Jeff Burcka asks about the Eclipse. > Sounds like quite a kite. Is it full-size? How's it feel on the end of > the lines? I remember a lot of complaints that the Radian had absolutely > no pull and that it also tended to get boring. Do you think the Eclipse > suffers the same way? First, yes its full sized (As to doing an axle with a full size kite, after practicing with the Eclipse I was able to axle with both my Scorpion and my full sized Tracer, and though I didn't do them as well, I was getting better with practice). It is light on the lines but has a lot more presence than a Radian (since you mention a Radian, I will use that as a point comparison, and since I have both, I can easily compare). The Eclipse is sort of a mating of a Radian and a standard stunter, and comes out looking more like a standard delta-dart than a Radian. From the Radian, it gets its ability to trivially turtle and easily stall and skate, and from the more mainline stunter it gets its sensitivity to subtle hand movements. There is nothing subtle about a Radian; it responds to large hand movements. The Radian can be graceful and do some very unique moves (like doing a complete single or double backwards summersault), but a flicking stall move will have no effect (It also is a bear on the ground; it neither belly launches or leading edge launches). The Eclipse on the other hand, is extremely sensitive. I can make it stall more easily than my Scorpion, and I think a little better than my Tracer. It reacts well to low wind (I did a couple axles two days ago, in about a 3 mph wind). The Radian is supposed to fly in minimal wind (< 3 mph), but it takes great effort for me to fly it in even 4mph, while the Eclipse takes to it quite nicely. And as I said above, it will also fly in < 4 mph, though not as well as a light frame Tracer, and definitely not even close to a Maxi Edge. It has the same sort of ability of a Tracer to make a whole class of moves simpler; I saw some newbie flyers who, after an hour or so on the Eclipse, were doing moves (stalls and axles) that took much more time to learn on other kites (ie: like a Tracer, it can make a semi-novice look like an intermediate flyer). To try and put things in perspective between a Radian and an Eclipse: when I decide to compete again, I might well use an Eclipse, but never a Radian, and if I had it to do over and I had the choice of either a Radian or an Eclipse, I would definitely choose the Eclipse. By the way, as to the Ion, there is no comparison with the Eclipse. Truthfully I do not particularly care for the Ion. It might be an good first kite, but would add nothing to my bag. It pulls out of the air too easily for my taste, and I find myself losing part of my repertoire when flying it (I could probably get those moves back if I invested a lot of time into an Ion, but I'm not inclined to do that). Now back to the Eclipse. The only weakness I found in the Eclipse, is that it does not belly launch or leading edge launch as easily as The Scorpion (and not even close to a Tracer). You can do a sort of a belly launch, and even a leading edge launch, but the kite is much more sensitive to the wind direction (you always have to do a launch into the wind, while I can launch a Tracer in either direction). On the other hand the Eclipse has one other reasonably easy and graceful recovery move. It summersaults from its back, to a standing upright position (it is the same move developed for the Radian, but an Eclipse does it much more easily), and its pretty enough move that I saw people deliberately putting it on its nose so that they could practice it (The move was also nice enough that other kiters would come over and ask how they were doing it). As to specs: Wingspan 90 inches Keel 31 inches Wing area 8.9 sq ft Weight 9.3 oz. Wind Range 4-22 mph Recommended Line 100 ft 80 lb Frame AFC 2100 Battens .080 Graphite Sail Material .75 oz ripstop and .9 mil mylar laminate. The Bridling is like an Ion's (but don't let that put you off, it works quite well on the Eclipse), and it has mylar center panel and backing on the trailing edge. List price is $195, but "Catch the Wind" is selling them for $169, and after your 10% AKA discount the cost is about $153. It also comes with a nice little booklet on kite flying, kite tricks, and special suggestion on the Prism Kites. It won't hold any surprises to those who have been flying a while, but is quite nice for novices trying to learn what interesting moves are possible. In fact so many people who don't own Prisms wanted a copy, that they are now selling them separate from their kites. Now admittedly, I fell in love with the kite, what it could do, and what I could learn from it, but my taste may not mirror your own. So perhaps the best thing to do if you're interested in the kite is get a kite store to lend you their demo for a day (If nothing else its well worth a days flying time to learn the axle and maybe the Bass Axle). If you can't do it any sooner, I'm sure that the Prism guys will be at AKA in Seaside and you'll get a chance to both see it in action and try it out (If Seaside is anything like Longbeach though, the kite stores will probably sell out reasonably quickly). Later, Dave Butler