so I live in vancouver wa there was nothing in the way of fuel kites. So I looked in the seattle craigs list and found a RTF 05 17m fuel for 200 bucks flown 3 times. :wee: so I called and they still had it and I bought it in a second:singing::singing:

was that a steal or what?????

Not bad there's been a lot of development since 2005 so you may find it a bit of a handful, hard to relaunch etc but my theory is, people learned on that stuff back then so it must be possible
My 05-ish Airush is a real pig to relaunch and doesn't fly that flash, but it got me upwind body dragging, learned me how to rig, launch and land inflatables, got me up on the board for a few seconds at a time, honed my big kite handling skills and turned me right off pumps and onto arcs all that for $100 - bargain in my mind :D

... I also don't cry when I slam it into the ground and poke holes in it

lol yeah when i learnt to kite bord it was on a 12m fuel the same year as the two that i have. but i never had a problem relaunching them. but it is nice to not have the worrie of popping a bladder lol. but oh well I am di-hard lei they look the coolest and i feel the most comfterable with lei's. they seemed to fly great for me fast and lifty.:dunno:

Each to their own I want Cult or Helix too cos I think they look sweet :D

That kite won't give you a very big wind range. Watch out for gusts!

If it isn't a 5 line , make it one !

If it came with bag , bar , lines and pump it was an O.K. deal.

Its not possible to relaunch a 4 line C kite right?

No you can.
It's tricky on the older ones, but the new 2010 fuel is strickly 4 line I believe. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

John

there is a fellow selling a new 05 - 5m Fuel for $125 obo Canadian.

Contact me if interested

5 line is a bit more safe and simple.

Some reverse launchabilaty with a C kite. The traditional way is hard on land.

I would say relaunching the older LEI's can be as tricky as relaunching an arc at times. I love the arcs but they can be very temperamental when it comes to relaunching - they can make you walk all over the place to get the right angle, the wing tips can fall all over each other, inversions, bowties . . . etc. With the older LEI's it takes a nimble working of the lines to get the kite in the right position and then to pop correctly when you get the trailing edge to catch and open up. I prefer the arc's because of their general handling in different wind conditions and the controllability in flight compared to the LEI's twichyness.

And that 5m Fuel for anyone thinking of picking up a "highwind" depower for land use, it is a deathtrap on land. It'll fly as fast as a 2m foil in 30+ winds and deliver the power of a 4m foil. If you're a water rider than you may be able to control and use that but anyone else be forewarned.

Sorry to tell you....$200 bucks for a 05 C-kite isn't that great of a deal. If there was a bar included it would've been a different story.

Do you plan on using it on water or land?

I love fuel kites, the 05 were great for there time but they are a relic now get an 07 or newer there should be some cheap ones. I found an 07 at xl kites for $425 new, that was about 1 1/2 years ago though. Good luck

What is the process for relaunching a 4 lines C kite?

Walk towards the kite until it flips onto it's back, you can tug the center lines a bit also to help

Then pull on one outside line to make it goto the edge of the wind window, and coax it up into the sky...

There you go

I know with my 5 line kites walking towards it just allows it to slide backwards, not flip over. I have to pull the fifth line to get it to flip over. Is there something I'm missing?

He means you have to hold the center lines and allow the outside lines to slack as you walk toward it and the wind will do the rest. Holding the center lines will hold it in place.

Yeah pull the center lines, and walk quickly (or run) towards it.

It's even more fun on water. Pull hard on front , swim to kite like crazy toward kite, Repeat, repeat .....

The trick is to pull and run real fast. Then you don't have the fifth helping as you get it to the edge so it must be fast.

yeah guys it was completly rtf bar, lines, bag, and pump. the kite was flown supposedly 2 times but there is NO rips NO scraches or stains so i believe it.

But as far as 5 lines it is only a 4 line at the moment but it wont fly untill its a 5 line.

personally i like the 05 line of fuels they just feel good to me (the most positive and smooth response) yes I have flown 06-09 fuels and none of them felt as good as myne.

To each his own I guess.

I will be doing both with my kites land and water I can do both so its all good.

I have never had any problems re launching fuels I just tug/rip on one steering line and it pops right up.

Sigh...
4 line relaunch
on land you can run at the kite fast enuff to slack the lines and the kite will flip onto its back. On snow or smooth ground its much harder if not impossible.
On water you have to pull in line, then let it go/swim towards kite to get enuff slack to flip it.
The key is getting all lines slack enuff for the kite to flip onto its back.

Here is a link to a 5th line kit manual that you can make on your own if you choose.
http://www.oceanrodeo.com/images/uploads/kiting/pdf/5th_Line...