43 replies to this topic

[Kitelife]

I tried the arc circle today.
My next 10 hours of flying need to be in reverse.

Denny

Right on the money... If you want a balanced set of skills, you'll need to spend a fair amount of time in reverse while you're learning.

Quite often, I'll spend an hour or two straight doing everything I normally would, but backwards.

One of my top drills, start slow, build speed with time.

[DWayne]

2 hours of flying in reverse this morning made a big difference.
Flying circles in reverse is still pretty challenging though.

Denny

[Sailor99]

Been having a go at that circle thing myself lately. To be honest, I think I am trying to run before I can walk, so I have decided to put that down for a while and try perfect some of the easier figures. I think the suggestion of trying to do everything in reverse for an hour each session is a good one. Again, going to have a go at that although I have to say that I find my wrists start to give up after about half an hour with the kite upside down - I guess that is a symptom of having to try too hard.

[Kitelife]

Sailor, I'd assess your hand positioning... Inverted hovers should actually be less stress, once you relax and find a good stance.

[Sailor99]

Thank you John, and I think you have confirmed my gut feel. I suspect it is a negative cycle where when you find something hard you tense up and try all the harder. The negative element of the cycle of course is that by tensing up over trying you just make things worse. In fact I think Stephen Hoath said something similar about my stance generally when he saw me fly. There is a similar process in teaching people to steer a racing yacht properly - at first they are all tense, but once they progress beyond the movements and feelings being alien you can concentrate on relaxing them and letting them find their rhythm with the wheel and their legs.

Next time I am out I will try to spend my allotted time upside down (if you get my drift) and to think "chill"

[Kitelife]

And let the weight of your arms relax, the hands should be in front of your belly or waist when in a relaxed invert.

Of course, the pinky and ring fingers should be relaxed as well, so you're not over-gripping the handles.

[Simon]

JB and others, how about using a Vented REV when doing inverted or reverse. The other day The Flying Squad were having a team practice in 35 MPH winds and it was easier to flying in reverse than forward.

I have always found it easier to fly backwards with a vented as it seems the air flow is better.

The classic two line infinty but flown with a Rev in reverse flight is a great practice.

Another thought, is about moving your hands down the handles, good for high wind, but also produces more reverse

Simon.

[DWayne]

Practicing flying in reverse is starting to pay off. After a lot of practice (and a little mentoring from the master ) I managed to do 2 completely recognizable camelbacks today.
I'm stoked.

Denny

[Kitelife]

Nice work Denny, you'll be ready for Berkeley, for sure!

[steveb]

I first started flying Revs in the early '90s, but only did it a few times a year, usually at crowded kite festivals, where I could find room with short lines. I could fly a Rev, but was by no means very good at it.

Flying with the islandQuad (iSquad?) boys at Clover Point has really kicked my butt. I've been flying Revs nearly exclusively ever since early January and flying nearly every day. I spend a lot of time flying in reverse and getting my speed control down.

I've recently changed my grip from index fingers hooked around the top of the handle to just at the top of the foam.
Something I'm working on, but can't do yet is pivot turns in reverse; working from the ground up.

[Kitelife]

Right on Steve, sounds like you've nearly found the zero point, where all control is balanced, allowing any motion.

I hope you get to hang out with us in Long Beach on the 7th, 8th and 9th... Going to be lots of fun, and tons to learn.

Reverse pivot up, try strictly and firmly driving the lower wing's reverse to pivot the kite up... Then play with keeping the higher wing pinned.

It obviously gets more subtle than that, but there's the starting point, imho.

[monkey]

Flying with the islandQuad (iSquad?) boys at Clover Point has really kicked my butt. I've been flying Revs nearly exclusively ever since early January and flying nearly every day. I spend a lot of time flying in reverse and getting my speed control down.

I can say beyond a single shadow of a doubt that flying the team thing with iQuad over the last nearly three years has done more for my flying than the previous 10 years combined.

And i'm not even close to being tired of it.

[steveb]

Clover Point is a pretty small space- 120' lines just barely fit, with some wind directions.
There's no way we could have 5-7 dual liners flying in that space at the same time unless we all had thousands of hours of practise together.
Quads make it possible and I've gained a whole new appreciation for the Rev.
The civilians 'get it' too. Many times we get nice comments from the passersby who watch. I can't remember that ever happening when I did my dual line flippy/floppy stuff.

[Choccy]

Try to keep the kite facing up (for starters, then eventually change to different possitions), and slide the kite around in a circle.

That's a fun one, I like doing those

I have not dare try it inverted yet
It would be the backwards inverted bit which would be very difficult for me ATM.

Any tips?

[Sailor99]

Any tips?

No, no! You do it all with the leading edge rather than the tips.

[Choccy]

No, no! You do it all with the leading edge rather than the tips.

Are you jesting with me sailor ?

I meant hints you big lummox

[Sailor99]

Oh hints, right. Avoid crashing into the ground.

[AldenMiler]

Lately (since the EC Rev Clinic at least) I have been flying squares. I was told to fly a square slowly and stop at the corners to help improve my control. I can see the difference in my flying and it is nice.

I try different variations when I get bored. I still fly the square but I try things like flying the whole square inverted. Fly up on the left side in reverse, side slide at the top, down the right side and side slide again at the bottom. Or fly up the left side normally, turn to the right, fly across the top, make a 270 left hand rotation at the top right before descending slowly on the right side (this makes the lines clear themselves at the bottom right of the square). Face left at the bottom of the square and fly back to where you started. There are many variations of this and it can be quite fun!

-Alden

[Jonesey]

Lately (since the EC Rev Clinic at least) I have been flying squares. I was told to fly a square slowly and stop at the corners to help improve my control. I can see the difference in my flying and it is nice.

I try different variations when I get bored. I still fly the square but I try things like flying the whole square inverted. Fly up on the left side in reverse, side slide at the top, down the right side and side slide again at the bottom. Or fly up the left side normally, turn to the right, fly across the top, make a 270 left hand rotation at the top right before descending slowly on the right side (this makes the lines clear themselves at the bottom right of the square). Face left at the bottom of the square and fly back to where you started. There are many variations of this and it can be quite fun!

-Alden

Thats sounds like a good exercise Alden..... will try that.. thanks

[Sailor99]

It's a great exercise - you can do it with the kite vertical too - then slide up and down the sides. Then when you're feeling a bit braver try a diagonal square - a diamond if you will. And when you're feeling really fruity change it into a octagon which basically combines the square with the diamond in terms of flying directions. Before you know what you are doing you'll be flying MI17 - The Reverse Octagon! The top right is where it all goes to pot for me.

http://www.reeddesig...iskcb/mi17.html

Another good one to work on, although a bit boring, is the lift - a slow and controlled reverse climb to about 90% of the wind window (if you can get there) with out wobbling then a slow and very controlled decent at the same speed as the climb. Its kind of fun to see how high you can get before it wobbles - walking forward slowly often helps (until you trip in a rabbit hole!).