KITE FLYING 101

Nick's flying the Prism Snapshot 1.4, and can you tell where it's headed?

 

I think we've all heard the term "go fly a kite".  The context is usually somewhere between "get outa here", and "don't bother me".  Well, the phrase took on a new meaning yesterday afternoon, when we met Nick and Terry Russell at the beach.  Nick had arranged to meet Gypsy Journal subscribers John and Karen Landry, who drove down from their RV lot in Ilwaco.  John brought several of his Prism Snapshot kites for Nick to try out, and when we arrived at the beach, the first one was just getting airborne. 
 

Most of us have flown some sort of kite, and I would venture to say that most have been the standard one string variety, shaped similar to a box, or a rectangle.  Way back when I last flew a kite, the object was to see how high I could get it, and that was just about it.  There was no such thing as aerobatics, maneuvering, or simply making the kite go where you wanted it to go.  In the old days, it was hang on to the single string, and hope that the wind remained strong enough to keep it flying.  I learned yesterday, that kite flying isn't what it used to be.
  

The next kite to get some airtime, was John's big boy, a Prism Snapshot 2.5.  This baby had 4 control strings, and when wind gusts would come along, it's a good thing that John's not a 98 pound weakling.  There were a few times that I wasn't sure who was flying who!  Watching John make his kite go where ever he wanted it to, gave new meaning to "go fly a kite".

Next up was Nancy, as John got her set up to fly his smaller Snapshot 1.4 kite.  After a few crashes, one very near a lady who was trying to lay peacefully on the beach, Nancy got the hang of it.  She almost bought a kite when we were in Long Beach, and after this experience, she was ready to beat feet to the closest kite store.

Teaching folks how to fly a kite does have it's advantageous!

John was the perfect instructor, as he patiently tutored Nancy, and made countless trips out to a downed kite, where he unraveled twisted strings in order to get the kite back in the air.  When Nancy was finished, I gave the blue  Snapshot 1.4 a try, and yep, I crashed it straight into the sand a few times.  After a few minutes, I started to get the hang of it, and it was truly a lot more fun than just holding onto a single kite string.  There just might be a kite in my future.
 

Nick brought out his orange Snapshot 1.9, which I also got to fly when he was finished.  It wasn't exactly like the tail wagging the dog, but when I made the kite go in a horizontal direction, there was no doubt that something was pulling at my arms pretty hard.

 There was a trend developing, as John once again went out to Nick's downed kite.

 After several abrupt kite vs. sand collisions, I changed Nick's name to "CRASH".

While all of this kite flying was going on, Patty was busy making friends with John and Karen's dog

P.J.

Later in the afternoon, I BBQ'd some burgers, Nancy fixed a potato salad, and we topped off our picnic with Terry's delicious apple slab pie, & some Tillamook vanilla ice cream.  Yep, we were all stuffed, as we finished off the evening with more visiting inside our motor home.  Life is definitely  good!