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About this blog

My personal observations

Entries in this blog

27-28/03/2010 Blackheath

We arrived mid afternoon on Saturday to kick off our pre-season warm-up for the 'complete' team. Rev1s were the order of the day until the breeze dropped off almost completely ahead of a squally downpour. There was time to fly David's Zen before the storm broke. We then retired to 'The Tolly' on Royal Hill. Most of us coped with the clock change overnight reasonably well and we were on site Sunday at c10:00am for a 5 hour session blowing out the cobwebs and getting the winter absentees up to sp

Felix

Felix

04/04/2010 Blackheath

This was the last Blackheath fly for a while. The next two weekends will be in Berck and the two after in Cervia. Getting to Blackheath from home is very easy in the car. A quick drive past the Olympic Park, through the Blackwell tunnel, turn right at the top of the hill and that is it! (15 mins max) A bit more travelling for Berck and Cervia <grins> A parallel side slide 360 around the last kite was today's special moment. We actually set the pendulum going as well and as this was almost

Felix

Felix

18/04/2010 After Berck

A great week in Berck, France. Heavy winds earlier in the week finally gave way to the chance to fly the Zen in near zero mph this morning. The 'turning interval' is different and I will be interested to do some more flying on a 'more comfortable' surface than soft sand. The Team was led by David Ellison for the first days of the event and he put together a new routine which was well received. Jacob led the arena work for the 8 person team for the last 3 days in The Decs traditional mode. The

Felix

Felix

03/05/2010 After Cervia

A great week in Cervia, Italy. We coped with the c125 ft wide arena and light winds earlier in the week and enjoyed 3 kite days towards the end of the event. Rev 1 to start, moving to Rev 1.5 in the middle of the day and ending on the 1.5 vented as the onshore breezes built... It was amazing to meet with people who remembered our visits to Cervia of 10 years ago and more. I hope that we will be able to attend the 2011 event. Felix

Felix

Felix

09/05/2010 Blackheath

It was very strange flying on grass today after 15 days of flying on sand. It was an unseasonably cold and grey day on Blackheath. On reflection, the idea of flying kites for 15 days and still finding interest and creative possibilities on the final day, in this case, in Cervia, is fascinating in its own right. The 3 or 4 kite days in Italy were magical. No wind at 10 am so set up the Zens, almost imperceptible increase to the point that the Rev1 is viable by about 10:30 am. By 12:00 it is ti

Felix

Felix

16/05/2010 Rougham

Approaching Bury-St-Edmunds from the west close to 9:00am today, Sunday, we could see a 'Kite Shaped Object' in the air over Rougham airfield. We had been instructed to head for the main car park and to set up alongside the main runway in a 'Rev Designated Area'. This we duly did and soon a group of 10-12 fliers were flying in a relaxed and good humoured way. There was some talk about leader lines and stacking kites in the air. Compatible line lengths are helpful in team flying <grins> A

Felix

Felix

23/05/2010 Blackheath, Angle of attack

It was strictly light wind flying today. A Zen day indeed. In Cervia we had seen the 'clear advantage' that the Zen had over the Rev1 in light conditions. Today we found an apparent discrepancy in the angle of attack when putting a Zen and a Rev1 face to face. I'm thinking that the difference in the bridle may be the cause of this. The kites did not 'lock' together in the usual way <grins> At Portsmouth in 2009 we flew a 16 person grid using the JMH 1.5 and 1 kites together. I do not thin

Felix

Felix

30/05/2010 Blackheath 1.5 Vented Variant thoughts

Some time ago we asked Jørgen Møeller Hansen to produce a graphic for a 1.5 vented kite based on the B Pro sail panel layout. He duly came up with a design which we eventually, (when we were able to afford funding), forwarded to Revolution asking Bazzer to sew the sails. What we had not expected was that Bazzer would follow Jørgen's drawing exactly and so produce a variant of the vented sail with astonishing attention to the detail of Jørgen's design. We have now used these kites in earnest at

Felix

Felix

06/06/2010 Blackheath

A late entry as I have been mesmerised by Alex's video of the Decs at Berck. (The routines tend to be unique, we will never fly it again...) A light rising breeze today allowed some experimentation with spars in the Zen sail. Later, race rods in the JMH vented sail proved the range for that kite. 'Sprockets' <grins> Felix

Felix

Felix

13/06/2010 Blackheath Festival Weekend

I arrived on Saturday mid-afternoon, after work, to find the team comfortably established on the heath in the north easterly breeze. I watched the six person team going through their paces with confidence led by Mark and David. On Sunday we were eight and again Mark and David took advantage of the favourable, though occasionally blustery breeze, first on the Rev 1s, later the 1.5s to work through the recently developed repertoire. Towards the end of the afternoon a sixteen person meg

Felix

Felix

20/06/2010 Blackheath

As expected it was quiet on Blackheath today after the excitement of the Kite and Bike festival last weekend. A cool northerly breeze and thick grey clouds did little to lift the atmosphere. Thoughts turned to forthcoming events at Washington Tyne and Wear and Washington State International Kite Festival. Mount Rainier (or Mount Tahoma) may not have the cultural significance of Fuji in Japan but I am looking forward to catching a glimpse of the mountain on the approach to SEATAC. I was very lu

Felix

Felix

27/06/2010 Blackheath

Since last weekend the weather in London has been transformed into 'full on' summer mode. Today on Blackheath there was an intermittent light breeze up to c5mph providing the opportunity to fly the Zen again. With switches in direction I am sure that I did fly from all 360 degrees between 10:30 and 12:30. The strongest air was moving vertically so it was important to be prepared to catch a lift when it was available. I did set up a 1.5 with Race Frame alongside the Zen with long clipped handle

Felix

Felix

11/07/2010 Blackheath

Jørgen Møeller Hansen joined us on Blackheath today and we were able to fly the vented 1.5 sails that he had designed for us last year. It was the first time he had seen these sails in action and having been anxious about the graphic he was very pleased with the results. We were four fliers today and flew 3 wrap frames in a relaxed slo-mo pace (verging on treacle at times). The sails, sewn by Bazzer are a slight variation on the JB design and have a silky feel in the c7-10 mph winds we had toda

Felix

Felix

18/07/2010 Blackheath

A quiet fly on Blackheath today. With just four weeks to until the WSIKF event I was contemplating the static drift we used to enjoy when flying the Paul Morgan Mega Deltas. I recall seeing six or more kites at the top of their wind window drifting in unison if not spiralling on thermals. At Portsmouth 2008 I remember watching the ripple of gusts moving across the wall of Revolution kites. I look forward to seeing the kites at Long Beach respond and hope that the fliers can 'go with the flow'

Felix

Felix

25/07/2010 Blackheath

So it is now three weeks to WSIKF. I flew Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Winds were light enough on Sunday to get the Zen out. I tried the 'very long' handles initially but the kite felt 'too heavy'. Switched to the 13 inch clip-less and found the sweet spot without delay. Flying with 3 wrap centre and Race rods the kite was 'spring bound' but incredibly buoyant in the sub 4mph breeze. The step up in sail area from the Rev 1 to the Zen is still surprisingly significant to me. Felix

Felix

Felix

01/08/2010 Blackheath

Another Zen possible day but again, like last weekend, alternating with the 1.5 JB Pro. Both line sets benefited from some precision adjustment enabled by the needle nosed pliers. I'm thinking that a finer leader knot spacing is going to be beneficial, about 1/4 inch steps should be good. Sliding adjustment has it's attractions but I do not think that the flier is ever going to be 'clever enough' to be able to adjust by 'feel' alone. A strange sky scape over Blackheath c11:00am with contrasting

Felix

Felix

08/08/2010 Blackheath

After a tense week, both at work and personally it was great to wind down in light breezes on Blackheath today. For the third weekend running it was light enough to set up the Zen alongside the JB Pro. Today we were flying into the sun so the plain white Zen glittered dramatically. I ended up leading a 'no call' routine with the 1.5s in 'treacle mode' and found that a leading 'ladder up' could be an effective move that might also fold over at the top of the window. Some 'free form' flying prov

Felix

Felix

19/09/2010 Blackheath

A dry grey day as befits mid September. A high cloud base provided the panorama of the northern and southern stacks for the Heathrow approach with an odd, larger than usual aircraft, take off from City Airport thrown in for good measure. In reflective mode I'm wondering how it is, after 20 plus years flying the Revolution kite, we 'put up with' not being able to do everything, 'precisely' that we would like to do with the kite. Then we also have to 'accommodate' new fliers who 'complain' about

Felix

Felix

28/09/2010 Post Knokke

Ironically, after the previous weekend's blog concerns the event at Knokke (25-26th Sept) in Belgium provided a positive lift in respect to team capabilities and aspirations. Saturday was tough but David Ellison's mega vented 1.5 sails coped very well with the very high onshore wind speed and kept the team performing. Sunday morning started with Rev 1s but we quickly moved on to the JMH vented 1.5 set with 4 wrap spars. These proved to fit the conditions exactly and although I do not expect to

Felix

Felix

03/10/2010 Margate

This was our final Autumn event. Southerly winds over the north facing beach (backed by buildings) were never going to be easy but on Saturday we coped with the Rev1 sails and our regular spar set-up. (4 wrap centre, 3 wrap the rest) On Sunday we started with the Rev1.5 sails and 3 wrap spars but progressed to the JMH vented sails with 4 wrap spars at a key moment as the weather developed through the morning. There were big changes in wind speed and direction but we managed some extended arena

Felix

Felix

10/10/2010 Blackheath

When the wind is from the east the eastern side of London is spared the depressing descending whine of planes headed for Heathrow as they cog in over Blackheath for the final approach to the runway. Given that it can start at 6:00am the absence of the noise is a real bonus and lends a relaxed demeanour to the days unaffected by the background disturbance. Full vented 1.5 on 120s with 4 wrap frame was required today although the Rev 2 on 80s with a Race frame was very comfortably within its wind

Felix

Felix

17/10/2010 Blackheath

Metcheck had been suggesting through the week that today would be a light wind occasion. It turned out to be a glorious October day, the only downside being that what breeze there was came from the North. Flying into the low sun without sunglasses gets to be tiring eventually. We flew 3 Zens on Race Rods with 3 wrap centres and had the fairly extraordinary experience of flying 'over' the vertical point more than once. As all 3 fliers saw their lines go beyond vertical this was obviously a 'desi

Felix

Felix

24/10/2010 Dunstable Downs

Watching the weather forecasts through the week saw a gradual easing of wind speed and likely rainfall. Arriving at 9:30am to find a clear sky and c2mph from the North West (I think) was a real treat even if it meant flying directly into the sun once again. (I did have sunglasses with me today) Having commented about the Zens (and Weather forecasts) it seemed sensible to set up the full sail 1.5s at the outset. I did, however, use the new version of the Race spars. This set-up felt very crisp a

Felix

Felix

07/11/2010 Blackheath

A bright start with cooler breezes from the North, light to begin with (soon after 10:00am) today. Forgot the sunglasses again! It was one step up from Zen conditions at the outset today so the sequence has been broken. At this stage there is nothing special to 'show' (as in video) for the Zen flying. They have the capability to carry on going for longer up to and including those 'over vertical' moments in 'rising air'. There is a point at which the Rev 1 or 1.5 kites stop going forwards. The Z

Felix

Felix

14/11/2010 Blackheath

Another 'soon after 10:00am' start and dry to begin with Zen focused day. We tried the Zen spars in the Decs JMH Rev 1s and they added a further twist to the range of kite/spar possibilities. With lightweight handles the lines transmitted a significant buzz from the kite, quite electrifying... Flying 5 in 1-2 mph was working well today with parallel 360s, ladders up/down and Figure 8s as well as 'dice 5' block moves. Gradually the rain moved in and it became apparent that the 'flexibility' of

Felix

Felix

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