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  • 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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    • 1,068 views
  • 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
    • 1,801 views
Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

05/04/2020

12-22mph SSE with clear blue sky would have been a perfect flying day so that is one day down to the lock down, rather than the weather. I did do my normal weekday 10 miles on the bike, except, of course, going around Victoria Park rather than through it!  There were quite a lot of cyclists and runners in the parts of the ride where I do not usually see anyone at all. I had thought that I might do some Tetraeder building today but did not quite get to it! On the web site I ended u
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Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

29/03/2020

Strong NNE wind with wintery showers would not have been particularly enticing for kite flying on Blackheath today. So, some more imagined launches and thoughts about further material for the web site.  I have looked at some of the notes I made at or after events.  It can be a strange shorthand for what was a very focused activity over periods of days in some cases.  The routine in Cervia 2014 is a case in point particularly as Davide Baroni is posting images from his extensive catalogue on
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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

22/03/2020

While taking the air, going for a walk, run or cycle ride may not be prohibited in London just yet it seemed appropriate to show restraint hoping that more stringent rulings will remain distant. So virtual kite flying only today after another week of consolidating records on the web site.  The accumulative record is much more impressive than the constituent parts.  I like the idea of gradually being able to populate the records of past events, maybe only with a couple of images but also wit
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Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

15/03/2020 Blackheath

Another breezy day, 15-30mph SSW, mostly cloudy but with the odd flash of sun and blue sky. RSS sails were comfortable and today, even with only three fliers there were some called moves. We put together the JMH Flare Kite 1986 as it is almost the last kite to have a page set up on the site.  (Once done I will start on the Rev designs.) The wind was outside the comfort zone but it was useful to try adjusting the bias that appeared in the stronger gusts.  The adjustment required is
Felix

Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

08/03/2020 Blackheath

Having been watching the forecasts closely I managed a circa 10:00am arrival on the ‘Heath’.  After a short wind check stroll I set about preparing the JMH Della Porta 8 Rhomboids for another ‘strong breeze’ test.  The intention was to use a secure anchor as the kite was walked into the middle of the wind window before launch. We were almost successful at the first attempt but the pulling power of the kite was somewhat more than I had anticipated.  It really needed a ground anchor in flight
Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

01/03/2020 Blackheath

Finally got out on Blackheath today in bright windy conditions.  RSS Rev for a while getting a feel for the breeze which was often as little as c12mph but also sustained gusts probably well over 25mph. I decided that although the conditions were a bit extreme I would try to fly the JMH Della Porta: 8 Rhomboids 1993.  Apart from anything else learning the set-up can only be achieved by doing it. There was a moment of anxiety getting it out of the bag as the elements did not fall free, s
Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

23/02/2020

So, it was the third weekend where conditions were simply not conducive to ‘kite flying’.  20-40mph was forecast and it certainly sounded like it in Hackney! I was planning to set about repairing the JMH full vents but got distracted by the new line of development on the web site.  In addition to having started to set up pages for the individual JMH kites I have also set up some event pages as follows:- https://www.felixmottram.com/decorators/eventpages/Cervia_2018.html https://www.f
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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

16/02/2010

And then it was wet.  High winds had been forecast but did not really materialise. So, preventative maintenance on the 2007/8 Rev 1 stacks today.  All leading edge mesh edges oversewn with a three step zig-zag stitch.  There were not as many actual breaks as I had anticipated.  Maybe there are more on the 1.5 stack? We managed to get a peculiar wrap in the stacking lines of one four set.  Not yet resolved but shows that it can be done!  After un-tangling the JMH Double Malay stack anyt
Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

09/02/2020

The synoptic chart from the Met Office on Wednesday 5th February was clear that the isobars would be tightly packed today and so they were. No thoughts of kite flying but a bit of weather spotting via the webcams at Lyme Regis, West Bay and Polzeath. The day did start though, with a bit of knot tying, roping in a rotten fence post in the back yard… Felix
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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

02/02/2020 Blackheath

Brisk WSW breeze 17-30mph so 1.5 RSS kite for me today…  Out of the comfort zone for anything else really so no SLKs today. Terry Riley’s album Assassin Reverie track Tread on the Trail proved to be an interesting accompaniment for two fliers. Having completed the rigging for the Peter Malinski Tetraeder earlier in the week thoughts turned to configurations.  Having done one initial drawing it became apparent how versatile the system is and just how many variations are available.  It w
Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

26/01/2020 Blackheath

There was low dark cloud and some drizzle leaving Hackney but the low cloud had broken south of the river with a bit of sun breaking through occasionally. Steady southerly breeze probably about 10mph so full vented 1.5s with green race.  A bit of Bersarin Quartett to get ‘in the mood’ and then I was intent on putting together the JMH Double Malay stack. I had a dim recollection that it had been put away hastily ‘the last time’ but had not fully appreciated the consequences of that!  It
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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

19/01/2020 Blackheath

Just enough breeze for Zens with green race but not much else today. I had taken the Peter Malinski Hex stack pilot copy as more work is needed on the bridle.  It was not to be!  Yesterday I had been working on the connectors for the Malinski Tetreader.  40 or so still to do so that is 120 knots to tie before starting to fit them; 4 to each of the 35 sails.  The line I was using was being re-cycled from the 2007 JMH design Rev 1.5 bridles.  I do have a reel of bridle line somewhere! I
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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

12/01/2020 Blackheath

There really was a brisk SW wind this morning despite forecasts suggesting otherwise up until about 24 hours previously!  While there were quite extended periods of 10-15mph it did blow c30mph quite often during the time we were there. So RSS Spiders 1.5 were just right! In the circumstances I was not ‘brave’ enough to attempt to put up the JMH Double Malay stack 1994.  We have flown it before but not with a good sunny backdrop such as we had at times today. We flew the RSS kites
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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

05/01/2020 Blackheath

A bit of a grey day again but there was some SW wind and the drizzle I saw driving towards Blackheath held off.  I.5 full vents with green race were comfortable but mid vents would probably have been fine. I had hoped that Jake would be able to join us today for the first un-wrapping of the JMH Asymetric Kite Stack 1995.  I had brought the kite along with some 2m lengths of dowel in case of breakages and as the ground was not wet and the wind speed felt low enough we did go ahead with assem
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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

29/12/2019 Blackheath

Southerly breeze, some sunshine and blue sky in parts today.  The forecasts were about right with a base speed of about 4mph - 8mph.  Full 1.5 sails with race rods and a mid-vent, just because!  Nothing called as is usual but we did get to discuss events for 2020, just a bit. We put together the Peter Malinski Flare Kite (ex Hamburg) with its substantial tubular frame in c120cm units, so c240cm high in the four vertical sleeved pockets with press stud closures and the c360cm horizontal secu
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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

22/12/2019 Blackheath

A fairly consistent Westerly breeze, about 10mph so full vented with green race again.  The stronger winds stayed to the south of the UK this weekend. A short fly with accompaniment today and then we set about putting up some sections of the JMH Rhombus shaped kite train from 1985. I have re-strung the fifth and sixth sets with 4mm polyester braid as the 3.5mm had been overstretched.  We only got as far as the three top sets today but even they needed an anchor point really.  The Eddy
Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

15/12/2019 Blackheath

SSW at about 12mph so 1.5 full vented with green race this morning.  It was sunny and a mostly clear sky so I was hoping to do ‘something’ with JMH kites today! After a gentle warm up fly it became apparent that we were not going to get a ‘full’ team by any stretch of the imagination. As the overnight rain had soaked in and the steady breeze had taken any remaining ‘wetness’ off the grass it was only slightly muddy underfoot.  We staked out the Double / Single Eddy stack and proceeded
Felix

Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

08/12/2019 Blackheath

WSW 17 - 34 mph but mostly sunny rather than cloudy.  RSS kites were fine, just a little bit noisy in the stronger gusts, merely a sail rattle, not a roar! Not the wind for flying trains but we did unwrap the 2 square metre black lifter and fly it from the bridle.  It seemed to be well set ‘out of the bag’. I also pegged out the top few sets of the PM Yakko Stack in an attempt to find out how much lift these sails can develop.  They were certainly ready to go but the top sail really ne
Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

01/12/2019 Blackheath

NNE breeze today, fairly steady and probably about 10 mph so finally a change from the Zen Autumn.  Full vented 1.5 with green race was just right. The sun was directly in our sightline and there was a slight warmth when the breeze eased.  When there was cloud cover it was distinctly colder. I had hoped to fly the JMH Double / Single Eddy stack 1989 but it was a bit too muddy and damp underfoot so we flew the single Eddys that I put together recently that need further tuning.  One of t
Felix

Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

24/11/2019 Blackheath

Foggy in Hackney first thing and on the approach to Blackheath from the Greenwich Peninsula it looked as if it was foggy at the top of the hill.  It was grey and gloomy on arrival and very wet underfoot but not actually foggy. Wind from the south was light, probably 3mph to start but as the cloud lifted and brightness approached so the breeze increased; slightly. So, Zens with green race once again.  We did spend quite some time today meandering in close formations occasionally with Te
Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

17/11/2019 Blackheath

Lighter again today, maybe 2mph from the north but with little thermal variation so the Zens with green race stayed in the air, if nothing else.  That will be the fifth week running so a bit of a Zen autumn!  We did some quite extensive no call flying against a slowly changing high cloud background with some curious almost lenticular like features. I did not expect to get very far with the Hexagonal pilot kite but we did get it in the air briefly, enough to make some adjustments and then br
Felix

Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

10/11/2019 Blackheath

North easterly breeze today starting with mostly clear sky but cloud gradually developing.  Once again, a light breeze so mostly Zens with green race.  Despite their age the Zen sails still sparkle when flown into the sunlight. I took time out to see if there was a quick solution to the bias in the two Eddy kites that we flew last weekend.  I did find a fix which worked, as if by magic, and just need to translate it into something more permanent.  Needless to say it was counterintuitive!
Felix

Felix

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Rev Kite Team Notes, The Decorators
 

03/11/2019 Blackheath

Our regular field was being cleared of firework debris and crowd barriers so Martin had set up to the east of the road. Zens with green race again and a south westerly breeze meant that we were not looking into the sun today. Clear blue sky above to start but a bank of low cloud loomed from the west.  I had hoped to test fly the two Eddy kites in ‘sunny’ conditions and  that almost happened.  The first one that I put up seemed fine at first but then it became apparent that it did have
Felix

Felix

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