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Does this count for anything?


bartman

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This is the first time I have been able to get out with the kite since the "clarity weekend". Fairly steady, but gusty (of course) wind that changed direction a lot. Basically, what it always is if it is. I was out for about four hours. One of them spent with the "new guy" which I will go into later.

I flew until my arms, neck and shoulders hurt and I probably have a sunburn on my face.

I used both the vented and standard sails switching around as the wind did its thing, but mostly used the vented. The wind would sit right in the middle. Too strong for the std sail and not strong enough for the vented at times. Is this where those race rods will really come in handy? I'm still not good at wind speed that are too strong, too weak or bouncing around a lot.

I didn't see much progress in myself for the first while, but for the last hour I was able to manage some consistant things 75% of the attempts to do so.

- Inverted launch. I can get it off the ground, but it turns over at about 5 feet up except for about 4 attempts where I was able to back it up to about 20 or 25 feet before it would turn over. I have never got this far with it inverted before. It was rather unstable and tended to rock back and forth a bit, but it went up.

- Inverted hover. Generally, can't do it. Try and try and can't do it. Today I tried straight to the top and turned it over while walking slowly forward. It came down much nicer and pretty stable. At about 30 feet up I attempted to brake as well as slowly come to a stop with the walking. Most times it would turn over at this point, but a number of attempts I was able to hold it inverted at the 25 foot mark, just not keep it stationary. It had a lot of rocking motion and tried to walk around the sky a bit, but at least it was upside down and not on a collision course with the ground. I could gently put it LE first into the ground, but not able to maintain any kind of alltitude below 20 feet o so even in a rocking state.

So, I counted today as progress and if I think about now I see this:

- the rocking is overcontrol

- the roll overs are overcontrol

- low level hovering may be poor wind at ground level as pretty much everything suffered at less than 15 or 20 feet, although I could usually get enough on the ground to slide it across the grass or roll it over. Took a lot of pulling handles in though.

- Inverted flight really screws with my head. I bring my thumbs back when I really want to put them forward then make some nasty bumps into the ground.

- I had a lot wing wraps to correct today. I normally do not get them, but all this inverted stuff has brought way more of them on. I used to crash when this happened, but am getting better at recovering. All these wraps tell me, yet again, I AM OVERCONTROLLING this kite.

- I seem to fly with my hands up by my head instead of a more relaxed waist level position. Makes for a very sore neck and shoulders after that much time. When I made an effort to control from waist level things usually went better.

Now, the new guy. Today he took the controls and I watched many nasty collisions with the ground. Eventually that evened out for a bit and he got some basic up/down going and some sinking left and right turns. I had forgot just how many times I had crashed my Rev 1 at first. I had to learn on my own so it took many days for me to even keep it in the sky for a very short time. Comparing what I can do now to a total beginner I can see that I have made progress. I don't think he figured he managed a whole lot. I'm not really good at teaching it since it is a bit like the blind leading the blind and I think an hour at a time is better to get the basics. Towards the end there were more crashes again as he was trying to put the different handle positions into something that kept the kite in the air longer. I asked if he had fun and he said yes. Also told me that he should buy one to take with him to the Dominican Republic for two weeks in January. I then killed him with the kite stake. Now I will need a new one for sure.

Kidding aside. I could see his improvement over the hour. He figures I have incredible control of the kite and wishes he could do what I am doing. I guess it is all relative.

Tons of people slowing down in their cars today as they went by. Usually about the time I would plant it into the ground!

What a crappy time of year for some of this to start working itself out. Each nice day now is a bonus day before the snow flies and it gets too cold for this. I actually enjoyed the flying even when it was just me. It helped that some things worked out or the frustration level might have got too high. Question is, if I can go out again in a week, will my mind and muscles remember? Will it sink it a bit more between now and then? And, most important, did my flying today count for anything??

Bart

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It counted! In many ways. You'll get over the frustration and do it again and even better.

You say overcontrol? Is your kite reversing out of control? That's pretty much overcontrol in my book, or a reverse wing flip.

If the kite is going forward and crashing... you need to have more over control. Rotate your thumbs down till it stops or gos backwards. So I'm curious which it is.

If people spin out of control, they are either pushing or pulling to much on one handle... cure: Put both hands close together and push your thrumbs down.

This is going to stop it no matter what it is doing.. Unless it's in free fall. If it goes backwards out of control.. that's overcontrol.. Don't let go.. just give it a little less pressure.

If you are reverseing 5 ft up that's great. We didn't do that our first summer.

Now to make it go up higher.. Cure: Find that stable point with your handles that you used to get up 5 ft and keep it.. then step back to go up.. Walk your body back... Smooth direction and lift.

That inverted hover takes a lot of practice. The Rev I is great, but you might like to try a lighter kite.. 1.5. I love the Rev I.. and it's a good learning tool. But more work.

Sounds like you did excellent in ugly winds. Your going to amaze yourself if you ever get clean wind.

You might try practicing your ups and downs a few times to keep your hands lower. Handles waist high is "home position". When you launch.. look for your handles to be no higher then in front of your eyes.. that way you can see them, and practice keeping them no higher then shoulder high. Land it, take off again.. land it..take off, come down, don't touch and go back up. You'll practice keeping your hands down, speed control, and brakes.

Next year you'll be flying with IQuad. Have fun. BB Penny

This is the first time I have been able to get out with the kite since the "clarity weekend". Fairly steady, but gusty (of course) wind that changed direction a lot. Basically, what it always is if it is. I was out for about four hours. One of them spent with the "new guy" which I will go into later.

I flew until my arms, neck and shoulders hurt and I probably have a sunburn on my face.

I used both the vented and standard sails switching around as the wind did its thing, but mostly used the vented. The wind would sit right in the middle. Too strong for the std sail and not strong enough for the vented at times. Is this where those race rods will really come in handy? I'm still not good at wind speed that are too strong, too weak or bouncing around a lot.

I didn't see much progress in myself for the first while, but for the last hour I was able to manage some consistant things 75% of the attempts to do so.

- Inverted launch. I can get it off the ground, but it turns over at about 5 feet up except for about 4 attempts where I was able to back it up to about 20 or 25 feet before it would turn over. I have never got this far with it inverted before. It was rather unstable and tended to rock back and forth a bit, but it went up.

- Inverted hover. Generally, can't do it. Try and try and can't do it. Today I tried straight to the top and turned it over while walking slowly forward. It came down much nicer and pretty stable. At about 30 feet up I attempted to brake as well as slowly come to a stop with the walking. Most times it would turn over at this point, but a number of attempts I was able to hold it inverted at the 25 foot mark, just not keep it stationary. It had a lot of rocking motion and tried to walk around the sky a bit, but at least it was upside down and not on a collision course with the ground. I could gently put it LE first into the ground, but not able to maintain any kind of alltitude below 20 feet o so even in a rocking state.

So, I counted today as progress and if I think about now I see this:

- the rocking is overcontrol

- the roll overs are overcontrol

- low level hovering may be poor wind at ground level as pretty much everything suffered at less than 15 or 20 feet, although I could usually get enough on the ground to slide it across the grass or roll it over. Took a lot of pulling handles in though.

- Inverted flight really screws with my head. I bring my thumbs back when I really want to put them forward then make some nasty bumps into the ground.

- I had a lot wing wraps to correct today. I normally do not get them, but all this inverted stuff has brought way more of them on. I used to crash when this happened, but am getting better at recovering. All these wraps tell me, yet again, I AM OVERCONTROLLING this kite.

- I seem to fly with my hands up by my head instead of a more relaxed waist level position. Makes for a very sore neck and shoulders after that much time. When I made an effort to control from waist level things usually went better.

Now, the new guy. Today he took the controls and I watched many nasty collisions with the ground. Eventually that evened out for a bit and he got some basic up/down going and some sinking left and right turns. I had forgot just how many times I had crashed my Rev 1 at first. I had to learn on my own so it took many days for me to even keep it in the sky for a very short time. Comparing what I can do now to a total beginner I can see that I have made progress. I don't think he figured he managed a whole lot. I'm not really good at teaching it since it is a bit like the blind leading the blind and I think an hour at a time is better to get the basics. Towards the end there were more crashes again as he was trying to put the different handle positions into something that kept the kite in the air longer. I asked if he had fun and he said yes. Also told me that he should buy one to take with him to the Dominican Republic for two weeks in January. I then killed him with the kite stake. Now I will need a new one for sure.

Kidding aside. I could see his improvement over the hour. He figures I have incredible control of the kite and wishes he could do what I am doing. I guess it is all relative.

Tons of people slowing down in their cars today as they went by. Usually about the time I would plant it into the ground!

What a crappy time of year for some of this to start working itself out. Each nice day now is a bonus day before the snow flies and it gets too cold for this. I actually enjoyed the flying even when it was just me. It helped that some things worked out or the frustration level might have got too high. Question is, if I can go out again in a week, will my mind and muscles remember? Will it sink it a bit more between now and then? And, most important, did my flying today count for anything??

Bart

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I'm sure its on the forum somewhere but looking takes forever I get distracted and ... Anyway I,m sorta in the same boat as Bartman "reverse problems" could anyone tell me about line length, I have 60' and 100' sets on a B the 100's give more reaction time but I like the 60's does line length make lots of difference for learning?

Cowboy.

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You say overcontrol? Is your kite reversing out of control? That's pretty much overcontrol in my book, or a reverse wing flip.

If the kite is going forward and crashing... you need to have more over control. Rotate your thumbs down till it stops or gos backwards. So I'm curious which it is.

If people spin out of control, they are either pushing or pulling to much on one handle... cure: Put both hands close together and push your thrumbs down.

I call it overcontrol because as I back it up either the wing wants to flip or the kite wants to "right" itself. I think both are indicators that I am giving it too much input. I do not feel it is that much, but a little goes a long way as it were. I crash it when inverted because I end up pulling thumbs back for forward drive. Just happens that forward is now pointing down so it is a hard bump to the ground. No so much a crash and burn as I can immediately re-launch, just not something I want to continue to do.

My new friend had a lot of out of control spins that made me dizzy. About 15 wraps at one point until it came down. I know all about those and could help him get that corrected a bit in the first "lesson". It was down to 3 or 4 by the end which was a little more manageable.

The Rev I is great, but you might like to try a lighter kite.. 1.5. I love the Rev I.. and it's a good learning tool. But more work.

Just to clarify. I have a B-Series. I used to have a Rev I which was WAY different. In some ways the Rev I was good because it was big and slow by comparison. So, I am using both a vented and a standard B-Series and just swapping them back and forth depending on what the wind is doing.

Next year you'll be flying with IQuad. Have fun. BB Penny

Maybe they will let me pick up after them!

Cowboy - I had 90 foot lines on my Rev I and I'm using 100 foot on the new ones. I'll be getting a 120' set as well. I think the short lines make for more response as you do not have as much lag time in the line, but as you have already noticed, he longer lines make for more reaction time when something goes wrong. IMHO.

Bart

P.S. As I sit here tonight playing on the computer my arms feel like they are being tugged by the kite still. Very weird sensation. Perhaps it is the body programming them?! Or, it may be just that I will be very sore tomorrow!

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You sound like I was about a month ago before I went to a iQuad clinic. I am still a blushing beginner, but it is getting easier every time I go out to fly. Yes, every minute with the rev does count, and you will have many more "click" moments to come. I am willing to bet if John B and iQuad was to produce and market a instructional DVD, through Revolution Enterprises, and made sure every kite shop selling Revs had the DVD as well, it would sell like mad. It should have individual chapters that can be accessed through the DVD player covering setup, basic control, light wind techniques, hovers, etc. etc, etc...... John has a way of explaining it all to make something as complex as the rev can be to fly, seem simple after a few tries. You will find the more you fly, the more in tune with the kite you will become. It is all a very complex correlation between the feel in the handles, seeing the kite and what it is doing at that instant, feeling the wind on your skin and the wind at the kite through the handles, and being able to provide the inputs at the handles at the right time, to have the kite do your bidding.

I absolutely agree, inland flying is very challenging. The constantly changing conditions will be a frustration for a while. The best place you could find inland would be a grass covered hill, away from large trees and buildings, and hopefully higher than the surrounding terrain. Failing that, do you know of someone with large treeless acreage? With some luck, maybe plan a future vacation at some type of beach near a large body of water, even a large lake would do! When you do find steady wind, all that hard work in the nasty swirlies will all pay off, and you could have your best day ever with your rev.

It is far better to keep your hands down low, it makes far better form, it is mechanically advantageous, and is easier to make and repeat the same movement. Try this exercise. Hold your hands at shoulder height, and try to make a smooth pull and end up with your hands behind your head. Do this a few times times and you will wear your self out and you will find it cannot be done without jerky movements. Now hold your hands in front of you at waist level, and make a smooth pull until you hands are behind you. You can do this smoothly with out herky-jerky movements, and doing it repeatedly will wear on you a lot less. Now for the best part, you will look a lot cooler, feel more relaxed, and fly with more precision with practice.

Try this the next time you go out to fly and the winds are very light, 5mph or less. In winds this light, use the 2 wraps that came with your B, the lighter the better. Start with the kite on the ground, leading edge up. Step back so your arms are outstretched, and your thumbs at the top of the handles and pointing toward each other, or slightly up wards. Be ready to make repeated steps back, (have room behind you!) and you are now in launch ready position. Step back and pull both hands toward your chest, like you are trying to stab yourself in the sternum with your thumbs. Continue to step back, repeatedly "pumping" your hands and arms, and "stabbing" yourself as the kite is lofted up. If the kite starts to turn, correct it so it continues upward. As you get the kite about 30 to 40 ft up, power turn the kite to inverted, keeping the tension on the lines. Once the kite is inverted, go ALL the way thumbs forward, like you are trying to reverse the kite. The kite will flatten out, leading edge facing away from you. Now you can walk forward and the kite will fly away from you without loosing very much altitude. The faster you go, the more stable the kite will be. You can actually run, and move downwind to another place of the flying field. You can control which direction the kite heads by pulling one handle or the other back. When the kite is about 10 feet off the ground, stop walking forward, power turn (pulling on the handles to make the lines tight) the kite upright, and pump the kite back up again. What you have done is walked back-wards while gaining altitude, and walked forward while losing altitude with control. That is the biggest thing to learn here, it applies to rev flying in almost all wind conditions. This is great exercise, will wear you out, and the more you do it the more in tune you will get with your kite. You will have moments when the lines will get slack and the kite will fall out of the sky, resulting in "the walk of shame", but with practice this will happen less and less. You may have to do this a zillion times, but it will click and you will find yourself trying to do more than just pumping it up, and floating it away.

I hope all this helps!

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RS67Man - Yeah, I do have to get my hands lower. I totally agree and until today I didn't even really notice that I kept them too high. Probably because until today I would get frustrated after just an hour and pack it in so didn't feel the muscles like I am today with three hours of it.

I don't mind the walk of shame. I'm the only one out there most of the time so it is what it is. I do half as many as I did last year so an improvement. It is the wind that gets to me the most. Constant shifting direction, up, down, gale force, nothing. Unfortunately, your good suggestions for finding cleaner wind just don't exist here except for a couple weeks a year when a field is cut to make room for the kite festival. Even with that it is bloody dangerous with holes everywhere to step in. Best spot is the high school football field where there are less trees and buildings, but still enough to create turbulance, just not as much as other places.

Anything low to the ground may just not be possible for me at this time due to lack of experience with the low level wind. I may have to continue to aim for the 20 foot range and just keep trying to move it lower and lower. If I wait for a beach vacation there will be even less flying.

Bart

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I think it is easier to learn to fly with the standard or B handles with either the equal pigtails or with the top one slightly longer. This gives you the situation where when you rotate your wrists, thumbs back with a LE up launch, in a sesnsible wind the kite launches itself.

My "EUREKA" moment was when I made up some longer top leaders, a good couple of inches longer then the B ones. I found it was more difficult to launce, needing that quick pump to the chest thumbs back, and often a step back. However once I spent an hour getting used to it. Things started to fall into place. I can do a reasonable inverted hover. Can also now do flick flacks, and the kite is just more "biddable" if that makes sense.

Oh, and you are doing FANTASTIC by the way. I have been flying for YEARS, wellgetting on onwards of 2 now I suppose, and it wasnt till just B4 the Portsmouth festival that inverted started to make sense.

If you manage to get to fly in costal wind you will find you are MUCH better than you think you are.

Keep on keeping on my brother. You have the bug, just give in and accept it. At least you have company. I am still flying on my own. Lets me get in the zone, where notheng else matters.

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Sounds to me like you are absolutely on the right track - making mistakes, analyzing them, and going back to try again. I know exactly what you mean about 'over control'. Whether that is what is should be called is not really important, if the concept you are think of helps you learn then it is useful what ever it is called. This rev thing is all about a sensitivity of touch and that takes time to come - I guess that is what you are thinking off.

So long as you are enjoying yourself then every hour spent flying is an hour well spent.

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I call it overcontrol because as I back it up either the wing wants to flip or the kite wants to "right" itself. I think both are indicators that I am giving it too much input. I do not feel it is that much, but a little goes a long way as it were. I crash it when inverted because I end up pulling thumbs back for forward drive. Just happens that forward is now pointing down so it is a hard bump to the ground. No so much a crash and burn as I can immediately re-launch, just not something I want to continue to do. ** Aww, then it is overcontrol. That will get better with practice. Moving your body instead of your hands will get you there quicker. You can work on using your handles more later, but it's the combination that will give you a clean reverse up. Watch the masters, the best move their body.

My new friend had a lot of out of control spins that made me dizzy. About 15 wraps at one point until it came down. I know all about those and could help him get that corrected a bit in the first "lesson". It was down to 3 or 4 by the end which was a little more manageable. ** This can be down to 0. Hands touching, thumbs down.. it's going to stop.

Just to clarify. I have a B-Series. I used to have a Rev I which was WAY different. In some ways the Rev I was good because it was big and slow by comparison. So, I am using both a vented and a standard B-Series and just swapping them back and forth depending on what the wind is doing. ** Nice.. mix of kites.

Maybe they will let me pick up after them! ** I'm sure they'd let you carry thier gear now. :)

Cowboy - I had 90 foot lines on my Rev I and I'm using 100 foot on the new ones. I'll be getting a 120' set as well. I think the short lines make for more response as you do not have as much lag time in the line, but as you have already noticed, he longer lines make for more reaction time when something goes wrong. IMHO.

Bart

P.S. As I sit here tonight playing on the computer my arms feel like they are being tugged by the kite still. Very weird sensation. Perhaps it is the body programming them?! Or, it may be just that I will be very sore tomorrow!

** Don't forget to stretch.. if your young it won't matter so much.. If your older, you can tiny tear those tendons near your elbow if you're stiff. BB Penny
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Stretching would be a good idea. I thought I would hurt a lot more than what I do today. Mostly in the neck today. The kite has given me a pain in the neck.

I've been thinking about the control. When the kite is upright I can back it down ever so gently right to the ground. I've never actually tried to hover it upright near the ground. If I can do that then the wind must be there and it should work inverted just as well not? So what makes it so touchy inverted that a little too much control flips the wing, rolls the kite around or rocks it back and forth? Why does reverse seem to have control inputs measured in 1/8ths of an inch, but forward can be more forgiving? It has been said before and logically it has to be true that the kite would be most stable inverted with the bulk of the weight on the bottom. Why does it take so much effort to get to that stability balance? Inverted would be the natural state and flying upright should be the killed to get. Always this is not the case with any thread I've read. Inverted is the pain.

I can hover at any angle as long as the LE points at least partially upward or left or right. The second is rolls past that 180 degree arc there are are problems.

I have never seen iQuad have to do any major backward walking to get a reverse launch. I have seen them move around when the wind is low, but not for basic launches. I have been trying to walk back and forth more and found it has helped with coming in upside down to control the speed and keep the kite more stable. Can't stop on the dime and hover it though without it rolling over immediately.

Bart

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Stretching would be a good idea. I thought I would hurt a lot more than what I do today. Mostly in the neck today. The kite has given me a pain in the neck.

I've been thinking about the control. When the kite is upright I can back it down ever so gently right to the ground. I've never actually tried to hover it upright near the ground. If I can do that then the wind must be there and it should work inverted just as well not? So what makes it so touchy inverted that a little too much control flips the wing, rolls the kite around or rocks it back and forth? Why does reverse seem to have control inputs measured in 1/8ths of an inch, but forward can be more forgiving? It has been said before and logically it has to be true that the kite would be most stable inverted with the bulk of the weight on the bottom. Why does it take so much effort to get to that stability balance? Inverted would be the natural state and flying upright should be the killed to get. Always this is not the case with any thread I've read. Inverted is the pain.

I can hover at any angle as long as the LE points at least partially upward or left or right. The second is rolls past that 180 degree arc there are are problems.

I have never seen iQuad have to do any major backward walking to get a reverse launch. I have seen them move around when the wind is low, but not for basic launches. I have been trying to walk back and forth more and found it has helped with coming in upside down to control the speed and keep the kite more stable. Can't stop on the dime and hover it though without it rolling over immediately.

Bart

Hi Bart,

You are asking all the questions which suggest that you are learning fast.

Keep at it and enjoy. Reverse is sensitive compared to forward... OK

Best wishes

Felix

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I've been thinking about the control. When the kite is upright I can back it down ever so gently right to the ground. I've never actually tried to hover it upright near the ground. If I can do that then the wind must be there and it should work inverted just as well not? So what makes it so touchy inverted that a little too much control flips the wing, rolls the kite around or rocks it back and forth? Why does reverse seem to have control inputs measured in 1/8ths of an inch, but forward can be more forgiving? It has been said before and logically it has to be true that the kite would be most stable inverted with the bulk of the weight on the bottom. Why does it take so much effort to get to that stability balance? Inverted would be the natural state and flying upright should be the killed to get. Always this is not the case with any thread I've read. Inverted is the pain.

Bart

Hi there,

I'm pretty much at the same stage as learning to fly as you, but I have been trying holding the handles much lower down - ie changing the ratio of movement between top lines and bottom. I think I am onto something, can anyone comment?

Rob

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Actually Tony, right still controls right and left, left, but it is like a R/C plane flying towards you and controlling that. Reversed in the mind only. Either way I'm sure that reversal plays into it on some level, but at a hover state and inverted I'm mainly trying to balance forward and reverse, not left/right movements. There has to be something I am missing on the input. I can't believe it is that twitchy inverted in normal use.

Bart

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I've flown with IQuad and watched them move backwards as needed. It only takes a few steps, and then you regain your ground.

Moving backwards is just one way to get you there till you find complete control, and then it will add to you window later.

If you have to rotate your wrist for more lift, the kite is going to have to lay down just like your handles, that's why a little lift wouldn't hurt.

When I call calls with people, and they are having trouble going higher on tip, or reverse, I just say step back, and they are up. It's just one way to do it.

Practicing the hover, slide right and left off of the ground will improve that reverse.

Hope you have some nice weather to practice in.

BB

Penny

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Bart

I started to compose a reply for you yesterday but got called away, I have just come back to your post to find Felix has summed it all up quite succinctly, “You are asking all the questions which suggest that you are learning fast.”

It may sound daft now but, trust me, the time will come when you will find it easier to maintain a stable inverted hover than you will hovering l/e up.

You say you think you may be over controlling and I think you may well be right, but it is inevitable, we all do it, it is part of the learning process. It’s my guess you have to concentrate really hard to maintain that hover then as that dreaded wobble sets in, any attempts to stabilise the kite only seem to exacerbate the problem. That is because you are currently flying in that part of the brain that handles conscious thought and in that part of the brain the reactions just aren’t quick enough to control that wobble but keep practicing and the “walking and chewing gum” part of the brain will gradually take over and you will be cooking on gas. Stick with it, it’s a GREAT feeling when the breakthrough comes.

You may also want to have a look at the link at the bottom of this post it is something I wrote on another forum for a newbie who was seeking advice, shortly after I had had the breakthrough you are now looking for, it may help you get you head around the chalenge.

http://fracturedaxel.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopi...p?p=46427#46427

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I'll check out that link for sure. But, why such a contradiction? Most stable when inverted, but also the most twitchy. They don't go together. What is the logic?

Hopefully more time again this weekend to iron this out. I have to be on the edge with it coming together. Perhaps not perfect, but repeatable more than average.

Bart

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I'll check out that link for sure. But, why such a contradiction? Most stable when inverted, but also the most twitchy. They don't go together. What is the logic?

<snip>

Bart

Bart,

You have it in a nutshell, precisely!

Go with the apparent contradiction. You are, as I said, asking all the right questions!

Go with it...

Best wishes

Felix

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I guess I need to understand the physics of it to grasp the contradiction. I do better with cold hard facts not the "touchy-feely" type of control.

Bart

The finer control of the individual wing tips once mastered can provide more accurate adjustment and therefore stability.

Eye/hand co-ordination will eventually bypass the cold hard facts; there will not be time to 'think'.

Felix

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I guess I need to understand the physics of it to grasp the contradiction. I do better with cold hard facts not the "touchy-feely" type of control.

Bart

Bart one other thing based on what Bob was saying about inverted hovers becoming easier then upright ... have you tried using maximum break settings on your leaders? ... if you can hover upright just off the ground easily and you get lots of wobbles inverted I would guess you could do with adding more break....

Like Bob I find the hardest thing to do is hover upright just off the ground (unless there's lots of steady breeze) ... I know this sounds backwards but when you have the handle balance right (Max brake or there about's on standard B leaders), inverted becomes just about the most comfortable, stable mode..... I think what happens is that the kite naturally wants to be leading edge down anyway so as well as putting your hands in a more natural position, there is automatically less tension in the 'top' lines (I obviously mean the ones that would be on top if we weren't inverted!!) and the kite wants to rise, so your inputs are stopping it rising rather then stopping it falling ..... net result is you tend to overcorrect less because any 'extra' inputs tend to result in the kite stopping or rising more rather then accelerating towards the ground..... everything calms down and you have time to relax and enjoy the view ;)

I now get really stressed when playing team flying if I have to hold an upright hover in light airs (think Bristol mega-fly) ... funny how things turn out !!

Give it a try by going all the way to max settings just to see how different it feels ... you can always change back ;)

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I'm not sure it's a contradiction in physics Bart. When upside down the kite is more stable I am sure - all the weight is at the bottom so it makes sense that is is more stable. However if you are still at the 'think-adjust' stage of learning rather than the 'intuitive flying' stage then when upside down I think an additional time lag is built into the corrections. Additionally I believe there is actually a stage between the two obvious ones where some intuitive flying is happening and some think-adjust. Add the time lag and the mixture of the two types of flying and you get the following sort of feedback loop:

1) Kite wing visually on left dips

2) Intuitive flying applies a touch of brake with the right hand while think-adjust considers the matter!

3) Think-adjust then works out a little right hand brake is the solution so applies a touch

4) But the kite is already correcting!

5) So the right brake adjustment is too much

6) Return to 1 above but with left/right reversed

This would naturally lead to wobbles.

Additionally there is a distinct time lag between applying an adjustment and it actually taking place. The reason for this is that in a hover or reversing the airflow over the sail is much slower than when the kite is moving forwards. So you get a second feedback loop in action:

1) Kite wing visually on left dips

2) A right hand brake is applied

3) Nothing happens, so more is applied but at about the same time the original adjustment is starting to take effect!

4) Now you have too much right hand brake

5) Return to 1 above with left/right reversed

Again you get a wobble.

Overlay that in a hover or reverse you are effectively asking the kite to move in the direction of its unsupported leading edge, and you have the additional confusion of wing-tip flipping to contend with.

All very interesting I am sure! A combination of physics and loop theory from maths explains the conundrum.

But where does it lead you? As others have said you need to be in intuitive flying to overcome feedback loop 1. Similarly you need to be both in intuitive flying AND to have got the wait time programmed into your brain to overcome feedback loop 2. And you need to overlay the sensitivity of touch in reverse, which only comes with practice, to overcome the flipping of the wing-tips.

Sorry to say it is only through time in the air that you will master reverse and inverted hovers. While thinking the theory will help, you will not be able to think your way through this one. It is only by going beyond conscious thought, from think-adjust to intuitive flying, that you will succeed. And the proof of the pudding is that we have all been there (and some of us are still there!) and got past the hurdle by practicing, practicing and then practicing some more. It is exactly the same thing as reversing a car, or learning a tongue-twister as a child, or rubbing your head and stomach in the opposite direction, or folding your arms the wrong way.... or as bob said walking and chewing gum (although you would never catch me doing something as common as chewing gum!)

Once you have got past this one, you will find there are more hurdles in rev flying exactly the same. Probably clockwork will be the next one, followed by flying in circles in reverse.

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