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My Apologize


Fred van Curen
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I would like to apologize if I up set any one last night on the chat room. My problem is the erratic winds up here in north Montana. I'll I"m trying to do is find REV kites that will fly in the winds I have here. So please except my apologize. Thank You All Fred

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You're not alone Fred. All inland fliers get crappy wind. A lot of mumbling under my breath too. Everyone tells me learning in these winds will make me a better flier, but I never get to the beach, so what does it mater?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unaware of chat issues...

But unstable inland wind will make you a better flier. Beach isn't even part of the equation.

Clean wind is nice...don't get me wrong...but it is not a challenge.

There is nothing like bumpin' and grindin' with what is given.

It can be quite a pain... but the knowledge you learn fighting...will far out way those "perfect" condition flights.

Work those feet..don't be afraid of crashes..make it happen. It's cheaper than a gym membership.

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+1 to all the above. Until this spring I hadn't been to the beach in well over 10 years. Flying inland is kind of like surfing. Instead of waiting for the perfect wave, you wait for the perfect moment to work on what you want. You have to take into account what the wind will allow you to do at the moment. I find i can get to what I want to work on enough times to make progress each time out. The difference flying inland is you can't work on the same thing over and over in succession. After having been at it so long, I can honestly say there are things i prefer about inland wind as compared to coastal.

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crap wind and hours of it will certainly allow you to fly when everyone else watches, it's kind of a mantra for me. I'm not needed until the weather fails to cooperate, then the demo field i all mine until I need a break.

I still remember moving from south Florida (lived by Busse Woods in Hoffman Estates after college first) to DC, none of my kites would even fly! Folks I knew flew UPWIND one-handed and didn't watch the kite. They flew in between obstructions and indoors too, heck they even built their own kites. It took many hours of frustration before I made these indoor conditions a personal favorite. I cheer when it's dead calm and "fly or die" conditions. 10 hours a week for a couple of decades and most of my friends can still fly better than me.

Some of them build kites the equal of anything you have ever seen, pushing the development in new directions,... just as Thomas Edison failed a 100 times before the light bulb, many of these experiments in flight dynamics didn't work out. But I learned so much, the difference between light weight and necessary mass. (you know that's a different equation or "feel" for each of us, right?)

What works one day isn't right the next in crap inland wind, you develop an expectation over time and strive to achieve it with each flight session. How would you change it for improvement? different sized platform, different framing, different length or strength of flying line,... nothing here so far is custom. That word opens a whole new world of possibilities. So you experiment with a group of friends, further refining your own style and the equipment used to suit different conditions.

I would expect a lifetime quad-flier on Jockey's Ridge to have an advantage over me on his home-turf. I probably don't have a hundred hours of experience under his conditions. But drag him up to the washington Monument in August on a hot no wind day and I can lay it down, he'd be totally frustrated. Years of exposure to this junk. We have a saying in our club, five months out of the year we fly indoor kites with an unlimited ceiling.

All crashes and exhaustion of excess movements in the beginning, but it will come. Stay with it. Revs can fly in any weather safe enough for you to be out in it! There are no bad weather conditions only a poorly equipped kiter

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You're not alone Fred. All inland fliers get crappy wind. A lot of mumbling under my breath too. Everyone tells me learning in these winds will make me a better flier, but I never get to the beach, so what does it mater?

Yes, but when those coastal flyers visit us here, at any of our Midwest festivals, they'll be staring at you with awe as you merrily fly circles around them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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