I always thought that kites were just for kids. I couldn’t have been more wrong! I got linked up with this group of people that fly kites, and they all are around my age (middle aged but not gray!). Truth be known, I have rarely encountered any young kids flying stunk kites, seems like most of the enthusiasts are my age, give or take ten years either way. They invited me to come out give it a try. So I said, “What the heck, one afternoon kite flying couldn’t hurt, and would be a fun diversion from the usual activities like cycling that I’m active in during the fair weather months. I started out flying the Prism line of kites. The very first kite I ever flew was a Mirage kite, and we flew that one on a drizzly day, so it wasn’t much fun just because of the weather, but nonetheless, it was a chance to fly for the first time. A few months went by and I was invited again to give flying a chance on a nice sunny day. I tried several kites, from Prism’s Quantum and Mirage, to the E2 and Nexus. The one that I gravitated to was the Nexus kite. I think that it’s just built in me that I like fast moving things (sports, auto racing, cycling). So it just seemed natural that I enjoyed the Nexus kite. The Nexus is a real fun kite to fly! It is very fast, and has a good strong pull in strong winds. In fact, the pull almost parallels that of the Quantum in a good stiff wind. Now small kites usually are not known for strong pull, but the Nexus definitely is a strong puller. The Nexus is a very quick kite to boot.

Control is easy getting off the ground, and once lift is successful, the kite just wants to buzz all over. There have been several days on a real windy day where I would have to brace my footing to keep a handle on the pull. And when it pulled, I could maneuver the kite to really pick up speed. The more you get your body into flying the Nexus kite, the more speed is increased, even exponentially. At high speed, the Nexus kite is effortless to do maneuvers like figure eights, loops, squares, and more. Ground strafing is a lot of fun with the Nexus kite too! I like to fly the kite up high at first, make several passes, and then see how low and fast I can strafe the ground with the Nexus without crashing. The Nexus comes in a very portable package, easily folds down and setting it up is a breeze. Everything packs down into a two-foot package for easy transport, like you are taking the kite with you on an airplane trip.

Another feature that I like about the Nexus kite is that it has metal clips on each bridle to attach the kite line. This is a real plus, as you don’t have to worry about tying any Larkshead loops to secure your kite line. The Nexus was built with portability and performance in mind. If you like fast paced flying, I highly recommend the Nexus kite. It makes a lot of noise at high speed and draws a lot of attention when ripping through the air. The closest kite to the speed level of the Nexus is the Catalyst. The Catalyst is a little slower, but still fast with just less pull. Both kites are very affordable for starting out. One kite is just not enough. Once you start flying, you will know what I am talking about. Seems as though my cycling just approached an all time low this summer! Have fun flying!

Submitted by Scott Sullivan