Dorsal

May you discover something this year that fills your heart with wonder, and your mind with awe!

I posted this into another thread that some of you may not have read, but it made me think there are probably a lot of generic shortcuts many of us use, that can be used to make kites. I hope some of you post yours. The SIN and the TAN of any angle from 1/2 degree to about 10 degrees is very close to .017 per degree. (SIN 1/2° = 0.00872, divided by 1/2 = 0.01745 per degree - - - SIN 10° = 0.17364, divided by 10 = .01736 per degree. TAN numbers are similar.) That means you can calculate the rise by multiplying .017 times the angle times the length of the item at that angle, and you'll be within 10% of the exact figure. If you need the exact numbers use a calculator with trig functions or look it up in a trig table, but for off-the-cuff rough calcs, it's pretty close. It ONLY works for angles in this range, but it works for imperial, metric, fathoms, furlongs, parsecs, or any other unit of measure you can encounter.

As a side note, the SIN and the TAN of any angle from 1/2 degree to about 10 degrees is very close to .017 per degree. (SIN 1/2° = 0.00872, divided by 1/2 = 0.01745 per degree - - - SIN 10° = 0.17364, divided by 10 = .01736 per degree. TAN numbers are similar.) That means you can calculate the rise by multiplying .017 times the angle times the length of the item at that angle, and you'll be within 10% of the exact figure. If you need the exact numbers use a calculator with trig functions or look it up in a trig table, but for off-the-cuff rough calcs, it's pretty close. It ONLY works for angles in this range.

I don't own a Hawaiian, so I can't give you dimensional specifics, but for the up / down adjustments here's a good rule-of-thumb. Assemble the kite, and lay it on its back. Pick up the kite by the bridle attach points, and notice the angle at which it naturally hangs. The nose should be higher than the lower tip of the spine, at an angle somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees of angle from the floor. For the math part, multiply the length of the spine by .017. Multiply that times the number of degrees you want to start with, and you'll have a measurable value in inches that the nose should be above the tail of the spine. For a 34" spine, 10 degrees is about 5 3/4", for a 48" spine, 10 degrees is about 8 1/8". That will get the kite airborn, and allow you to adjust it properly for flight. (sinØ X hypotenuse)

Isn't it comforting to know that death isn't an end, but only another step along the journey?

I'll bet you thought you'd sneak through the whole day without anybody noticing. HAPPY BIRTHDAY John!

Although I've been a subscriber for a while, I don't think my name has even been in the "5th Runner-up" category yet. Did Santa Claus take my name off the list? How about if I promise to be nice next year?

You know, the links are kinda backwards or something, now that you mention it. I just got into the habit of reading the lower left corner of the screen to see where a link is going to take me, BEFORE I click it. Too many ugly surprises on too many websites, y'know.

Just click on the words "Kitelife Magazine" under the Kitelife.com logo. That hyperlink points to http://kitelife.com/ and that's where you want to go, right? I wish the colors on the hyperlinks were more "visible", personally. They almost appear greyed out in comparison to the rest of the text on the screen.

The "Indoor / Outdoor / Both" data is going to be badly skewed, as there is NO option for "Neither". As in "No", "Neither".

Where did you get that from? It sounds to me like some "data" invented by another MAC user to justify their usage, because I certainly don't spend any time performing any of those functions. Now if you're talking about computer CPU time, who cares? At 2.6 GHz, easily 95% of the CPU's time is spent waiting for the next command, anyway. If you're bragging that nobody writes viruses for the MAC, that's not very impressive either. That would be similar to bragging there are no carjacking rings dedicated to stealing Edsels or Hupmobiles.

gwtw-kites.com is an excellent source, and kiteconnection.com will also treat you right. I've done a lot of business with both of them - just tell them Dorsal sent you. [ ]

Tubbs, as you may have noticed, most of us don't worry about being extremely accurate about the lines, as long as they are both the same within 1/4 inch. After all, your arms probably aren't much closer than that in length, anyway. Just find 2 things that are separated by a distance you CAN measure, and go from there. I have a 20 foot tape measure, and found 2 doorknobs in my hallway that are about 15 feet apart. Tie the lines to one, go to the end and back a total of 5 segments, and Voila, 75 feet. Or shove a couple kite stakes (or screwdrivers) in the lawn some known distance apart, and go around them a few times. Heck, if this stuff was hard to do, most of us would probably get lost along the way anyhow! Improvise, and have fun!

btw, if you can find the "Revolution Advanced Flying Video", Dave Shenkman explains that trick and demos it fully. He has it at his store at this link, but you might find it elsewhere also. I think it was made in NTSC only, not PAL.

EXP is okay, but as long as you're hung up on Rev's, the 1.5 SLE is a lot better. Also, I've never heard of anyone who had a 1.5, bothering to get an EXP later, unless they just wanted a cheap quad to modify and experiment with.

I'd suggest you try to tug on the top lines while the kite is still coasting upward. If you yank on them, the kite is definitely heading straight down (and downwind), but you can get the kite to continue forward a little if it has momentum and you tug just enough to get the kite to nose over. Practice, practice. Oh darn! You'll need to fly the kite more often!

I believe (from my personal experience) the ES/55 Blue is a step up from the Laserpro Gold, or at least equivalent. You might occasionally get a little blue tint on your hands while rolling up the lines, but that's it. They are both Spectra, both will take a dozen twists before you start to feel any drag on the handles at all, and both require figure-eight knots for everything because they are so slick. I'd feel it was an even trade from the vendor, 'cause the differences in price vary from store to store. Then I'd find a decent vendor! What end of the states are you from? Do you need a suggestion or two? Email me if you need names.

John - I believe an NT Spirit, properly adjusted for low wind conditions, will fly in less wind than a Std. Rev 1.5, and to fly in less wind you'd need to pull out the 1.5 SUL or the Rev Indoor. In that case, switching to lighter rods with the Spirit will still give the Rev Indoor a serious run for the money. The other outstanding thing about the Spirit is that, properly adjusted for high wind flight, I have flown mine in Berkeley 25 mph winds with ease. The sail dumps the wind from the gusts automatically, so the kite doesn't jerk around like the Rev's do in a gust. On the Rev side, they are more precise than the Spirit in corners and such, for competition flying. And the Rev's are faster across the window (especially the SuperSonic and blast) than the Spirit. You can also do the "catch" maneuver with the Rev far more easily, because they will fall out of the sky with a tug on the top lines. The Spirit will not, as it has a serious tendency to turn the LE back up into the wind and continue flying. Both can be hand launched with ease. Let's not forget, I own at least one each of all of the above (including the TC Ultras), and I've flown them in all kinds of conditions. I just think the Spirit is far easier to learn with, especially as it will relaunch from any position. A new flier needs to be able to fly, not walk back and forth to set the kite up again and again.

Tubbs could also find a TC Ultra, to get a kite that flies either dual or quad. Although the handling is different than a standard dual or a standard quad, the TC Ultra is a fun kite, and a great "tweener" kind of design.

My foot! Get a Spirit Quad. If you buy it new, it probably comes with handles and line, and still costs just over HALF what a Rev costs. And you won't need to spend more money to add "quad sticks" to the back of the kite - the Spirit comes with them. In other words, the kite will relaunch from any position it lands. Try to say that about a Rev, Mister Barresi.

For dive stops, step toward the kite at the same time you snap the brakes on. That will dump the wind from the sail, just as the brakes are applied. If the wind is blowing pretty good, you may need to leap toward the kite. Whatever it takes, dump the wind from the sail as you apply the brakes.

It looks like you had a nice trip, Cris. And thank you for merging this into only one post John.

13" homemade handles. The SS tubes I found weren't long enough to make (3) 13 1/2" rods, so I made them 13" instead. BTW, the "quad sticks" on the back of the Spirits are only about 10" long - - Why do they need to be so long for a Rev?

Rev Handle Lengths

About a month after I got my first quad (a Rev) I made myself a set of 13" handles and flew with them. I felt a sense of control and agility with the kite I had only hoped for prior to that day. Ever since, I have never used the stock handles.