85 replies to this topic

[Jonesey]

As the season is winding down and we need something to occupy those dark and dreary winter evening, I thought it must be time for a bit of tranatlantic banter ...

Having been part of the previous mega-team record attempts in the UK a year or so back I followed with interest the fantastic efforts made to set a new standard of 64 recently .. however imagine my dismay on trawling through the video's and photo's of the event so see the attached picture from Watty's post which appears to show not a team of 64 but several 8 person teams who happen to be flying at the same venue!!

I mean if you look at the distance between groups in the picture where does it end?? does that mean that if 8 of us had been flying on the same day on this side of the pond with the calls relayed to us we would have been included?? or is there a maximum seperation??

Ah well at least I can go to bed tonight happy in the knowledge that the record is still moraly held on this side of the pond

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[bartman]

Nothing like a little early morning digging to get things going. Love it.

I think the minute the threading started it became one team. In fact, on my video JB doesn't even mention the world record until the threading. To do that would require a min/max separation so another 8 flyers on the other side of the pond would have been excluded being outside the maximum distance to thread.

Sorry.

Bart

edited for typo

Edited by bartman, 13 September 2010 - 01:13 PM.

[Scott_of_melnsct]

Sweet dreams Jonesey. We (the world record holders) will be here for you when you wake up.

[monkey]

You shot this from the parking lot, didn't you?

[Murph]

Jonsey ....your stirrin' it.....wouldn't let it lie!!!!

Chris

[david ellison]

Ahem Mr J....the bean counter in me suggests the following extracted from wikipedia may be a factor:

UK Population 62million, Area 94 m square miles = Density 660 people per sq.mile

USA Population 310 m, Area 379m sq m = Density 82 people per sq mile

I guess we just have to stand a little closer on this side of the pond! Nothing whatsoever to do with kite flying skill, or gun ownership

[Sailor99]

Looking at the picture it certainly would qualify for the largest grid in the world, in terms of acres at least. At Portsmouth I recall suffering from an itchy nose, which I could not scratch for fear of falling out of position. However Gary, who was stood in the next row, kindly stuck his elbow out and I was able to give it a rub on that - oh the relief! It also illustrates how close we all were. I find I have to concur on the necessity for proximity in a mega fly, as well as precise location in the sky. Which reminds me. Looking at the picture I also see the columns are all wonky.

[kitecowboy]

So Jonesy what is the maximum distance team members can stand apart before they are no longer a team? Seems to me its the kites interaction not the flyers distance apart. IMO.
You can scrape up a few more flyers and try for the record again. I also have a whinge card to give you when we meet.

[Jonesey]

So Jonesy what is the maximum distance team members can stand apart before they are no longer a team? Seems to me its the kites interaction not the flyers distance apart. IMO.
You can scrape up a few more flyers and try for the record again. I also have a whinge card to give you when we meet.

Obviously its not my responsibility to set the necessary criteria for what constitutes a valid record .. but as long as your conscious is clear ... I mean you all seem to be able to sleep at night knowing that you are driving on the wrong side of the road and destroying the queens english on a daily basis so I'm sure this is no different

Oh and don't worry about the whinge card .. mines already been issued!

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[play365]

Now I don't think that was whinging just telling the truth

[Yrna]

I have to admit that since I first saw the pictures and videos from the WISKF fly, I've been itching to bring this up. Columns are standing SO far away they are really not flying together. Over here we fly at arm's length from the other column, no matter how many columns there are. As an example, may I suggest you look at the Portsmouth 2010 video:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=sByqc-B7INI

You can clearly see there are 6 columns there, standing in the same space as taken up by the middle two ones at WISKF, not the mention the kites are closer too. Yes, it takes more confidence to fly like that, but surely that's the whole point.

I'm glad you're all so thrilled with the experience, as can be clearly seen from the original thread, but does it count as a world record mega fly? Are there actually any official requirements? If it's all a bit of fun, then I'm sure we're happy to let you have it, but by the same token we'll just have to arrange to have all the Rev's in the UK up at the same time. Surely that will count

[andelscott]

... I mean you all seem to be able to sleep at night knowing that you are driving on the wrong side of the road and destroying the queens english on a daily basis so I'm sure this is no different

Oh, but I really hate to say this. Jonesey, please tell me you meant the Queen's English, rather than a variant of Pidgin English that I've never encountered. Perhaps as used in a suburb called Queens? It's just that its apostrophe has gone on the run again... The excuse of using one of those touchpad keyboards just doesn't cut it anymore!



[Dons tin helmet and hides beneath parapet knowing own mistake is just around the croner ]

[AldenMiler]

Queen's English?

Martin and I had a discussion about this, never heard back from him though. He said I had a valid question.

What happens if you get a King? Is it still the Queen's English?

-Alden

P.S. Jonesey, I know you are just jealous. We had good representation from your side of the pond.

[Jonesey]

Just had another thought .... you could always just call it the 'Rev Mega Grid World Series' then it would be another one of those truly international global championships like baseball

[Love2fly]

Hi Jonesey-





Thanks for the laughs....


.... oh, and for bringing up the great memories of WSIKF 2010. It was a great time with an awesome group of people. Too bad you missed it all!

[kitecowboy]

Maybe they stand that close together so their feet dont get wet, how big is the queens island?

[Jonesey]

Actually its because our excellent dental hygiene allows us to be that close ....

[Felix Mottram]

<snip> Too bad you missed it all!

The initial layout was 32 kites wide, 2 rows deep. JB concentrated on getting the first row in the air followed by the second row getting airborne and then moving forward to line up behind the first row.

This was a very orderly process which was reversed at the end of the 'performance'. I think that the grid could have been contracted to '8 x 1 1/2' kite widths, so from 32 to 12, but in the circumstances JB was right to go ahead and work the set-up as it was. The main problem was that with the grid at that size it was not possible to see all the kites in peripheral vision so the concentric circles got a bit lost. There were some comments from fliers claiming to be on the edge of the wind window. Given the overall configuration I suspect that there were actually other issues involved... most likely wake turbulence from kites higher up the column.

JB commented that it took 5 minutes to get all 64 kites in the air and into grid position. Now we know that it can be done in this way the 'lateral contraction' is a small detail! <grins>

Felix

[bartman]

Yes Felix, other than my standard wobble around reversing up into the ball it was difficult on the edges to get it (the ball) formed. When the applicable row/column I was in got all disjointed it made figuring out what ring to be in tough. In my mind it should have looked like rectangles around circles as each formed, but in reality it didn't look a thing like that when focused on my area.

I don't want to overthink that part (not something you hear me say often), but moving forward there is a lot of room for improvement. IMHO of course.

Bart

[Felix Mottram]

Actually its because our excellent dental hygiene allows us to be that close ....

In the car park?

Felix