Jump to content
KiteLife Forum

Jeepster

Members
  • Posts

    583
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by Jeepster

  1. happy Birthday John ... may you have many, many more.
  2. Here's what a show kite friend taught me to use for the Mid-west clay flying fields. The stakes are "form stakes" that are sold at any big box home repair store. They are driven in the ground at an angle to each other and leaning back away from the kite. A loop of 1" nylon (sew or knot for the loop) is pushed through the bottom "V" and the end is then brought back over the tops of the stakes. Tie the kite off to the other end of the loop and you're good to go. The double stakes and the angles allow the kite to move sideways quite a bit before you have to move the stakes. And, most importantly, if the stakes pull out of the ground, they will come free of the nylon loop right away. http://kitelife.com/forum/gallery/image/5585-/
  3. Jeepster

    Jeepster

    Pictures by Jeepster
  4. Jeepster

    Darryl's stake

    From the album: Jeepster

    Method of anchoring large SLKs where the stakes will be dropped if they pull out of the ground.
  5. Food for thought: super glue is a brittle adhesive that will, due to rod flexing, break down over time. Here's what I posted on the Rev forum last year: A couple of years back, at Kite Party, Laura pulled out her Zen on a very light wind day. The ferrule had come loose and rendered the kite useless. She had paid for a ticket to travel across the US, paid for a number of nights in a very nice motel, paid for her meals, even paid for the darn Zen ... but, because of a simple loose ferrule, all that money was wasted on that morning. Epoxy is not overkill ... I'd even coach you to go further: 1) remove the dried glue from the ferrule and sand the glued half to increase bondage ... then degrease with a solvent 2) clean the inside of the rod (tube) with a roll of sandpaper or a gun cleaning brush ... then degrease with a solvent 3) apply a thin coat of epoxy to the inside of the rod and the sanded end of the ferrule 4) insert the ferrule, twisting it slowly as you insert it to about a quarter inch from the correct depth, clean off the excess epoxy and then insert it to the correct depth ... then tape the ferrule in place until the epoxy dries. When done like this, I've yet to have one come loose. One of the Skyshark 8P tubes on the spreader for a DC Coyne kite split this spring. Tried to get the ferrule out inorder to use the now shorter tube in another location. I could not get the ferrule out of the tube ... it had been installed like the above recommendation. Cheers, Tom
  6. Love the "first proto" part of your quote. So, on to the next configuration. I have a number of commercial winders for my 500 lb SLK line. One area of their design that I find discouraging is the long points over which the line is wound ... the bottom two points in your picture. For your next prototype, you might try reversing the lengths of the end points ... "short" to wind over and "long" to serve as back up. Then wind and unwind line on the two prototypes a number of times to see which you like the best. This is an example: http://kitelife.com/forum/gallery/image/5375-/ Now to make a couple more modifications on the above winder before it's "just right" ... Cheers, Tom
  7. Jeepster

    Winders

  8. Jeepster

    500lb 4

    From the album: Winders

    Prototype #4 for 500 lb line.
  9. I make my Rev winders out of 1/4" (6.35mm) oak. Have made some SLK winders out of the same stuff. There is minimal loading on my SLK winders ... small stuff only. Never a problem in about five years of use. However, if you are going to hold the winder to fly the kite, you might find the thicker woods to be more comfortable on your hands. Don't have any pictures, but many wooden winders use an angled notch in one end of the top of the winder to "catch" the line for holding. They will then thread a strap through the hand hole to anchor the winder to a stake. The notch allows one to adjust the line length while still anchored. This is what my Rev winders look like. Just angle the top of the notch backwards towards the center to visualize a SLK winder. Cheers, Tom http://kitelife.com/forum/gallery/image/3351-/
  10. Good score Steve. A full sail B-series is what I started with also. My first Rev flight was with a full vent sail that was owned and set up by an experienced flier. The winds were high, but the fact that the lines/handles were correctly adjusted allowed me to fly for about 20 minutes without crashing ... led me to believe that there was nothing to flying a Rev. I immediately went home and ordered a full sail B-series kite, lines, handles, etc. When it arrived, the winds were 15 plus mph for several days. Hmmm ... flying it seemed akin to trying to ride a bull for 8 seconds. Very frustrating to say the least ... luckily I'm stubborn and hung in there. I'd offer two pieces of advice: 1) Find someone in your area who flies Revs reasonably well. Even if you have to travel 100 miles or so, go fly with them. They can help you set up the kite correctly ... and correct bad habits before they take hold. 2) If you can't get with someone, then make sure your lines/handles are set up correctly. You want the lines to be even in length ... within a quarter inch will do in the beginning, Your lines will creep in length as they're used, so check them periodically when they're new. Because the load is greater on the top lines, they will stretch more than the bottoms ... rotating the top pair and the bottom pair each time out will help with the equalization. Dual line fliers don't worry about balance and creep as much as quad fliers, so don't go by past experience. Adjust the flight lines on the handle pig tails so that the top lines are about four inches further away from the handles than the bottom lines. That's a good starting point only. Your ultimate goal is to be able to balance the handles on your middle finger with the kite stationary in the middle of the wind window in a vertical position. In the beginning, simply launch the kite and see how it feels ... if it is still has too much speed, then let out the top lines a little more. Keep doing that until you've tamed the kite down to an acceptable level. Good luck, Tom
  11. Oh yes ... the "I-70 Diner" in Flagler Colorado. Yep, it's on I-70 east of Denver out in the middle of nowhere. Great old time dinner. Great food ... no actually it's fantastic food. We stumbled upon it quite by accident four or five years ago. Now we plan our trips so that we'll be hungry when we get to Flagler. The chef's name is Rick ... if things are not busy, ask how he got from the mid-west to Flagler. Oh yes, also ask how the dinner made it's way to Flagler. Both are interesting stories. Cheers, Tom
  12. Well, I guess that's better than a Styrofoam head form ... probably even more intelligent. Thanks for the smile, Tom
  13. Try hanging the hat upside down by the straps to dry it. Better air circulation to speed up the drying ... and, it keeps it's shape better than laying it on a hard surface. I told you to have faith!!! Makes you pucker to treat it like a $5 baseball cap doesn't it? Cheers, Tom BTW ... ust double checked and I own a LTM6 and a TM10
  14. Arizona is a spectacular state to visit. From sand dunes through old pine forests and on into the high plains area it seems to have unlimited beauty. Glad you're getting some time to enjoy it. While you're bouncing around in the area you might keep Canyon de Chelly in mind ... it's a hidden treasure. And then, just across the northern border into Utah is Monument Valley which is truly beautiful ... especially with a Rev in it. Cheers, Tom
  15. The very best to you on your birthday ... may you have many, many more. Cheers, Tom
  16. On the street, they're not that expensive Fair Dinkum. Check out OutlandUSA.com or hollandhats.com for better prices. I have an LTM6 and LTM8 hat ... both are much less than $100. I suspect that there is a similar supplier down under. Cheers, Tom
  17. I'll be there Wednesday afternoon ... provided the storm coming cross country doesn't mess with our travels. Heading for Denver and then over the mountains this year. Cheers, Tom
  18. NIck, you're going to fall in love with the Tilley. I hate hats ... I mean I really, really hate wearing hats. But, with kite flying, it's foolish not to wear one. I tried a bunch of different brands and styles of hats all with limited success. Finally broke down and bought a Tilley. The fit was fantastic ... it was/is comfortable all day long. Mine had the small band of venting at the top ... great when it's cool out, but not when it became warm. Bought a second Tilley with full venting ... that was the secret for me. Flying to a kite event ... no problem ... throw it in the suitcase, squash it down and close the lid. Get to the festival, pull it out and pop it back into shape. Dirty? No problem, throw it in the washing machine and out it comes clean as can be. I hang it upside down from the straps and let it dry. Stretch the hat band over my knee when it's dry and it's like new. How you treat he hat takes a little getting used to ... spending that much money and then treating it like a $5 baseball hat ... doesn't seem right. But, mine is two years old and looks like new. Cheers, Tom
  19. Using Windows 7 and Firefox. Dumped the kitelife cookie. Verified that www wasn't in the bookmark. Clicked on the bookmark ... signed in ... closed Firefox ... reopened it ... clicked on the kitelife bookmark ... yep, had to re-sign in to whine. Firefox adds http\\ to the bookmark, but not www. The interesting thing is that the Rev forum, which I thought used the same software, doesn't forget me. Cheers, Tom
  20. You guys had to talk about it and wake up the internet gremlins ... damn. Now I'm not being automatically logged in when returning. Using Firefox and the kitelifre cookie is in place, but I have to resign in each time. Like Nick says, it's not a big deal. However, there will be a special place in hell for those IT folks who can't leave code lines alone for more than a few days. Too bad they don't have to write code in long hand with ink and a quill on scrolls ... then they might think before they act!!! Cheers, Tom
  21. One of the reasons I went to using a "Buff"! 2 years ago at WSIKF, even using a lip gloss, I burnt my lips - so bad!! Took almost a month to heal fully! If you try out a "Buff", make sure to get one that is UV rated, they make several and not all have the UV protection!! After watching Bazzer move from a handkerchief to a "Buff", I decided to follow suit. Got one, but now I need some sunshine!!! Oh well, KP is just around the corner. Cheers, Tom
  22. Congrats Adam ... I understand that John is shipping it with the SLE leading edge tubes ... for a stiff upper lip and all that. Cheers, Tom
  23. I'd like to add one more item ... a high UV rated lip gloss. If you end up with sunburned lips - yes they can burn - you're in for an extremely painful experience. Cheers, Tom
  24. Two more ideas then: 1) Ben Huggett has had good results with increasing the trailing edge venting in foil kites. I wasn't able to duplicate his results ... go figure. Harald Prinzler increased the top end of the wind range on his flow form (FF04a) by venting the top and bottom surfaces. Although the video shows instability of your foil with light winds , you might keep increased venting in mind as a variable to investigate. 2) Skip over to KiteBuilder.com and post your problems there. There's a larger group of folks there who build and fly their own creations. Your post will spark lots of discussion. Cheers, Tom
  25. Hey guy, Don't want to sew tabs on your kite? Then make them out of duct tape. Sounds crazy, but it really does work well. Gorilla brand is the best. I made a 33 sq ft kite that wouldn't fly smoothly, so I experimented with moving the bridle attachment points up the front of the keels by using duct tape. In shear, that stuff will hold like a dog with a bone. Cheers, Tom
×
×
  • Create New...