The Kite Trade Association Trade Show is now officially called the Kite Trade Association International or KTAI. Historically, I have prepared a report that highlight new product offerings from each of the manufacturers. This year I am taking a different perspective because the industry has also changed.
Instead of presenting a long list of new products, I will highlight a handful of the products that I had a chance to actually test. There were hundreds of 2,3, and 4 line kites at the show but most of them were modified versions of existing products and lacked any real innovation. It really took some effort to find the really new and exciting products.
In my opinion,
the most significant stunt kite introduction at the 1998 KTA was the Beetle
from Flying Wings. The company probably brought over a hundred units and
sold every one of them. Just about everyone walked out with at least one
kite. The last time something like this happened at a Kite Trade Show was
9 years ago when Revolution introduced the first quad line kite.
The next kite
that caught my attention was the Level 7 designed by Andy Preston. The industry
has seen precision kites, radical kites, trick kites, 3&4 line kites
and now we have the next level (no pun intended) of sport kites. If you think
that you have flown everything and need a new challenge, this new kite is
for you. Get your hands on one and it feels like you are starting to learn
to fly all over again. I don't know how to describe it but there is definitely
a moderate learning curve with this kite and once you have mastered it, there
is a whole new range of "tricks" and maneuvers that can be accomplished with
this kite. Andy was doing a remarkable job of showing the potential of this
product. Definitely for advanced fliers. 
The new T&T
from Skyburner demonstrates that there is still some room for growth and
improvement in the traditional high end stunt kite category. This kite does
just about everything from "tricks" to straight line precision and "tracking"
well. A solid kite designed with that unmistakable Skyburner quality and
innovation. If you love quality dual line kites, this is the one to save
for in 98. Expect to see it on sale around $300 . 
Prism is a company
that seems to do just about everything right and the crowds at their booth
easily reinforces that position. This year they have produced an indoor/outdoor
ultralight/low-wind kite that does a lot of things right. While Skyburner's
Nik Nak and Buena Vista's Feather defined this category last year, Prism's
new Ozone combined their design skills from kites such as the Vapor and Illusion
to produce a kite that is definitely a category killer.
