Picture Gallery - OUCH!  The Oops Files  - Click on the picture for a larger version (all photos by Doug Charleville unless otherwise noted)
Looks like it's time to check the depth perception again.  Doug Charleville get's a wee bit too close to the trees with his Blue Moon Mamba. What a hard tip stab can do for you.  Practicing snap landings with the Prism E2 and made one a bit hard. And on one tip.  OUCH. Kites don't fly well once they hit the water.  Doug's Kitemandu demonstrates. (photo by Maribel Charleville)
Another depth perception problem.  Doug's PEUL suspended from the pegs on a Dorey Park light pole. Doug's TC Ultra is a tough kite, but it can be broken if one tries hard enough.  25 MPH winds can create a close encounter of the worst kind - a SLAM into the ground! Two in one day!  Doug's Hurricane suffered much the same fate, but was back in the air quickly following a swap out of lower spreaders with another Ultra.
Even big rods will break with enough pressure.  Doug's Thor's Hammer shows the effect of a big tip stab on a lower leading edge. New wing configuration on Doug's Utopia. Tim Morris's E2 rests serenely in a tree.
 
You always hurt the one you love.  Doug's Vanishing Point. Same kite, different break.  This was actually the third time.  Says Doug:  "I have a bad habit of flying the Vanishing Point in winds a bit above it's wind range because I enjoy flying it so much."