[some intent - frankie style]

They've all got "street cred", that just comes with time, exposure and lots of heart.

[some intent - frankie style]

Amen brother.

[some intent - frankie style]

As an instructor I work with all kinds of fliers, and I've pretty much identify them in some of the following "psych" groups (these have very little to do with actual pilot skill)...

Weekender

Likes flying, wants to know enough to for basic competence but isn't really interested in learning a lot.

Novice

"Just trying to get control", no real intent, mostly continual correction in response to the kite's semi-random movements, like riding a wild horse, basically they just haven't made "the decision" to specifically learn and progress on certain aspects.

Expressionist

More obviously animated fliers (kite and body), often pretty good control but you can see the range of movements are tailored toward a feeling, a kind of expression, more than precision. Sometimes this "caps" the growth though, because there is a subtle belief that learning or focusing more will somehow compromise their personal integrity and style, which is a personal choice.

Precisionist

Often skilled, but it feels like watching a robot moving around the sky, not much feeling pushed into the movements or style, focused more on pure execution.

Performance

The main trait is simply wanting to do everything, better. Every aspect from intent to precision, tricks to team, any and all additional parts of the big picture. Often more feeling or "oomph" in the movements, varied style but almost always an eye toward structure within the expression - often much more compact, powerful body movements and relatively indifferent to wind speeds (high or low).

==

Now bear in mind, that's all subjective, and no person is a fixed rule... Just generalizing here.

[some intent - frankie style]

No wrong way to fly, just talking shop - Weider, Watty, de Rooy, Leonard, Marchel, Benz, Russell, Maiocci, Polo, van der Graaf, all these guys fly different, and all are great.

[some intent - frankie style]

I feel and agree with most, but just for debate - I do a lot of the same thing, but my output works in patterns so it's still "move-bang-move-zip-spin" often at fast speeds, but the geometry within and between those points is more formulaic / patterned - it's also based heavily on inertia, or how a kite's weight wants to move when finishing any particular maneuver.  

[Can't throw Rev]

From one topic killer to another, I know what you mean.

[Can't throw Rev]

I we had a blog system a couple years ago but it wasn't used much, just brought I back a couple weeks ago to support a more active group of forum users.

[some intent - frankie style]

Nice Frankie - I can see more "track" (patterns and visual rhythm), very cool.

[Can't throw Rev]

This is so awesome seeing the videos pieced out like this, makes browsing a real breeze - nice work Frankie.

[Little Flying this Fall...]

Wow, a Lam kite relegated to dragging tails... That's a shame.

[Little Flying this Fall...]

For what it's worth, the Sea Devil in that video had the bridle points dropped another 1/2" or so (had to retie a knot), I was running about 35 grams of weight on the tail, plus a yo yo line.

[Went for an urban fly the other night...]

Re the license plate, I couldn't believe it when I asked the DMV clerk...

"Really? K-I-T-E-S is available?"  
(insert stunned face and delayed response here)

In Oregon of all places, lots of "founding kite fathers" live or have lived here.

[Went for an urban fly the other night...]

Try all lengths for your own taste, but I've found anything shorter than 30' doesn't give me enough window for the detailed flight that I favor (geometric lines, patterns, etc, what I call "running track") but is still short enough to run an orbit around the kite to generate wind or change flight direction.

[Little Flying this Fall...]

YouTube stripped the audio, so I did a track-swap from their music library:

 

The only outdoor ACDC dual line video I can think of is this one, flying a Shiva...

 

[Little Flying this Fall...]

Had to be done.

[Little Flying this Fall...]

Sea Devil '05

A few months after I learned my first slack line trick on dual line kites, and my first kite "promo video"... Filmed at 2005 WSIKF, footage by Todd Rudolph.

Posted by

John Barresi

on Thursday, July 23, 2009

[Down in the dungeon]

That's awesome. Kite-Cave.

[It begins]

I've been through this 5-6 times now, it's a sore spot. lol

Anyway, enough thread hijacking (on my part)... I'm dying to know what and where SHBKF is flying next.

[It begins]

27 minutes ago, Reef Runner said:

And what's up with this new forum format ???

It was Windows 2000, and now it's Windows 10, inevitable changes in software - never popular, but folks will miss this new one after 5 more years when we're forced to upgrade yet again.