midibot

Oh, my. I'd better sit down and think about that awhile. Have derived good pleasure from some of their offerings. The Nirvana in particular was a landmark for me but there are others, too. Along with some perhaps not so much. The end of an era in that corner of the kite world. I offer up heartfelt thanks, for everything. . .

Heh-heh. Took the words right out of my mouth, Edmond. Although I was a little reluctant to say it (till now I guess!). John pushes the limits in seeking performance. We are beneficiaries of that. But some/many of us are quite content to get the peace and serenity offered by some of our older kites. (And that is not to say that the two approaches are mutually exclusive, either.) Out of this discussion I have learned that perhaps I should pay more attention to the idea of the two separate wings, or 'engines', that the Rev 1 has, or has more of. Never thought of it that way. But, in fact, weren't early variants of quads of this type just two diamond kites stuck together at their bottome? Or something like that.... .

What is the sail colour pattern? Here is a link to another neat history site, this one by John Mitchell. In particular, the Rev 1 section (there is also a separate section on rods, which may help pinpoint the age): http://johnnmitchell.com/IntSportKites/rev_history/r1.html You can scroll through by year to check the colour schemes for various models. Good history on the other Rev designs as well, such as the II and the 1.5 (It was cool to read that early rods were made by a golf club shaft manufacturer.) .

Interested in the idea of flying the indoor rev outdoors as a means of extending opportunities to fly into a wider range of conditions. So am appreciating thoughts and comments which encourage this as a future possibility for me (indoors itself I have not explored and I am unlikely to acquire a kite for that purpose alone. Although I have not ruled it out.) Much of this stuff is over my head (so to speak) but it is fun and instructive to try and follow. Carry on... .

The Rev 1 is 9 feet across, whereas the 1.5 is approx 7 1/2 feet. So size is a major difference. Perhaps sail material as well, as chances are the sail may be ripstop nylon (although there may be icky versions in later years, I don't know). Nylon gets soft with flying time. Not necessarily a bad thing. Slower kite, perhaps a little less agile although tuned and in good hands and the right wind it can still zip. As Bunduki says, it pulls like a tractor comparatively. I think the first one I flew was on 150# lines, unlike the more common 90/100# for the 1.5 versions I am familiar with. I am not a quad expert by any means but I do love my Rev 1 very much and I would be all over such a kite as you describe in your circumstances if the price was reasonable commensurate with condition. Exciting find, IMO. .

Wow I had no idea that the lights had come so far. The little video shows a ton of settings. Can one reset them remotely while flying? What does the system weigh? Never tried it. (My only encounter with night lights was when Gary Engvall came to my town more than 20 years ago and showed me night lights on a rokkaku he had built. It was a neat flight at the time but somehow flying at night didn't take off for me thereafter.) .

Absolutely try! Don’t know If the Nexus comes with a Manual or Field Card, if so check it out if haven’t already. But the general rule for duallies: pull in the nose in lighter winds. Simple as that. Some kites have adjustment knots at the top of the bridle. Some Prisms have you do it in a range between two knots on the bridle; believe sometimes they are even labeled (such as on my Prism Quantum anyways). But the principles are the same -- shortening the line that goes to the nose (or lengthening its counterpart). If feasible on this kite you could even wrap the upper bridle leg once round the upper spreader on both sides. Kinda crude, but a quick way to experiment and see what it does. May be overkill. A very brief search did not turn up a kite specific manual, but Prism’s generic “Two Line Flight Manual” is a good read on this under the tuning section: https://prismkites.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Dual-Line-Manual.pdf There are also other effects of tweaking the bridle including responsiveness and whatnot. Get to know thy bridle. It is a lifetime journey 😉 I expect others will chime in with more thoughts. .

On now pulling out my Prism Quantum, I see that the centre T setup is slightly different than I had envisioned, in that there is no ferrule in one spreader, but, rather, both spreaders plug into a fitting. Not uncommon, but not what I was thinking when I made reference to a ferrule, which is more typical of kites using larger diameter skyshark type spars. I experienced the same as you on my Quantum it looks like, and I had adopted the rubber band method referred to above. In the spirit of a picture being worth 1000 words, I attach one of my setup. Sorry for any confusion! https://i.imgur.com/DT5GDVr.jpg .

Looking at that ebay listing, it would have been a nice instant flying field. At least 3 B Series and a fourth rev plus some flying lines and a nice carry bag. Yes, maybe a good offer was made that the seller couldn't resist? Or the seller had second thoughts? Or...? Rare find on ebay although single kites come up all the time. May be worth a note to the seller to see if there's something still left of the set if you are so inclined. (I would but I have enough kites. Ahem.) . .

Might also check that the ferrule hasn't become 'unglued' from one of the lower spreaders. If so, it may tend to slide a bit out of position -- have even had one fall right out eventually or, worse still, slide inside the spar completely. (Edit: see followup post for thoughts specific to the Quantum and related kites) A couple of my kites have had an issue that the natural tensions of the kite frame and standoffs tend to wanna sproing (is that a word?) the two lower spreaders apart where the fit of the ferrule into the centre 'T' isn't very snug. The rubber band solution suggested by @cerfvoliste is useful for that. Larkshead the bands on. On one of my kites I've even used one of those hefty rubber bands that broccoli comes packed in, although that is probably overkill. Match the colour to the sail if you like 😉 .

Glad it worked for you. And would like to thank you for causing me to bring the kite up out of the pile. Hadn't flown it in a while and had a couple of good flights with it since it was out anyways... I gather that the kite has been discontinued, which is a bit sad (though see some still being sold at various sites). .

Now that is an uncanny coincidence! 😉 Look forward to hearing about that kite. Happy Birthday in advance! .

Ah. Thanks. Apparently the Kite Shoppe carries 3Winds quads, including parts and bridles, from digging around a bit. An acquaintance passed on to me the idea that, to him, dynamic or turbo bridles such as these result in better drive through turns -- more positive and precise. I am way too low on the learning curve to properly judge but comments like those give me something to watch for. In case the trait isn't immediately apparent to me in flight. Be interested in your thoughts on quad bridles. Or an update on them sometime. .

👍👍👍 .

Some graduated shots of the bridle. Dynamic? Turbo? French? Spanish? Or...? What d'ya think? .

A couple of angles on the LE wingtip hidden bungee knots on the kite taken next time out:

Aluminum end caps! Cool. Hmmm. If I ever needed to replace some on other kites, why wouldn't I try these I'm thinking, if they fit. Or perhaps even replace proactively if there's enough reason... .

This just now prompted me to have a closer look at the Djinn site to educate myself, and must say: what an impressive offering, for many reasons, of which this point may only be one. I can see myself inching towards that (small “n”) nirvana. (Once I have attained it, however -- then what's to lust for? 😉) In any case, I am enjoying the journey. .

Hi, Danny. Pulled out my Zephyr and I think in stock form the spine has a vinyl end cap on the end of it. Pull or gently pry that off, and the shaft of the weight assembly slides right into the spine. And Bob's your uncle. .

My new Freilein Windrider III UL (Ultralight) quad So, my eye was caught by a new Freilein quad. At least new to me. And it comes in UL! So, I got one for myself for Christmas! (Being in need of a new kite.) See the pics taken the day it arrived, earlier in December -- hope they work. Apologies for quality. Flown briefly just once to date, bad conditions for it. Points of interest, some of which may already appear in other kites; a few are shown in the pics: 1. Existence of the UL model in the Freilein lineup is new (to me anyways). It sports Crystal T1 spars, which are 12.5 grams apiece. My previous generation Standard has T2s, which weigh ~14.5g. 2. No screening on the UL (unlike the Standard and upper wind models). Thus the sail cloth is right up to the dacron. 3. Upright connectors: Ts built into dacron LE tunnel. So no protruding connector above the LE. 4. Sail width at LE same as my older standard II, but the LE spar length is shorter by about 1” and thus does not protrude as much beyond the dacron. Less place to ‘catch’? 5. LE wingtip bungee knots now internal to LE dacron tunnel. 6. Reinforcement strip at tip of sail Vs -- buffers the knots on the bungees holding the verticals on the tips, presume for less snags. (Q whether to put the verticals inside or outside or if it matters. They are inside in the pics.) 7. Weight compared to II Standard? A: UL 6.9 oz (my Std is 7.3 oz) (~197 g / 206g) 8. Variations in framing in the III lineup include some mix and match of T1 / T2 / T3 spars throughout the 5 models UL, STD, and the 3 vented options. (I also picked up some T0s (10.5 gram) to play with for even lighter options. Weight approximates Skyshark P90s; not sure about stiffness.) 9. Fabric. Mine appears to be PC31, softer and less crinkly than PC20. Available ‘fade’ red goes from yellow through orange to mid red (depending on light). Looks cool to these eyes. 10. Bridle looks different (?) 11. “PRO” label on their rather nice bag. 12. Build quality generally seems consistent w previous, meaning good. 13. …TBD… These started out as notes to myself, but thought I’d share them in case anyone is interested. Feedback and thoughts welcome. (This is not intended as a review. I don’t know enough.) Cheers

On the subject of Nirvanas: this is just my view. The Nirvana is an important kite to get to fly. No self-respecting stunt kite pilot should NOT have flown one! The full retail price disclosed on the current website is downright scary, however. It has always seemed so to me, but moreso now with prices and exchange rates etc (I am in Canada). We have a local source which has a few and I have supported that shop. The one I got there was a LW NSE, which I think is the second generation of Nirvanas. Love it. Also picked up some Nirvanas used, including a late model 3rd gen. That saved money of course. They don’t come up very often but did occasionally on the old GWTW forum. Like them all, although one well-flown kite came with a modified (homemade) bridle that I think I wanna restore to factory specs. I, too, read that earlier kites may have had some manufacturing shortcomings but the worst I have experienced myself is small things such as lack of stoppers sometimes where other high end kites would have had them, and that kind of thing. The materials used seem of similar first rate that other such kites use (fabric, spars). Maybe the odd sewing stitch a little off. A workmanship detail here or there. Niggles. So while my experience has been limited to standards and the LW (or UL) -- I like ‘em! But that is subjective, admittedly. .

I have only flown outside with them so far and can only speak to that. Earlier this week when I got out there was little wind forecast but it was supposedly gonna pick up as the morning progresses, as it often does around here on such days. On setting up it felt on the back of my neck that the breezes were still in waiting, maybe 2kph so I pulled out an Emong, a glider of about 4 1/2 foot span (diameter may be more apt description as it is kinda roundish). Basically flew it like a genteel fighter kite, with small pulls on the line and arm movements to redirect, and the odd hand-over-hand gathering in of line in fairly rapid fashion to gain altitude. All very active, with some footwork as well for good measure. The six inches of snow added some drag to the feet but cushion to the landings. However, rise off ground launches were not as doable as they might be on grass etc. There are lots of videos out there but here’s one of Lam on the Magic Angel II kite BT was referencing on another thread. Five minute workout indeed! Lam is far more active with his kite than I with mine, but here’s a taste of what it can do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-ytC2vlZQI .

Ooo La La! .

From the title I was thinking both a quad and a dual liner at one time by one flyer. In backtracking on the thread, it IS! And who else but John. Does remind me of Ray Bethel flying three duallies at once, one also using the Chubby Checker styled hip method... .