Kites Over Grinnell, Sun.

Date: 5/10/09 (13th day in a row)
Place: Kites Over Grinnell, Grinnell, IA
Kites: E2 on 85', Wren on 12', Widow Maker (black widow spider)
Wind: 9-14 (gusts to 22) mph, N-NW
Weather: Cloudy, then sunny, 54-66º

The second day at "Kites over Grinnell" started out cloudy with still a little too much wind (for my taste). The day got sunnier and the wind moderated a bit. And the indoor kiting had perfect conditions :^) There were far less general public attending as if the advertising was not done correctly. But, it was Mother's Day, so that may have been a factor in the number of people attending. There weren't as many mega-kites in the air either, but in general I enjoyed the less crowded feel of the 2nd day (though the 1st day was not really too crowded at all either).

I started off watching Jim Overmann and his son Nathan flying Widow Maker "spider" kites. Jim then let me fly his Widow Maker which was fun trying out a different stunt kite. I was able to do a 540 with it, which Jim had never accomplished, proving to him that the kite has the capability. Jim was much better than me at some other tricks including getting into a yo-yo wrap from a flare. I asked him whether I was far enough away from the tall "golf-ball fence." He thought I was far enough, after which I proceeded to crash/hang his kite just over the top of the fence. I had to lower the kite to where he could unhook the kite from the lines, then I pulled the lines back to my side of the fence -- no damage done to either his kite or lines.

Inside the gym I once again flew Ryan Larkey's Wren. This time I flew using my own 12' lines which I think was a better length for me in this space. Many thanks, Ryan!

I also talked Craig Wilson into letting me try his tumbling cube. It was weird to fly, but fun. I was able to keep it off the floor and not crash it, though a couple times it seemed to be "attacking me." Thank you, Craig!

I got a quick lesson on a quad-line Revolution kite. You basically have to un-learn how you fly a dual-line kite and then not think too much about what you are doing -- just fly the kite. I was not very good at it (though to be fair the wind was not the greatest), but with a bit of time, I think I could learn to fly a quad-line kite without too much problem.

I also flew my own E2 kite twice, early in the day and then again near the end of the day. The wind was a bit variable, even nearly dying down at the end of the day. I flew a lot of my basic tricks, but no flic-flacs, nor backspins.

All in all, I had a very fun time at this festival.

(I plan to add some photos/videos (or links to them) after I get caught up with this blog (I'm about a week behind).)