Today, I took my WM to the Wings Over Washington monthly kite fly at the Washington Monument.
The winds were really brisk (incoming weather front) averaging in the 8-10 MPH range with gusts to 15 MPH! I finally had a chance to try the wind screens, the tail weight, and the 175 lb. Skybond. All of these factors were still not enough to control the kite sufficiently for tricking, esp. at my level. It was all I could do, at times, to hang on from having it pull me down the field!
I had a lot of fun and this striking and colorful kite sure did attract attention among the onlookers. I was able to pull off a few tricks like axels, a turtle or two, and one 540, but it was challenging to say the least.
It so happens that I was the only one with a dualie - all the others (at least 6) were flying REVs and they are terrific pilots as well as friendly guys. I will be joining the club at their next renewal period (end of August) and there's a pretty high likelihood that I'll be turning to the
DARK side given the plethora of quad experts. I was offered the opportunity to try it, but politely declined this time. Still, I have to admin that I am fascinated by the quad kites and what these guys can do in blistering winds with relatively little apparent effort...
One thing that was totally awesome was to be facing the White House with the Monument to my right, the Lincoln Memorial to my left, and the Jefferson behind me! Now that's a flying field!
Ken
