Gary_Joe

Hi Tony, Thanks for the reply; I should have worded it differently in two ways, I agree "Maybe" would be a good choice. Mix's record is "Most Kites on a Train Dual Control". The record I would be setting is for "Most Kites on three Trains, Dual Control" As soon as the weather clears up a bit I will get someone to film me. They handle pretty good and are fun to fly. Gary

Does anyone know what is the "Official World Record" for multiple sport kite flying? I have just completed making three stacks of 16 small sport kites (48" wing span) and now fly all Forty Eight kites at once doing pretty much the same maneuvers as I do flying three individual sport kites.

Good job Michael, Thanks for posting the video and keep up the good work. All it takes is a little practice and a lot of fun and you'll be showing off your new routine in no time. Can't wait to see it. Question: Do you always use staggered line sets.... have you tried using equal length sets? Gary MacEachern

Cliff & Gerry, I'm sorry to learn that someone has ripped you off. I will keep an eye out in the southern Oregon area and hope that you recover your kites they look fantastic, you must be heartbroken. Sincerely, Gary MacEachern

Man, my boss's name is Dave Green but he sure can't fly kites like this guy. I give em 3 kites up for a great job Now I'll really have to get the video going while I fly three. The competition is on, in fact I'm thinking of maybe starting a video competition where the general internet audience votes (I will not participate) and the winner will get a pair of Gulls. As far as the re-fueling line thing goes, I don't have a good fix. I fly even length lines and add bridal leads to offset the line length when I want staggered line sets but as you know the leading edge of your kite still gets chafed in the process. When I used to fly and re-fuel with a friend of mine we would put strips of repair tape over our leading edges to take the wear. Sorry I wont see you in Brookings but if things go as planned I will make it to a lot more events next year. Too many family and health issues this year to get around. Keep flying and having fun, I sure am. Gary

Hi Steve, Keep up the good work and thanks for posting the video. Gary MacEachern

Hi Dean/ Tony Actually I do have a few kites in my bag but putting that aside I think it would be way cool if we put together a string of pairs figures in a specific order that anyone flying two or more kites could practice so that during fun flys and festivals those that practiced this basic routeen could line up on a field (regardless of kite make and model) and fly together. Kinda like John's mega rev flys. We could specify that everyone used 120' lines and go from their. If enough people get interested then over time I'm sure groups of two, three, four, whatever will find each other at events and have a ball. As far as Brookings goes, (if you have not been their before and already know) it would not be feasible during the event schedule to fly together, the field is quite small 150' x 600'. But early morning or afterwards is fine. Crescent City, CA though is great. Go on Google earth and look at south beach in Crescent City. It's just 30 miles south of Brookings and I try to spend every other weekend there flying. Each fall the Rogue Valley Windchasers puts on a big fun fly and bar-b-que over the Labor Day holiday. If you can ever make it you would really enjoy it. Rod & Cindy Thrall bring their whole kit and decorate the sky and most of us in the club have a good assortment of single and dual like kites. We cover the beach and the long board guys are usually trying to catch a wave. The video I've posted of me flying three was shot by John Barresi at Crescent City and the one flying two was shot by a club member from Grants Pass the same day. See ya next month. Gary MacEachern

I've been flying 2 kites for about 2 weeks and am 62 years old so I'm sure you younger fellows could do much better Hi Tony, That was great, but believe me brother we are not so different in age. I guess like you I should set my camera up on a tripod and have at it. Good job. I can see by the way that the kites meet in the middle that you are already working on good symmetry. keep it up. If you have a web site I will post a link to it. Let me know if you would like a link of your video on my site. Keeping the same thread with what Dean posted, the figures he has listed are quite a handful. I have a hard time with the single kite steps DI 13 and with DI 18 square cuts, I always seem to miss the last 2 turns so as you can imagine I don't get the pair DP 16 square cuts very good at all. I can however do most of the other pairs figures ok with the exception of circles over diamonds, the last two turns on that one are still very rounded. I have not practiced them very much but I think next summer I will. Gary MacEachern

But I can tell you I WILL be in Brookings. Hi Dean, That's great, I look forward to meeting you and putting a set of kites in your hands to try out. I will be at the field by early afternoon Friday (maby sooner if I can get the whole day off work). One thing I need to do is get more video, finding someone to hand my camera to when flying is kind of a hassle but AL Stroh has promised he will shoot some footage of me this summer. As far as square routeens go (that tony mentioned) I can do them pretty good with the smaller kite flying three (great with two). Flying the larger kite has strengthened my hands; I stop flying the 8.5 one handed when it stays above 8mph. This past weekend the wind in Crescent City CA was about 12-15mph all day Saturday. Anyway, I had not flown the 7.0 set since last fall and I was very pleased with my ability to square the corners this weekend. One thing I'm working on with three is flying a figure eight that is smooth and symmetrical with the kites evenly staggered in the figure. That is one at the top of the loop on each side and one crossing the middle on the diagonal. I can do it ok, but not as smooth as I would like to. The next step in this is squaring the eight, with each kite one leg behind the other, this I'm not so good at yet. The other figure I like to practice is a weave where you fly two opposing figure eights with two kites going to one side, the third going to the other and crossing in the middle with the single kite passing between the pair. I use even line sets and sometimes, well lets just say I fare better than the kites especially when making the return pass from my weak side. All of this should end up on my web site by the fall. Again, looking forward to meeting you and hope your arm heals well. Gary MacEachern

Hi Dean, I don't know if we will get to Lincoln City, but if we do you can try out the kites; if not perhaps we will see you in Brookings. I plan on making a video of Al Stroh flying the UL version of the smaller Gull. He likes to fly it and will do so at the Brookings festival as he has done so for the past few years. I'm unfamilar to Herb Weldon's Synchro but Al compares the UL to Herb's indoor version of that kite. The Smaller kite has just under a seven foot wingspan (tip to tip) and other than that it's the same kite as the Gull 8.5. If you e-mail me I will forward you Al's email and he'll be glad to elaborate on the kites performance. That being said I was not a trick flier when I designed the kite and I'm still not. It will do the basic tricks but if you want a vortex, yo-yo and others like that then you will be better off with one of Lam Hoc's kites. If you want a ballet and precision kite that you can accent your routeen with axels, coin toss, tip stab, slide, flic flac, cascade, fade ect then the Gull 7.0 will work fine. I do plan on developing an active bridal to see if I can get it to be a little more radical and still maintain it's original characteristics but if not I may bring back a earlier design that has a higher aspect and makes me look like I can trick. If I do though it will definitely have an active bridal. So getting back to your question on throw, the UL in light wind does not need much at all and works good with a light touch, the standard does too but not in my hands. As far as quick throw goes, their was a guy that used to live around here that did more just by giving the lines slack at the right time than I can by snapping them so go figure. I do know that JD Fabish loved the kite when he first starting to get serious about flying but put it aside when getting serious about tricking. Hope this helps. Gary MacEachern

Way Cool Dean, my hat's off to anyone that can do even the most basic trick one handed. Just getting a pair of kites to stall and slide takes real effort for me. When you get back into it send me a video I would like to post it on my web site. I'm trying to promote my kite as well as encouraging multiple kite flying. I have a ball flying two and three at a time. The bigger kite really makes a presence in the sky but I must admit that in winds above 10mph they are a bit much for me and I like to drop down to the smaller one. Again let me know if I can help with handles, I have access to scrap aluminum bar and plate and can get things welded together. Gary MacEachern

Hi Dean, I have not been able to one handed trick (not that good at two handed anyway) in anything but light wind flying a the smaller 7' version of the kite I normally fly (Gull 8.5) which has an 8 1/2' wingspan. But I do believe that if the handle contained either a spring loaded mechanism or rapid linear actuator that enabled you to get a little more pop from the hand movement it would be feasible to do basic tricks in moderate wind. I had a friend who could only use on of his arms that could axel, tip stab, fade and do a few others by banging his handle on his leg to help him get the extra pop in the line. If you have any ideas on a mechanical handle and would like help fabricating one let me know. I plan on giving Penny a better one hand rev handle this summer at the Brookings Kite festival here in Oregon. Gary MacEachern