the bar 5 times - don't recommend this), flew perfect as before (*eureka!* main lines must have stretched). I brought it down, tied up 4 inches on the main leads at the bar but after a moment or two? A turd again. Brought it down again and it wouldn't settle down to the ground. Hmm.....brakes too loose now? Yup. Stretched. Reset the mains to where they were before (offsetting the now stretched brake lines) and the thing was a beauty again, dragging me 50-100 feet at a time all over the field in full control until full exhaustion.

Hope this saves some newbies like myself some curious frustrations. The obvious question - do you pre-stretch lines? If so, how and how do you know when they are stretched enough?

The dyneema lines on the Ozone kites are 'set' or prestretched. I think if your lines are stretching to the point where your kite won't fly something weird is going on. Dyneema wil only stretch 5% and spectra even less than that. This stuff is STIFF! You aren't using polyester lines are you?

The original ones were some variety of white, regular kite line looking stuff. That's on the 3m. Funny enough, now that you mention it the lines I put on the 3m were 3 or 4 inches different in length (mains were the same and brakes were the same but they were different form each other) but the kite flies beautifully and in control with them. The brakes look to be just a tad on the loose side and there doesn't appear to be any excessive binding on the TE of the kite as it flies.

The Rage was brand new. Cracked the shrink wrap off the line winder on Saturday (standard Flexi lines I assume). All set up on the bar the kite sat ready to launch perfectly. I just figured the main lines had stretched first because they were doing most of the work and it took a few more flights for the stretch in the brake lines to catch up hence having to fly, adjust, fly, adjust and then fly and reset back to original on all fronts.

Next time I have the Rage out I'll check the line lengths.