A full set of T5 kites - part 1

As you may know if you have been following this blog for a while, we have a nice quiver of pair kites, from super-ultra-lights to mega-venteds, but what we do not have is a set of different versions of the same kite. Although we really like to fly all kinds of different kites, having the same kite in different versions does have its advantages, as you don't have to adapt your flying style as much when you switch kites, and don't have to get used to a very different level and/or kind of responsiveness.

Question then becomes: which kite? Bottom line is that the current market is extremely limited when it comes to team kites in a wide range of different versions .... The only real option is Peter Taylor's Airdynamics T5 kite. As you may know, we already have a pair of T5 Taipan SUL kites, and we really like the way it flies and handles, so we could expand that pair to a full 5-pair set ...

If you have been following us on Facebook, you will know that we finally bit the bullet, after a lot of uhm-ing and ah-ing (and getting a nice amount of money back from the tax office helped), and we ordered a full set of T5s (minus the SUL, of course) from Peter: Zero, Standard, V1 and V2.

Next step is of course to decide on the colour schemes. What we wanted was for each pair to be different from all the other pairs, but still for the whole set to 'belong together'. In other words: variations on a theme. Each pair will have one kite with some orange highlights (flown by Irma) and one kite with more green highlights (flown by me). Starting with the lightest of the set, the T5 Cuban Zero is mostly made from cuben fibre, which is extremely light. It's only available in semi-transparent 'white' and grey, but we think we've come up with a design that still fits with our 'team colours'.

For the T5 Taipan Standard, we thought we 'd try and add a wee nod to Flying Fish in the form of two of the panels carrying the Flying Fish logo. If all goes as planned, Roy and Hayley from Kites Up will provide the printed panels. So here's what the final kites will hopefully look like:

We're still discussing the designs for the V1 and V2, and anyone who has used colourisers to design the colour scheme of a kite will know how long that can take; stay tuned!