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lamrith

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I have to 1st thank Walt from LS Kitestakes. He came out to the Henge and showed me the basics on set-up, assembly and shared pointers on flying. That helped a TON for this 1st day, THANKS!!!!!

Well I finally had the chance to fly a rev for the 1st time! WOW What a different beast! Took me a bit to forget my dual line and power kite habits!

I ended up spending a full 3.5hrs out there. Most of the time I was just working on take off, fly straight up and come straight down. Over and over again, I would also try to stop it midway up and hover, then down. I had a total ball and noticed myself grinning a good bit, both tensing as I goofed and spun out and relieved as nothing popped and I was flying again. Toward the end I was trying to Rotate onto one LE tip on the ground and slide the kite up off the ground and then fly out of it. worked sometimes, not others. I will work more on those videos, but my primary edit software just died.

I did spend about 30min flying one of my power kites in the middle of the session, but the wind was pushing 10-15mph and I had too big a sail up to hold down comfortably so I packed it back up and returned to the rev!

What a joy, It is much quicker than I expected, and already has me wanting a second one! Maybe a midvent or Sedgwick, why not both!?

It was a busy day out there, I counted 6 or 7 people flying, plus a handfull of families with kids pulling single liners.

I took some Gopro of the 1st day. This session is right after my 1st 5min flying..

1st Rev flight (JUST uploaded, should be viewable about 10:15pm PST 3/4/2012)

How does a blast or powerblast 2-4 compare pull wise to a B? It was blowing good for a full sail B with 3wrap, but I found myself wanting a bit more load on the handles, would one of those give me that? Are they any quicker turning? It would have been nice to be just a hair less twitchy, but pulling harder...

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I have to 1st thank Walt from LS Kitestakes. He came out to the Henge and showed me the basics on set-up, assembly and shared pointers on flying. That helped a TON for this 1st day, THANKS!!!!!

Well I finally had the chance to fly a rev for the 1st time! WOW What a different beast! Took me a bit to forget my dual line and power kite habits!

I ended up spending a full 3.5hrs out there. Most of the time I was just working on take off, fly straight up and come straight down. Over and over again, I would also try to stop it midway up and hover, then down. I had a total ball and noticed myself grinning a good bit, both tensing as I goofed and spun out and relieved as nothing popped and I was flying again. Toward the end I was trying to Rotate onto one LE tip on the ground and slide the kite up off the ground and then fly out of it. worked sometimes, not others. I will work more on those videos, but my primary edit software just died.

I did spend about 30min flying one of my power kites in the middle of the session, but the wind was pushing 10-15mph and I had too big a sail up to hold down comfortably so I packed it back up and returned to the rev!

What a joy, It is much quicker than I expected, and already has me wanting a second one! Maybe a midvent or Sedgwick, why not both!?

It was a busy day out there, I counted 6 or 7 people flying, plus a handfull of families with kids pulling single liners.

I took some Gopro of the 1st day. This session is right after my 1st 5min flying..

1st Rev flight (JUST uploaded, should be viewable about 10:15pm PST 3/4/2012)

How does a blast or powerblast 2-4 compare pull wise to a B? It was blowing good for a full sail B with 3wrap, but I found myself wanting a bit more load on the handles, would one of those give me that? Are they any quicker turning? It would have been nice to be just a hair less twitchy, but pulling harder...

Yes, it will give you quite a bit more pull using one of the blast kites. They are built for this. The blast kites are powerful in general. But if you are looking for something to fly in lighter wind, I would recommend using a full sail kite with race rods. If you really want some low wind pressure without being pulled down the field, try a Zen with a race frame and 2 wrap center.

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I forgot to mention, I was flying my new Rev B full sail with 3 wrap frame. It was a consistent 10-15mph and I could tell it was higher up top of the Window.

I could see quite often the LE was very bowed, few times it almost looked like a Mojo. Would adding the 2 wrap LE in help stiffen it up? Would that make it less responsive or more?

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I forgot to mention, I was flying my new Rev B full sail with 3 wrap frame. It was a consistent 10-15mph and I could tell it was higher up top of the window.

I could see quite often the LE was very bowed, few times it almost looked like a Mojo. Would adding the 2 wrap LE in help stiffen it up? Would that make it less responsive or more?

Adding the 2 wrap to the 3 wrap would definitely help stiffen it up. It will also add a significant amount of weight, but over 10 mph wind should fly it.

As far as responsiveness goes..... There's definitely a sweet spot to be had here. Having a stiffer frame allows more wind to "sheet" off the Rev, so its actually taking away responsiveness a bit, but with decent wind (like you mentioned above) you won't feel it so much. Having a frame that bows too much for conditions captures the wind very efficiently, but also takes away responsiveness and makes the feel twitchy. All in all, you want a little bow to your frame.

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If you get lots of 10-15 mph winds, I would suggest that you get a full vent "B". Adding a two wrap frame in with your three wrap leading edge will help your full sail keep it's shape, but the vented kite will be much easier to control in higher wind. Also, vented Revs are as smooth as butter in any wind strong enough to support them.

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There in lies the dilemma - Too strong a frame, you risk stretching the sail, too weak and something breaks!! Now you see why most Rev pilots have more than one kite - they match sails to the wind conditions! In those winds you described, a midvent would have been right at home!! kid_devlish.gif

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I have to 1st thank Walt from LS Kitestakes. He came out to the Henge and showed me the basics on set-up, assembly and shared pointers on flying. That helped a TON for this 1st day, THANKS!!!!!

Well I finally had the chance to fly a rev for the 1st time! WOW What a different beast! Took me a bit to forget my dual line and power kite habits!

I ended up spending a full 3.5hrs out there. Most of the time I was just working on take off, fly straight up and come straight down. Over and over again, I would also try to stop it midway up and hover, then down. I had a total ball and noticed myself grinning a good bit, both tensing as I goofed and spun out and relieved as nothing popped and I was flying again. Toward the end I was trying to Rotate onto one LE tip on the ground and slide the kite up off the ground and then fly out of it. worked sometimes, not others. I will work more on those videos, but my primary edit software just died.

I did spend about 30min flying one of my power kites in the middle of the session, but the wind was pushing 10-15mph and I had too big a sail up to hold down comfortably so I packed it back up and returned to the rev!

What a joy, It is much quicker than I expected, and already has me wanting a second one! Maybe a midvent or Sedgwick, why not both!?

It was a busy day out there, I counted 6 or 7 people flying, plus a handfull of families with kids pulling single liners.

I took some Gopro of the 1st day. This session is right after my 1st 5min flying..

1st Rev flight (JUST uploaded, should be viewable about 10:15pm PST 3/4/2012)

How does a blast or powerblast 2-4 compare pull wise to a B? It was blowing good for a full sail B with 3wrap, but I found myself wanting a bit more load on the handles, would one of those give me that? Are they any quicker turning? It would have been nice to be just a hair less twitchy, but pulling harder...

Welcome to the "Family" from Spain, this is Ben and remember you can always contact me direct with any product

question except buying I leave that to the stores.... Ben [email protected]

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There in lies the dilemma - Too strong a frame, you risk stretching the sail, too weak and something breaks!! Now you see why most Rev pilots have more than one kite - they match sails to the wind conditions! In those winds you described, a midvent would have been right at home!! kid_devlish.gif

Yeah Walt pulled out a midvent during the day and it seemed much smoother than his full sail. I was busy practicing my launch and land. you can see him on the right side of my video.

As to typical location winds, I will have to defer to his experience, I have only been flying that location since August. All my flying has been on power kites. There were many days <8mph, which is why I bought a big 8m foil, but I do recall a few days in that 10-20 range as well in the evening. These are ground level windspeed speeds, I could tell yesterday thier was a significant wind speed increase 30ft up. I have a feeling it was 15-20mph up top. The full sail never pulled very hard on handles, but I could feel it.

How would a blast be in those winds, pull me off my feet? Would it be any slower/smoother handling? I would like a good pull from the kite, something to make me work a bit holding it back. At the same time something a little less twitchy and mroe relaxed would be nice. I am sure I will learn to handle the twitchyness, but a more docile flier would also be sweet to get the kids and wife up flying too!

If I recall the blast uses a LE that is very close to teh 1.5, and I could use mt 1.5 spars with it? That would be nice on the start to leverage spare parts.. I need to dig up that frame thread I saw the other day...

Thanks for the info guys!

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I forgot to mention, I was flying my new Rev B full sail with 3 wrap frame. It was a consistent 10-15mph and I could tell it was higher up top of the window.

I could see quite often the LE was very bowed, few times it almost looked like a Mojo. Would adding the 2 wrap LE in help stiffen it up? Would that make it less responsive or more?

Hi lamrith...

Welcome to the Rev Family.

If you're interested in flying the full sail in the higher winds and having a stiffer LE, you would be better off using a 4 wrap frame. It is important to note that most of the stress is on the downspars, so you would want to use the four wraps there, as well. Doubling up the LE is always an options as you had suggested.

As the others have mentioned, a full vent is the way to go in the higher winds. You wouldn't want to stretch out your full sail. Also, the full sail will become twitchy when it's overpowered (as will be the case with any kite that's overpowered).

Flying with Walt and the rest of the crew from there will help speed up your learning curve a great deal; not to mention that you will have a great time, as they're a lot of fun to hang with!!!

Have a great time.

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It was a fun day for sure! I am glad I had a chance to help on your first day of rev flying. As a first time flier, you were doing great! I should of had you grab the handles of the midvent I was flying so you had a chance to compare, next time! There are a few good PNW festivals later this year, a great way to meet other fliers and get even more time flying with others. The first one I can think of is Ocean Shores June 2nd-3rd. I will be there!

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It was a fun day for sure! I am glad I had a chance to help on your first day of rev flying. As a first time flier, you were doing great! I should of had you grab the handles of the midvent I was flying so you had a chance to compare, next time! There are a few good PNW festivals later this year, a great way to meet other fliers and get even more time flying with others. The first one I can think of is Ocean Shores June 2nd-3rd. I will be there!

Thanks for the kind words, I greatly appreciate the help you gave! With as shaky as I was initially I would not have felt comfortable jumping on your Mid. I bust my own kite with new flier mistakes is one thing, I would not put myself in a position to hurt yours. Now that I have "some" handle time and understand it a bit I will take you up on that offer the next time we meet! Just be aware I will likely brow beat and twist your arm to sell it to me once I give it a spin. ;-)

Wind was up again today, but seemed even higher than yesterday so I grudgingly kept the kites in the trunk and drove home from work. Henge is about 20min from work so in spring/summer I head out every evening the wind cooperates.

The family and I have already made reservations in Longbeach for WSIKF this year. I will look at hitting Ocean shores, that is a easy same day drive that we have done often and plan to do a good bit this year, just anotehr reason I need a midvent added to the kitebag. Is there a "better" day of the two to be there? I also know we have a festival at the Henge this year.

Love2fly: To me the B felt VERY twitchy. The 1st atempt to lift off it went up about 2ft and spun 2x before I knew what happened! The 10mph was at my head level during one of the lower times. I felt the kite really take off @ about 20ft up, like dropping into 2nd gear and dumping the clutch.. A few times I was nervous it was too much, the LE looked like a HQ Mojo! Thanfully winds like that are the exception and not the norm.

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As my screen name indicates, (stroke) I'm not interested in the power scene! I'm looking at the precision the Rev offers! I like that smooth feeling a midvent has in decent winds!! And with the right kites, I can fly down to about 2mph, give or take!! One of the reasons I like the Rev and it's many choices!! But that's my story, and I'll stick to it!!kid_devlish.gif

Love2fly makes a great point - if you need to go to a 4 wrap in the full sail, you really need to switch kites! Too strong a frame and you put the sail at risk!! Better to switch and maintain the same type of feel!!smile.gif

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As my screen name indicates, (stroke) I'm not interested in the power scene! I'm looking at the precision the Rev offers! I like that smooth feeling a midvent has in decent winds!! And with the right kites, I can fly down to about 2mph, give or take!! One of the reasons I like the Rev and it's many choices!! But that's my story, and I'll stick to it!!kid_devlish.gif

Love2fly makes a great point - if you need to go to a 4 wrap in the full sail, you really need to switch kites! Too strong a frame and you put the sail at risk!! Better to switch and maintain the same type of feel!!smile.gif

Yeah I already have my eye on a Midvent here locally. Just have to 1. save cash, or 2. Sell one of my power kites to afford it right now. :-p Maybe given time I will do both and buy a blast and midvent... hrmmmmm (Idea starts forming)

I have loved the power kites since I started on them in Aug, but Sunday flying both opened my eyes to the options. Dual line delta's never did it for me, which is why I went to power kites, I like the idea if getting dragged down the beach, and it is an incredible workout! BUT the Rev already I can see will open up the ability to fly in many more locations. I almost flew in my backyard yesterday if the wind had not started changing directions so much! I know I will keep my smaller power kites, for simple kid fun, but I see selling the larger ones to replace with Rev's...

What is the low wind point of a blast or power blast? My current 8m foil I can get moving in about 3mph, maybe 2mph with much work and huffing and puffing. But I can only hold it until maybe 8mph tops. Could a blast replace that?

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The blast or power blast should be in the air at around 2mph, 0mph on short lines, 0-10mph recreational 10-20mph power.

Thanks Hyza! Sounds like a blast might be a good choice when I get to the point of affording a 3rd Rev!

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Bring your power kites to the clinic if you want ... I wouldn't mind a chance to scud and jump Long Beach.

Aside from all my other Revs, I own and fly powers as well as the Blast, vented Blast and Blast 2-4 so I can try answer your power questions then if you like.

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  • 1 month later...

So one month update.

The Rev disease is festered and fully entrenched, I do not think there is a cure..censored.gif I am sooo highly contagious have now infected my youngest son!!w00t.gif

I now own 4 Rev's with a 5th in transit as we speak!!! I blame all of YOU for this!!kid_cussing.gifkid_devlish.gifbones.gif

SLE

B full sail & mid

Rev Blast

Rapidly filling Revbag

B Full vent Spec Edition in transit.

Joking aside, Many thanks to all of you in the Rev community, such a great group of people! Very helpfull, and sharing bunch, great big bunch of enablers is what you all are!!!blue_inlove.gif

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Some of the signs and symptoms of Rev-itis in case anyone needs to know.

Constantly looking at Trees, plants and grass.

Depressed when there is no wind.

Depressed when there is too much wind.

Depressed when there is perfect wind and are at work.

Strange bow tie shapes flashing in front of the eyes.

Repetative hand and wrist movements.

The need to form groups of similarly addictied types.

Offering help and advivice freely.

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I can't really do any side by sides but I do know that the Blast can and is in the right wind a beast that has

given me hours of joy long before I worked at Revolution on both long and short lines. The power and speed

have always been one of my favorite things to behold with a kite this size and I've also used it for a power

engine in a buggy on the dry lake bed......Benblue_cool.gifblue_cool.gifblue_cool.gif

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Andy, What do you want to know? I have all the Rev's including the beastly 4-8 and use them regularly.

As for power, the name/numbers pretty much gives you a good idea to their power output. The 2-4 is a 2m flat sail that has the equivalent power of a 4meter foil. The 4-8 is a 4m flat sail that has the equivalent power of an 8 meter foil.

I can verify that these numbers are pretty accurate. The power blast kites pull awesome. The advantage of these kites is that you can dump the power out of them instantly so taking them out in higher or gustier winds is not nearly as crazy.

Down side to these kites is that they are very fast compared to foils. You have to work them more in the window to get the buggy up to speed before you can park and ride. If you try to park n ride right off the start, the kite will race to the edge of the window and you will have barely moved in the buggy. Once you figure them out they are awesome.

Another down side is that you actually have to fly these kites, meaning you need to have good control and know how to get the most power out of them by using the handles and all four lines together. With foils they are kind of "yank and hold on" type of power. The Rev's are more technical.

Let me know if you need any other information and I will gladly help you out.

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