Bird-X by R-Sky Kites.
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Gordie with a Quantum Pro.
Kent flying his 3-stack of Rev IIs.
Kent Kingston holding an iQuad csutom Revolution 1.5.
Gordy flying a classic Prism Illusion
Prism Illusion
Berkeley Edition "Elixir" by Prism Kites.
Widow Maker with custom applique. A total of 7 of these were made with 6 being sold with letters of authenticity.
R-Sky Vented Nirvana with all 4 vents open.
Ken McNeill assembles his 61/49 while Dan Burnham readies a Blue Moon Exile.
Ken McNeill, designer and builder of the 61/49 SLK he is holding.
Brian Champie takes care of the big SLKs.
Ken McNeill explains how his 61/49 is not the next kite to save the world.
Walter Park poses the "Mondrian" by Challenger Sails
Mondrian by Challenger Sails. Panel layout based on the paintings of Piet Mondrian.
"Mondrian" by Challenger Sails (I do like the look of this kite)
"Mondrian" by Challenger Sails
Illinois Kite Enthusiasts (IKE). Sly Allen Carter takes my picture at the same time.
Fearless by Lam Hoac
"Fearless" by Sky Sport Design's Lam Hoac
Matching Quantum Pros at Huntington Beach.
Kandisky UL by Challenger Sails
Donna Houchins Flying the "Kandisky" UL by Challenger Sails
Mark Reed (left) and Ken McNeill
Star Wars with strings attached. This is the X-Fighter as a SLK designed by Randy Tom
Randy Tom with another of his authorized Star Wars kites.
Randy Tom throwing his X-Wing Fighter Kite
Soul Standard by Flying Wing.
Soul by Flying Wing. Designed by Bell Chiu.
Impromptu Elixir Get Together. (Mark Reed in the center) Note the rare Spectrum (no mylar) Elxir (2nd from left).
The "French Connection" by New Tech Kites. Designed by Dodd Gross.
Allen Carter's PBSK Vented Bad Boy
PBSK Vented owned by Allen Carter.
Premier Wolf
Vented Voodoo
Vented Soul designed by Bell Chiu for Flying Wing
Kent Kingston with his Ivanpah polished stainless steel buggy.
Pink pig SLK
Joe with his wing.
Aerostar Stryke Figher by Paul Shirey.
Stryke Fighter by Paul Shirey
Fandango Fighter by Jeff Howard
The Asis comes with 4 screens. The assembly has to be done in the correct order when it comes to the lower spreaders and standoffs. We ended up taking off the screens in the low wind.
The kite looks fairly dark unless the light is coming through the sail to your eyes. Then it just looks pretty good to me. David and I both really liked it. He even got a one pop double yoyo, and this is kite is just a few inches under 8 feet in span. This kite turned so quickly it was almost a propeller. And yet, it held lines fairly well.
We did knock off one of the Yoyo stoppers. I think the cable tie was brittle.
HQ Shadow in Photoshopped Red.
Randy Greenway attending one of our Las Vegas Friday Night Gatherings. He is really good.
Text from Peter Taylor July 2, 2008. Great to hear from you and thanks for the picture. Here's a few words: Dark Star; still one of my favourites after all this time and linked to some of my best kiting memories - the great privilege of flying in the Black Mountains with Ray Bethell and later with Ray and Mark Coventry each flying 2 kites out the back of a jeep. And I owe Ray a big thanks for the encouragement he gave me in my early days as a designer. All of my new designs have inherited a good portion of Dark Star DNA. OK? - used/edit/bin as you wish! Actually there's a rather longer and more rambling version which I include for your amusement. I'd been working for some time on the T3 to replace the T2 but I'd got stuck. I could make it a different flavour but I couldn't find the right way to make it a big step forward. Tried all sorts of things but couldn't quite get the design elements to gel.
Text from Peter Taylor July 2, 2008 continues: Later on, I was at a festival and one of my customers asked me to check out his Dark Star. I hadn't flown one for ages but it was like meeting an old friend; don't steer it, just think where you want to go. What I hadn't expected though was just how many tricks I could do with it. Backspin cascades - oh yes! OK you have to be precise with it, but most of the tricks weren't even thought of when the Dark Star was designed. Now at this point you might think I was feeling rather pleased with myself - but on the contrary I was getting really annoyed because the Dark Star just seemed to highlight everything that was not quite right with the T3. Went home, shredded the prototype, binned the plans and started all over, right back to basics. This time I'd worked out where I'd been going down a blind alley and as a result the T4 came together very quickly; we're now in our second season of flying it as our team kite.
Indaura. Someone count the panels for me, please.
Indaura by Dan Wozniak
Indaura with a zillion panels.
Custom NSR (North Shore Radical)
NSR without the thin striping usually seen between the large triangular panels.
Black Spectrum NSR by TOTL kites.
NSR by TOTL. An excellently loud kite.
Thor's Hammer. It's really big.
Premier Apollo
Following text from Tim Benson: The Outer Space started out life in 1997 as a prototype kite called the Phantom Freestyle, which was a smaller trickier version of the Phantom Elite, that never made it into production, instead throughout the following year it was developed further and with a new graphic evolved into the Outer Space. The main aim of the design was to bridge the gap between trick and precision and was one of the first kites specifically designed for and marketed as a "freestyle kite". It is also notable as the first kite to use Andy Wardley's Dynamic bridle. The OS UL was never released as an official model, most of the ones in existence were made as special orders for The Kite Connection, they are rare!
"Muse" by Blue Moon Kites (in 2009, this kite was put on hiatus)
"Muse" by Ken McNeill. This was Ken's slightly lower cost sport kite using a simplified panel layout.
No, His Name Isn't Donald.
David Barnby was in town for a convention and was able to spend Saturday evening and Sunday morning with us. Here he is, inventing a new kite holding pose with his BMF Muse by Ken McNeill. (text transferred by Jim Swenson)
Photo by Bambi Chilese. I fly the white Vapor while David Barnby flies the Black Vapor.
Bambi Is Flying A White Vapor. The Black Vapor Is Being Flown By David Barnby.
Sandpiper Standard
