How about we refer to this installment of REVisions as one of those “variety show” ones I do once in a while. No specific lessons, tutorials or guidance, just a lot of information on some things that will be occurring (or, in some cases, occurred!) over the next year. Given its Revolution’s 20 year anniversary of making kites for people, it’s going to be a very busy year!
I’m sitting on a plane bound for South Padre Island, where John and I (plus two more iQuadettes) are headed for their annual “winter” festival. Keep in mind that “winter” at SPI will probably mean sunshine and 75 degrees… I know, I know, we suffer for our art. But the bigger story happened at the Treasure Island Kite Festival that occurred 2 weeks ago. Through a mostly forum based, grassroots campaign, a record shattering Rev megafly happened! I’ve detailed this better in this issue’s article on the fest itself but, we managed to get 29 Revs up into the air at once, beating the previous North American by 11 kites. Now THAT was a satisfying experience! But, more importantly than that, was yet another opportunity to hang out with a lot of Rev flyers over that weekend in Florida. I got to meet a bunch of people that I have know via email or forums only for many months now, and that’s always one of my favorite aspects of any festival I end up at. And, quad team flying is an excellent chance to socialize once you get over the initial freak out of your first few times (OMG OUR LINES ARE CROSSING! * crash *). So, again, thank you to everyone at that festival!
Some of you may be interested in some quad kite “clinics” iQuad will be involved in over the next while. There are currently three on the near horizon with the first of these being at Kite Party on the famous Rev hangout of Huntington Beach, California. This particular one will be a one day one that will focus in getting your skill set up a notch to take on some team flying which we’ll be playing with over the weekend. It’s going to happen on the Friday afternoon. And two weeks later, we’re mounting a much more intense effort with a 3 day clinic held in Long Beach, Washington. This one will appeal to all levels, and all interests as it will cover everything from the very basics (including how to wind lines, on one winder and consistently have no issues!) to some very advanced flying techniques, such as low wind survival strategies. At least 4 of us from quad will be involved in this clinic, thus you can expect to spend a lot of time getting your feet wet (please pray to you weather gods now) with team flying as well. Given that the Pacific Northwest can be kind of chilly and prone to rain in march, come well prepared for anything the weather may decide to throw at you, because you can be assured that the clinic will run, rain, shine, snow, sleet, hail or otherwise. Only lightning will stop us, so just make sure you have proper clothes for this, ok? Of course, the usual team flying “equipment” guidelines apply, 120-foot line sets and Rev 1.5s. Ideally you will have a vented one with you as well, but, I suspect we may have a few there you can use as well if you don’t own both versions.
And thanks to the efforts of Brad Weiner in becoming an organizing force, we’ll be mounting an East Coast version of this same clinic in Wildwood two weeks later! The same ground will be covered, and I’d bet the same rules would apply with respect to dressing warmly as well. Unfortunately, my work schedule means I won’t be at this one however; I am –definitely- returning to Wildwood for the Memorial Day festival! But, there will be at least 4 quad members on hand for teaching and training so, make sure they stay out of trouble on my behalf. Steve especially…
Your best source of information for any of these three clinics will be the Revolution Forums, located at:
Any changes or new information will show up there first. And space will be limited so, if you intend to go, make your voice heard soon! The dates for all of these?
Huntington Beach – February 22nd (though, we will be there all that weekend, who can miss Kite Party?)
Long Beach, Washington – March 7th – March 9th
Wildwood New Jersey – March 21st – March 23rd
Of course, if you are mildly insane, you could try and attend all three. We’ll make up a nice merit badge if you!
A couple of years ago, I remember John and I sitting around and musing that Rev’s 20th was coming up soon and what sort of party/happening/event could we muster together to show our appreciation. At the time we had no idea whatsoever that it would pan out like it has, but, it came together over the fall, starting with an email out of the blue from one Felix Mottram of The Decorators, the original Quad team (old article link) and from there, it’s snowballed (mostly in control!) into a huge gathering! Its also the Dec’s 20th anniversary as well, so, we figured, what better place to hold the party than at the birthplace of quad team flying. So….
The Revolution 20th Anniversary Birthday Party!
With a little luck, this will also encompass the largest Rev megafly ever to happen. With a list of teams that’s huge, the hope is that we can nudge past the current Japanese record of 48 flyers. And who’s coming to this?
Of course, The Decorators! But also :
The Flying Squad (UK)
iQuad (US/CA)
Team 4 Fun (GR)
FLIC (FR)
Team Bolau (SP)
Aile (JP)
Too Much Fun (US)
Again, as this is a very quickly evolving event, your best bet to keep on top of this will be the Rev forums. If you can join us, be sure to let us know in advance and truly, the more the merrier! This promises to be the biggest Rev gathering ever held. (a large amount of us will also be at the Portsmouth festival the weekend before because as you can imagine, finding a way to coordinate 50+ flyers is going to prove interesting but the ideas are flowing already. Bear in mind, Felix and Stephen Hoath from The Flying Squad will also be spending some time both at the Valencia and Berck Sur Mer festivals in March, working out some of the details and working in large teams so if you can, pop over to one of those festivals. Me, Id love to go in March but I figure it’d probably end up with me being jobless, so, I’ll wait for August.
For me personally, this trip represents a full circle. It was the Decorators that initially inspired me to fly Revs, and made me want a quad team since 1997. It was Stephen and The Flying Squad (along with Team 4 Fun and FLIC too!) who gave both John and I our initial learning curve with team flying and to be able to return to Europe as the leaders of iQuad is simply something that’s been known to make me giggle with glee unexpectedly. Driving down to Seatac last night (for a lovely night at Chez Bazzer!), I literally WAS giggling about it. It almost seems like some kind of surreal dream and I am deeply honored to get this chance. Thanks Euro quad flyers, I hope you like where we have taken your original guidance.
Next issue, I’ll be chiming in with how the clinics went with a general recap and the issue following that I’m thinking I’ll write about iQuad’s adventures in Japan and what we learn about Rev culture on the other side of the Pacific Rim. It’s an exciting time to be a rev flyer, perhaps more so than any other time in the kite’s history, so feel free to send in your own pictures and stories to us, we’d love to hear from you. And given the travel schedule this year, we’ll undoubtedly see you in person as well at some point…
Here’s to great winds, all the time!
David Hathaway
