Where to practice on land/shallows wit Ozone Uno

[grahambd]

So after the intro trainer kite lesson, I talked myself in getting used 4 line Ozone Uno 4m to give me and my wife a better practice before spending the big bucks on lessons. (The jury seems to be out on that logic.) Anyway, here I am..

Today we tried Shoreline Kite Park. It was really too small and the wind too gusty for our skill level - but we were having a go at it until families decided to creep up against our space and it became unsafe for everyone.

Where can we find space and enough wind (I don't know what enough is for this kite). Alameda was crowded at our lesson, and I'm worried about being in the way on the beach. I'm guessing 3rd is the same or worse. (I'm in San Jose as a reference)

Also - would love to find someone with experience with the Uno kite to confirm some of my guesswork.

Thanks

[grahambd]

I guess I will answer myself.

Baylands park turned out to be really nice and beginner friendly. Lots of space, and save an RC plane trying my patience, the fields were empty.

Got there a little after 2 and struggled a little from not knowing what we were doing and low winds, but both improved by three thirty and ended up having a tonne of fun. I think 13 knots winds were the forecast high for 5 pm.

I now believe that Shoreline park would have been OK had there not been a concert at the Amphitheater, covering the open area with cars. I'm not going to rush back there.

Still looking for advice on where I play on the water without getting in peoples way.

[le noun]

It's getting close to the end of the season sadly.
A great place to practice with a small kite during the spring is OB in the late morning before the wind starts nuking.
Once you are comfortable playing with your small kite, take actual lessons for the water time and the full size kite. try to shoot for april-ish so you'll have a ton of time to spend in alameda after your lesson (IMO the best beach to practice as an ultra beginner).
Then you'll probably end at third ave upper launch for the summer.
Cheers!

[grahambd]

Thanks,

I guess I was avoiding the drive up to Ocean Beach - but maybe I'll just have to make a day of it.

I figure I have a couple of weeks left in the season to work out controlling the kite and using the depower and trimming for different conditions. Hopefully enough to give us a head start next year.

Cheers

[will]

The only way I could get my Ozone Uno 2.5 to fly was by removing
the 5" or so pigtails on the steering lines. Ozone has pretty good
customer support. The little one is easier to reverse launch unless it
is really windy and fun to fly without the harness.

[grahambd]

I actually did exactly the same thing with my Uno 4 the first time I attempted flying it, the steering lines seemed way too long otherwise. I put them back on when I took it out the second time, assuming that it was just my incompetence the first time, but immediately had to pull them off again.

Thanks for chiming in. Good to know it's not just me.

I have a question about the leading edge buckling just above the steering lines when maneuvering a little more aggressively. This reduced when I added air, but I'm using a very cheap pump and could only go so far. Is that something I should never see if properly inflated?

Thanks