11 replies to this topic

[Timo]

Well, another brand new newby here. Never saw a "live" Rev flight, only the videos. I had eagerly awaited my Rev, as it was brought down by a friend who was visiting the States. So, off to the beach here in Mexico. Put the Rev 1.5 SLE together. Then I proceed to commit all the mistakes shown and discussed...ie, line wraps, off wind launch (attempts), over and over till I put it away and drug out my Beamer and let it drag me around as punishment....

Not having anyone with a Rev within 1,000 miles or so, I came back and read the forum. Here I found some help. I am sure I had the sticks on the wrong side. I will find out today, but in the meantime it sure is nice to be able to read the tips and so forth here in the forum. Thanks to all the other posting members for the advice.

[kiteking]

Welcome to the dark side Timo.

Have you seen John's tutorials?

[awindofchange]

Timo,

Stay with it, it will start to come together for you the more you fly. Coming from power kites, the Rev's can be very difficult because they are so different to fly than the power kites. With power kites it is all muscle and pull. With the Rev's it is all finesse and touch. Power kites are big cumbersome pigs up in the air that are designed to drag you around. The Rev is a delicate and finely tuned performance machine that is designed to do exactly what you tell it to. Remember that you are moving from a truck or bus to a super light weight sports car. Very small movements and quick snaps is all it takes to get the rev to fly, unlike your power kites which require huge arm movements and tons of torque. Relax your grip because the Rev can't be flown when you are squeezing the handles. Flick it around instead of trying to drive it hard. Feel the kite through the lines.

Keep with it and remember that the Rev is totally different than your power kites so you need to fly it differently. It will start to click together and when it does, it will even make your power kite flying more productive.

[Scott_of_melnsct]

Timo,
Where in Mexico are you? My wife likes to visit Mexico. Maybe we can come fly with you.

[Timo]

Timo,
Where in Mexico are you? My wife likes to visit Mexico. Maybe we can come fly with you.

Hi Scott, Thanks for the reply. We are currently in Mazatlan, but living on our sailboat. Thus, we move around some. We will be here for about 3 more weeks. Usually we are up in the Sea of Cortez this time of year, we wait out the hurricane season up there, as the risk of a direct hit is diminished. All that said, let me know if you head down this way, I would love some pointers!

Did have some success today. I had to force myself to think "depower" for stability, instead of trying to power though to adjust the flight. So, got it to go up, and down, and hold. Pretty feeble, but for me it was a thrill! Ha. So much to learn.

Tim

[Timo]

Timo,

Stay with it, it will start to come together for you the more you fly. Coming from power kites, the Rev's can be very difficult because they are so different to fly than the power kites. With power kites it is all muscle and pull. With the Rev's it is all finesse and touch. Power kites are big cumbersome pigs up in the air that are designed to drag you around. The Rev is a delicate and finely tuned performance machine that is designed to do exactly what you tell it to. Remember that you are moving from a truck or bus to a super light weight sports car. Very small movements and quick snaps is all it takes to get the rev to fly, unlike your power kites which require huge arm movements and tons of torque. Relax your grip because the Rev can't be flown when you are squeezing the handles. Flick it around instead of trying to drive it hard. Feel the kite through the lines.

Keep with it and remember that the Rev is totally different than your power kites so you need to fly it differently. It will start to click together and when it does, it will even make your power kite flying more productive.

Yes, I see now what you mean. So totally different to fly. Its going to be fun. Its kind of like having a fish on, and after today's small successes, now the hook is set.

[Redrocket]

Hello Mr. Timo,

I too was a new newbie a month or so ago. I now have about 20 hours of flight time and have improved soooo much. I believe it's a case of 'practise makes perfect'.

In my humble newbie opinion it is well worth trying to master the basics like normal hover and vertical left and right hover. Needless to say I haven't mastered these quite yet but I'm coming along quite nicely. I am still struggling with inverted flight though.

I don't know about you, but as I have mentioned in one of my recent posts, staying focused and trying to sort the basics is very hard for me - I just want to be childish and do silly things with my kite, I don't have time for mastering techniques!.........

Keep up with practise and you to can become a child again.

See ya

Chris

[Love2fly]

Hi Timo-

Welcome to the Rev Family.... aka the Darkside.

As you already know, there's tons of great info here. Also, everyone is eager to share their knowledge and experience. So, don't ever hesitate to ask questions.

Get out there and try and you'll be flying in no tme.

Since you sail, I'm guessing you understand wind. On the most basic level, Revs are about adjusting the pitch of the kite for the wind to fill the sail (loaded up) AND for all four lines to be flying the kite at all times (which keeps the kite loaded up).

Good luck and happy flying.

[bartman]

I don't know about you, but as I have mentioned in one of my recent posts, staying focused and trying to sort the basics is very hard for me - I just want to be childish and do silly things with my kite, I don't have time for mastering techniques!.........

And ya know what? You should to silly things with your kite because doing that and seeing how the kite responds will give you clues as to how it will respond to different inputs and that will lead to bigger and better things.

Being childish and silly with my kite is the hardest advice I give myself and I need lots of reminders that not everything has to be constant practice when out in the field.

Just had a reminder from Kite Cowboy yesterday again when he stopped by and we had a couple hours to fly together.

Bart

[Timo]

Hi Timo-

Welcome to the Rev Family.... aka the Darkside.

As you already know, there's tons of great info here. Also, everyone is eager to share their knowledge and experience. So, don't ever hesitate to ask questions.

Get out there and try and you'll be flying in no tme.

Since you sail, I'm guessing you understand wind. On the most basic level, Revs are about adjusting the pitch of the kite for the wind to fill the sail (loaded up) AND for all four lines to be flying the kite at all times (which keeps the kite loaded up).

Good luck and happy flying.

Thanks, and I do appreciate the info contained on the site. It really helps as there are no others in this area for "live" help. I am already hooked, now just need more flying time

[Redrocket]

Hey Bartman,

thank you for that, good point.

Chris

[Felix Mottram]

Hey Bartman,

thank you for that, good point.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Bartman has a very good record of coming up with salient points when 'us others' are 'looking the other way'.

I would completely agree with 'Being childish and silly with my kite is the hardest advice I give myself' as it is the the way we test 'the envelope of possibilities'. <grins>

Thanks Bartman!

Felix