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JoneZ

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Posts posted by JoneZ

  3. Installing a Leech Line Step by Step Tutorial

    in Adjustments and Modifications

    Posted

    Haha hey buddy :-). Long time no talk ya? Been super busy being a new dad and all. Miss yall too. Haven't had much fly time in this year either. :-\ We moved to Silverton in the last year and are loving it. The wind is good and steady too, being a little further down the valley :-). Hopefully next spring, once the little girl is a bit older I can stretch my wings again :-)

    Hope all is well with you John - - and if you're ever down around Silverton, be sure to hit me up!

    Cheers!

    Jon

  6. Wind help

    in Beginners

    Posted

    It sounds like your nose may be adjusted too far back, and your dumping too much wind off the front of the kite (?). Try adjusting the bridle forward by small even (use some measuring tape if you have to) increments until the kite takes off with relative ease. Once you've found the sweet spot, mark it on your bridle for reference as you'll be wanting to move the bridle back and forth a touch depending on wind conditions. :blushing:

    Good Luck!

  7. Kite fun at Delta Park this weekend?

    in News from the Webmaster

    Posted

    I've gotta work on Saturday, but I can see whats up for Sunday. I have this naggin feeling that Im forgetting something that I need to do this weekend.

    Hope its not important. o.0

    Anyhow, I'll repost as soon as I figure out the weekend schedule here. After the week I've had (excluding my Wifes Bday), I could use some "K n' R n' R" (with some beer). hehe

    Cheers~!

  13. Phew.. My absence?

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    Right on, sounds great! Give me a hollar when ur in town on a weekend -- We'll see if the winds hold up for delta.

    After mine and my Wifes 1yr anniverssary, we're reserving our hotel for WSIKF. o.0 Finally! hehe

  17. Phew.. My absence?

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    So who's been having a time lately?

    <--- Right here. This guy. lol

    About 1 week after my initial post, I rolled my ankle, severing a ligament. Fun stuff.

    The past 6 weeks I've been recovering from that. Real fun stuff.

    I was helping an elderly friend of ours paint his house, and when I was carrying gallons of paint inside, I ended up stepping on the edge of the driveway (which was tapered off to the grass at a 45o angle) and rolling my ankle with about 40 extra pounds of weight on the right side (from the paint I was carrying). My ankle took 150% of the load since I didnt see it coming (was talking with my friend).

    I didn't know how severe it was until the next day when it swelled up like a balloon, and really until a week later when the bruising started to set.

    BUT. I am still alive, and kicking (with one leg at least), and back to work, although limited to ground work. I am _just_ starting to get some strength back in my ankles lateral movement, so Im still really susceptible to rolling it again (which I've already done at work.... ouch is an understatement).

    I went out to the beach this weekend for some RnR, and ended up pulling out most my kites and flying. My ankle hurt the next day to say the least, and I got sunburned like 10, but it was SO worth it -- having not flown in over 8 weeks. Had some great winds, so I got to practice walking my Rev and my precision maneuvers while listening to some new music I downloaded. Was a blast and could have flown into the night, but we were just there for the day. =\

    Feels good to spread the wings again. :)

    Practicing inverted

    1001148i.jpg

    Catching a Fade

    1001144.jpg

  18. Phew.. My absence?

    in Off Topic

    Posted

    Hey all. ;)

    As I have noticed, I haven't been around much lately. =\ Real life has been pretty demanding as of late, and I have been pretty distracted with a myriad of things.

    So I thought I would make a general post telling all that care, that I am alive, and well. :)

    My US immigration is underway, and thats been a major focal point in the last few months -- getting everything ready, moneys saved, forms, birth certificates, dna samples (:P )etc... in line and ready for sending. And lets face it, anyone who has had first hand experience with immigration, knows that the USCIS office is the furthest away from the nice spectrum as you could possibly get -- so that makes for a difficult ride, being as we chose not to proceed with a lawyer (the paperwork is simple enough, its just a tad cryptic at times).

    I've also rediscovered my passion for computer programming -- being as once my social sec. # comes in (3-5 months), Im going to be searching for a job in the computer field (being as I have my Com. Sci. Tech. degree and all). So Im freshening up on programming and language, as well as finally getting around to studying and mastering Linux (can you say 800+ page linux bible? Yeah.. Big stuff. lol).

    Oh! I got into a Car accident a few weeks ago too! hah. Some kid (was probably texting) Rammed into a lady behind me as we were all at a stop light. The kid was doing about 35-40Mph and hit her dead on (didnt hear brake squeal or anything). She in turn slammed into the rear end of me, and I hit the guy in front of me. When I got out of the car to inspect, there was a good 8-10 feet of space between the kids car and the gal behind me, so I know for sure he was going at speed.

    Long story short, this was my first accident EVER, so of course it HAD to be a 4 car wreck. lol I messed up my back a little, as I was jamming to Ziggy Stardust (singing and everything), adjusting the volume (leaned over to fiddle with the knobs) when I got slammed into. Im getting a pretty decent settlement out of the deal, and I have personal insurance protection, so Im good there. But, I haven't been able to get out and fly for about 3 weeks due to my back. :(

    And for another 3 weeks before that I've been so immersed in learning linux, immigration, etc... that I haven't had a chance to pick up my kites to go fly, let alone have just some personal time.

    So, we're going on vacation to Montana tomorrow and Im bringing my Kites. So expect some flying action in the days to come. I'll see if I can get some pics and vid taken as well.

    Pretty excited. :)

    Anyhow, I should get going, as I need to sew a new nose on my Widow (Last time I was out at Delta Pk. with JB and friends, I slammed my Widow and tore straight through the nose. lol), and pack, and clean, and yada yada yada yada.

    Apologies for the absence once again -- once things balance out here in the next months to come, I'm sure I'll get right back into the KiteLife Saddle. :)

    Cheers all.

    ~Namaste

    ~Jon

  19. Rev.ElasticBungeeCords

    in Quad Heads

    Posted

    I've read that the only advantage to it is to keep the top of the vertical spars flush (or close to flush) with the leading edge.

    I notice no problem with having bungees on either side -- although I've tightened up my top bungees considerably (just below the threshold where it starts to crimp the LE material).

  21. Help needed for Quantum

    in Beginners

    Posted

    I also have a Quantum. I named her Bertha of Girth. lol

    They are heavy machines, and asides from re-framing it, and getting a set of 50# 50ft. lines, theres nothing really else that will help.

    You could reframe it to skyshark P200s and get the weight down substantially, but the wind range would be reduced to about 3-18Mph (educated guess).

    Hope that helps m8.

    Good luck!

  23. wich kite to choose?

    in Beginners

    Posted

    Hi James,

    I got the line sets off in the mail this morning. The line sets are new and, because the line is braided, new line sets need to be stretched to tighten up the braiding and take most of the stretch out of them before using them. I already stretched them, but it wouldn't hurt to stretch them again, if for no other reason then to know how to do it.

    I hammer a large nail into a sturdy fence post and put the 4 loops of one end around the nail, making sure the loops aren't overlapping. Then I run the 4 lines through my fingers as I walk off to the other end to insure the lines are separate and not wrapped around each other. Then when I get to the other end I put a wooden dowel through the other loops. (Don't use your fingers because that will cause some pain.) Then, holding the dowel out if front of me, I lean back using my weight to stretch the lines tight. You'll feel the line give a little as you continue to lean back. The line sets are 150#, so you can put pretty much weight on them without worrying about breaking them. Then just hold the lines, supporting your weight as you lean back, for about a minute or two and then the lines will have been stretched!

    If anyone has a different or better method, please chime in. :kid_loved:

    Oh Yeah...if you have cats, as I do, make sure they aren't present. They will think I bought them a new toy. And if they get a hold of the braided line, then they will have a new toy, because that's about all the line will be good for!! :):cat_lol:

    When finished, you can decide how you might want to wrap the lines on the winder. The instructions on the way JB wraps his Quad Lines, I posted at the "Quad Head" forum topic "Winding Quad Lines". I presently use two winders for each Quad line set, but I plan on changing over to JB's way now that I'm more accustom to working with 4 lines instead of 2.

    Keep It Up!

    Duane

    That stretching is pretty important James. I just use my kite stake in the ground,, string the lines out, then stretch them with one of my quad handles looped through the line sleeve. Doing this not only stretches the line, but also stretches the knots that have been tied in the sleeving. Added to that stretch, go out and fly with the line. After 9 hours or so on the lineset, string em out again and re-measure. Im sure they'll have stretched a bit more (when you add rain, humidity, temp. into the mix, it all plays a part in line stretch), so try and equalize them again.

    As for cats? Oh man,, I feel ya there Duane. My little siamese wont leave me alone when Im working indoors with line. lol.

    and for winding,, its all just user preference when it comes to quad line. I find that figure 8 winding on the standard "laser Pro" winders works great all around. At the 120' mark the winder is pretty full of line on a figure 8 wind, so I've heard that a straight wind works better if you're running into trouble with that -- Just make sure to separate the L and R lines with your fingers while winding up, and make sure to keep the line wound taught to the winder. Dont worry about separating top to bottom lines, just the left to right.

    Mouthful and headful huh? lol.

    Hey Duane, we should start calling you Kite-a-Clause. lol ;) Got a set of 120' 90# lyin around? lol j/k ;)

    Cheers guys.

  24. Silver Fox UL

    in Current Drawings

    Posted

    Hi JonEZ,

    And I'll lay odds that if it has a flaw---you will have a "modification" that will correct it!! :ani_whistling:

    Keep It Up!

    Duane

    With the SF, I heard that its mostly sub-standard APA connectors, do-hinky stoppers, that type of thing. All easily replaceable if they do in fact wear down pre-maturely (which in my case, they usually do. lol).

    I think sometimes I cause myself more trouble than not with my modifications. lol All the time tweaking with my bridle -- I mean months and months -- all to go back to a standard 3pt bridle? lol The weight reductions on the Widow proved to be a great thing. I now keep my light-weight bridle equipped on the Widow at all times. With the weight reduction, and the leech line installation on him, he's more of a STD/UL hybrid now. I'd rate him at 2-15Mph. Probably 1-10Mph if I got rid of the P200's and reframed it in a 3pt or 2pt.

    I've been rolling 7's lately, so maybe luck will be on my side for this drawing? o.0 *knocks on wood*

  25. Silver Fox UL

    in Current Drawings

    Posted

    Ah Yes, the Silver Fox. Very pretty kite indeed. I've heard about some manufacturer flaws, but I've still always had a sweet tooth for this kite. :ani_whistling:

    This'll make a good draw for sure. :blue-cool:

    PS. My fav. kite USE to be a quantum,, before I got my Widow (which I took out today along side my Rev, to stretch her wings -- he didn't like my rev too much, maybe because I was using him as something to tip stand on with my Rev. o.0).

    does that Count Howard? hehe

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