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About this blog

My personal observations

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Blackheath 25/10/2020

It was raining quite heavily as I set off for Blackheath from Hackney this morning.  There had been an indication that showers would clear by 10am.  On Blackheath there was some sign of clearing from the west but the shower cloud was slow in moving. We set up full sail 1.5 Revs while it was still raining and were eventually rewarded with blue sky and sunshine.  The wind was SSW and steady but nowhere near the forecast 11-22mph. No JMH kites today as it was just too wet underfoot and th

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

Blackheath 01/11/2020

Took a chance on the weather and while it was wet at about 10:30am the shower cleared and there was a good long break before the next one was closing in about 2 hours later. The wind was measuring 17-20mph on the wind meter with stronger gusts and occasional lulls relatively speaking so the RSS Rev 1.5 sails were a handful but not overpowered most of the time. We continued the no calls video recording but, somewhat as expected, the wind noise was too much for the camera to cope with so

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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.

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

29/11/2020 Blackheath

A damp and dark grey morning.  The cloud was not thick enough to filter out all the UV light so it appeared to me even darker through the filtering lenses.  There was a breeze though, 4-8.5 mph as measured but with a few lulls as well. Zens with green race with Miles Davis In a Silent Way and Kind of Blue to keep the silent flying moving.  It will probably be good to try these tunes with a larger group at some point. I’m going to be doing a bit of metal work with the 3mm stainless stee

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

27/12/2020 Blackheath

Having expected the overnight storm to clear slowly I did not expect to fly today but as the indications were positive first thing this morning I decided to go and have a look. I arrived on Blackheath at about 10:45am just as the sun cleared the trailing edges of the last heavy shower associated with the storm. While it was not exactly warm I did fly for an hour or so before the low level cloud built up and breeze strengthened.  I had been flying a full vented 1.5 with green race today

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

27/09/2020 Blackheath

Low flat grey clouds occasionally thinned to  fleetingly show the disc of the sun.  There was a Northerly breeze which measured about 11 - 15mph once I found the magic key press on the new wind meter!  It was initially showing ‘hold’. RSS Revs were fine until shortly after 1:00pm when there was a longer lull which provided a convenient hint that it was time for lunch off site.  Terry Riley Assassin Reverie, Tread on the Trail played by Arte Quartett had just come to an end as well… Ear

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

26/09/2021 Blackheath

Happy to have a proper southerly breeze today on Blackheath.  It might have been in double figures some of the time so plenty to try the new bridles on the 1992 Roakkakus but not too much for the Zen sails on 150ft/45m lines. I was somewhat surprised when preparing a launch for the first re-bridled kite as it seemed that I had hit the right spot in the configuration.  Only a slight adjustment was needed after a settled period of flight.  The second kite was good too, a slightly different sm

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

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

24/10/2021 Blackheath

During the early part of the past week I had undertaken repair work on some Revolution leading edges where the mesh had become brittle and partly broken.  Over sewing with a triple step zig zag has served us well in the past. We needed the 1.5 full vent sails in today’s breeze which was a pleasant change from the stillish air of late. I was also excited at the possibility of flying the Jørgen Møller Hansen Flare Kite Stack from 1987.  We flew it in September 2019 and I had noted at the

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

22/11/2020 Blackheath

Very wet underfoot and covered in worm casts but the suggested 4mph westerly breeze was mostly steady and measured 4.8mph in a ‘gust’.  There was even some sunshine through the varied high altitude clouds with some blue spaces in-between. So Zens with green race rods as expected and for a while the right hand side of the window showed the sparkly characteristic of the white sails. Less apparent back in the centre of the window but some Frisell/Morgan ‘Small Town’ kept us occupied along

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

20/09/2020 Blackheath

The week of the Dieppe festival in 2014 was sunny throughout but we were not there as a team.  It was another sunny day on Blackheath with a fairly steady NE breeze, mostly about 8-10mph. Full vented 1.5s again were ‘on rails’, a pleasure to fly.  After a Terry Riley piece ‘Tread on the Trail’ we had Bersarin Quartett, Methoden und Maschinen, Composer: Thomas Bücker on the sound system.  Quite a change!  Some of the silent calls worked very well today <grins>. On the JMH front I

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

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

18/10/2020 Blackheath

The synoptic chart was lacking in isobars so I was not expecting much flying today. Zens with green race were ok when the air was moving. The new meter did show 2.5 - 3mph maximum. Having figured out some minimal editing with iPhone video I have been planning to try the GoPro5 on the field again, on a tripod mount. I will do some more work on this but suspect that the best viewpoint is going to be at head height which should be possible if the tripod is weighted. Did a small trial today but

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

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

17/10/2021 Blackheath

Grey with a light southerly wind which was mostly a bit above 6mph but occasionally dropped away.  It was quite wet underfoot as autumn is under way. We flew full sail 1.5s mostly with Bill Frisell as accompaniment.  I was flying on a new knotless leader configuration.  This worked extremely well at the first outing today.  I’ll probably have to wait another five years or so before being able to confirm a complete success. Four sets of four ply bungee are now made up for the 1992 Jørge

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

Felix

Felix in Decs Sunday

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

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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