Inflatable LEI Trainers

[ptraykovski]

How do they fly?

I've flown foil open and closed cell trainers lots and don't really like the way they fly..very twitchy and not really anything like a LEI.

Thinking of getting a ~ 2m LEI trainer for my kids as they get a bit older to play/learn in shallows, Foils suck for this cause once they wet game over, or for visiting friends who want a taste for kiting.

Do the LEI trainer fly more like a real LEI kite or still super twitchy / fall out of the sky easily like the foils.

How much wind do they need to stay in the air.

I like the way my framed 2 line stunt delta kites fly (mostly older prisms), way better than foils and they can get wet, but too many crashes leads to lots of repairs.

[frankm1960]

I've never flown a LEI trainer... have owned/flown small foil and they were great for messing around with except in the water as you say. If I were to do it all over again I'd lean towards getting a small (4 - 6m) standard LEI kite for training purposes... could also serve you as a "high" wind kite on water or in winter on frozen snow packed lakes and rivers where you don't need quite as much power.

Just throwing that out there.

[plummet]

ozone do one called an uno.

[dyyylan]

they end up being really expensive though. if your only concern is getting them wet i'd recommend the hq hydra trainer, they are closed cell and water relaunchable. i think the small LEIs are more trouble than they're worth unless you're an instructor, or if they're a size that is actually usable (like 4-6m)

[gazxtreme]

I've had a 3m LEI for years, perfect for lightweights and adults who want to experience LEIs but don't have the confidence to hook into something capable of lifting them. They are perfect for kids, I had mine on it for hours and hours just in waist deep water learning to launch until it was second nature then body dragging etc. I used it on a short throw C kite bar because a bar from a full size SLE has too much range for such a small kite, I found you had full de-power with the short throw and minimal back stall, at the end of the day you can tune the bar and lines to suit the small scale kite to act like a full sized kite. Only problem is they are by nature very quick but this ultimately builds quick rections.

[SO_FL_Kiter]

I picked up a new old stock Best Guroo 3M for around $300. Use it with a standard 4 line bar for my daughter to get the hang of flying a "real" kite. Much more useful than the SS foil trainer she had been using. I find them to be fairly well behaved as long as the wind is at least 12, and I don't let her fly it on the beach above 18; too much yank if she sends it by mistake. The depower is a bit of an issue with the bar I am using. I fly my 9M LF on the same bar, and don't want to permanently shorten the throw to use with this kite, so it's way oversheeted unhooked. Much more fun for bigger guys when the wind is up than the older trainer kite.

[ptraykovski]

ok so needs about 12 ish?

I was hoping for something that would work ok in the 8 to 12 range, but it sounds like they may be too heavy for that?

I picked up a new old stock Best Guroo 3M for around $300. Use it with a standard 4 line bar for my daughter to get the hang of flying a "real" kite. Much more useful than the SS foil trainer she had been using. I find them to be fairly well behaved as long as the wind is at least 12, and I don't let her fly it on the beach above 18; too much yank if she sends it by mistake. The depower is a bit of an issue with the bar I am using. I fly my 9M LF on the same bar, and don't want to permanently shorten the throw to use with this kite, so it's way oversheeted unhooked. Much more fun for bigger guys when the wind is up than the older trainer kite.

[Slappysan]

ok so needs about 12 ish?

I was hoping for something that would work ok in the 8 to 12 range, but it sounds like they may be too heavy for that?

It's mostly the line weight that's the problem in low winds as there is much less kite to offset them. If you look at products like the Epic Tutor you'll see they don't use 600 lbs lines but 200 lbs instead to allow them to fly in light winds.

http://epickites.com/products/tutor.php

I would definitely consider the Epic Tutor for your needs, a true 4 line kite gives so much more of an experience than learning on a 2 line.

But if you are considering spending $500 on a tainer then you might also consider a flysurfer viron. Even though they are foils they are built to be used in water. They are probably the safest kite you could learn on. They need 10 knots of wind to fly though.

[ptraykovski]

not going to spend 500$. thinking more like 200 to 250. I see lots of them like the airush 2m supra kite only for around 300 so sure I can find one for a bit less, so not that different from a new trainer foil.

[juandesooka]

Ocean rodeo rise sle 2m

Flies just like a scaled down full size kite. Though quite fast moving.

Could fly it at about 8kts, but have to work it to keep in air (good practice!) And it will backstall if you overpower it (also good practice!)

It flies fast and with lots ofpower 12-20. Needs power to be able to practice proper launching at side of window.....otherwise needs hot launch.

Can body drag downwind with it at 20kts! And I figure could kite a sup with it, but never tried

They are about $380 new, they go used for $200 but get snapped up quick.

I found my 2m 2line foil was boring after maybe 5 sessions.....4line trainers are excellent imho