This is an amazing design by master designer Ma Qinghua from China.  I bought what may have been the first one sold outside China in October 2014, and was amazed by its performance (see first video.)  Since then, I’ve bought several more in different sizes, and they are among my most-flown kites. The majority of what are sold as “soft kites,” or “inflatable kites,” are not really kites at all, rather they are line laundry, depending on a lifter or “pilot” kite for support.  The Trilobite is a true kite, and flies extremely well.  It also, of course, looks great, and in the past two years has become enormously popular, to the extent that various groups try to out-do each other in setting “world records” of the greatest number of Trilobites flown together.  This started from a joke I made in a video of my (then) six Trilobites, and then an eight-kite “record” that my friend Carl and I made.  It has since become a little ridiculous as people take it so seriously, but it gives an idea of the passion with which fliers regard this kite.  I have nothing bad to say about it, and would recommend anyone, experienced flier or not, who wants an easy-flying, fun and attractive soft kite to get one of these.  It’s now available in many colour schemes, or you can choose your own (which is great!) and a range of sizes, from a very manageable 7 sq m up to ones that need a team of people to fly them.  Definitely this is one of the very best new kites in the past few years, and is not at all expensive compared to other soft kites available.  Do NOT confuse this with the “Trilobite” sold by Peter Lynn Kites, which is (to my eyes) ugly and expensive, and needs a pilot kite to keep it in the air.

There are now several other kites developed from this design – the Tadpole, Frog, and Ladybug, all of which are excellent, and fly even better than the Trilobite.  None of them has caught on to the extent of the Trilobite, strangely, but all can be recommended.

The best place to order them is Weifang Kaixuan Kite Factory.  See their store on AliExpress, or email [email protected] for really top service (her English is very good, so no communication problems.)