It was variable the other day (surprise) and about 5-8 mph. I pulled out both the 15m S3 and the 10m S4. The 10m flew really well, as long as you kept it moving, but the S3 kept back stalling any time it had to lift its own weight -- upturns at the edge, for instance. I bought the 15 for these lighter wind conditions, but I wonder if I'm doing something wrong... Or if I just misunderstood this kite's strengths...

1. Does anyone have any tips on flying a 15m Speed3 to keep it from falling out of the sky in low winds?
2. Did I make a mistake with this kite combo? I can't afford deluxe or lotus.
3. Is the 15m speed3 like the venom 19, in that its not a great low wind kite, but is more for guys who want a TON of power in lower winds?

I bet yours 15m is used and you never did mixer test ..... There is some instructional video how to do it ... or you can ship it to PowerZone of tune up and you will get you lower end back .... You front lines probably are stretched , thats why it backs stalling .... 15m should fly way better in light winds

Before you do the mixer, check your relative line lengths ie. tune your lines. You do NOT use the mixer test to fix that problem!!! In fact, odds are pretty good that you won't need to touch it...

And... [pendant] it's your rear lines shrinking that's the problem. [/pedant]

Let the bar out when the kite is climbing so it accelerates and pull the bar in as it dives to gain power.

How did you have the trim straps set ?

Try and keep more front line pressure / speed in the kite through the turns. The 10 naturally turns much faster.

Yeah trim out the backstall in light wind… if you have to trim more than an inch or two, your lines are in need of a tune.

in light air motion is the medicine, once you get going ,DON"T STOP!

depower as if unhooked and bar out to get it to zoom back up.

try not to hold the bar in , got to let it out and find its sweet spot for light air . lots of bar action, easy in and out to keep it accelerating to the edge, you should be able to feel it when easing in on the bar. once you get speed u can send it thru the top for a thump if so desired.

light air rides are tedious, the net power is small so smooth continuous motion favoring the middle of the window, too high and your motion slows, too low it chokes.

Some of you are giving advice like Proletariat's never flown a depower before.....

boosting the lurkers...

yes...definitely not for him . ..it should be for newbie like me .
but lately it hard to get good advice ...it just spot on
....the most are heated argument

Thanks for all the tips. I definitely need to take a look at the tuning, it sounds like. With wind on my neck and the kite fully trimmed (i.e. pulled red all the way), she would just fly up into the air and backstall before I could even turn her (yes, with the bar fully out) .

If I planned ahead a little better, I could get her turning before any backstall, but just barely. The window was cut to about +/- 30˚ of center either direction, so I couldn't really turn it in time to keep it moving. Obviously, this is mostly a function of wind but then I was able to pull out the speed4 andn keep it moving and even get a bit of riding in.

I'll post up a video of a few very light wind sessions and see what you guys think. A video's worth 1,000 pictures