Patrick's R-Sky "Nirvana Standard"

Patrick's
R-Sky "Nirvana Standard"
Updated January 15, 2007.
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Introduction
The Nirvana Standard has gotten a lot of positive press concerning its flight characteristics. For handling and flight stability throughout its wind range, it is top rate. When I look up at all of my stunt kites hanging across my entire living room ceiling, it would be hard to pick a favorite. However, I would name the Nirvana as the king in flight performance. The Nirvana Standard has six colors to chose from and its sail stitching is of high quality and is very durable. The ratio of sail to structural weight seems to be in perfect balance. The Nirvana's harness also comes with the capability of making easy upper adjustments to quickly fine-tune it to different winds, which is a feature that few other stunt kites have.

Dimensions, specs & cost
The width of this kite is 91" (7' 7") from tip to tip. When stood on end, its overall height is 38", with the tail of the spine 3" above the ground. It is rated for 3-20 mph. (I think it is more like 5-20 mph. My own rating is based on how much wind it takes to keep it in the air without extraneous effort, which is a different from the manufacturer's specs.) The cost of a Nirvana Standard is around $320.00. My Nirvana came from The Kite Shoppe as a Free bonus kite with their "kite-train" deal.

Flight Characteristics
My good friend Hal, whose flight skills far exceed mine, can really show off the Nirvana's freestyle capabilities. If your flight style involves tricks that wrap the leading edge, such as yo-yo's, I would advise that you make one modification to your line set. The fabric texture of the Nirvana's leading edges will quickly damage your lines when they slide across it. An easy fix is to add 4' 3" of heavier line (such as harness line) between the kite's harness and its line set. (I made this same line set modification to my Transfer, the Deep Space, and the Lynx.) I enjoy flying all of my kites and appreciate their different flight characteristics. However, if you can afford only one quality freestyle kite, I would recommend purchasing the Nirvana Standard.