I got my HQ Beamer III 3.0m today!:wow:
I shipped it to work and I kept wanting to play with it all day. I attached the lines at lunch and finally got out around 4:30, Just practice for me, since it's my first kite.

Setup was easy and and before I knew it I was pulling up my beamer. All went pretty well over all and I am happy with the kite for sure. I got a couple hops as the wind picked up, it has some good power for sure.

I have a few questions that one of you might be able to help with:
I had some major spin issues, sometimes getting into a deathspin 6 or 7 times before going down. Anyone know why this happens?

Any good ideas for keeping lines straight? It seemed like I was untangling lines half the time I was out. Or is that just the nature of the beast?

When I got the kite to the zenith sometimes it would appear to lose power, then tried to fig 8 it but it would just collapse or start spinning. How do you get the power back in the kite in the zenith when this happens?

I guess that's enough nube questions for tonight.

**Winds were probably 10-13mph**

Side question: What's with the giant ass zipper on the beamer back pack? It's almost ridiculous. The zipper is almost as wide as the pocket it opens. Is there an actual good use for this? I just stuck the kite spike in there.

Usually a spin like that is caused by uneven brake lines. Beamer brake bridles have a series of knots on the toggles that allow you adjust brake tension. Make sure each brake line is attached to the same knot on each respective bridle.

Brake lines too tight will worsen the effect of uneven brake lines, but if you mean the kite luffs at the zenith when it "loses power" then your brake lines could be too loose. Some who like to fly with loose brakes will just know to tap the brakes or turn left or right when they get to the zenith to keep from overflying. The Beamer is not a kite that needs to fly with some brakes on so you can have it either way for whatever is comfortable.

As for tangles, that is just practice with winding and un-winding. Keep your lines connected and wind the lines on the handles. I like to put the kite killers around the handles at the bend, and wind the lines in a figure eight around them. Keep some light tension between the handles and you hand and between you and the kite as you wind and walk slowly to the kite. Don't move the handles around while you are folding the kite

Use the same hands to un-wind and do it in the exact reverse as you wound them and the lines should fall to the ground straight with maybe one twist.

The big zipper is just a novelty to attract attention on the retailer's shelf.

Angus is right. You need to check your brake lines. They should hang with a bit of an arc when not applied. If your brake lines are too long it's less of a problem than too short. Try them at the maximum length and then move up on the knots as needed.
Don't expect much float if jumping with that kite. It's a great kite but a bit small for jumping.

If your brake lines are fine, sometimes when you get a number of wraps from continuous turns in the same direction, the friction between the lines won't let a turn release. Even though you're pulling on the right, it's making a zillion tight lefties. This seems to happen on smaller kites or in lighter winds, because when there's a lot of pull it'll overcome more line friction. When I've made a bunch of turns and can't remember which way I should turn to unwind, I check the friction and then do a few turns. If it's harder to pull a turn, you need to go back the other way until it's straight. It can be pretty amazing how many twists you've unknowingly made. Jeeze, didn't seem like that many!

Thanks Guys!
Yeah it was likely my brake lines. They were the same length but I lengthened them and that helped a lot.

3 hours yesterday and 2.5 today. Gonna be sore tomorrow! :P

Today the biggest pain was untangling my line to setup. I some how had got my line twisted into one tight line. I'm hoping I wound it better this time it took forever to unwind.

Snowbird - Yeah I realize the beamer is not a good jumper. I've heard the Blade is what people like for jumping. It might be fun to get one of those someday.

The only anomolly that happened this time that caught me off gaurd was twice my kite did a forward roll tangling itself up. This probably had to do with the loss of power or maybe to tight of a pull?

Thanks again for the help.

Knot's are Evil ! !

I hate it most when I'm Jacked about flying and Bam a nest of nasty. Or there is a Strong wind.

I parapack all the time, and I've haven't had a problem in 3 years..
"knock on wood"
Just my preference.

You want to pay close attention to how you wound your lines up and unwind the the same way. If you don't you end up with one twist for every wrap and it's awful. I always walk the same side of the kite/lines. Wind on clockwise unwind anti clockwise. You will get it !

When your kite kind of drops, one thing to try is stepping back to get tension on the lines and giving little tugs to fluff the kite in hopes it will refill. Keeping the kite moving in low wind is important to avoid the " hindenburg " .