12 replies to this topic

[pwind]

Hi, I almost did not fly my rev since a few month, so I though it would be wise to check the manual moves again.

Here is the result, this is neither a tutorial, nor it is intended as a "reference".



Comments on what to improve are welcome

[Baloo]

Other than seeing that some of the clouds looked a bit Grey it looks like you had a fantastic Day.

[beach]

Looks like you had some fun my friend... Ben

[pwind]

I can't deny weather and wind where perfect !

Here is another :

[Kitelife]

Wow, pretty solid flying for a Supersonic.

[pwind]

Thanks !

Ben said me it was precise too (compared to 1.5 Barresi Pro VTD), after one year of training yes it is !

I use 15" pro handles. Again, perfect linear wind helps a lot !

[Madquad]

Comments on what to improve are welcome

Hi Pwind.

Nice movie, No complains about your control and precision (especially with a Supersonic) .
I think when you want to fly STACK figures you better can change to the 1.5/B-series.

And another thing: Please check the animated STACK-figures

http://reeddesign.co...b/index.html#MI

When you do that you will see you have made some mistakes in the figures you showed in your video.

Check Camel Back (Position), Clock Tower (LE up instead of down), Pivots (The way you turn) and Lollypop (you have made a nice new figure !!)

I see you live in France so maybe we can meet eachother @ Berck sur Mer Kitefestival next month !

Best regards and keep up the good work

Marc/Madquad
The Netherlands

[pwind]

Thanks for pointing this out, I noticed the errors in the Clock Tower and Lift (stops in the vertical line) while editing, but Camel Back, Pivots and Lollypop totally escaped me !
Perhaps I will make a quick trip to Berck this year, but not sure yet

[Fabrice]

Congratulations!!
The Supersonic and a kite flying was very hard on this video précision.Le resultaimpressed.

[B-13]

pwind, these are great videos and really precise for a Supersonic. I myself have one and sturdy control like these are hard if wind is to high.

i changed the leaders on the handles as soon as i got them and i found longer leaders in top does not help much on the Supersonic. I tried different combination of tuning both top and bottom leaders and found myself more comfortable with the top lines about 1" - 1.5" inch from handle and bottom about 3" from handle.
Launch in normal position is easier with minimal drive and inverted launches too are more easy.
I was advised by some to lengthen the leaders for more control but the Supersonic being very sensitive, i reverted back to shorter leaders. Now i am still looking for that sweet spot for medium winds.
How about yours? Can you please help me in setting a good leader on my Supersonic handle?

Thanks in advance to anyone for any help provided.

B

[SkyPuppet]

Hello B-13,

I just borrowed my friend's Shockwave, so I too spent some time trying to find a sweet spot for my setup.
My advice, is to just keep playing with it until you like it. Reason being, its very difficult to discuss a particular setup as being effective for all. Too many factors at play here - your physical abilitly and range of motion (how you hold your grips), how even your (or uneven) your lines are and how they have worn with use, how the sail and bridle have worn on your Supersonic..... These factors make it difficult for me to tell you what your ideal setting would be.

You are on the right track though!! Keep playing around with it till you find it comfortable to fly forward with the ability to at least comfortably stop - if you can, make it one step better and try for a setting that will allow you to comfortably (I'm talking physically comfortable) fly in reverse. As you have noticed, changing wind conditions may require you to change your setup as you go, so don't feel you need to stick with just the one setup while you are out flying. As you make changes, be sure to give the new change a fighting chance - stick with it for a good 15 minutes before changing again.

Lastly, once you have your leaders setup just the way you like, try and take yourself out of your comfort zone at least once each flight, and dial in more brake! As your familiarity with the Supersonic increases, your desire to fly it like a maniac will too... And this requires as much brake as possible, IMHO.

Good winds to you!

[B-13]

Sky, Agree with you and thanks for the input.
My first setup was longer leaders on top and half top length on bottom. Drive and reverse were fine but after sometimes my wrists started to hurt as being in a too horizontal position (too much drive needed to keep kite up)
Moved the lines nearer to handles and tested. Things got better but still not as i wish.
So i tied up an additional knot on field near the handles on top and put lines farther on bottom. Launches get easier and i flew for more than 30mins with no wrists pain and stress. I felt more comfortable with this setup.
You are right also for winds as in other conditions i might try another setup to get this right. This also depends how i hold my handles too. It's more with thumb and forefinger but always having other fingers on the grip to apply brake at any moment. But at least i feel no stress after long time flying in this position.
Will try longer leaders with more knots so i can tune on field next time. Supersonic is very sensitive and slight change is multiplied on kite movement.

[SkyPuppet]

I hear ya about the wrist pain B! 15 mph on a Shockwave, with my preferred brake setting, was wrecking my wrists within an hour. But for me, it was because of using lots of brake and trying to fly in reverse. Reverse flight is amazing on the Shockwave, but in 15 mph (average) winds it was taking some force against the handles to get it to go, no matter how much brake I dialed in.
And about the sensitivity of the speed series Revs to leader adjustments.... I was landing the Shockwave every 10 minutes or so and trying something different, and because of my predisposition to the 1.5 size Revs, nothing felt "right" for almost an hour!

On another note: If you have a line set that you consistently fly on a different Rev (i.e 1.5, B2, Zen), and if you like the way these lines are wearing, DO NOT put it on a speed series Rev!!! Well, ok you can.... I did and it stretched out my top lines soooooo much - we're talking like 5 inches here!! I put the lines on my B next day for some light wind flying, with my usual leader setting, and....... Well, lets just say I spent another hour messing with leader settings, and 20 minutes beyond that on line maintenance (re-equalizing and stretching). When I finally go to buy a Supersonic or Shockwave, I'm going to dedicate a line set to it to be used by no other kite.