Happyspoon

Great flying! Sure makes me wish I could take a kite up today, wish there want still such bad weather and that I hadn't started a kitchen renovation. This thread has kept me super excited during this down season The parts where you and the kite are both in frame are my favorite! I see you keeping the kite in a stall for a good amount of time, that's a great way to build up those subtle balance skills. Can't wait to see the next one! Sent from my SM-G935W8 using KiteLife mobile app

FWIW I've seen other groups (mostly for games like Ingress or Pokemon Go) successfully use Google Hangouts, Slack, even things like What's app for these kind of chats. On the other end of things I bet there are some free IRC chat options that would allow embedding in the website as well as login through phones and such. John, Babble, bim and comet all seem interesting ( I think maybe Babble and comet are the most interesting) but I don't have any experience with them so can't say for sure! Sent from my SM-G920W8 using KiteLife mobile app

I know this is suboptimal but the editor built into YouTube is actually not too bad for this stuff. just upload the whole clips to YouTube as a private video then open up the YouTube editor, start a new project, and 'import' your clips.

Yay! Hope it works out and excited to see the footage! BTW I got to take a friend's Nexus up briefly and was able to coax it to axel surprisingly well in about 14mph winds so I'm sure you'll be doing those pretty quickly Have fun! It just snowed here and there is absolutely no wind so I'm guessing I won't be flying today. Sent from my SM-G920W8 using KiteLife mobile app

Great advice, I'm taking it now in fact. We had our move-out inspection today which went very well but it took tonnes of scrubbing and we got rid of so much junk right up til the wire. I'm taking the rest of today and tomorrow off from unpacking and am going to just relax, hopefully fly a bit, and plan the next month. I'm glad you like them! I find they feel really satisfying when I actually pull them off. I originally started doing them so I could get to the middle of the window in a stall while in higher wind (so that the fade would be more stable) but now I find they are a great way to try FAs at different points in the window consistently without having to also work on super accurate snap-stalls. Thanks! I'm so glad I entered! It was a great way to meet a bunch of amazing flyers, plus I learned so much trying to film those 1:30 clips. I learned lots while critically watching everyone's videos too. The dual-line flying community isn't very dense geographically which makes the turnout for these online events are all the more rewarding. P.S. you got so close in the draw! I was rooting for you (though I think everyone was super deserving of the prize

Thin gloves ad finger straps seems like an interesting combo. I got a 4D for Christmas which came with finger straps. I have only gotten to fly for a few minutes so far but I think they are going to take some getting used to. I'm lucky that it never really gets cold enough that I need gloves, and I keep finding myself taking them off once I'm a little warmed up on the field. Kev, have you gotten much of a chance to fly over the rest of the month?

I thought a lot about this entry over the past couple weeks while I've been moving into a new house (yay for not being renters anymore!) thanks for giving me so much to think about while lugging boxes! I love how you had chances to be both the source of knowledge for an excited dual-line flyer and to learn more about paragliding yourself! I've lived on Vancouver Island pretty much all my life but I've moved far enough around on the island to have a few clusters of nostalgic sites like this. I had few memories of Clover Point before last year when I started flying. My only notable memory was finding a peregrine falcon on a rather windy day. I got a picture that we were able to use to read the (upside down) band and log a proper report! "Allemans rätten" seems like a great way to encourage a respect for the productivity of natural spaces. In Canada we at least technically can't privately own the shoreline, but even in government parks you usually aren't supposed to pick anything without various licenses (though people often ignore this) I love the idea of combining rockets and kites! My BF used to play with rockets when he was younger but I never got into them. A quick look on Youtube seems to show the combination hasn't been well explored at all. The competition you described sounds like it would foster some serious creativity! It sounds like your father was a real pioneer in the kiting world! It must have been inspirational. I remember trying to fly single line kites (probably the lame duck drugstore variety) with my family once when I was a child but I don't think anyone in my family knew much about flying. I'm starting to get my dad interested in learning though Can't wait to hear more comparisons between the Hydra and the Kymera! They both look beautiful.

Happy birthday! Sent from my SM-G935W8 using KiteLife mobile app

Sounds like a good setup! Live streaming some kite flying would be fun to watch! I often have my action cam on the end of a ski pole at the end of the field. I think the weirdnesses if it keeps people from getting too close tried trying it to a SLK string but I need a bit more stabilization if I want watchable footage https://goo.gl/photos/L7bFQQQtMPoWEzZX7 And lol by dinner in the previous post I ment 'some'. Silly autocorrect. Sent from my SM-G935W8 using KiteLife mobile app

Those look super convenient! You could probably thread the whole strap through one of the finger holes too if you wanted! As for recording I was surprised at the quality of the no name action cameras, dinner of which can be got for $50 or even less! I recorded myself with a cell phone leaned against a cooler for awhile too Sent from my SM-G935W8 using KiteLife mobile app

I like the glove idea! I've only tried gloves once while flying and I really missed the feel of the line on my fingertips. i'm never flying in strong enough wind for it to be a big deal that the kite is anchored to my hands, doubt I'll bread a wrist or anything. I'd love to see pictures if you make one! you're sure righta bout getting warm while flying, except for my hands and ears maybe Didn't like Snow Crash? It wasn't my favorite of his books (and I think I've read them all now) but the world he built was crazy interesting. If you haven't tried Reamde I thought it was a nice departure from his other works.

I noticed in the Peter Peters link you sent me that the "genie pop" is pretty close to what I called "push axels" I don't see anything on his page that describes your reverse axel! I've been working on an excel flight session file that I could print and bring with me, or even fill in on my phone, but it has been tough to figure out how to best format everything! I'll share what I'm working on after my next push at it I can tell that this worsening weather is going to result in a lot of extra time to plan and organize for future sessions. Wow, does this ever feel different to what I've been doing! i love it! I've had almost no chances to fly recently (getting ready to move puts a dent in my time for sure...) but I recorded my first chance trying these 'one-handed' inputs. I set the camera up behind me so that I could watch my hands after, so the video isn't particularly pretty but I found it informative to watch! i sure 'cross' my left hand often, pulling it in towards my chest instead of out to my side. Super limiting to do this of course as I run out of room and thwack myself in the chest.. I'm going to think on your comment on why some tricks are more popular than others! I wonder if the availability of tutorial style videos is a big limitation? It is amazing how many people (me included) learned most of what we think of as proper trick kite flying from Dodd gross, dpmama, and the old prism DVDs on YouTube. Edit I'm going to add this here too, but your "Snow Crash" comment in the forums inspired me to try flying out in the snow here! I sure crashed a lot but it was loads of fun.

That's great! Kinda nice you are starting in the winter (I'm guessing), it will make warmer flying all the more enjoyable Are you going to start recording yourself? I've found it helps me hugely in figuring out how to improve my flying. Keep it up! Sent from my SM-G935W8 using KiteLife mobile app

I've tried them up to the strongest winds I currently feel comfortable tricking in and they seem to work! I think that in stronger winds it is more important to wait til the nose has rotated past 12:00 before the axel input (like you say, it is much like a spin axel without most of the spin) I think I did this by mistake in low wind recently but promptly forgot it happened. I'm absolutely going to try this next time I'm on the field. I wish there were already a name for what I call 'push axels'! In that trick list they are just referred to as 'another way to axel'. Yeah I think that fade launches are comparatively easy for me because I can line up the nose pretty well before launching. Trickier is catching the fade with the nose pitched up far enough to start the kite rising. If I pull too hard for the launch the nose kinda bounces off the lines and pitches down. It seems easy to give 'enough' slack reliably for the fade launches. It feels to me kinda like doing an axel input but with both hands at the same time. For fractured axels I noticed you can get away with both an axel type input (pop?) or a slightly longer pull with both hands. I haven't tried to do them by just pulling one line though! Another thing for my checklist for the next flight. When I miss the moment of the nose being perfectly away from me the kite tends to spin on its axis at an angle. At least I'm getting better at recovering from that. I think I need more slack specifically after the 'pop' as my kite usually powers up when the nose is pointed at the ground. This is why I'm trying to keep my arms down, but you're right that I could probably compensate by walking forward a bit more! I'm still exploring turtles a little cautiously because the quantum is kinda tough to pull out of the turtle (it drops pretty far during the recovery) but I like the sound of the spin stall-to-turtle! Thanks again for your insight Exult, I feel like these conversations really help guide my thinking while on the field. I got an OK virtual freestyle entry in so I can finally get back to the more systematic drill-like practicing + exploration of new tricks that I find very relaxing. I might have to get some quality 50' lines soon too

Phew, it has been busy these past couple weeks. Changing weather and a bad flu really cut into my flying but I've still managed to get out a bit!. I've been trying to accomplish four things while on the field: 1) Fractured Axel practice. I'd like to get much more consistent with them which I think involves two things. First is to make sure the kit is in the middle of the axle before pulling for the fade. I can do this in the middle of the window, but I miss most attempts when trying this near the edge. I think this has something to do with the asymmetry already present in the lines when flying at the edge of the window? I have to think about it a bit more though. The other thing I need to do is Give.More.Slack. Every time I watch the footage of my sessions I can see line tension screwing up the trick. I think I err on the side of too little slack because I'm usually practicing in lower wind and don't want to have to regain ground lost when I take up slack. When there is finally enough wind to sustain a fade with the Quantum though I just don't give enough. 2) Virtual Freestyle practice. Less than a week left to get an entry in! I'm trying to get an entry that starts with the kite on the ground, includes at least one fractured axel and one nice slide, and ends with the kite deliberately (not crashed) on the ground within 1min 30sec. This has been hard! I'm starting to 'check in' with the ground, landing more frequently which is helping for sure. 3) Axels. I've been working on more deliberate control of my axels. This has involved trying them with the nose pointed every direction 'above' horizontal, and with both wings. I'm still not usually giving a snappy enough tug or enough slack for the kite to come all the way around but I've learned to bail out of them into horizontal flight and maintain/gain momentum in the process which is good for low wind flight. I've also been working a bit on 'Push Axels' -- Axels started from a 180 90 degree push turn instead of a stall. I don't think they look quite as good but they are very fluid,and very easy to do. Exult sent me this link to a great trick list that has a lot of insight in the descriptions. From that list I turned what I thought had been constant failures at Half Axels into repeatable successes with Rixels! This is the most reliable way I have right now of getting into a turtle. Finally, my BF bought me a new camera! He got a super deal on a new GoPro Hero 5 my anniversary, Xmas, and Birthday gift. Worth it!!!! The videos included here are all from the GoPro. This first one is probably the least exciting! It was filmed at 2.7k but converted to 1080p cause Windows movie maker doesn't do higher res. It has a lot of Fractured Axel attempts, and some Virtual Freestyle practice. It also has a few Rixels and one snap turtle The next videos are done with GoPro studio. It is OK, but I like Windows Movie Maker more. Oh well! This Push Axels video is filmed at 2.7k and uploaded to Youtube, which downscales it to 1440p. This video was mostly me screwing around with the camera as there was no wind all morning. It is in 1440p resolution but 4:3 aspect ratio. with the gopro this means much more sky is visible. I'm not sure how I feel about this aspect ratio! Nice to see more of the sky, but I don't like black boarders. Finally, here are two virtual freestyle attempts plus a couple half axels This was filmed at 2.7k which was used to crop a 1080p frame. It is a great way to keep the kite in frame the whole time, but I already miss the higher resolution of the full 2.7k image. I can't wait to play with this camera in more appropriate winds! There's no upper spreader in my kites for almost all of these This week will be much of the same, VF attempts, FAs, and as many axels as I can while getting to know this camera. I might have to learn howto fly with gloves on soon though, getting cold!!