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About the Pulling power of a Rev kite, and some background story


Percy

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Dear Guys and Girls,

Percy here, from the Netherlands.

In short.. I have a question about the power/pulling of a Rev Kite.

How is the pulling power of a Rev kite?

For those interested, hereby some background story of why i ask you this :).

My Indonesian grandfather loved to kite. As I can remember we always went kiting when I was small. It all started when I was around 5 years old. My grandmother always go with us, bringing food and drinks, and we as “real man” controlling the kite, trying to take it as far as possible into the blue sky (sometimes we lost sight of it, how exciting it was !!) It was mainly a 1 liner, with those typical Indonesian bird patterns.

I got older, and sadly my grandfather past away. But I continued my kiting hobby and bought several 2 liners, mostly cheap delta kites. It was great, and through those kites I got to learn to do tricks like flying low, landing, making circles etc. I all broke them.

I am born with a really bad form of scolioses (read: a mind boggling back), and during the night I use a breathing machine to stay alive. When I walk around in a kite shop and see all those beautiful kites I have to remind myself that, because of my “handicap”, I only weigh 32 kilogram, not much for a person of 29 years old. Doctors don’t know why, and I don’t care why. I feel great anyway! But when I ask for advice in a kite shop, I am always directed to the children corner to look for a kite when I explain my situation about Living the Life of 32 Kilograms. “The bigger ones will drag you around the world” the shop owner kindly explains. True, but I prefer to take a plane when traveling… I leave the store, losing my interest in kiting.

BUT… Two months ago my girlfriend and I watched the movie The Kite Runner. Great movie, but most of all it reminded me again of my childhood. After the movie was done, I quickly opened google to search for “fast kite less pull with quality”. I ended up buying a Prism 4D Ultralight and had never had so much fun with a kite before. It will always go up, is blazing fast with some little to no wind, and can take those famous “unintentional landings” quit well. More important, the pull is really gentle and the build quality is excellent compared to those “children corner kites”.

It made me curious what else is there in the world of Kiting? And then I found this video. I was like.. I… NEED… ONE… NOW… FAST…

So here I am. Youtube-ing like a maniac, looking at all of you controlling a Rev kite like a Zen Master who just reached pure enlightenment. I am totally impressed and really want to join this community. But one questions still stops me from buying and that is…

How is the pull?

My cousin has a NASA wing and like the shop owner once told me, it indeed dragged me around the world when I tried it. Great fun for other people seeing me kissing the sandy beach, but less fun for me. So how is a rev kite? Can I fly it without breaking bones?

I am looking for this answer trough this forum because I don't know anybody who has a rev kite. Heck, I don’t even know people who Kite (except my crazy cousin with his NASA landing equipment). Most of my friends are more excited about the playstation 4 or the new iPhone. You know what I am talking about… wink.png.

Thanks for reading this long post, I really appreciate it if you can give me some advice. Maybe there is a smaller version of a Rev Kite with less pull? I have to say, i really like speed though hehe. In the meantime I keep youtube-ing with a jaw dropping mouth of amazement.

Percy

Btw, this is me scaring people on the beach with the 4D

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=418374894966740

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Lylenc:

Good to know. The 1.5b comes with 2 and 3 wrap i see, so it will cover most of the situations for me, cause i will not fly with powerfull wind. And what about this race frame? Its a combination from 2 and 3 wrap uh?

Stroke Survivor:

Sir yes SIR! Clear as hell. Those webshops made me confusing hehe. Afraid to order the wrong one. So thanks for the clear explanation.

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Just hoping to clear up any confusion, that's all! When I saw your post, it left me scratching my head, wondering if you had info straight or not! Glad to help in any way!!

Rod lessons:

2, 3, 4, wraps = similar flex, just different amount of wraps for strength! 2 wrap = light, 4 wrap = heavier Most use a 3 wrap to start, strong, but light enough and flexible enough for learning on!

Race = there are several race varieties, black, green, white. Most use black, the New York Minute comes with green, white was a special rod and seems to have dropped from sight, Race rods are lighter, but more flexible than wrap rods!

Diamond rods = new, very light, not recommended for beginners.

Hope this helps too!

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I'm afraid I have to disagree with my friend Wayne. The spars differ in flex: 2 wraps are much more flexible than 4 wraps.

Although many people will recommend 3 wraps for beginners, I think 2 wraps are easier. I've never broken either spar and I've handed my kites to anyone who walks up to me and wants to try. But it doesn't matter, it sounds like you'll have both, so you can decide for yourself!

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I'm afraid I have to disagree with my friend Wayne. The spars differ in flex: 2 wraps are much more flexible than 4 wraps.

Maybe Wayne meant in terms of reflex, not flex; in that sense, the 2, 3, and 4 wrap 1/4" rods all do seem to "spring back" from flexing to rest with the same speed and energy. I do agree with both Mike and Wayne, I've never broken a wrap rod and wouldn't recommend diamond rods to beginners.

The Race rods are known to reflex even faster than the wrap rods (well maybe except the green Race frame). The ability to go from flexing back to dead-calm rest with incredible speed and precision is why the Race frame is a universal favorite.

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Good news! I just bought my first Rev Kite. A New York Minute 1.5 standard. I had a long talk with the shop owner on the telephone, and he know the place where i live. He said that really is unstable wind there so a standard sail is the best in my situation. If i go to the beach, beter is to have a single or even more vented version but first practice in low wind with this version.

Damn super excited. Thank you all for the great advice, i gonna make some pictures when its here.

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Good news! I just bought my first Rev Kite. A New York Minute 1.5 standard. I had a long talk with the shop owner on the telephone, and he know the place where i live. He said that really is unstable wind there so a standard sail is the best in my situation. If i go to the beach, beter is to have a single or even more vented version but first practice in low wind with this version.

Damn super excited. Thank you all for the great advice, i gonna make some pictures when its here.

I have the same wind conditions where I live, and a standard is the way to go.. My second was a B series mid vent.

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Hang in there Percy and follow the great advice. I bought my first rev 10 years ago and now have all versions of the 1.5. Just wish I would have found these forums back then. Now I have been relearning how to fly the correct way. This year I turn 50 and have more time to fly, so my goal is to hook up with a local kite club. Good luck.

Timmyz. Pittsburgh PA

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Percy, if you're a full fledged member of this forum, you can watch the video tutorials John Barresi has posted. It's more than enough to get started flying. I think he's going to be adding to the videos a lot more as well.

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Maybe Wayne meant in terms of reflex, not flex; in that sense, the 2, 3, and 4 wrap 1/4" rods all do seem to "spring back" from flexing to rest with the same speed and energy. I do agree with both Mike and Wayne, I've never broken a wrap rod and wouldn't recommend diamond rods to beginners.

The Race rods are known to reflex even faster than the wrap rods (well maybe except the green Race frame). The ability to go from flexing back to dead-calm rest with incredible speed and precision is why the Race frame is a universal favorite.

Thanks Dave for helping me explain it more clearly!! I did mean "reflex", I find it consistent across all the wrap rods, no strange reactions from them! ani_idea.gif

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Today and yesterday i flew it. Wow, so different then dual lines, but its so much fun. I crash alot, but the hovering is going beter and beter. In the beginning he felt totally uncontrollable. Today felt way beter and i had lots of lots of fun.

The pulling is indeed not that crazy. Great! I feel i have to learn a lot so i made some contact with people in my area. Team jst-4-fun. Gonna meet them soon biggrin.png.

The New York Minute in action:
https://flic.kr/p/mycgZr

Everybody, so much thanks for all the great help. I hope to meet some of you later. I definitely gonna have some great time with this kite smile.png.

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Sorry Guys, ani_giveup.gif I was extreme busy with work. Otherwise had seen Percy's request for information earlier. The ulmost stupid thing is the distance between us is 25 km. Now he had to make a detour of quite some miles. But we have made contact and the appointment for flying together is coming weekend. We will pull him deep in the dark side and give him all the support he need to have great fun with his beautifull rev. It is ofcourse also in our interest, maybe we can persuade him to start team flying ...... more pilots more fun....Jst-4-Fn

Thanks for helping him out!!

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I am surprised by the enormous help people are willing to give to help a beginner like me. So great!

It feels like http://i2.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/012/946/faith-in-humanity-restored-010.jpg

Funny part is the social side of kiting. I didn't think of that. Maybe its like what fishing is for some people, or soccer, or gaming.. Formation flying looks really nice to do, and i hope someday i can join. But first the basics.

Lets hope there will be some wind sunday, so i can fly to the dark side ;).

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Really learn 2 basics for an attempt at team flying - controlled forward speed and hovers in all directions! With those 2 tools in hand you'll be able to blend into a group pretty easy!

Speed control is an absolute!! Keeps you in place and stops you from running the guy in front of you over! You'll be much more able to hold your spacing, or even stop and let people in front get arranged, then join back in!!

Hovers are in a lot of the team maneuvers, you need to control them to do almost every move in team flying!

In your solo practice work on these skills!! Pick out something in the horizon to fly a straight line with stops and goes mixed in!! Try it at different speeds, going slow, then medium, then fast, mix it up! Do the same for up and down flight, it helps with inverted hovers!

When you have these skills pretty well in hand, you'll be better able to fit right in with any group!!

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Today i have practiced with the jst-4-fun team and lots of others. I was totally amazed that, 10 minutes away from my home, there was a group of 12 rev pilots flying. Even in the rain! So die hard. Next week the group will move to the beach and maybe i will catch up with them again. The flying is great, but the social aspect is also great!

I learned a lot, really a lot. I know what to practice now, cause i got some homework. Hovering, loops, circles, squares. A big to do list. After 6 hours of flying i was really tired and had to get some power nap haha. Buts its ok, its a great workout.

Gonna replace the velcron 70 kilo lines to laser pro lines (120 ft) and i will add a black race frame to the set for those days with less wind.

Yes, today i am part of the Dark Side and i like it!

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Yay!!! Great to hear. Take advantage of every chance you get to practice with them. Before you know it, you might get asked to join the team. Of course you would need to buy more kites to fly in all winds and weather. They're addicting. cat_evil.gif

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