Greetings everyone! Wanted to say hi and introduce myself, im Adam, been flying kites my whole life, just got into power kites in May. Currently have a HQ Symphony 1.3 and a HQ Crossfire 2 5m that i just aquired a couple of days ago. Flew the Crossfire yesterday in 8 mph wind and im hurtin today, lol. Looking forward to more!

Welcome Adam, looking forward to your stories of Kite adventures and your first Superman.

And to you Adam, welcome aboard as well! PKF members appreciate that the term Superman may be new to you in a kiting context. We encourage video posts of your similar growth curve moments! :D

Welcome.....'b-weird'...or Adam..?

Safety and starting out:

Good learning kite is typically smaller than a 5 m. More like a 3m...possibly 4m.

Wear a helmet when flying your 5m.... or any power kite. That's big enough to hurt you in gusty or higher winds. Don't fly in in too strong a wind in the first place.

If you don't know what is too much wind learn by steps taking it out in lower winds first-as you have - and go out in slightly stronger the next time. Know your kite has a safe RANGE(between ? and ?+ mph)..learn it, and don't exceed it or fly in crazy up and down gusts

Unlike in the video...learn when to LET GO!

Try to meet others at a fly site to learn, try and gain knowledge.




Learn how to scud... which is leaning or sitting back and having the force of the kite drag you on your heels (on sand or grass or other slide-able surface only). First step in transferring force into movement/mobility...that's if you want to go mobile w/ power kiting( on buggy, board, skis, skates..).

Don't know your goals w/ power kiting...? Some just fly static. Most on here RIDE on something.


BTW: to be clear...A 'Superman'= Not good= possible (serious) injury.

Goal is to AVOID any(never mind first!!)'superman' propulsion incident(more of a an accident). But many have had them..with occasional bruises or much worse.

Good luck and revisit to ask questions..especially for safety's sake.

Welcome.
Careful with the crossfire. It has an adjustable AOA called DTS. In simple terms it can make the kite not fly at all or turn on the turbos for unbelievable speed and power. If you just got it I am interested why the last person sold it. It might be out of adjustments or the person didn't know what they were doing with it.
Just a word of wisdom to the wise, if you do any adjusting on the bridal do it in very very very very small measurements and remember where it was when you began. Big movements create big change in the kite. The key here is to be safe and smart, to be reckless and stupid will make your visit here on this forum very short.

Enjoy your kites and the wind.

I see your from NW ohio. Toledo area? Maumee bay sp has a nice field that I've only been to once for a stunt kite and single line kite fly event. I don't know if the park allows buggies or not but that would make a decent spot if memory serves me. Also being close to the lake might open up the possibility of kitesurfing. Might want to consider selling the crossfire, getting a 3m kite for training purposes, then look to depower for either snow kite or kite surf. Even if only static is the goal, you will need a 2-3m fb for higher wind days.

Thanks for the welcome! To answer a few questions, the gent i got the crossfire from never flew it much before moving to toledo, only about 5 times, it looks BRAND new! I went with this kite instead of something smaller for a few reasons, im 6'3" and 240lbs of lightly padded muscle(lol), i intend to landboard eventually and maybe try a lil field action in the winter, most days that i can fly theres only 4-8 mph winds in my area and i learn skills VERY fast, lol. I know its a BIG jump from a Symphony 1.3, but after flying it now a couple of times, i feel i made the right choice. I LOVE the pull of this thing! Did a lil skudding today, mostly just staying in one place and enforcing my will not to be moved, hell of a workout, lol. Eventually i plan on building a buggy to play with (im a professional welder/fabricator so its cheaper for me to build than buy). Ill probably get a 3.5 to add to my rather small quiver(unless you count my single line toys, lol) at some point in the future for higher wimd days.

Crossfire II is a GREAT kite but a 5m is a bit large to learn on.. Keep it though..if you start buggying, it has very good upwind performance.

Got out again today for about an hour in some 4mph wind, had to keep the beast in the upper part of the window but had a ton of fun playing with the brakes, lol. As an added bonus, the location i was at today takes up 3/4ths of a country block with open space and short grass. Once i build a buggy or get a board ive got a great place to go. And EMS is located right around the corner, lol. I am starting to understand why people tend to not like the handles that come with the Crossfire, about halfway through todays session they started to feel fairly uncomfortable, lol.

Welcome...you want a 3m too..you know you do
good to know about the ems, way less stressful to fly w/ them nearby

Been having a hell of a fun time with this kite! Got about 10 sessions on it now ranging from 2-10 mph winds. Yes, i flew it 2mph winds, took a LOT of effort but was well worth it! Been looking for a cheap snowboard for the winter but so far ive been a day late on all my local endeavors, lol.