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My wife entered this in the WSIKF novice Kitemakers stunt kite competition and one second place! I’m very proud of her. My Eye kite got third! Made for a great day today! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That may be the case, but then you have to look at the fact that this is my first drawing. I would think that rng would give me a few points in my favor to keep me in the game. Sent from my SM-N950U using KiteLife mobile app

Kites of old tend to be closer to a 45 degree leading edge (LE) angle at the nose, modern era kites tend to be quite a bit wider than 45 which is good for slack line maneuvers.

Angle of the leading edge is a strong influence on nose / leading edge launches like that... Assuming the same height of kite: Smaller wingspan (steeper) = easier Wider wingspan (shallower) = harder Not always, but generally.

That was Scott Aughenbaugh. Video from another event, same move partway through...

Hey guys, gonna give it a few more hours. Drawing may be later this evening, but it will happen.

The designs are fantastic. Way to go you two. Excellent !!!

Are we talking about turns like the “Rev Tutorial - 180 with Positive Drive”? The above post seems to address the actual (start of?) turning, how easy it is to rotate (when letting the heavier LE drop down). Another thought I have is that it is easier to maintain height in light wind (and on edge/sides of the wind window?) with an inverted hover rather than a non-inverted hover. Doing a down turn resembles the inverted hover for a short time. Btw, initially I didn’t understand why you should bother with 180deg down turns (and I found them difficult as well) – the (quick) 180deg upturn was easier anyhow and seemed to maintain the height (in good wind, if performed rapidly and/or towards the centre of the wind window)… First I’d like to agree with Wayne and add there is no need to suddenly increase the tilting backwards of the kite (by extending the top leaders) - go step by step until you find the balance. It is difficult to isolate top leader trimming from general QLK flying. The main thing I’d like to point out by the below yada yada is that IMO you can’t separate the length of the top leaders from the flex of the LE. The more flex the longer top leaders you need. The below is also an attempt to put the LE flexibility into a context (pro/con/effects of LE flexibility and top leader trimming): I have used the original leaders sitting on the handles that came with the B-series kites that I got and hold the handles with the thumbs on the top end of the handles. Nowadays I only use the settings close to the outer end of the top leader (using the original leaders). So in low wind move in one or two knots so that you can hold a non-inverted hover without to much work. In harder wind if you notice that you have a constant forward drive and that you need to use some force to apply brake to hold the kite still, go to the outermost knot. Another sign to watch out for that suggests that it is time to move out a knot is that you often hear a fluttering trailing edge when powering up the sail. Now one should not forget about the stiffness of the LE and how prone it is to bend in the current wind. If out have a flexible LE (or if the wind is hard) the sail changes shape so that you might need to make the leaders longer than original. The stiffness of the LE IMO should be chosen so that you easily can bend the LE by pulling your arms back (while at the same time it still will flex back in the current wind when extending the arms). I’ve only recently started extending the (top) leaders. The thing that got me started was using the soft (flexible) Skyshark P90 LE as a replacement for the Revolution two feather spars in very low wind. When using a LE that you easily can control the curvature of (the flex) on in a certain wind and you can get a nice control of stop and starts (in the air I meant, not launching or landing) and get nice straight paths when the kite moves forward. So why ever would you like to use a bit stiffer LEs? A stiff LE is good for side slides, vertical slides or slides in any direction. With a stiffer LE I can slide the kite in a large circle with the LE pointing outwards (down spars always in the radial direction). With a stiffer LE I can rapidly/actively drive the kite downwards in a vertical slide. If the LE would bend when doing this, the straight slide instantly instead turns into a turn (away from the LE).

Stay with it. It gets better and easier each time you fly, so get out often. The JB leaders are the way to go. Not enough adjustment on the stock leaders, which are intended for the first-time novice flyer so he can at least get the kite off the ground. Once you have a few hours on the lines you can replace them with the extended leaders and convert your handles to snagless as you can see in that topic. If the kite has a tendency to fall out of the sky, it is usually caused by over-control, but may be due to incorrect adjustments. Over-control is the culprit in most cases, so make your inputs as small as possible. Fly slowly to practice the moves you want to practice. Zooming around at high speed is fun and requires large, fast inputs which are harder to coordinate until you have acquired them in your muscle memory. Just hang in there. It will come to you with time on the lines. You will have many "a-ha!" moments on the journey.

Not really. You haven't grovelled enough like the rest of us! 😂 Hi, and welcome to the forum. I look forward to flying with you some day.

Sounds like too far out on top. Still need some drive. Most find their sweet spot somewhere near the middle of the top leader.

Hello everyone. My name’s James. I’m from Brooklyn NY. I’m new to KiteLife, and just started flying Rev’s again after a 9 year break lol. I read every post on this topic and I thank everyone for all their input, definitely cleared up a lot of misunderstanding on my part. I started flying again a month or so ago. I have an EXP with the stock handles (with the metal piece and short leaders). When flying the EXP with the stock handles I’m able to keep the kite up for a long time and do very basic maneuvers. It is very fast at times and I do have a hard time hoovering and flying inverted. So that’s what I’ve been flying for the last couple months. I recently bought JB’s pro leaders and tried them out for my first time yesterday on a B-Pro STD. (Also my first time flying anything besides the EXP) The wind was very fluctuating, I have a hard time judging wind speed but I would say 6-8mph with gusts up to 10mph. I had the upper and lower lines all the way out on the last knot on the pro leaders. I was able to launch the kite with the leading edge up (I keep forgetting to change it to leading edge down because I learned from the Revolution DVD which came with my EXP, where the guy sets it up with LE up). I had to do the double tap a lot, but every time while it was in the air I experienced what I recently learned as “sheeting”. The bottom would kick out, I would lose all control and it would just crash to the ground, every time. You can imagine there was a lot of cursing lol. I mean it didn’t feel anything at all like the EXP, it was a night and day difference. Anyone have any input? I think my movements were extremely pronounced with the pro leaders. I also think if the wind was more consistent I would’ve done a “little better”. I really feel like going back to the EXP with the stock handles lol. But I also think I should break my comfort zone and stick with the pro leaders for A WHILE! Thanks everyone!

So I found an older colorizer over on GWTW and adapted it for the diamonds design.. It's not web based but gives me a pretty good idea of how I can set up my color schemes. Here are a few quick samples.

So addictive. Sent from my P00I using KiteLife mobile app

I had a love hate relationship with the colourizer when I was working on a B Pro set. Fell back in love doing my Djinns though. Sent from my SM-G950F using KiteLife mobile app

Hi FreePistol, I just saw this thread and wanted to personally apologize for the delay with this order. We ran out of the specific color you ordered and had to bring more in stock. By the time the shipment arrived we had some planned warehouse changes, which further delayed the order. I sincerely apologize for this perfect storm of delays. Upon checking into the order I do see that the kite was delivered and I hope you are enjoying it! Please let me know if you have any issues and if there is anything I can help you with please let me know! Thanks Brendan Pro Kite USA

Probably more of a 51/49 in my favor. Beings how I'm not self centered or the like but there's no one in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD that needs that kite more than me. I'm sure the rng knows and understands. The black models are a little narrower at the wing tips and nose. They're 58" and the newer rainbow is 57". So I've read.I prefer the black and red. Surely that ups it to 52/48.

Thanks for the tips. It gave me confidence to pull the trigger.

Started a colorizer for my Diamonds.. Will be pretty rudimentary compared to the Djinn work from Watty. A quick sample of some of the pre-art going in place for this..

Didn't notice the lines. That's okay, I've got plenty of line sets in my bag. I knew the kite would work wonderfully in my bag. Here's hoping for the win.

Put up my Silver Fox 2.2 UL first today in 12 or so mph winds and it handles it well. Yes I know 12 is to much for a UL but hay I’m not to smart. Lam’s Silver Fox is my sons favorite duel line kite, we both have the UL models. He didn’t want to stretch his out so he flew the Widow NG. As the wind picked up he was sitting down and was getting drug slightly. I was laughing. I then switched to the Challenger Max and it was much easier to fly and more controllable. My wife just recently started flying and was able to fly the Challenger for over an hour in winds that were in the high teens. We live on the Oregon Coast so the winds at the beach are constant not like they were in Colorado where we moved from. I also have 2 of Lams ATM kites, an UL and a Standard, witch are very similar to the Silver Fox 2.2. The production Lam kites are quality built with his tweaks and parts installed like the wing tip tension pieces. Very convenient. The high end custom Lam kites are a work of art. I don’t own any yet but have looked at several at festivals and will eventually purchase one or more starting with a vented model. The only kites I have comparable to them would be Sky Burner Delta drive or the Solus kites that I love to fly in light wind. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

The new Silver Fox is probably the best value for a dual line kite that's currently on the market. I have an UL and fly it very often.]

For those flyers that lust after a Lam Hoac-designed sport kite, but can't afford the price tag when starting out, Lam has entered into an agreement with Flying Wings to totally redesign the Silver Fox line-up of kites. I have several of Lam's newest AC kites & they are incredible kites, to say the least. I decided to try one of his new Silver Foxes to see how it compares to his own hand-built kites & the flight characteristics & QUALITY are spot on!!!! Keep in mind that Lam has done the redesign, & Flying Wings has done the manufacturing to Lam's specs. What is really exciting is that Lam then takes these manufactured kites & puts his own little performance tweaks into the kite. The kite is available now in either a Std or SUL version, & I understand Lam will have a Vented version in the fall (if not sooner). The price? around $200, which, for a Lam designed kite, with his tweaks, is a steal!!! Below is a photo of the kite & its graphics.

RTF would include lines. Mental connection with the kite usually doesn't work for me, but hey, if this one has what it takes to do that, then . . . . . . yeah, I gotta have it!

Lams kites are ouch pricey. Mine came used or I wouldn't have one yet. Learned the higher winds on a Prism Micron and Snapshot 1.4. I was a disaster on the Elliot Jet Stream Reloaded. I've crashed the Mind Trick in winds that have broken other kites. Haven't figured out why this kite is so different yet. Some of it has to do with the softer connectors. Pain sometimes cause the spreaders will pop out pretty easy. Saves the kite on hard crashes though. Going across center window in 25 kite will kinda of hiccup instead of speed up. It gives the impression of actually slowing down. It's not but feels like it. Catch the kite at the hiccup and the tricks I can catch at those wind speeds are extremely exciting.Got to be careful at times cause if I sneeze kite will immediately turtle.In 20+ I still need to work up my moxie to go fly. It's a ton of fun but flying on the edge is still a little intimidating. Yesterday morning winds were low and real smooth for here. Up on the Tekken for a few hours. Winds increased and got the Hydra. Hour later went 20+. Moxie wasn't there and I called it a day.Similar wind pattern for today. Must gird the loins for this afternoon.

Now look what you did. I drooled all over my keyboard. I'm guessing that it's kite only, but hey, I'll take take it anyway.

I quit playing after i ordered them. I didn’t want to come up with a design I liked more. Looks really cool with the black background. [emoji106] Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

Awesome prize JB! And what do you know it’s in my colors. Good luck everyone. Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

Nice giveaway, thanks JB and Kitelife! Sent from my iPhone using KiteLife mobile app

Always room for a Vented B.

LE and Edge Binding is done.. will hopefully finish this kite up tomorrow.

I'm in Sent from my SM-N950U using KiteLife mobile app

First Flight of the Dark Sunset Fade Kite.. All in all very pleased with low wind performance.. Winds were hovering between 2-3 MPH with occasional gusts of 5MPH.

Dark sunset Fade completed and bridle tested.. Ready for Test Flight and delivery.. (Bridle Testing)

Diamonds Flights from the Wright Memorial

Converted it to JPG as i was unable to see the original pic without downloading.. Very nice work!!!