My Indoor Angel arrived last week and I thought I would give my initial impressions.
I haven't flown gliders much, but this kite is just amazing. I would not have believed that I could have fun flying an indoor kite inside my (rather small) living room, but I can! Whats more, you can do it while sitting on the couch if you like. No walking required at all - just use your arm to glide and steer the kite. I don't have the dimensions on-hand, but the kite is rather small - maybe 18 inches wide with a multi-point bridle and a single line. It has a bowed front spar (all very light weight) which allows you to land and re-launch.
It's been raining a lot in the Seattle area lately, so I've been having lots of fun flying this kite rather than my usual dual-line kites outdoors. In fact, most of the family has been having fun with it. The only one in the family who isn't having fun with the kite is the dog, who doesn't seem to care for things flying around in her house!
The control is pretty amazing and the kite weighs near nothing. You can easily glide it in 360s around yourself with little effort at all. It also glides straight when you do an "up and over" move and then let the string go forward. Apply a little tension to turn the kite and then pull it again to return to you or to do more 360s!
I've also taken it straight down the hall to go from one room to another. A nice attribute of the kite is that when you are pulling on the string, it is so light and has such lift, that it will keep the line taut and fly forward which makes it very easy to fly and control the kite on a straight line or an arc. So far, I have been flying it on a short line due to my small space, but I can't wait to try it in my backyard or a slightly larger area. I am continually surprised at how little space you actually need in order to fly it - I've gone as short as 3-4 feet and its still easy to keep it flying.
I don't know if the kite is generally available yet or what it costs, but I think Lam has another winner here for sure. I'll be very interested to see what others think of the kite. From my perspective, I think he has succeeded in making an indoor kite for the rest of us (meaning that it is easy to fly and also has enough control to be truly fun and entertaining even in the smallest of spaces).
That's my mini-review. I will add more comments when I get a chance to try the kite in a larger space. I'll also see about posting some pictures of the kite. Lam has done a video of the kite which you can see here:
http://www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=7022.0.
