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  • West Australian

    Flight Log and Thoughts about My Rev Kit.

    By West Australian

    No Arvo Flight Yesterday, Responsibilities are beginning to creep in on my flying time Well I Joined up to KiteLife… Very Happy about that. I feel that the Contribution that KiteLife makes to the Community needs to be supported. And all those Sweet Tutorials are Pretty good too I have been Downloading them onto My Ipod Touch. To Paraphrase SparkieRob, I have a John Barresi In my Pocket. This morning was nice, Light to Moderate winds when I set up the STD with 3 Wrap and 80# lines I got i
    • 3 comments
    • 2,076 views
  • Felix

    2012 events, provisional list

    By Felix

    Oh well, another year! <grins> Nothing is confirmed, as yet. 1st January 2012 12-16/04/2012 Berck-Plage, France 21/04-29/05/2012 Cervia, Italy 05-07/05/2012 Weymouth 26-27/05/2012 Exmouth 25-27/08/2012 Portsmouth Margate
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    • 1,253 views
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

19/09/2021 Blackheath

So, today just topped off the last few weeks of low breeze with an almost absolute calm ‘gusting’ occasionally to 2 1/2 mph.  Little more than a cooling effect from one compass point or another. We did wind out long lines for the Zens and had them in the air for a few minutes. I decided to get on with preparing lines for the 1992 JMH Roks and re-set the two sets of spectra line to equal lengths and attached the second anchor point bungee element.  The configuration of the bungee elemen
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

12/09/2021 Blackheath

Another almost windless morning with 2mph forecast but no clear notion of direction. There was occasionally an indication of a breeze, a cooling effect one side rather than the other.  Zens worked some of the time and we had set up with 150ft/45m rather than 120ft/36.5m lines and long handles so as to maximise the reverse sail control for floating downwind.  This was also to have the required altitude to interact with the 1992 Rokkaku, potentially. As there was less wind than last week
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

05/09/2021 Blackheath

Following on from last week the wind was a bit lighter and from the north east but there were breaks in the cloud cover even as we travelled towards Blackheath this morning. An event on the heath meant that our usual site and local parking were not available.  Parking inside Greenwich Park is expensive and the walk to the flying field is longer but once a year is not a problem. Zens were just fine but I was not sure if the 1992 Rokkakus would fly.  A quick test suggested that there was
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

29/08/2021 Blackheath

A light northerly breeze was what we got today; 6mph and sometimes a bit higher! Full sail 1.5s and an accompaniment by Bill Frisell ‘Valentine’ got us under way.  There was a dark cloud to the SE but it was local and eventually it drifted onwards. I had hoped to fly the late JMH Composite Kite (Della Porta): Four Squares but knew that the wind was on the light side.  We set it up and I got a few pre-launch snaps but even if there was enough breeze to get the kite into the air there wa
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

22/08/2021 Blackheath

A breeze from the NW was forecast and it was likely to be on the light side so nothing too challenging was planned for today. Full sail Rev 1.5s were very comfortable throughout the session.  I think that the breeze was about 6mph but it was reasonably consistent. Tread on the trail by Terry Riley was the starting accompaniment. I had found a very old set of spectra stack lines and had re-sleeved it with a view to trying out various lengths with the 1992 JMH Rokkakus which now hav
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

15/08/2021 Blackheath

A gentle 10:30am start on Blackheath, slightly drizzly and overcast to begin with but then clearing to a sunny SSW airstream with some cloud blowing past! Full sail 1.5 Revs today with Bill Frisell ‘Blues Dream’ to start. After a slight shower and with the sun beginning to appear I set up the blue 1992 JMH Rokkaku on 2.5mm spectra, about 30m and after a test launch and a slight adjustment it flew, anchored, with only the occasional moment when it veered off to one or other edge of the
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

10/08/2021 After Portsmouth

The team had an early start on Saturday 7th August on Southsea Common.  We were flying soon after 8:30am on the car park field with a medley of team tunes… We re-located to the Art Kite field before the 10:00am start of the event proper and set up the JMH banners.  Flying the RSS Revolution kites continued beside the field until a call was made for us to do a session on the main arena.  A technical issue meant that this was a PA free performance. Soon after midday I decided that we cou
Felix

Felix in Decs

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

01/08/2021 Blackheath

Light breeze again, from the SW this time. We set up Zens and were flying some of the time to the accompaniment, once again of Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan. Jake arrived as the wind took a break.  We transferred team kites and JMH Parafoils to his car and then proceeded to have a session of called flying even as a light shower passed over. Then, picking up from last weekend, I set up the late JMH Delta as a target for video recording.  The c6mph breeze was perfect for the kite a
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

25/07/2021 Blackheath

A northerly breeze was forecast again but there was also the possibility of thundery showers today. The Blackwall Tunnel southbound was closed for maintenance today but we did not know that approaching from the north and assuming the warning lights were left on from the normal Saturday night closure.  The queue for the Rotherhithe Tunnel extended from the exit lane but it moved steadily, if slowly. The road to Deptford was carrying the same traffic so we arrived at Blackheath somewhat
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

18/07/2021 Blackheath

The forecasts had indicated high temperatures and a slight northerly breeze. The northerly breeze was occasional so we occasionally flew Zens. Pino Palladino & Blake Mills were accompaniment for a time followed by Ron Miles. I flew the Malinski Modell Deutsche Seewarte 1904 x 0.65 aka Hamburger Diamant Drachen initially on 3mm braided line and then on the deep sky reel with 1.5mm line. We remarked again, how little evidence there was of flying wear and just to prove the point
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

11/07/2021 Blackheath

Light winds were forecast again so I had taken the JMH Edo thinking that I might get some photo practice as well as flying. The clouds were thickening after a sunny start as we approach Blackheath.  There was less breeze than expected, 3 gusting 6 mph probably though I only measured the 3 mph moment. We set up Zens and started to fly with Pino Palladino & Blake Mills as accompaniment. When the moment seemed right I set about running out the Edo bridle and setting the spars.  M
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

04/07/2021 Blackheath

We were not quite sure what the wind was doing as we set up this morning.  In the end full vent 1.5s worked comfortably.  I ran out a new set of lines at the start, which is always a treat. Smooth wraps for a while, anyway, quite apart from exact equal lengths! I had taken along a JMH Rokkaku that was in our care temporarily after the event last weekend.  I had replaced a rusty component and secured some fraying line ends so it seemed appropriate to give it some air time as well especially
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

27/06/2021 Hampstead Heath, Kite Hill.

We arrived on site with quite a few kites (actually over 200…[grins]) including the JMH 1985 Rhombus Kite Train consisting of 81 kites.  I had hoped that we would be able to fly the complete train for the first time since I started the restoration work. We succeeded! There were a couple of times when the breeze dropped slightly and we had to bring some sections down but eventually there was a period of about one hour when the train was mostly flying from the barge pin stakes.  Train in flig
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

20/06/2021 Blackheath

It certainly did not feel like a midsummer day this morning at 10:00am on the way to Blackheath.  There was a thick heavy drizzle limiting visibility somewhat, accompanied by a surfeit of optimism.  The optimism was not completely misplaced and on arrival at Blackheath there was no falling precipitation, just very wet grass. I had prepared a set of new 100ft lines from an old 120ft set and all that I had hoped to do today was check that they were ok before heading back to sort kites and kit
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

13/06/2021 Blackheath

Another summer Sunday on Blackheath with just an occasional passing thermal introducing a semblance of a breeze, momentarily! As it was expected we set up Zens which were flown intermittently.  While having transported the kite trains I was interested to check the pilot kites, the original Peter Malinski and also the two facsimile kites that I made for his train, one of which we used as a pilot on the Jørgen Møller Hansen this time last year. We flew all three, briefly.  One of the two
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

06/06/2021 Blackheath

Light winds were forecast somewhere between west and northwest.  There were actually moments of dead calm but the gusts did get to 7mph as recorded. We had set up Zens and then did a bit of a line checking routine making sure that 100ft lines were available for a forthcoming event. I also had a look through the kite case to check for missing ‘spring line stops’.  It seemed sensible to check the other SLK lines and also the PL pilot kite which I flew briefly. I also set up the Alai
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

30/05/2021 Blackheath

A chilly easterly breeze and a featureless grey sky greeted us onto Blackheath today.  We flew full sail1.5s with an accompaniment by Trilok Gurtu to get warmed up. A bit of brightness appeared on the south eastern skyline and gradually the flat grey cloud became more articulated and brighter.  Finally the disc of the sun could be seen through the cloud and hints of a blue sky followed. The temperature notched up and eventually we were flying in full sunshine and a mostly blue sky.
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

23/05/2021 Blackheath

The forecasts suggested SW 15 mph gusting up to 30 mph and a risk of showers.  The wind meter confirmed 15 mph but gusts weren’t noticeable. It was Xtra Vent and RSS sails, somewhat as expected and we flew for a while with Skúli Sverrissons Strata (featuring Bill Frisell) as accompaniment.  Dark clouds were looming from the South West and we caught the edge of a shower. Having packed the Revolution kites it looked as if there was half an hour or more before the next shower and so I did
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

16/05/2021 Blackheath

Showers, potentially turning thundery were forecast for today with a SW airflow. I arrived on Blackheath as a small shower approached and set up a Rev1.5 full vent.  The rain shower, when it arrived did not last long and it looked as if there would be about an hour before the next shower arrived, judging by the clouds on the SW horizon. I had contemplated setting up the JMH 3m Rokkakus and did take them onto the field.  However, the rain radar showed a substantial band of rain rather t
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

09/05/2021 Blackheath

Last Sunday we didn’t actually get to fly a kite but considerable progress was made towards the eventual flight of the Peter Malinski Hexagonal Kite Train. This week I had anxiously watched the forecasts as the near gale force winds subsided to something more manageable.  We got 13-15mph gusting upwards but mostly fairly steady.  This was, I considered the optimum for the JMH Composite Kite (Della Porta): Eight Rhomboids which I have been hoping to fly again.  This was in part to get some g
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

02/05/2021 Blackheath

There was very little wind forecast for today and there really wasn’t much more than an occasional breath! We might have flown Zens but as showers were more likely later we set about pulling out the 23 sails of the lower half of the Peter Malinski Hexagonal Kite Train in order to fit the missing sail and attend to the broken central bridles. We took the precaution of securing the top lines at both ends.  At one point a small gust from the side set the whole train rolling and with the a
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

25/04/2021 Blackheath

A cool brisk easterly breeze this morning with a mostly cloudy sky to start.  I was seeing 8-14mph on the meter which was at the low end of the forecasts.  There were lulls but not low enough for us to opt for anything other than the RSS kites. Once up and running we flew to accompaniment by Marc Johnson, Shades of Jade and then upping the tempo a bit, to Pino Palladino & Blake Mills, Notes with Attachments.  No calls, of course but interesting to see the range of flight developing thro
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators

18/04/2021 Blackheath

There was convergence in the forecasts today but wind speed and direction and the amount of cloud cover seemed at odds. In the event what little breeze there was came from 3 out of 4 compass points occasionally.  We set up Zens and found them to be at 180 degrees from the wind direction given where they had been landed previously a couple of times at least.  The question was whether to walk the 240ft or just wait for a new lull and switch. None of us were prepared to run the Zens into
Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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