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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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    • 2,008 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
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10/02/2013 Blackheath

The forecast was fairly dire so it was with a certain level of optimism that we drove to Blackheath this morning in light rain. The gondolas were evident in the rear view mirror approaching the Rising Sun roundabout so it was not 'that' windy. Standard vented 1.5s with race/ultra light(3 wrap) dealt with the occasional lulls in the S/SE breeze. Four fliers took the 'lazy' option of no call free flying often in close proximity and with only one entanglement in over an hours continuous flying t
Felix

Felix

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03/02/2013 Blackheath

It looked like a high cloud grey day travelling towards Blackheath this morning but the cloud base was soon below the Heathrow approach flightpaths over the 'heath'. Another Xtra Vent day although somewhat more marginal than last weekend. It was a less consistent breeze so occasionally the 4 wrap spars felt very heavy. Cold again so occasional spells of energetic long arm flying kept things comfortable while making lazy, though occasionally intricate, uncalled moves. Especially interesting t
Felix

Felix

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27/01/2013 Blackheath

I did not notice that the cable car across the Thames was not operating this morning on the way to Blackheath. This, apart from flags along the way, would be an indicator that the close isobars on the weather map were an accurate forecast. So it was Xtra Vent with 4 wrap that kept things sane as Jacob called some close moves in what would have been very challenging conditions for any other sail/spar combination. Counter rotations were the flavour of the day in linear format or paired. Curiou
Felix

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20/01/2013 Blackheath

Heavy snow (for London) today makes it look like our gamble on the weather for the Shipley meeting last weekend really paid off. A steady N/NE breeze with full sail 1.5 Race or 3 wrap worked well today. Some plaiting of lines was un-done gracefully in the air. The lines were a bit discoloured from last weekend but not enough to show up in the snow against the monochrome sky. Memories of Madison, Kites on Ice, when wrapping up. Cold hands... Felix
Felix

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13/01/2013 After Shipley

We had a great afternoon on Saturday mostly flying 12 (full 1.5 Race Rods) and getting up to speed with some of the 'familiar' team moves in the larger format. It was a bit muddy as in the attached image. Occasionally we came up against the limitations of 'in-line' flying and we did switch to grid for a while. I think that ease of movement on the ground in transition from one scheme to the other will help in developing the larger team format. Saturday evening we found the local Indian and Br
Felix

Felix

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06/01/2013 Blackheath

The anticyclonic gloom had descended on Blackheath today but fortunately the drizzle held off. The grass was very wet though so we had very tightly bound lines to contend with while setting up. It always amazes me just how much adhesion can result so quickly. It was a marginal breeze today which did not help matters particulary. We persisted with full 1.5 sails and Race Rods and occasionally the breeze picked up enough to make interaction quite comfortable. Just a lazy fly today, really, ah
Felix

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01/01/2013 Blackheath

A clear bright start to the year. Happy New Year to all. Standard vented with green race rods worked well for me initially but a slight strengthening of the breeze towards the end of our fly showed just how finely balanced the configurations can be. Hanging on in a cold breeze is not as good as energetic input to keep the chill at bay. The long range forecast for Nottingham (Shipley Country Park) on 12th-13th January is looking cold but not too wet. Should be fun, 'whatever the weather', of
Felix

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30/12/2012 Blackheath

A short fly today given the strong westerly breeze. Xtra Vent with green race initially but replaced with Strong/4 wrap quite quickly when the initially warming sun disappeared behind clouds rapidly approaching from the west. There were a few breaks in the cloud subsequently but also rain falling from apparently clear blue sky as in the attached image with tentative rainbow. New Years Day promises lighter winds to round off the extra flying time over the holiday period. Now is the time to st
Felix

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26/12/2012 Blackheath

It was bright on the way c10:45am to Blackheath but the high level cloud was approaching from the west. A brisk breeze so xtra vented with green race provided a relaxed configuration. No physical stress beyond dealing with the occasional lulls. Most of the time LE up was fine for holding the hover. Plenty of close improvisation with varaible speeds today. We are just going to have to set about writing a routine including all these interesting serial moves. I'll just have to figure out just
Felix

Felix

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23/12/2012 Blackheath

It was dull and breezy at 10:30am today. Full vented with 4 wrap. Quiet, so I took the opportunity to try the new leaders. I am convinced that shorter adjustment intervals are the way to go but equally sure that sliding knots are not sensible. Ultimately, equalising the lines is the critical element so finding a way to undo and re-tie the end loops will be the best way forwards. A proper line equalising device makes sense here, not that I currently have one. Having on occasions handed a ma
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16/12/2012 Blackheath

A sunny south westerly day, standard 1.5 sails with race rods. Just enough 'forwards' to be able to land on the vertical spar point only and hold the angle without dropping to the leading edge end as well. I forgot to pick up my newly tied 'micro adjusting' <grins> snag-less handles so that will have to wait for another weekend. Four fliers today with some more close, variable speed, improvisation. There are some great moves being 'developed' here especially the serial counter rotations
Felix

Felix

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09/12/2012 Blackheath

The heath is finally returning to pre-Olympic conditions. The last of the temporary fencing has gone. A rising breeze today meant that we soon adopted Xtra vent sails with green race spars. Three fliers indulged in lazy free form flying with some very neat 'treacle' flying moments. Slow rotation in close proximity to other kites in relatively high wind speed requires confidence in co-fliers especially with multi wrapped lines. I was very conscious of 'arms straight down, handles horizontal',
Felix

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02/12/2012 Dunstable

As Fusion had decided to travel south for the day we just had to get to Dunstable in case the opportunity for a Super 16 did occur. We would have been happy to fly 9... We, (a small sub-set of the Decs), arrived a little before 10am. While greeting a slightly puzzled Stephen Hoath in the car park a car did an aerial manoeuvre off the local road, landing on its roof on the embankment. The driver walked away but was very shaken according to those who had run to help. We set up in the bright suns
Felix

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25/11/2012 Blackheath

Complete contrast today to last Sunday with c20mph winds gusting upwards so Xtra Vented kites with 4 wrap frames. Still got to ache after a couple of hours flying though, but maybe it was the wind chill as well. The distraction this weekend was a SLK flier setting up immediately upwind of us tying a large partially inflated sled with noisy line laundry to a lamp post. The kite proceeded to ditch either side of the wind window and then self launch. We re-located 100m to be outside the potential
Felix

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18/11/2012 Blackheath

The predicted ridge of high pressure arrived so it was a sunny day again with very light breezes sometimes dropping away altogether. We flew the Zens and remarked again how effectively they can glide away to make up ground. Some spontaneous parallel flying brought applause from passers by. A police operation involving coach loads of 'football fans' was a distraction today. A dozen or so coaches pulled up in groups and then were escorted away. I did not get around to tying knots during the wee
Felix

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11/11/2012 Blackheath

A sunny Sunday with a steady winter wind from the west, about 4mph would be my guess, slightly less than forecast. Cloudless except for the high level line approaching from the west... 1.5s with race worked fine but I also put up the mid vent with those 'magic white spars'. It was also fine but required even longer armed input to keep up with the full sails, as would be expected. I spotted a fraying top leader at the handle tying point on my current set of lines. It's as well to keep an eye on
Felix

Felix

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04/11/2012 After Yorkshire Sculpture Park event.

We arrived on Saturday to find that Vince and crew had set up the arena and were ready to fly. Thanks very much to you all for having looked after the arrangements. Conditions at the site were not entirely favourable and occasionally on Saturday we had to test the random motion project, essentially to good effect. We did, however, also develop a simple and effective follow-up to the 'windmill'. Thanks to Jacob for having 'interlaced' the fliers at the outset and then calling the move. Saturda
Felix

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28/10/2012 Blackheath

High grey cloud cover today but the rain mostly held off. Full 1.5 sails with race rods worked in the mostly consistent SW breeze. We were only four but looked at the possibility of the leaders benefit/Felix in a circular format and it looks like the 'get-out' that I imagined will actually work. The other kites separate/fly out and the leader flies back around the circle channel defined by the other kites. The double version was interesting with four and we found that we could hit the vertica
Felix

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21/10/2012 Blackheath

A quiet day on Blackheath under low grey clouds with the trees turning colour around the heath. A steady NE breeze with occasional light drops of rain. Standard 1.5 with race or 3 wrap worked fine. Amongst other things face to face 180s was good to rehearse as it is a move that requires confidence as much as anything else. 'Just do it' in the vernacular... We're almost all set up for the event at Yorkshire Sculpture Park the first weekend in November. Anyone looking for overnight accommodation
Felix

Felix

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14/10/2012 Blackheath

It turned out that it was better for me to do Saturday at Frieze so I was able to get to Blackheath today after all. Another light wind day flying directly into the sun. It didn't prevent us from doing lots of close free flying with the CRs and Zens. We occasionally lapsed into formal team flying as and when the breeze was more consistent. Once the afternoon cumulus started to form it became clear how cool the air really was. There were a few extra kites on the heath today but I am not sure
Felix

Felix

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07/10/2012 Blackheath

In contrast to last Sunday, today was at the other end of the spectrum in terms of wind speed with periods of absolute calm. So it was Zens and CR sails. I was flying the CR with 3 wrap most of the time but finally changed to Race Rods which allowed the kite to float on the rising air when the directional flow died away. Sometimes a little extra weight allows for the sail to be thrown around but somehow it did not feel like that today. It was T-shirt temperatures and as is often the case at t
Felix

Felix

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30/09/2012 Blackheath

The Canada Geese have certainly made an impact on our pitch at Blackheath this year. No sight of them in the air today, they were down by the pond, but the evidence was underfoot... The forecast today was for 15mph plus and although it was not quite that at 10:45am we set up Xtra Vents with green race and enjoyed a relaxed fly as the variable breezes strengthened up to and, in the gusts, well above 15mph. Long arm technique and treacle flying were very much in evidence. No gripping muscle fati
Felix

Felix

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23/09/2012 Blackheath

The rain started just before leaving Hackney and was steady during the c15 minute drive to Blackheath. Didn't expect much flying today given the weather forecasts leading up to the weekend. Out on the field the Canada Geese had made their presence felt after a couple of years when they did not impact the site. I wonder what changed? Some good free flying with standard 1.5s with three wrap/green race and extra brake in the steady easterly breeze. Some treacle flying was in evidence which I alwa
Felix

Felix

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