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goestoeleven

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Posts posted by goestoeleven

  1. Say it ain't so . . . .

    Ben - Best of luck to you. You have been a great asset to Revolution and an inspiration to me as a Rev flyer. I hope to see you on a flying field in the future, and I'm sure every festival would be happy to save a corner for you (or we'll make one!).

    • Like 1
  2. Thank you all for your support, and THANK YOU BEN AND REVOLUTION! I am very excited to have the opportunity to support Rev and do my best to create some more "rev-addicts" out there. As the newest 180Go! member, I want to thank the team for welcoming me and mentoring me over the last year - and Mike K. for granting me a spot on the team just over a year ago.

    We have HUGE footsteps to follow with iQuad and everything they have done over the years to support Revolution and spread the word. John and iQuad have always made me feel welcome and have taught me tons - both directly and just from watching them "do their thing," and I will miss seeing them flying together.

    I look forward to flying with all of you soon!

  3. Just a note for any newer pilots that are thinking of joining the event - I recently was on the FB posting for the event, and David K posted a diagram of the kite & pilot positions that do not require any inverted hovering. Take a look at the FB event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/414867438580073/ and I think the diagram is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way down (as I write this today).

    • Like 2
  4. Very nice work. It was a bit large to fit on my monitor, but I could get a sense for how the super grid will work with 100. I have flown the grid before, so I'm glad for the refresher.

    A thought for the rehearsals and attempt. The leaders/captains of each column should put some thought into the skill levels of the various flyers in their column and think about position of each flyer in the grid, especially for the concentric rings and where each flyer will end up in the ring. Experienced flyers will probably not have a problem hovering in "unusual" attitudes or positions in the window, but there are some positions that may be challenging or outside the normal experience. In particular, I'm thinking about the position of a hover in the ring and the position of the flyer relative to the wind window. Here's what's going through my head. Let's say you are OK with flying the upper left corner of a ring, which puts your kite into the upper left side of the wind window, while hovering left wing low, right wing high if you are facing out. In the 100 grid, if your column is on the far left and you are at the upper left corner, then you'll still be required to hover left wing low, right wing high - but now it will be hovering high on the right side of your wind window, which is a somewhat unusual position in normal group flying if you were in a ring. Perhaps minor, but when thinking about each column, I think the captains (and each pilot) need to make sure each flyer is in the right position for both "normal" and unusual situations for their abilities and the wind window.

    My two cents. Worth what you paid for it. I'm probably over-thinking this thing. Be better once I'm out there flying. Hope the porta-potties are closer this year. My best piece of advice to first timers - go to the porta potties before the rehearsals and/or attempts start . . . . other than that, relax and have fun!

    P.S. - If you are newer, and only have time to learn one thing, learn to hover well vertically (facing both left and right). I find it's generally an easier position to hold for newer flyers in varying wind conditions than either right side up or upside down. Plus, with the big grid, left and right threads are common, and there are positions for you to fly (even in the rings) that will only have a vertical hover, so we'll find a spot for you. I was you in 2011 - less than one year flying at that point, and I joined the grid (not that I'm that much better now). John even made fun of me for not going to the porta pottie first.

    • Like 3
  5. May you have a Happy Birthday, and many more!

    You probably don't remember me as we've only met a couple times in the past. Thanks for all you do for Revolution and this wonderful rev-community! Hope to see you later this year at WSIKF or maybe sooner if you are at Grand Haven in 2013.

  6. You'll just be looking at your kite and the kites right around you.

    Except when you get distracted and forget which one is yours . . . ooooh . . . . look at all the pretty kites . . . . Happened to me this year at TI when we had about 17 revs just doing follows and pez and other random stuff . . . . "hey, what are those kites at the other end doing and they should join or get out of the way" followed by "hey, who is the idiot messing up the line" . . . followed by "oops, that would be me." Don't worry, have fun. You will have fun. Hang out, fly revs. Join the big groups. It's all good. No, seriously, it is really all good.

    Actually, it's probably easier to focus when you are brand new as you are so worried about messing up that you really pay attention to your own kite, plus you've been flying all day without taking a bio break . . . so you are more "focused" as a result. And the rest of us don't care if you mess up - we've all been there and will be there again.

    Keep flying, have fun. See you at WSIKF!

    • Like 1
  7. Major sign of complete addiction - the "don't tell the wife" trick!! Hope they're all the same color combo, so she can't tell the difference between models!! ani_giveup.gifani_wallbash.gif

    Yep, and other tricks like shipping kites to work or to a friend's house . . . or saying that it's not new, it was out for a repair.

    Actually, I find it's much easier if my wife knows before the long skinny box arrives on the front step. My "office" is now at home . . . at least until I get some work related issues resolved. That tends to put a damper on the kite buying activities, and an increase in kite selling activities . . . .

  8. Welcome to the forum!

    Personally, I think you made a good choice. The EXP is the same size and shape as the standard 1.5, so the flying experience will be very similar to what you would get with a standard 1.5. The biggest differences are in the materials used and the panels in the construction of the kite. However, for a beginner, the flight characteristics will be similar. I've been flying revs for about 2 1/2 years, and still fly my EXP frequently as it is one of my primary "full sail" kites. I'd love to have a B-Pro because the construction on those custom kites is very, very nice, but I still get lots and lots of enjoyment from my EXP.

    Like any sport, you can certainly buy higher end equipment, but until you reach a certain skill level, you won't be able to appreciate the subtle differences in a higher end kite. Tuning the flight characteristics by adding "brake" to the leaders on the handles will make a bigger difference to your flying now than whether you are flying an EXP, a standard 1.5, B-series, or Pro. There are some threads on the forum about tuning the handle leaders - it's very easy to add some longer, adjustable leaders to your existing handles. Also, IMHO, at this point in your flying, different kites for different wind conditions (i.e. a vented kite for higher winds) will have a bigger impact on your experience than whether your "full sail" is a standard or an EXP. Careful though, flying revs is very addictive . . . and you'll probably end up with more than one kite. I did . . . and I can't really talk about it . . . because then I'd have to admit that I have a problem ;-)

    Learning and flying time will make a bigger difference right now than which Revolution kite you buy. Watch the videos, go out and fly so that you get some practice, and you'll find the EXP to be perfectly enjoyable. Don't get frustrated by the learning experience - and connect with some experienced fliers (even if you have to go to the Netherlands) to learn from them. If you are like me though, once you start flying, you'll probably want to start saving for your next kite now, because you are going to end up with some more revs ;-)

  9. Been away from the thread for a while . . . .

    What if we use two fields to muster instead of just the one performance field? Launch fifty on each field, and then have the fliers on the second field walk backwards to join the first fifty on the performance field. I know it goes against competition rules to walk onto the field with your kite in the air, but this isn't a competition. Then there's less total unwinding and winding time required as twice as many fliers can be launching in twice the space, and many can stage their kites with lines unwound on the second field. As long as the ropes between the fields can be (temporarily) lowered, and as long as the fliers can walk backwards with their kite in the air, this would double the space available for launching. In 2011, rev fliers pretty much took over two of the fields anyway, IIRC. As long as there is no scheduled competition or other event on the second field, I'd think this should be possible.

  10. Merry Christmas to Ben & everyone! I want to say thanks to all for your friendship, advice, and flying time. For me, every time I get to fly my revs is like Christmas day (ok, that sounds hokey), but it's pretty much true. It's hard for me not to have a smile on my face when I get some flight time. So, to all my friends (and future friends) out there in rev-land, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year. May 2013 bring you good health, sunny skies friends to fly with, and good wind.

    Ben - to you - thanks for all you do to promote Revs and kite flying everywhere you go. I've only met you a couple times, so I hope to see you out and about again this year so I can meet you again! Good health!

  11. i picked up a zen, 2 masterpiece, a b series and the 2-4 what a blast that is (no pun intended)

    Welcome! Flying these is a LOT of fun, especially with other people.

    Reading your quote, I used to think I jumped in deep to the dark side, but this is a whole different level. I think it took me a year to get to five revs . . . . none masterpiece (yet).

  12. The length of it would make it pretty good for sand, I imagine. I'm currently in Antarctica and there is simply no soil. It's ice I can't get a stake into or rocks. I use a "sand anchor" (or snow anchor) and put a stone in the pouch. It works OK but not great. I have to MacGyver a better hook to keep the handles from getting tangled. Ideas?

    Pictures please! Add them to the "flying your rev in famous places" thread. I'm pretty sure there are no other shots of Revs in Antarctica.

    Could you sew a velcro loop onto the anchor bag, and then loop that around the ends of the handles? You can get velcro at your local Walmart . . . oh wait wink.gif

    Just kidding. Got a carabiner? I sometimes clip the handles to my kite bag with a carabiner if I don't have a stake handy. If there's a handle on the anchor, you can clip the carabiner to that.

  13. At first I was all:

    post-3588-13552814297897_thumb.jpg

    Then I was like:

    post-3588-13552813711005_thumb.jpg

    Kite stake!

    I made that one for fun with a 4 inch stone marble ball, and 1/2 inch diameter steel rod. I've since modified the rod by having a friend weld a ring to it so that I can use it to stake off my big SLKs. The marble isn't actually attached so that I can use a big hammer to pound the stake into the ground.

  14. I'm liking this discussion. I like the idea of sticking with a team for most of the week for several reasons that you've already mentioned. The participants learn to anticipate the caller, and the caller learns who can fly which positions for moves like the ball that require inverted hovers, etc.

    What do you think of five super teams of twenty, rather than four of twenty five? Twenty might be more manageable as it can split again into two lines of ten. The challenge for a designated caller to yell down the line (all week) for a group of twenty five might be a bit much. With twenty, you can split into two groups of ten with two leaders, or even into four groups of five with four callers (or five groups of four) to work on individual skills. While 25 goes easily into 100, it can't be divided evenly in half, and you'd need five callers if you wanted to split into evenly sized sub-groups from 25.

    If you have several "lead" callers, then they can work together to build a composite routine, and you can have every 10th or every 5th person calling the same routine, so the lead caller doesn't have to yell down the whole line. I'm assuming that radios will be used by some callers and participants, but with 100 fliers, it's certain that a fair number of the pilots without radios will be a long way down the line from the leader if it's a group of 25.

    Oh yeah . . . I'm planning to be at WSIKF 2013. Tickets will be booked shortly . . . . smile.gif

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