[Kitelife]

Hi folks, just checking in to see who all will be attending the Great Lakes Kite Festival in Grand Have (MI) this year!

Host site - http://www.mackite.com/glskc.htm
Pre-event teaser - http://www.kitelife....f65/content.php

2008 festival report - http://kitelife.com/...f08/content.php
2007 festival report - http://kitelife.com/...f07/content.php
2006 festival report - http://kitelife.com/...f06/content.php

iQuad will be present (John/Steve/Bazzer/Monkey), and far as I know, there are a limited number of mini-clinic spots open as well.

If you're interesting in joining the clinic, contact the folks at Mackinaw Kite Co and they can set you up.

This is a really great event with a top notch roster of fliers, well worth the trip.

Also, it's one of the few events you'll have a chance to see Lee Sedgwick at these days, a legend and all around nice guy who everyone should get to see at least once... A true wizard, he's one of the highlights for me at this event every year.

Hope to see you there!

[Jeepster]

We'll be there ...

[Jynx]

Already have a room reserved... Looking forward to the event!

Hopefully I can get in some flying (practice) in before hand...

[monkey]

And also, another stack flying legend, SAM RITTER!

[Mike]

I'm a maybe...

[monkey]

Mike, on Apr 21 2009, 10:43 PM, said:

I'm a maybe...

Excruciatingly long drive for you

[Mike]

monkey, on Apr 21 2009, 05:34 PM, said:

Excruciatingly long drive for you

It is closer than Vancouver, but it's still 300 miles or so.
But that's not the problem, it's more a matter of allocating scarce resources.

[monkey]

Mike, on Apr 21 2009, 11:55 PM, said:

It is closer than Vancouver, but it's still 300 miles or so.
But that's not the problem, it's more a matter of allocating scarce resources.

OH! See, and I thought you were kidding about the maybe. Hope to see ya, but, if not, I sure understand about scant resources.

[Kitelife]

Mike, on Apr 21 2009, 02:43 PM, said:

I'm a maybe...

Pffft, you've been a maybe the whole time I've known you!

In all seriousness, it would be a huge loss if you can't make it.

Fingers crossed for you.

Will give TK an extra squeeze for ya too.

[Kitelife]

Not sue if everyone has seen this...

http://www.mackite.c...ite-lessons.htm

[Jeff]

I'll be thinking of you all as I shovel mulch this weekend.

Just can't swing it, I've got events the next 3 weekends after, something had to give.

[Jynx]

Jeff, on May 13 2009, 11:07 AM, said:

I'll be thinking of you all as I shovel mulch this weekend.

Just can't swing it, I've got events the next 3 weekends after, something had to give.

Sorry to hear that! ...See ya (and 180Go) here in Milwaukee NEXT weekend RIGHT?

Hope you'll have mulch fun this weekend!

[Jeff]

Jynx, on May 13 2009, 04:57 PM, said:

Sorry to hear that! ...See ya (and 180Go) here in Milwaukee NEXT weekend RIGHT?

Hope you'll have mulch fun this weekend!

Oh, absolutely...that's practically in my backyard.

Can't wait!

[Mike]

I'll be thinking of y'all flying on the beach while I'm driving. And driving. And driving.
2000 miles back to Illinois. I just installed cruise control in the car, so that's gonna help.

The Great Lakes fest really is, well, great. If you haven't ever been, you gotta go!

[Jeff]

A webcam that shows part of the beach, for those of us that want to live vicariously through the lucky ones...

http://www.earthcam....n/lakemichigan/

[Jeepster]

Jeff, on May 16 2009, 09:22 AM, said:

A webcam that shows part of the beach, for those of us that want to live vicariously through the lucky ones...

Friday saw lots of cycling through non-vented and mid-vented kites. Also, in addition to changing speeds, the wind kept changing directions. The 3:30 class ran out of wind and didn't get to complete the flying portion until today. Temps seemed to be in the 60's with an overcast sky.

Friday night hosted the indoor flying ... the only thing I can say is that videos don't give you a true feeling for indoor flying. iQuad was great, but I've got to give the nod to Sam for flying a stack indoors ... didn't see that one coming.

Vicariously might have been the best choice today ... well, not really. It was mid 50's with the wind blowing 20 to 25 mph most of the day. Cloudy in the morning and sunny through the afternoon. Fully vented with 4-wraps seemed to be the best choice for kites ... and non-vented with 4-wraps seemed to be the choice for clothing. (ps ... yes, Ben was wearing his shorts ... a wool cap, winter coat, gloves and shorts. Says he has nice legs and wants to show them off.) There was almost constant demo flying by the pros ... and they looked good, so it really couldn't of been too bad. Once the sun came out there were lots of spectators ... and lots of BIG kites. Great show of nylon in the sky.

Three of us hung out with our kites in the corner of the training/demo field, so we were able to watch all the demos up close and personal. Fly till the next demo starts, land to watch, and then back up when the demo is over. Ben was using his lattice kite for training ... he seemed to be surrounded by people taking him up on the offer to try out a Rev. Thanks goes to Ben for not running us off.

The weatherman is predicting mid 50's for tomorrow with winds around 10 mph and lots of sunshine. Might be the best day yet, and the last two have been great.

Cheers,
Tom

[Jeepster]

Went out to see the night kite flying. Thought it would be an okay event ... nothing more. But, I was very wrong ... it was awesome. Probably not a great spectator event for non-kite flyers. But, knowing the difficulty of flying by the flicker of a little red light makes it a fantastic event. Oh, and then to watch iQuad run through a complete routine to music with only the corner lights was the really awesome part.

Threading the lines was okay, but matching axels side-by-side and three feet off the ground was a real head shaker. Close your eyes and do one by feel, 'cuz that's how it must have been accomplished. First you could see kite corner lights, then a blur of lights, and then the corner lights. Neat ...

Cheers,
Tom

[Jeepster]

Sunday was what kite flying on the beach has got to about. Lots of sun, mild breeze (non-vented to mid-vent winds), the temps were in the mid 50's - but with the sun it was very comfortable, great demos ... and I did mention lots of sun, right?

As usual, iQuad put on some great shows. Other teams and individuals were also entertaining. But, the highlight for me was to watch Lee Sedgwick and Sam Ritter (each flying an eight-kite stack) doing a routine together ... and I do mean together. Very seldom were the stacks more than ten feet apart. A slow, gentle ballet of giants came to mind. I've been told that you can't back up a stack very easily ... those two showed that you can do just about anything you want to except an axel. Neat!!

Again, three of us hung out in the corner of the demo/training field to fly and watch the official program. Thanks for not chasing us off Ben.

Now that iQuad is hundreds of miles away, I'll tell you one story. When they were doing axels at the night fly, Bazzer said he thought he did a 540 ... not to be out done, Steve said he did a 720 ... then John said - well you get the idea. Monkey just shook his head and walked off.

Cheers,
Tom

[Kitelife]

Jeepster, on May 18 2009, 07:03 AM, said:

Now that iQuad is hundreds of miles away, I'll tell you one story. When they were doing axels at the night fly, Bazzer said he thought he did a 540 ... not to be out done, Steve said he did a 720 ... then John said - well you get the idea. Monkey just shook his head and walked off.

We're in the van riding back to Chicago... I just read that bit to the boys, voila, iGaffaw.

Too damned funny!

[Choccy]

Jeepster, on May 18 2009, 03:03 PM, said:

I've been told that you can't back up a stack very easily ... those two showed that you can do just about anything you want to except an axel. Neat!!

I know you are singing the praises of some 'giants' and I realise this was a huge stack.....
but...

they obviously need to have some pointers from folks like axel stack spinning Jonesey

[tongue firmly in cheek]