25 replies to this topic

[Love2fly]

Hello and welcome to the family.
Here's a few suggestions to help you along. Practice... Practice... Practice... Just as important is to "Own Your Hover" to quote "The Man" (JB). Control is key to anything you do. If you start getting out of control, go back to a hover and regroup. The slower you can control any move you do, the more in contol you actually are.
Sounds like you're on the right path, good luck.
Finally, I have found that reading this forum over and over has helped tie things together; imho.
Have fun!!

[kairusan]

By Own Your Hover™ I assume you must mean something like "learn to keep the kite in a static hover position facing up, down, left, right, etc.," because that, frankly, seems like a rather hard thing to do! When I initially (after a dozen crashes or more) gained the beginnings of control over the kite, I realized that hovering (especially reverse hovering) took more fine control than anything else I was able to do. I could only hold a hover whilst upside-down for a few seconds; the kite seemed to want to flip back over. It seemed to want a much finer degree of control that I'm currently capable of to keep it in line. So I imagine if I could get the inverted hover down pat, I could do just about anything there is to do with this kite before long.

I just think that's going to take me a LONG time. But it will be fun!

[quaa714]

By Own Your Hover™ I assume you must mean something like "learn to keep the kite in a static hover position facing up, down, left, right, etc.," because that, frankly, seems like a rather hard thing to do! When I initially (after a dozen crashes or more) gained the beginnings of control over the kite, I realized that hovering (especially reverse hovering) took more fine control than anything else I was able to do. I could only hold a hover whilst upside-down for a few seconds; the kite seemed to want to flip back over. It seemed to want a much finer degree of control that I'm currently capable of to keep it in line. So I imagine if I could get the inverted hover down pat, I could do just about anything there is to do with this kite before long.

I just think that's going to take me a LONG time. But it will be fun!

Humblingly speaking here..........owning thy hover to me, is more all about finding the proper balance of the handles in your hands. When you find the point of center between forward and reverse in your hands/handles you will have found how to "own thy hover" And oh what a beautiful thing that is!!!!!!!!

[Sailor99]

Not just beautiful, although that is true, it is also the basis of performing almost every other move with skill and control. For example nyone can spin the kite fast, but a true master will spin it exactly around the 'V' in the centre of the sail very, very slowly. Without a mastery of the hover, this would not be possible to learn.

[REVflyer]

that "control" begins with a light, delicate grip that remains comfortable all day long. Tuning the leaders is how to arrive at this place. It is a wonderful experience for old and new fliers. I have friends that immediately adjust my set-up to their preferences. (one of the joys of flying with a group of people regularly, is having knots in place just for them!) Then we get to jump around and fly OPKs. Each of us sets up a single kite and every few minutes we jump to a new experience. Somebody is flying mini's, somebody else has a progressive stack, somebody has made a new sail or changed something and everyone wants a turn to compare it's effect.

I'm very lucky to live in an area where we can get together without a huge hassle for anyone. We try to move the flying locations around the DC area so more folks can join in. Each location has unique advantages, maybe it's a fantastic spot for spectators, but parking is an outrageous hassle. Maybe we can take over the whole field, but nobody's there to witness our activities. Which would you prefer?

I'd fly over a concrete and broken glass filled parking lot to get spectators, go ahead stick me in between the trees and power lines. It's a lot more fun to have people watching. Heck, that's how I got involved in the first place! REVs rule!

[Love2fly]

that "control" begins with a light, delicate grip that remains comfortable all day long. Tuning the leaders is how to arrive at this place. It is a wonderful experience for old and new fliers. I have friends that immediately adjust my set-up to their preferences. (one of the joys of flying with a group of people regularly, is having knots in place just for them!) Then we get to jump around and fly OPKs. Each of us sets up a single kite and every few minutes we jump to a new experience. Somebody is flying mini's, somebody else has a progressive stack, somebody has made a new sail or changed something and everyone wants a turn to compare it's effect.

I'm very lucky to live in an area where we can get together without a huge hassle for anyone. We try to move the flying locations around the DC area so more folks can join in. Each location has unique advantages, maybe it's a fantastic spot for spectators, but parking is an outrageous hassle. Maybe we can take over the whole field, but nobody's there to witness our activities. Which would you prefer?

I'd fly over a concrete and broken glass filled parking lot to get spectators, go ahead stick me in between the trees and power lines. It's a lot more fun to have people watching. Heck, that's how I got involved in the first place! REVs rule!

Paul,
You are soooo right!