Jump to content
  • 0

Another new Rev owner!!


Acrilix

Question

Hi all,

I just bought my first Rev a few weeks ago. I had seen one flying at the Bedford Kite Festival, and was on the internet as soon as I got home, trying to find a stockist. After a lot of indecision I eventually ordered a 1.5 SLE, but actually received the new 1.5 black series UL instead. After reading some threads here later, I think this is probably for the best anyway though, as most people seem to prefer the UL frame over the SLE one. It also came with 80' x 90lbs Laser Pro Gold line.

The first time out with it was a real struggle though. I headed down to my local park (I have no transport) where I have flown my dual line. The wind was light, and changing direction every few seconds. I tested the wind direction, staked the handles, wound out the line, and attached the kite. Then, I tried to stand the kite up. It fell down on its face. The wind was now blowing 180 degrees, the other way! Luckily, I had my brother with me, and he would carry the kite around, to try and keep up with the changing wind direction. It was all very frustrating, and a little depressing, but every now and then, we would achieve a short flight and feel some of the joy! The wind was ridiculous though. I would throw grass up, and my brother would do the same 80 feet away. We would then report completely different directions to each other!! Eventually we reluctantly gave up, and headed home, hoping that it really was the wind, and not our own inabilities that were to blame.

The second attempt initially looked like it would be a repeat of the first, with constantly changing wind directions, but at least this time it was a little stronger, and we began to spend more time with the kite in the air. I’m sure experienced Rev flyers would have had no problem with the conditions, but without a ‘feel’ for the kite it was incredibly difficult to make the correct adjustments in flight, when the wind switched directions, or suddenly dropped, or gusted. It was still a lot more encouraging than the first time though, and we both really enjoyed this experience and went home a lot happier.

The third attempt, the wind was a lot more consistent. Still changing directions, but not as frequently, or radically, and I felt a lot more confident attempting some of the moves I’d seen at the kite festival, and on Youtube videos. It was also the last time I felt the need for a personal assistant on hand, and I have since been out a few times on my own recently.

After reading through many threads here, I have now ordered some race rods, as I am struggling in light winds, and this is the norm here in Bedford. Parts of Bedfordshire are quite hilly, exposed, and windy, but Bedford itself is pretty flat, and sheltered. A bit strange that we have a kite festival at all here!! There’s rarely enough wind for it, at least on the last few years that I have attended it.

Anyway, thanks to everyone on this site. I have already learned a lot just from reading through some of your posts. I’m sure I’ll have a few questions to ask too, like how do I get the damn thing to hover? Horizontal slide??? That's a laugh! My Rev seems to have a mind of it’s own at times!!

Finally, thanks to Revolution……..what a fantastic kite!!!!!!!!!!

Lez. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

Welcome to the obsession Lez! There are many great fliers in the UK, try to hook up with one! They can show you some things to make setup easier, and it will shorten the learning curve soooo much. This is a great forum to visit and ask questions, and to hook up with other fliers. Come back often, and enjoy your new Rev!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Hi Acrilix

Welcome to the forum.

And

Welcome to the Darkside. :big_starwars:

I know you said you have no transport, but if you can bum a lift to Dunstable one Sunday afternoon there are usually somewhere between 5 and 10 Rev fliers including some of the UKs finest, that meet up there most week ends. Trust me, it will be well wort the trip, you will improve much faster with a bit of face to face guidance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Lez welcome

One recommendation I have is to get your lines stretched and equalized. When I first started with quad that was giving me the most problem. With the lighter winds it takes longer to get the stretch, and with quad it takes alot of switching the top/bottom (control/brake) lines. I have found a quicker way to get a new set of lines stretched, attach a pair to your dual line and put it through the paces, then switch to the other pair, once the lines are done (mostly) stretching then equalize them and fly

I also agree with getting together with experienced fliers they are a great help (thanks Mike K)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Gusty, changing winds can be some of the most frustrating to fly in, especially if you are just learning. I am glad that you are at least getting some air time and not giving up on it. The more you fly the easier and better your flying time will become.

Winds can be the biggest hurdle when first learning to fly. It sounds like the area you are in is not the best for winds and without having easy access to other areas, can be challenging to say the least. But, there may be a couple things you can try out that may help. I was trying to teach my brother to fly a couple years ago and we had a very nice area and what felt like perfect winds. Good wind at our backs but because of the surroundings, the kite would not fly at all and was very frustrating. We discovered that even though we felt the wind where we were, the kite had very little wind or even 180' different. Not sure why but figured it was because of the small hills and other obstacles that we thought were far enough away to not effect the kite. We actually moved down the field about 150 feet and it was a totally different experience. The kite flew perfectly, my brother was able to get the kite in the air and learn how to fly and we had a wonderful time together.

So, check the area you are at and instead of flying at the exact same place each time, move around a bit to different areas of your field to see if the winds are more consistent in another area. If you do get the chance to try some other areas then take advantage of that.

Good luck on your flying and try to make it to one of the festivals or at least hook up with another pilot.

Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Hello and welcome to the dark side!

You say you fly in a local park. It may well be that the proximity to the trees changes the wind patterns quite drastically. As suggested above, try and change your position in the park and make sure you get as much clear space behind you as you possible can. Give that wind a chance to stabilise before it reaches your kite. Also, depending on the wind direction, you'll want to change your position too. So one day you may be flying at one end of the park, but next time at the other.

Good winds and happy flying!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
Hello and welcome to the dark side!

You say you fly in a local park. It may well be that the proximity to the trees changes the wind patterns quite drastically. As suggested above, try and change your position in the park and make sure you get as much clear space behind you as you possible can. Give that wind a chance to stabilise before it reaches your kite. Also, depending on the wind direction, you'll want to change your position too. So one day you may be flying at one end of the park, but next time at the other.

Good winds and happy flying!

Can't get better advice than that. Your first post made me remember my flying experiences back when I lived close to a park that was very often windy, but I'd have the hardest time flying kites there—wind would change direction frequently, huge gusts would come and then the wind would drop out, there would be holes throughout the window, etc. Eventually I tried several different areas of the park and found one that worked great, despite being very close to a line of houses.

It turns out that a line of very tall trees upwind of the areas I'd been flying in previously had been positively ruining my wind, even though those trees were a good quarter mile upwind of where I had been trying to fly. Comparatively, the turbulence caused by the much closer houses in my new flying location was almost nothing, and my flying became relatively problem-free. (Although the wind was still finicky from time to time.)

Nowadays, I primarily fly on a wonderful field near my work, which gets steady, reliable winds coming almost directly off the San Francisco bay. It's light years better than what I used to have, but I think flying a lot in bad winds helped me learn to fly better in the long run. :)

Edited by kairusan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Good winds are a gift to the new kite flyer. I hope some of the suggestions posted above help you out. Once you get a single good wind day/location, you will fall totally in love with flying the Rev, for sure!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Hi Les, I have just read this post. I too am in Bedford so if you PM with where you fly I can recommend some other sites. Unfortunately, as you say there are not that many good sites in Bedford itself. Dunstable really is the place to go. If we can meet up for a short session it may well fast track you learning curve and its always nice to fly with someone else.

Keep trying, it really is worth it.

Stephen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Thanks everyone for the welcome, and the replies! I shall definitely try a change of location next time I visit the park. It's too easy to head for the same spot every time!

If I had any sense, I'd walk the extra distance to the park where they hold the kite festival!! :) The organisers obviously chose that location for a reason. :lol:

Kiteking, string stretching has me scared. :wacko:

Stone in shoe Bob, I will certainly try to get down to Dunstable one Sunday. If I can't talk my mate into giving me a lift, I'll take the bus down.

Thanks Stephen for the offer of some help, it will certainly be appreciated. I will send you a PM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
Thanks everyone for the welcome, and the replies! I shall definitely try a change of location next time I visit the park. It's too easy to head for the same spot every time!

If I had any sense, I'd walk the extra distance to the park where they hold the kite festival!! :) The organisers obviously chose that location for a reason. :lol:

Kiteking, string stretching has me scared. :wacko:

Stone in shoe Bob, I will certainly try to get down to Dunstable one Sunday. If I can't talk my mate into giving me a lift, I'll take the bus down.

Thanks Stephen for the offer of some help, it will certainly be appreciated. I will send you a PM.

Don't be fooled into thinking that Russell Park is a good place to fly kites just because there is a kite festival there! With 150' tall trees along 3 sides and a river on the 4th it is one of the worst places in Bedfordshire to fly kites. Try Prior Park or Kempston Park. The Great Ouse Kite fliers are our local club and hold a regular meeting in Bedford, it may be worth while joining them just for the public liability insurance you will get. Alternatively STACK UK is worth a look at, even if you don't want to compete.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
Thanks everyone for the welcome, and the replies! I shall definitely try a change of location next time I visit the park. It's too easy to head for the same spot every time!

If I had any sense, I'd walk the extra distance to the park where they hold the kite festival!! :) The organisers obviously chose that location for a reason. :lol:

Kiteking, string stretching has me scared. :wacko:

Stone in shoe Bob, I will certainly try to get down to Dunstable one Sunday. If I can't talk my mate into giving me a lift, I'll take the bus down.

Thanks Stephen for the offer of some help, it will certainly be appreciated. I will send you a PM.

Hi Acrillix,

Make sure you contact Stephen, he is one of the best teachers on here, and The Downs is the place to be, if you can get there.

Flying with others is a blast and good fun. I drive over a hundred miles to fly with the guys and girls on the Downs (usually every week), I'm either mad or theres a good reason :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Just a quick question on line length. Presumably the length affects the handling. I would imagine shorter lines = twitchier handling. In lighter winds though, is it better to have longer lines to get the kite higher to catch the air currents, or have the lines shorter to allow quicker reactions to the air currents? At the moment I only have 80ft lines.

And is there something else about line lengths to take into account too, that I need to know!? :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
Just a quick question on line length. Presumably the length affects the handling. I would imagine shorter lines = twitchier handling. In lighter winds though, is it better to have longer lines to get the kite higher to catch the air currents, or have the lines shorter to allow quicker reactions to the air currents? At the moment I only have 80ft lines.

And is there something else about line lengths to take into account too, that I need to know!? :wacko:

I'm interested in these questions too Acrilix. I am running 85 foot lines right now and was thinking about whether to grab a set of 120 feet for select conditions and for future possible team flying. As well I wondered whether some shorter lines would be worth investing in to allow for flying in tight spots or, perhaps, again, certain wind conditions. In other words, would different length lines allow for a greater ability to maximize on different winds conditions and/or differing flying locations?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

You have the 85s ;)

Yes, A set of 120s is a must. If you EVER get a chance to team fly team and miss out it would be the pits! The Rev hits its max fun team flying. :P

Yes, A set of 30s {or close} is a must. They are way to much fun not to have and you will learn a ton about your kite flying them. :)

IMHO, That is the minimum for any serious Rev flyer to take advantage of what you have already invested.

You can add more set, depending on what you grow to enjoy the most.

I like to fly in the early evening with not much wind so I also use a set of 50lb 50' on the beach at sunset when ever I can. :wub:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

The longer the line set, the larger the wind window will be. It will also make the kite less "twitchy" and react to your inputs slower. Floats are easier as well. If you are flying in a area with swirly winds because of trees etc, longer lines can lead to differences in wind direction/speed between the pilot and the kite. That all said, I prefer to fly on 120's, I like the size of the wind window, and I am able to do all sorts of stuff that is harder for me on the 85' set, for reasons I am unable to figure out...... :doh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Answer this question...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...