John Barresi

Quick links as they were mentioned earlier... I’d be more involved here @Twin Roses but you’re in such good hands already.

Right on the dort.

Going through one more set of rebuilds as we speak, quite a few changes after our test flights in SPI, needed a fresh start - hoping to sneak some more peeks early next month.

The more, the merrier! 👍🏻

Couldn’t have said it better myself Wayne!

A novice’s experience from 2010, and we improved a TON of our process in 2013... http://kitelife.com/2010/10/01/issue-74-a-novice-position-in-the-mega-grid/

Basic grid skills...

2013, 81 kites (current record)...

2010, grid of 16 (4x4)...

2010, 64 kites...

If you’ve not participated in one of these before, I’m here to tell you that it’s set up for everyone to succeed - there are always naturally some folks who drop out but the love and educational quality of the group should always make it a worthwhile experience. Everything you’re going to read below will seem like quite a lot of data but I must impress upon you clearly, while it would be useful to naturally absorb as much of it as you can, it is NOT required to fully understand it in order to participate - the info needed will be rich and clear, most of it will already be in place to give a clearer picture of where things belong, and there will be a TON of love and help on the field both before and after the attempts, it’s just kite flying - this is serious fun. 😉 Break down... Typically, I run these HUGE mega flies while standing 100’-200’ behind the group (NOT FLYING) while everyone has a standard FRS/GMRS walkie talkie and headset or ear buds, all tuned to my channel while my broadcast to the group is “always on”, I also carry a bullhorn for back up and short announcements if needed. Next layer are what I’ve come to call my “lieutenants”, ideally one experienced non-flying team pilot and communicator that act as direct liaisons and physical runners between myself and each 1/4 of the grid if I need to issue “hands on” adjustments, as well as to guide recoveries after a tangle (always fixable), a total of 4 non-flying lieutenants. Whenever possible, we also have a secondary FLYING captain at the top (upwind end) of each column of 10 to manage smaller details within their line, a total of 10 flying leaders aside from the main coordinator and the lieutenants. Last component of the team is ground crew, lots of friends and loved ones to help sort out snafus on the ground. To fly in a grid of 100 (also describable as 10x10), we’ll likely work in two rows on the ground and four groups of 5x5 for launch, then assemble the big square (10x10) in flight, it’s worked very well to keep things organized / manageable in the past. What is a grid? It’s a concept conceived by Felix Mottram of the Decorators (UK), picture this.... A team of 16 shoulder to shoulder (also breaks down as four times four pilots)... Each group of four rotates BOTH bodies and kites into a column (lead kite kite at top, lead body on upwind end of the physical column), once tightened up a bit this makes one big square of 4x4 in the sky, at which point the odd # pilots (1 and 3 in each group of 4) take one step to the right so each column of bodies is at a slight zig zag while the kites are still in a straight column. Maintaining this formula, the kites and bodies get closer to be cohesive both in the sky and on the ground. Within the whole 4x4 now we have the odd-numbered kite columns (from the right: 1 and 3) and even-numbered columns (2 and 4), we also have the odd and even rows (counting from the top), as well as a square of 4 kites in the center with the other 12 making a complete square around them. These are just some of the ways of organizing what we see in the sky, and almost every movement required is basically A to B and B to A travel, very little actually requires traditional “following skills”. The main premise of the grid is that each kite has a single designated “home” position that they move toward and away from, AND with the emergency option for the main coordinator to call “BACK TO GRID”, and all kites “morph” slowly and smoothly back to their home spot in that grid. Last time we did this we did single column practices (including bodywork), smaller grid practices and a whole lot of fun flying with our friends. More data dump to come, feel free to ask questions. 🙂

Long Beach WA, Aug 19-25 2019, WSIKF This event is in the very early stages of planning at WSIKF 2019 (kitefestival.com), we have already received approval from the event organizers and we’ll announce training / meeting / record attempt schedules for the week along with supporting information, videos, documents and discussion for participants. Festival dates are August 19-25, 2019, in Long Beach WA USA... NOTE AGAIN, this is a 2019 (TWENTY NINETEEN) event but we’re planning and discussing one year ahead so everyone can plan more easily. ALL types of “1.5” sized quad kites would be welcome regardless of brand, and there will be NO FEE to participate. Event page on FB... https://www.facebook.com/events/2063175117276024 WSIKF info... http://kitefestival.com We’ve got great inertia so far. 🤙

Precision mega fly?

Hello @KAP Jasa, Welcome to KiteLife®! Although this is an automated message, it is written with heart - I love kites deeply, and I believe the KiteLife community represents this passion with a very friendly and helpful environment for everyone. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Need to tweak settings? Edit your profile here - View Member Edit your settings - http://kitelife.com/forum/settings/ Other than that, here are a few handy links that you might have a use for... Member Chat Member Map KL Shop And while it's never an obligation, we always love hearing about our new members if you'd like to share some of your kite stories, videos, and/or background... Tell us a little about YOUR kite life!

Hello @sjcornett, Welcome to KiteLife®! Although this is an automated message, it is written with heart - I love kites deeply, and I believe the KiteLife community represents this passion with a very friendly and helpful environment for everyone. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Need to tweak settings? Edit your profile here - View Member Edit your settings - http://kitelife.com/forum/settings/ Other than that, here are a few handy links that you might have a use for... Member Chat Member Map KL Shop And while it's never an obligation, we always love hearing about our new members if you'd like to share some of your kite stories, videos, and/or background... Tell us a little about YOUR kite life!

Finally updated, apologies for the delay and thanks for the care to bring it to my attention. http://kitelife.com/video-tutorials/ Or same page via an easier URL... http://learnkites.com

lol

Winner list updated.

We're pleased to yet again announce the next prize being given away to our most appreciated supporters, the Kitelife Subscribers... For roughly 10 cents per day they play a major role in keeping KL growing in every way. Repeat of our March drawing, identical package! Three brand new digitally printed performance (quick dry) shirts in Large size (almost XL fit) each with the following graphics: Kite Forge (small breast logo, large back logo) Team KiteLife (small breast logo, large back logo) JB / KiteLife (small JB breast logo, large KiteLife logo and more on back) Total prize value around $80, I do apologize for not having sizes available to choose from, these are left over from an earlier order as these are what I wear when I'm out "working" in the field(s). == Remember, you must have an active KiteLife subscription to be entered, but you can sign up here! Odds of winning for this prize is currently 1/359, and will be drawn on Apr 20th, 2018! Our thanks, and the very best to you... Let the drooling begin!

We're pleased to yet again announce the next prize being given away to our most appreciated supporters, the Kitelife Subscribers... For roughly 10 cents per day they play a major role in keeping KL growing in every way. The winner of this drawing will receive BOTH of the two kites below: One brand new First Foil dual line power kite ($99 value)... AND a Lil' Dreamer stunt kite from ($96) Skydog Kites, roughly a $195 total value for this two kite combo! Info on the Skydog website: http://www.skydogkites.com/traction/sdf_firstfoil.shtml http://www.skydogkites.com/stuntkites/lildreamer.shtml If you haven't done so already, You can sign up here. Odds of winning for this prize is currently 1/359, and will be drawn on Apr 20th, 2018! Our thanks, and the very best to you... Let the drooling begin.

Woke up on the right side of bed this morning, TWO prize drawings coming up.

This KiteLife drawing goes to subscriber #1431, @gnikkola. Congrats to Rachael and Gary, thanks a lot for the support! Now, lets go find some more cool stuff to give away, eh? Stay tuned!

Drum roll... !

Welcome to our newest supporters... 1481 @Doug Holman 1482 @TeamVee 1483 @GEORGE BONN 1484 @David Coffey 1485 @Chris Young 1486 @Ca Ike Active subscriber count, 359.

One thing turned into another yesterday and a full belly knocked me out, getting to it now - will reconcile the member list and get back here with a winner ASAP!