16 replies to this topic

[Hope4wind]

Hey everyone!!!


New here and just had a quick question............



I read about the float in the instructions that came with my Rev 1.5 SLE and I have been trying to do it but the problem is, I don't know exactly what it is I am trying to do.

Does anyone have a picture or video of a Rev floating?

[REVflyer]

no pictures, but imagine you are shooting an arrow from a bow. One hand is pulled way back and held shoulder high, the other hand is punched as far forward as you can possibly reach.

(1) your objective is to get the kite laying out flat and parallel with the ground with it on it's side. The leading edge points off to the horizon. The kite has more lift on it's side.

(2) The other float is more like a recovery of your field,... fly the kite up real high, then turn the leading edge down towards the surface and control the speed of decent with thumbs pressed forward (towards the kite). Too much and it will stall/fall,.. too little and it comes down with too much speed negating your desired results.

(3- ?) The last way it to completely release the handles entirely and let the kite glide downwind (used frequently in low or no-wind conditions,... like if you wanted to go get a drink of water or use the bathroom!)

[Watty]

My personal photo and my avatar are of me floating sideways.

Here is an inverted float.




Is this what you are talking about?

[antman]

well rev flier has it right .. and once you get it down you can use it for light wind flying to regain the space you lose walking backwords to give yourself wind its really fun to do and if done right you can make the bottom endcaps face you.. the kite will look like a thin black line

[Hope4wind]

I actually did get the kite to float yesterday but as soon as it started, the lines got so much slack in them, the kite just came down to ground and I had to take the walk of shame.



Thanks for the answers everyone, they are much appreciated!!!

[MrDenny]

I actually did get the kite to float yesterday but as soon as it started, the lines got so much slack in them, the kite just came down to ground and I had to take the walk of shame.



Thanks for the answers everyone, they are much appreciated!!!

I am the one usually asking the question here but I may be able to help here. I feel your pain. I practice the float (and most moves that are not fast or require a slack line) with my shortest line set. It is a bit easier to recover with a quick step back. It seems to have more effect on the recovery with shorter lines. Once I get the feel for how far I can go it isn’t too hard to transition to the longer lines. Also the walk of shame isn’t quite so long.

[Harrier]

Chopped up some vid of Carl and James Robertshaw flying at a recent kite festival, in the first sequence Carl is on the right..floating his Rev.
The day had very little wind,at times non, so the display was nice and floaty. Toward the end of the vid James and Carl are just messing while a birthday presentation is made.
And whats all this crap about "the walk of shame" ...if because I have gotten a little beyond my ability and have an unplanned landing that requires a slight adjustment to enable further flight what nowadays passes for a sprint of glee takes place in my haste get flying again......walk of shame, hah, thats for them who dont push at the edges, there aint no shame in trying to improve, whatever cockups it causes.
http://video.google....=...93&hl=en-GB

[Kitezen]

I actually did get the kite to float yesterday but as soon as it started, the lines got so much slack in them, the kite just came down to ground and I had to take the walk of shame.



Thanks for the answers everyone, they are much appreciated!!!

That happens to me a lot, if it is not too high up, I can usually run backwards fast enough to recover, but if at the top of my window, on long (120) lines, I'll just make the walk. Also, sometimes I can pull it back in while it is falling. Anything to get it facing the wind and lose slack. Hope this helps, and remember, those walks are what makes us better, if we just flew to keep it flying, we never would learn a thing.

[RevWizard]

I just found the below photo I took of Joe Hadzicki floating a Revolution Blast by the factory in 2001.

Of all the REVs I have floated, I found the original Blast to be the best floater. I never flew a larger Blast and tried floating it.

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[Bazzer]

Hey everyone!!!


New here and just had a quick question............



I read about the float in the instructions that came with my Rev 1.5 SLE and I have been trying to do it but the problem is, I don't know exactly what it is I am trying to do.

Does anyone have a picture or video of a Rev floating?

Try this link. Look at the rev flying video. Lots of floating in a low wind fly. This is John at Lincoln City I think?,judging by the size of the women in the forground...oooh and the sand bar! If they had been wearing a fleece it would be easier to tell! Certainly not Wildwood!
Bazzer
http://www.johnbarresi.com/videos.php

[MrDenny]

Takes you right to the Video.

[REVflyer]

That video demonstrates beautiful control.

John's got some bit of wind to work with, he's not "reaching" his arms or pumping the wing and you can see him stepping back slightly for additional energy in reverse. A true float to me is when the kite's leading edge is parrallel with the ground. The 1.5 is easier (than a Rev one) for most of us to float, as there's more center fabric to work with and it's more neutral in flight characteristics, smaller size equates to more manuverable with tiny movements for balancing.

Look again at John Mitchell's photo up above,... see all the slack and can you envision the leading edge being parrallel with the ground? The kite is falling forward to recover field, but not very fast in decent, mostly forward motion. That's the float perfectly presented by visuals. It can also be done with the leading edge pointed at you, as the flyer. That's appropriate when the kite is out on the edge, it evolves into a nice slow, flat axel from the inverted position side-sliding pretty easily.

The float is a very rewarding skill which greatly expands your wind range and wind window.

[REVflyer]

I found an example image

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[ramakristan]

Hi,
I have 2 pictures of me flying the Super Blast floating, took me lots of practice to get it right and once you got it, it is a beautiful way of gliding from right to left and vice versa. Don't give up, keep trying until you get it right.
Cheers,
chris

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[nobodyspecial]

Floating is easy once you get the hang of it. not the first thing i learned, but the best thing i have learned for low wind. i can pull a float pretty dag-on long now.

[antman]

no doubt .. espically when you can float you can make you kite do more then what it could do like widen the low wind range

[Choccy]

Takes you right to the Video.

That is so beautiful and graceful... and the cute kite walking.

Then to my astonishment I noticed JB is flying one handed towards the end:
which I won't even attempt due to the tiny nature of my hands.
The handle grips are large enough as it is.
In the strong gusts I am grabbing on for dear life (no kite killers in this particular sport)!