It constantly amaze me how people will stop and watch you launch a kite when you're flying in the neighborhood. Initially, I thought it was a reminiscent of their past but just yesterday, kids stop kicking their football and adults stop washing their cars. Joggers too stop and watch. Nobody stops to watch boys kicking balls or shooting hoops but this little thing just is magical. People can even walk up and sing praises. These really make my day.Same with this kite. It is a traditional Chinese kite, I think. But once you put it in the air, it grabs the attention from all the big kites around. I once flew this next to a setting sun. What a picture! Wish I brought a better camera. On the right is the modern interpretation and I guess there is a good reason for this. Most American sites carry this design and called it a cellular kite. I guess 3 spars make life a lot easier.
I don't really know what to call this kite. My girl calls it 4-stars but I thought it should be some kind of flower. Google translated this to mean "devoted married couple". Hmmm.
It comes in a small package, shortest in my bag but weigh quite a bit. Upon opening, you'll find a bunch of sail bundled around the center rod and, hear this, 10 spars. Thankfully, we had a dry-run at home before we took it to the field. It took quite a lot of figuring out to put the spars in place. Once they are all in, the spars actually bend a little; all 10 of them curving in one direction. In the field, best to find a low wind spot to assemble this kite.
Once you've put that, the next thing to figure out is the tow and bridle. My package from CN comes with a tow line that is only attached to one end. Where should I fix the other? Too short to go from end to end, and no place to hook up in the center. As usual, no picture on the net helps (that is why we created this blog in the first place). My bet is to hook it up to the center rod via a knot learned in the army. It works. Bridle, as usual, should be around 1/3 way from the top, well, all "experts" seem to suggest this. Ok, let's give it a try.
Holding the kite by the bridle I decided to give a run, since not many people around (ha). Most of the kites are now below my hand. Time to give it some line and maintain tension. The moment the sail caught some wind, the whole kite turns upside down (oh-oh). The bridle is now bottom third of the kite. Will it still fly?
It stays in the air! Much to my amazement. Give it a little more line and it takes off! Wow!
The star/flower climbs slowly up in the air. It literally seems to hang there. Now heads are turning this way. The security guard on duty says he never saw anything like this at the Barrage. Next came the "Beautiful!" and the usual "Where did you get this from?" (hmm, should I start selling kites too?). Better give in more line.
Slowly but surely, it climbs up to join the rest. Soon, it was at the same level as the setting sun! Damn my lousy phone camera. Don't let it go too far or it will appear as a dot in the sky. It's impressive at low flight; it looks big in the sky and the shape and colors just shout for attention. But don't sit down yet.
The pull on the line is light. There is delay it climb when you hold on the line. And, most importantly, it reacts to the wind. Though the movements are always delayed, it does drop with the wind. So, don't fly and forget.
I bought this after playing with deltas and other flat kites. (In the same shipment is another 3D kite, a traditional 3D eagle and a soft kite.) Thought it was fun to try something different. This hasn't fail to amazed and surprise me every time I let it out.
But it is a hassle to put it together, especially when the wind is blowing. And, you'll need higher level of Force 2 to fly this. My 8yo don't even want to get near this kite so some experience is needed here. But once you put it in the air, it will greatly differentiate from the crowd. Given that these traditional kites are generally priced lowly, a very good addition to any bag.
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