riffclown

It was an incredible Weekend With The RAF, WoW crew and Kitty Hawk Kites. The Rogallo festival this year had WIND, Kites, Sun, WIND, a few Sprinkles, WIND and did I mention WIND!!! Thank You @Nags Head Flyer for pulling together some World Class flier to make this a Rogallo to remember. Other Forum Members that I saw come by are @Ejay @John P @Tim P.

Jim, Marc and Fletch making it look easy

Saw a new Symphony from this years model line and HQ Kites is now putting the tabs on the kite for quad bridles from the factory. I'm not sure about which sizes have the tabs. Quad Bridles sold separately I think...

Well I over packed as usual but ready for some great kite flying. Cant wait to get set up and flying on the dune.

So the packing is done, arrangements made and just last minute prep for the trip.. I make make a run to create a test dogstake to try out this weekend. hoping also for a night fly since I'll be staying down there.. Truck is getting full.

Keep in mind the distance between your handles controls the speed of the slide, the brake line in front during the direction of travel controls the altitude of the kite. The trailing brake line controls the attitude or angle of the kite . If you want the kite low and parallel to the ground: front brake = how high (minor control correction) back brake = how flat (Lots of little control corrections.) Distance between handles = how fast (Watch the sail and if it starts to flutter slow down) Keep in mind these controls swap when changing directions. All that being said, once you get the feel for the maneuver, it will mostly happen without a lot of thought. Don't try too hard, incremental improvements are typically permanent improvements.

25M x 45KG is perfectly fine.. Practice hovering in the centerof the window and move your kite left and right across the wind window concentrating on not changing altitude when you change direction.. You'll find near the center it's easy but as you get wider and wider you have to exercise more control.. As others have said, Coming from the outside in is much easier when you use the edge of the window to give the kite that initial push.. This is on very long lines but note the Black and white kite is the center of the wind window.. Once I got past it, momentum drops quickly. when coming back left to right I get nowhere near my original entry point before recovering and gaining altitude.. The inverted side slide is my favorite thing to do with a quad kite.

Those who know me know I can't pack small no matter how hard I try.. Rogallo Festival is this weekend. First big event since the pandemic. Lots of kites to fly, lots of stuff to try BUT, Jockey's Ridge does have one downside.. IT is not the most accessible site to fly at. Closest parking is at Kitty Hawk Kites across the street but that's a long ways to carry 4 kite bags, Umbrella/chair/canopy/cooler/camera equipment etc. As much as I want to carry "everything" it just isn't in the cards. FWIW, Climbing the dune empty handed will leave you out of breath most of the time. Carrying gear takes it up a few levels. Likely 2 kite bags, Canopy chair and one case of electronics to document the event. Fortunately, the Jockey's Ridge Park Rangers do give our equipment a good ride up the dune and we do packing/unpacking and setup. I Will be going through my thoughts this week as I prep for this event.. Today's activities: -Repairs if/where needed (Have one ferrule to re-glue that I know of) -Charge all Batteries (GoPro, Nocqua, Video Glasses, etc.) -Consolidate personal playlist and place on USB Drive to hand to KiteBus -Identify line sets that need to be equalized -First check projected conditions -Identify other items to go. (requested items like Bridles/bridle line/spar sets etc..) -Stuff that's going but not up the hill, laptop, chargers etc..

Ducks and Banners, Skates, Walas and Streamers ruled the day.

Infused Olive Oils

Good Luck Cellars sponsored a Kite day and @Mike Klaiber reached out and invited me for an afternoon's flying. Rainy Morning followed by light swirl.

Makes sense..

I find this statement interesting and a bit concerning at the same time.

Just to be a bit philosophical, We all do.. Most of us (myself included) strive for that and only rarely reach moments or flashes of that feeling.

@Bigsnaff You should endeavor to advance your flying to the point where the kite is the limitation. At that point you start learning little differences in all the designs and can tailor your kites to fit your style AND your style to fit whatever you happen to be flying.

Well variables like wind conditions and what part of the wind window you are in also play a huge part when you are learning. A little swirl will cause you issues and you may not realize the swirl was even there. those blessed with smooth beach winds will know exactly where I'm coming from here. The design of the sail, type of bridle and finesse of your technique also makes a lot of difference. Some combinations just back up better than others. And as your technique gets better, so will your speed. Be patient it will happen.