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Dayhiker

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Posts posted by Dayhiker

  1. .....Hint, get more than one set as stacking is a little compulsive...

    Sparky Rob is right. Just returned from the nearest kite store, only 325 miles away. They had some Prism link line sets. I bought eight sets total. Two 23" sets to get the Micron stack up to eight. Three medium sets for fifteen total that will give me enough to stack Nick's three 2 B's if I get the urge. And three 58" sets which will allow me to have a dedicated stack of SLE's. Need to order some bulk bridle line but this was just a pour on the money solution. SHBKF

  2. Welcome to the Revkites forum. Glad to hear you've started flying again. That's a great looking kite in a beautiful setting. Hope you are able to get your wife to fly with you soon. My wife has been an encouragement to my involvement with kites for a long time. When I got my first sport kite we struggled to launch in high wind without realizing we should not even fly that kite in those conditions. With her on the handles & me assisting with the kite she finally got it in the air. Then she handed me the handles & I started to get the hang of it. It was a memorable day. She still reminds me that she taught me to fly that day. Best wishes to you both & let us know how it's going.

    Just out here in the sticks, SHBKF

  3. I flew on 90# x 80' lines exclusively for quite some time. They were the only set I used for my 1.5 SLE & my Rev 1 Sedgwick. I tend to go with the "standard set up" on many things before I venture onward. I did have a heavier set for my Power Blast 2-4 that I had purchased before I even was able to fly the SLE. I did not fly the PB for some time as I was a bit inhibited by the big kite. Despite all the disdain shown for the SLE leading edge I flew the heavy rod for months before trying the three wrap leading edge. Finally I was getting ready to head for the beach & one of my mentors was cautioning me about flying in the summer crowds. He suggested that I might want a short 30' line set to enable me to fly in a smaller uncrowded area like up next to the dunes. Had a spare dualie set of 90# x 65's so I turned a dual set into a quad set of 30's. I had already learned about some issues with 50# lines, snagging damage. The 90# lines did not snag so badly on the hay field weeds. So I arrived at the hot crowded summer beach & flew the thirties for the first time. Love'd em! Small window, fast action. direct connection feel & the kite was much closer. I could see the inputs on the lower tips of the sail clearly. They also aided my learning as I had to concentrate at an even higher level. Later at home, I took the line set to town & did my first Rev urban flying. Flew in the office front yard & had terrific fun landing on the porch roof & atop the neighbor paint store's sign. Great stuff. Power kite lines? I use some lines from a 7 meter fixed bridle foil on my Power Blast 4-8. It needs them.... SHBKF

    • Like 2
  4. usually the speed series kites come with the shorter 11" handles because of how sensitive the kite is to movement. 13" handles will be fine though, that's what I fly mine on. 15"s may be a little harder.

    Spars on the top go straight into the caps, not under the bungee. This gives the leading edge a nice roll on the front side of the sail.

    Thanks for the very useful information. I have recently acquired some of the Speed series kites from the secondary market with no instructions. I may have been assembling them incorrectly as now I am not sure how the bottoms should be done. I am okay on the leading edge connectors. I have been doing the verticals Power Blast style at the bottom of the sail. Will be interesting to see if the Shockwave flies differently with bottom bungees not over the struts . Have not had the Supersonic in the air yet as the light summer air has me flying different kites. Got some extra thirteen inch handles & may saw down a set to elevens. As usual, Know Eye Deer. Just out here in the sticks flailing away. SHBKF

    Edit: In the next post I get confirmation that "I'm good!" 10-4

  5. Acquired a 1997 vintage Revolution 1.5 that will be the middle kite of my now three stack.

    A bit later received a 1995 Revolution 1, a curved logo Revolution Sport Wing.

    Dayhiker +2 (18)

    (This is really getting out of hand it seems.)

    aka SHBKF

    • Like 1
  6. I wish I could come to Dunstable Downs myself. Reading the forum & hearing the invitations extended over the last few years makes me realize it must be one of those special places in kiting. But just as much it's the people & their connection to each other through the sky. Perhaps one day I'll show up with my kite bag & we'll give em all a go.

    Just out here in the sticks, SHBKF

    • Like 1
  7. B2 standard, black, purple with white center

    Supersonic vented, black, gold

    Mesh Masterpiece, 75%, blue, gray, white, #152

    Thanks Joe

    Dayhiker +3 (15)

    And a few days later received an SLE to begin stacking with my first Revolution 1.5 SLE

    SLE 1.5 blue, black, white

    Dayhiker +1 (16)

  8. Yes, the Power Blast 2-4 gets pretty exhilarating in double digit wind. I have not had enough nerve, skill or experience to try my Power Blast 4-8 in anything higher than eight. You can dump power off the trailing edge easily but there are those moments when you get full power & the kite zooms off pulling hard. I can fly the PB 2-4 in a good breeze for about forty-five minutes before I get tired & start making mistakes. The pull is similar to flying a large stack of dualies but you can't really turn off the pull of a dualie stack. As for flying the Big One, the PB 4-8, I have Know Eye Deer how long I fly it as time kind of stands still.... SHBKF

  9. After flying many Revs & expanding my collection all the way to the Power Blast 4-8 I can say with some conviction that I am very glad I started with the 1.5 SLE with 13" handles & 90# x 80' lines. If you want to see my progression of Revs look at the Global Rev count post 2064. That has most of them listed but will be updated when the B2 & Supersonic vented arrive shortly. You'll notice that my second Rev was a Power Blast 2-4. Flew the 1.5 SLE for some time before I had enough nerve to fly the larger sail.

    • Like 1
  10. My home is in a small valley. Most of my four acres is cleared land with scattered trees & our house in the middle with several other out buildings nearby. Not a likely place to fly any kite but my desire to fly at home is strong. The wind is turbulent at best with direction changes the norm. I have found that short line sets make for the best choice even if there is clear space to use longer. With dualies I do the best with a five meter set which is not what I initially suspected. Ten meter lines are usable but very difficult. What I discovered was that I could side step & deal with wind direction shifts more easily when my wind window was smaller. Longer lines definitely make it harder to achieve a new angle of flight to keep up with wind shifts. Things happen more quickly with short line sets but you can make corrections faster too. Kites that some judge as too twitchy can work to your advantage if the wind is fickle. Also I was unable to fly a 1.5 Revolution kite in my yard until I made a set of magic sticks & switched to a 2 wrap frame set. My short thirty foot line set is now usable flying around the house. It allowed me to land often without ground recovery space becoming an issue & increased my ability to glide a bit more. Next I will make a five meter quad line set. That should be quite entertaining as well. But if I were just starting out again it still would have taken me some time to get this far. SHBKF

  11. I actually selected the Power Blast 2-4 as my second Rev thinking that it would have desirable light wind capabilities in addition to it's obvious traits. It does well in lighter winds but the skill to exploit it comes after more experience than I anticipated. When I received the kite I still had not successfully flown my 1.5 SLE. I had only had one brief session of about an hour but knew I was going to persist in my efforts. I did not fly the big kite until I had gotten to the point where I could fly the 1.5 without major brain strain. The call of the Dark Side was strong. Little did I know that it would eventually lead to extensive selection of these fine kites. I continue to flail away.....

    Know Eye Deer, SHBKF

    • Like 2
  12. There is no doubt that the Power Series Revolution kites have some great assets. In the gusty mountain winds here in the Blue Ridge the ability to be able to fly to the side of the window & hover until the gust passes is invaluable. I can usually hear the gusts coming through the trees behind me. It is also very easy to instantly depower the sail without any special movements or thought. The ability to fly backward & slide in any direction allows the kite to be easily positioned anywhere in the window. And they are fast. SHBKF

  13. Previously listed, in order of acquisition

    Rev 1.5 SLE, black blue white, a gift
    Rev Power Blast 2-4, blue white mylar, a gift
    Rev 1 Sedgwick, Cool, turquoise blue lavender black
    Rev 1.5 B mid-vent, blue gray
    Rev Blast, red white blue mylar
    Rev 1.5 B, blue gray
    Rev Zen, left side blues on white, right side black & grays on white (the Dark Side) OPK from Kris
    Rev Power Blast 2-4, red white black, OPK from Nick
    Rev Power Blast 4-8, blue white mylar, a gift

    Rev 20th Anniversary 1.5, blue white gray with autographs, OPK from Nick

    Rev Shockwave, dark turquoise black mylar, OPK from Allen

    Rev 1.5 B full-vent, black blue with black center - The Dark One from the Dark Side

    Dayhiker - +1(12)

    Okay, now maybe I can slow down & fly for a bit. I never thought I would ever have or need twelve high quality kites, let alone a sub-group of Revolution kites. But there are just a few more in mind.....SHBKF

  14. Interesting to hear the Shockwave end of production rumor from a prominent Revolution dealer. Makes me all the more glad that I was recently able to acquire one. Power & speed have always attracted me. Even just the name of the kite got my attention early on. I had waited until I had more quad line experience to get the fast Speed Series kite. For once in my life I did not wait a bit too long.

  15. Previously listed, in order of acquisition

    Rev 1.5 SLE, black blue white, a gift
    Rev Power Blast 2-4, blue white mylar, a gift
    Rev 1 Sedgwick, Cool, turquoise blue lavender black
    Rev 1.5 B mid-vent, blue gray
    Rev Blast, red white blue mylar
    Rev 1.5 B, blue gray
    Rev Zen, left side blues on white, right side black & grays on white (the Dark Side) OPK from Kris
    Rev Power Blast 2-4, red white black, OPK from Nick
    Rev Power Blast 4-8, blue white mylar, a gift

    Rev 20th Anniversary 1.5, blue white gray with autographs, OPK from Nick

    not a kite but - Rev roll-up kite bag, finally got one for Christmas but now have more Revs than will fit comfortably.

    acquired on Valentine's Day 2/14/2015

    Rev Shockwave, dark turquoise black mylar, OPK from Allen

    Dayhiker - +1(11)

    Just one more & I'll have a pretty good collection. A little over two years ago I thought Revs were too expensive & maybe I would get just one.... SHBKF

    • Like 2
  16. Here's one of the videos that comes to mind. It helped convince me I needed one of these kites. After I got mine I realized how well this flier is doing. The monster Rev PB 4-8 is a very different kite to fly. It has a bit of oversteer to contend with when compared with smaller Revs. I am sure more time in the air would produce even better results. Back in the day Rev 1's were listed as kites to consider for buggy engines on some of the old fax newsletters I have read. Today the Power Blast 2-4 is considered a good choice for Rev power. There are stack fliers using Revs as buggy engines but not many that I have heard of personally. Others will have more knowledge for sure. SHBKF

    • Like 1
  17. In my early quad experience I first learned to back the kite down from high in the window & land it slowly. But this was a four line foil two years ago. I also learned you could steer the foil by using the brake lines. Pulling the left bottom line, the brake, turned the kite left. Pull right bottom line, turn right. Now this was important to me as I was very two line oriented at the time. So a couple months later I got a Rev 1.5 SLE & had a bit of a rough, but maybe typical start. Launch, climb to fifteen feet, spin, crash, repeat. That describes my first session. Second session was launch, climb to thirty feet, then veer off to the right & crash. Seemed like so much was happening that I could not get my mind to react correctly but at least I wasn't spinning. Third session I thought I would keep my hands together & just fly around by turning with the brakes. Ah ha! now I could at least cruise around the wind window with sweeping turns by braking carefully with the bottom lines, left brake, left turn, right brake, right turn. It was a start of a great journey. Much more was to follow but at least I could keep the complex Sportwing in the air, well most of the time. And now, almost two years later, I had some more Ah Ha! moments this past Sunday. Best flying to date. And again, brakes were the key.

  18. A stall, a maneuver, a recovery, all intentional. If it is all repeatable, then I would say it is a trick. But maybe that's a dualie viewpoint. If there is no current name used maybe you should name it yourself. Up over to down under or something like that....

    • Like 1
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