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About this blog

Here I will share my attempts at learning to fly with the REV and whatever other kite related activities strike my fancy

Entries in this blog

When the Wind Leaves Your Sails?

It may be the weather (endless rain, cold howling wind or no wind) or it may be exhaustion (on-going basement renovation, garage being built and more landscaping using up every spare minute of my days) but lately I've found it extremely difficult to even work up the desire to put a kite in the air let alone actually do it. I went out once in the usual crappy breeze for about an hour and really felt no love for it. I was just doing the motions, in a swarm of mosquitoes, planning what I had to
bartman

bartman

11

I Want to Ride My Bicycle...

The "Tumble" or "Cartwheel" but more accurately called the "Travelling Bicycle" kite maneuver is an interesting thing to wrap my head around. This blog is more for my own mental clarification of the goal than to "teach" anyone anything or relate and interesting story. It gives some insight into how my mind works for those who care to know. It looks like it should be simple. I've found it to be the most difficult move I've tried to learn since the inverted hover which I swore was the hardest
bartman

bartman

2

WSIKF - 2011

Summary: It's been just under three weeks now since WSIKF finished up for 2011 and I've had lots of time to let everything sink in. Like hearing too much about a blockbuster movie and having all sorts of expectations only to be disappointed by the final film is sort of how I felt things may go this year. I'd been looking forward to this trip for months (it is not just a kite festival, it's also my only get-away vacation of the year so it must be worth it for me) and I am happy to say that it d
bartman

bartman

13

Windscape 2011

Wow, what a festival! June 25 and 26 in mostly 30 - 50 kph winds both days. Saturday was sunny with partial clouds whereas Sunday was mostly cloudy with a couple rain storms moving through and cold winds. As someone said, as everyone huddled in a shelter during one one of the wind/rain storms, "Better more wind than no wind." Saturday probably saw the greatest number of big kites in the air that I've ever seen at this festival with many new ones to us locals - whales, sea horses and dragons t
bartman

bartman

1

2010 - the year in review

My season starts, ideally, in March but realistically, and lately, in May. This year was the worst start yet with weather (read snow and torrential rain well above normal amounts) that did not suit my fair-weather flying. We didn't really see the rain slow down until the day before our Windscape festival which is mid June! All in all I had only a couple hours to shake off the cobwebs and make sure I could still fly a kite before the first day of the festival. A few of those hours were in Ma
bartman

bartman

1

WSIKF - 2010

Summary: Wow. I had considered this festival and this trip more of a,"I'll do it once for the experience, but that's it" sort of deal. I didn't realize how many emotions and levels of thought with new ideas and new friends would be invoked. Frankly, it is difficult to even put it all into words without just saying, "You had to be there to appreciate it." If you read this blog from the beginning you know it didn't start out well for me. What you don't know is I was on the edge of an anxiety
bartman

bartman

7

Who/What Has Inspired You to Fly?

Was it something or someone that got you into this Revolution obsession or did you pick it up on your own and just love it? Let's hear your story! My story was long in the making with my initial exposure to the Rev based strictly on seeing an ad in some magazine (maybe Kitelines?) when I was still flurting with my short lived interest in dual line kites. A four line kite sounded interesting so without much thought I ordered a black and lime Rev I. Seems to me it had 90 foot lines that seemed
bartman

bartman

6

Windscape Kite Festival 2010

I'm not sure how the organizers pulled this off, but over the last 50 days here 40 of them have had either snow or rain, but the festival weekend was rain free during the day! Winds were up and down, but overall more kites were in the air than on the ground so that's always great and the nice weather also brought out record crowds! Friday before the kite festival there is usually a night fly during the music festival that runs in conjunction with Windscape. Friday was still wet and cold, but
bartman

bartman

2

“The universe is uncanny at serving up what we need the most, in the guise of things we fear the most.”

"The universe is uncanny at serving up what we need the most, in the guise of things we fear the most." A friend of mine told me this (you all know him as JB) during a private discussion regarding WSIKF. This blog will be a bit different than what I normally would write about. A little bit more personal and a bit less about Rev flying per se but related none-the-less. I'm not prone to mind and emotion gripping panic attacks, but recent posts on the 100 kite mega-fly thread did push me over o
bartman

bartman

2

Fun Fly

I've went from attending none to seeking out any that are within a reasonable travel distance. I don't know if it is the flying or just the general camaraderie of hooking up with old and new friends while there, but certainly a ton of fun. I've already covered the Taber fun fly from this past May. This entry I'll touch on the Pincher Creek fly and a local fly that I am trying to get off the ground (no pun intended) for the summer months here. Pincher Creek had an actual festival up to last ye
bartman

bartman

1

My first (mini) Megafly!

If someone would have told me two years ago when I got back into this crazy sport, that there would be any kind of "megafly" in this little town I wouldn't have believed it. Aside from the appearances by iQuad in 2007 and 2008 and Island Quad this year the number of Revs in the air was, shall we say, underwhelming. This year, on the other hand, there were 11 for the megafly and there could have been 13 had there been longer linesets and/or just pilots around for it in general. Eleven is probabl
bartman

bartman

2

It's just a kite

Those four words, typed by John B. just hours before he would be leaving Japan were just what I needed. Perfect timing. My friend and I were leaving on a three hour drive for a Fun Fly. The weather forecast, yet again, was not looking good. I was still feeling down about the lack of good weather, the lack of good flying and the lack of any kind of advancement. I didn't feel confident that I'd be doing any better with a snap turn this time than the last couple of times I tried to wrap my head ar
bartman

bartman

1

What is the point again?

It's repeat weekends like this that really make me question why I didn't Ebay these contraptions like I had planned last year. We get two kinds of wind here now. Howling cold where no sane person wants to be outside and not enough to blow out a match. There is no " in between" and since I am a fair weather flyer that means most weekends are a bust for me. I watch the wind throught the office window druring the week and think it would probably be useable then come the weekend it is utter crap
bartman

bartman

6

Sometimes it just isn't meant to be

A long weekend, no big plans, should be perfect for many hours of flying. NOT! Friday brought icy cold howling winds. Managed a frustrating couple of hours with the vented, four wrap rods and tons of brake. At least I wasn't being yanked around the field, but it was like being on a bucking bronc as the wind gusted and switched direction. Saturday, a perfect breeze. Had the kite at my parents farm and set everything up on the 50 foot lines to try them out. No sooner was I ready than zero w
bartman

bartman

0

Short lines

I guess I get the purpose of them, but don't think I will have much use for them myself. I bought a set of 50 foot this past winter. My idea was to use them if the wind was too light for anything else and to give me a couple more options for flying spots. Today I felt I had the perfect conditions so gave 'em a go. Basically, it was like learning everything all over again. I had more wing flips than I could count and it was impossible to figure out that level of brake the kite would be happy
bartman

bartman

6

Big Wind

I've tried the lower end on the wind scale so today I had a chance to dabble at the higher end. I can't say the stronger wind was my cup-o-tea. I went with the B-Series vented right off and the Race Rods. That lasted for about ten minutes before the wind got even stronger. I moved to the four wrap and kept letting the brake out a couple knots at a time until I could manage some control. Forward was difficult, but at least I wasn't getting dragged around like my friend with his two line foil
bartman

bartman

4
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