57 replies to this topic

[Madquad]

It's not a rev. At least using the definition of a product of Revolution Enterprises.

Anybody who's spent any decent amount of time doing 3-d bridleless flying knows that a Rev will work "inside out." But they also know the kite flies better the other way around.

This so called StringRev flies best/only with the spars on the bridle-side of the sail.
We use them for high winds (+ 20 Mph)
Al the credits go to Ruud de Haas who made these.....They fly even better in reverse than normal forward flights !!!

[Reef Runner]

Hey Stan, We are close by. Maybe we can get together some day. On occasion, nckiter, NCREVR, & I have met over in Louisburg to fly. Don't know about our flying field now, as we haven't met up in a while now. Maybe nckiter can give us an update, since he works very close to the field.......how about it Kip? Is the field in Louisburg still clear, or has something been built there............
We need to get together with NCREVR (Lee), and Stan (Stan), and do some flying.............. I don't know what's happened to Lee. I haven't heard from him lately. Maybe he'll chime in..........nick

[Exile]

Here is a photo of Alden's "Thong". I flew this kite several times. Amazing how well it flies.

See. I was pretty sure that the spars were on the back (down wind) side for the kite. I didn't get to fly the thong, but I was very surprised how low of wind it flew in.

[SkyPuppet]

<snip>

NC. No wind when I want to sail/fly kites and blows like crazy when I want to fly model aircraft.

Amen to that Stan (Welcome to the forum!) part of the reason I took to flying kites in the first place! No shortage of wind in Vegas either.

Nowadays, flying kites mainly, and some "indoor" model aircraft flying (micro planes, helicopters) for when I need my R/C fix

[goestoeleven]

Thanks for the link to the bungee placement in the Blast thread.

[Jim Foster]

No shortage of wind in Vegas either.

There was no wind the night Lynn and I came to fly with you guys in Vegas. Glad you had your Manta.

[SkyPuppet]

There was no wind the night Lynn and I came to fly with you guys in Vegas. Glad you had your Manta.

You came to Las Vegas once and there was no wind? How did that work out for you

Never said I had a Manta, but I am also glad I was doing something else that night

[Stan]

Amen to that Stan (Welcome to the forum!) part of the reason I took to flying kites in the first place! No shortage of wind in Vegas either.

Nowadays, flying kites mainly, and some "indoor" model aircraft flying (micro planes, helicopters) for when I need my R/C fix

For killer excitement go the other way, fly the "indoor" outdoor in light wind....

Or fly 1/3scale indoors

Stan

[SkyPuppet]

1/3 scale!!!!!!

In another topic, I posted a pic of the Walkera micro-heli I fly. The pic shows a suspiciously (ahem!) missing/broken tail rotor..........
I can't imagine the sort of damage I could do to the inside of my home trying to fly a 1/3 scale indoors

[Stan]

1/3 scale!!!!!!

In another topic, I posted a pic of the Walkera micro-heli I fly. The pic shows a suspiciously (ahem!) missing/broken tail rotor..........
I can't imagine the sort of damage I could do to the inside of my home trying to fly a 1/3 scale indoors

Nah, fly in someone else's home

Stan

[Stan]

Flew the shockwave a bit today (got a decent wind for a little while)....

Learned some basic things...

1) do not pull on lines.. (like dlk)...
2) keep sail loaded otherwise it wont turn....
3) may have to "pump" or tug on lines to keep sail loaded
4) kite gets squirrelly when the sail unloads (stalled)
5) when stalls kite has a mind of its own...

Just like my r/c airplanes...

Moral of today's lesson DON"T STALL THE KITE

[stroke survivor]

Not unless it's intentional and you got a recovery planned!!!

[Stan]

Got some more time with the Shockwave today.... It was a blast (oh no that is another rev. )

Only had the Walk Of Shame a couple of times and 1-2 "hard landings." Shockwave is definitely hard to fly in lighter/gusty winds, today was much better..

Now if I can only remember to count the number of spins clockwise while trying to maintain control.....

Believe me I can't wait til I get some 15mph winds (ok I can wait need more 8-10 mph to work on control).

[spudnut]

As a new shockwave person too, I am awaiting good winds. It is normally 15 knots plus in the afternoon here, but since I got the kite, the winds keep dying out

[Stan]

Got some good wind (enough that I've already taken some OTC painkillers)....

Again a really great time (ask me tomorrow 'cuz I know I will ache). I didn't have to move around much to keep the kite in the air. I did however move when it commanded me to move (read jerk me around).

Learned some key things namely the importance of having to add brake (or move the top lines out) as there were times when I could not "get on the brakes quick enough" to stop or turn.


Landed and adjusted the top lines out a knot, relaunch, much better in terms of manuverability.

Flew to my hearts content (ok not really)...



Later..... Stan

[stroke survivor]

You be getting the hang of it!! Nice thing is, as your skill gets greater, the less wind you can fly in!! Adjusting your leader knots will improve your control!!! Keep at it !!!

[Reef Runner]

Learned some key things namely the importance of having to add brake (or move the top lines out) as there were times when I could not "get on the brakes quick enough" to stop or turn.
Landed and adjusted the top lines out a knot, relaunch, much better in terms of manuverability.
Later..... Stan

Hey Stan, Sounds like you are really picking up, on this thing...........Keep it up, it only gets better..............

[Stan]

Now that I've reflected on yesterday's flying time (and no I didn't have to take anymore Ibuprofen today)

I did not take the time to move the top lines out further so I am only making a guess at this point...

If I had moved the top lines too far out, the kite would have gotten progressively harder to launch and eventually to the point that again there would not be enough brake (due to having to fly with the handle tops near if not completely in)....

[REVflyer]

Determine "how much brake" is correct by tuning from an inverted position. Start with the kite resting on it's leading edge, sitting on the ground. Now add "down" (shorter bottoms or lengthen the top leaders) until the kite will back-up while remaining in this orientation. That's how much DOWN is correct. Now you can add one knot of forward drive if you feel this is completely unfair to your developing skills. The sooner you become comfortable with all this down, the sooner you'll own your hover and not go surging-off with the slightest hint of a forward command. When in doubt, add DOWN first, . . . . you're tuning to get the sail square against the wind, not leaning either forward or backwards, but perfectly perpendicular. Leaning causes the wind to be dumped either off the trailing edge or off of the leading edge.

There's only a slight difference between forward flight and full reverse in the control actions of the handles. It's counter-productive to pull the leading edge towards you, by adding lots of forward drive!

Lighten your grip and relax yourself completely in the upper body.

Some days there's just not going to be enough wind to make the speed series go (NOT worth the hassle of all your flight efforts). This is when the addiction really starts to kick-in. Suddenly you'll decide you need something different, more specialized equipment and the "arms race" is on once again!

[Stan]

Ah... the arms race... MADD (mutual addiction and driven to devour the REV)

Already picked out my next REV. Going to go much lighter in the wind range but not to the indoor/zen, a 1.5 B.


BTW, it sounds like I still have way too much down as to get the kite to launch inverted I have to haul in on the bottoms (almost all the way). Next time out (assuming good wind), I going out further on the tops.


Stan