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May I have your attention please


kwmf

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I'd just like to say that I can now claim to do (rough) bicycle rotations (about 6-7 times outta 10) and it feels AWESOME when I get it.

That is all .... as you were ... nothing more to see here ;)

Well done Kwmf. Top stuff. Big congrats. Can I ask, Am I right in thinking you have been flying for about a year? I am working hard, putting in long practice hours(loving it) and hope to be there in another 6 months or so. What length lines are you using? Do you fly right on the coast? Do you have the benefit of flying with more experienced flyers? I unfortunately have only been learning alone.

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@hyzakite

Thanks man ... I for the most part I have only been able to fly on weekends when the weather and other commitments allow, and even then only for somewhere between 1-3 hours. Almost always this will only be one of the weekend days if I fly, never both. I did have about 2 years power kite experience before I got into Revs though.

@tommylurvebus

You sir may ask all the questions you wish ... especially if the answers are of some use to you.

Yes, I've been flying for just over a year now (http://www.revkites.com/forum/topic/4519-you-know-you-are-addicted-when/page__st__100), but that has been on a variety of platforms (1.5, Blast, Zen and indoors - and soon the B2) and where time allows (see comment to hyzakite). In terms of hours spent, I'm actually finding that right now I am making wonderful progress with more frequent sessions of much shorter lenghts. I've managed to locate a beach site 5 minutes from my office and can get in about 25 minutes of flight time during a lunch break. Depending on work I can get anywhere from 0 to 3 sessions in a week. This has been suplementing my lack of weekend flights and I've found I'm making nice visible progress as a result.

My most flown lenght of lines are 80, 50 and 30 foot lines with some occasional 20' and 12' flights thrown in. Until I found this beach location, my flying was almost exclusively inland, even though I live in a costal city. The beaches are just too full of people and I tend to baby my gear somewhat. having found this lunchtime spot and being desperate for some flying, I re-tasked my original SLE (now with the right frame) to beach duty and added some O-rings to the spars to keep the sand out. I also have a Blast from TK that does beach duty as well and I've flown the beach a bit more often now. All my beach flying is on 50 foot lines due to space - including the Blast.

I don't have any experienced rev pilots around I'm afraid. There are other rev owners I am aware of, but not many active ones, and the active ones are just flying for fun and not really worried about tricks, precision or team. The next most active rev pilot is my girlfriend who is coming along nicely as well. I get to spend more time in the air than her and it shows, but all she needs is the flight hours and she will catch up. Just today she was practicing inverted slides after only being told how they are done and having seen me do them - I never actually spent time teaching it to her.

With you being in London I would say make the trip to spend time with some other UK pilots every now and then ... it will accelerate your learning like you would not believe. You at least have people within the same country as you - take a friday/monday leave and go make a weekend of it - it will be the best thing you ever did for your skills.

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<snip>

With you being in London I would say make the trip to spend time with some other UK pilots every now and then ... it will accelerate your learning like you would not believe. You at least have people within the same country as you - take a friday/monday leave and go make a weekend of it - it will be the best thing you ever did for your skills.

*WILD APPLAUSE*

Good stuff mate!

The learning curve can accelerate significantly if you fly alongside more experienced pilots. They may not even have to tell you what to do! <grins>

Felix

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Oh to have a beach 5mins away. I am getting 3 to 5 hours a week.Mostly longer sessions of flying so it is interesting to hear that you have benefited from your quick practice slots. I have often been put off of short trips to the field even though short time slots are easiest for me to arrange (young family, small business). Think I may grab some of those potential short sessions from now on. I am using 80s 50s and 30s though I certainly dont have as many kites to pop on the end of them as you do, yet! (cool pics). I have found that flying on the 50foot lines has really brought my abilities on. Dealing with that little extra speed and feeling in closer contact with the kite has helped greatly with my understanding. I have been working/playing hard for 8months solid now and really get a buzz every time I see improvement. I have all the basic slides, hovers, reverse, snap spins etc etc nailed (most of the time) so I am busy working on precision and trying to clean everything up and fly tight.

Your post has encouraged me to keep working my way across the current skills plateau I find myself at. Cheers mate.

As for flying with others thats a big one. I know I would learn heaps but dont want to trouble the real experts.

@ John Barresi. ( but thanks for the tutorials Mr B I have found those invaluable)

All the best Kwmf. Keep up the good work and remember whats rough, over time will always be smooth.

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I'd just like to say that I can now claim to do (rough) bicycle rotations (about 6-7 times outta 10) and it feels AWESOME when I get it.

That is all .... as you were ... nothing more to see here ;)

Congrats !!

Take it to the next step.....Whats next ??

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@tommylurvebus

If you've been getting that kind of time in every week then your flight hours is probably about the same as mine right now, so you're well on your way. I think perhaps the shorter sessions allow for less thinking to occur and more doing to happen. I started them because the weather was mad and I wasn't able to fly for 2 months and I was getting desperate. Something that has just sorta happened with me is that when you feel like you are hitting a plateau, just pick a new trick (catch & throw, flic flac, etc) or flight pattern (dive-stop to slide, square, ISK Compulsories, etc) and work on that. Doing that works on the other things needed to achieve it (precision, timing, etc) without you thinking about them since you're too focused on the 'new' trick. Basically you're cheating your brain into practicing that stuff while being enthusiastic about the new trick.

As for bothering the experts - how do you think THEY got there in the first place?

(hint: it's a 'pay it forward' game)

@Madquad

Tip pivots (Polo style) - I'm figuring it out on my own for now, catch and throw from lower in the window (kite pulls to the side as I put handles together), speed control and the big one - PRECISION.

@bartman

Not so much a "eureka moment" so much as an "OMG I can actually do it fairly repeatedly and knowledgable people will recognise what it is" moment :P

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Oops, just got back from a lunchtime fly .... nothing like really low wind to let you know you've still got work to do.

Still, I'm not disapointed ... I know I haven't got it 10/10 yet and I had a nice time working on low wind flying skills. Not sure the wind speed, but side hovers were JUST possible when the wind was up (SLE sail, 3 wrap 1/4" frame). Bicycle rotations were down to about 3-4 outta 10 and then only for either 1 or 2 rotations compared to the multiple rotations back and forth when I'm wind powered. Didn't get to practice the bicycles, but I had a great low wind session without any struggle to fly ... it was just flying differently. :)

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