On Tuesday the weather was incredible. We had our first real spring-like day here up north in my neck of the woods. You know, sunny, warm and a nice breeze from the south … well … all things considered. We’re talking March and Norway. A combination that can be anything from a raging blizzard to something resembling a summer day. Tuesday was more like the latter with the mercury climbing up to 13 or even 15 degrees Celsius. Tempting to wear a t-shirt, but hence the pandemic, I didn’t take the chance. 😉

Yesterday, however, the clouds were back and there was a chance of rain later in the afternoon. The wind had changed its direction during the night and it was now coming in from the north. And that usually means a drop in the temperature hereabouts. And so it was. Not exactly cold, but significantly more chilly than Tuesday.

But I was planning to fly, and as long as the rain stayed away, no worries. All you have to do is dress for the occasion and everything will be fine. So with some proper dressing, I hopped into my car and drove off and headed for one of the local beaches, Gullholmsundet.

At the parking, I could see the branches up in the tree-tops swaying in the wind so I was pretty certain the wind would be nice down on the beach. I finished the ten minutes walk from the parking to the beach and when I got there, the wind was feeling really nice. Like said, it came in from the north kind of sideways onto the beach, just like I’d expected. I’d say the wind speed was around 6 to 8 meters per second (13 to 18 mph) and perfect for the A-Quad Hardcore.

(Later I did a screen dump of a nearby online weather station confirming my guesstimate! Click to enlarge.)

I grabbed for the Hardcore, assembled it and hooked it up to a 10 meter (30 ft) lineset and started to explore the wind. Whoa! Now, this was as close to perfect as it gets. The wind was right in the optimal range for the A-Quad Hardcore and really, really smooth. No variations neither in speed nor direction and that make for great flying conditions.

So I played around for a bit and then I set up the cameras to shoot footage for another tutorial. I used both my phone and my GoPro so I could create a split-screen tutorial. After some more flying and filming, I switched to a longer line set, 30 meters (100 ft). …and extending the lines really have an impact on your flying!

The wind window grows much larger and allowing you both the time and the room for adjusting your errors. And the kite… Well, what can I say? The A-Quad Hardcore is absolutely a blast to fly on longer lines. Yes, it’s definitely a great kite on a short set of lines too, but it feels even better (if possible ;-)) on that long set of lines. It was sooo sweet!

You know, I could just pin it to the sky, and it would just sit there until I gave it another input. Long and incredibly steady slides both in an upright and inverted position. And the tracking…! Wow! I could just lock the handles in the correct position and the Hardcore flew that straight trajectory to perfection! Bicycle rotations; yeah, you bet! In all its variations; stationary, moving, edgy… just awesome!

I could go raving on about this kite for quite some time, but I guess it’s better to share a video of it rather than going wild with the keyboard. But before we hit PLAY, I once again just want to say THANK YOU ANDERS! For creating such a wonderful kite! ?