Jeepster

Hey Duane, let's stay focused here. Darn it all!!! Let's see, I'm setting out on the deck in Arizona enjoying the evening. No daylight savings time in AZ, so that means my clock is the same as John's ... currently 8:52pm. So, only 3 hours and 8 minutes from now and John can wake up the RNG to pick one of us as the proud new owner. Hmmm, wouldn't it be nice if we woke up tomorrow and the winner was already posted???? Do it John ... go ahead and surprise us ... I know you can do it ... that would really be neat. The Bear would already have eight or so hours of crying by the time we read the new owners name. Cheers, Tom

Opps, my decoder ring is a little worn and it slipped a notch. Guess I'll have to start eating that damn straw cereal again to collect enough box tops for a replacement. Cheers, Tom

Bu, lrf lbh qvq!!! Qurrf, Gbz Okay, you got me on this one. I apologize ... assumed that you were really a devious fellow. Thought you'd coded using the Vigenere method. Observed that the key word was probably six letters long and then did a simple substitution in a couple of places instead of a frequency analysis. Discovered that letters four and five in the key word were "N" ... hmmm, then discovered one of the other letters was probably an "N". Geez, do I make things hard ... just needed a simple substitution to solve. Thanks for knocking a little of the rust off the brain this morning.

Let's see, a little oil right here, some dusting over here. There my old Enigma machine is set to work on Pete's cipher. Oh, wow, is it ever groaning under the work load ... aha, here comes the decrypted message: I am trying complete silence on the subject in order to influence the odds. You can tell by the strike_out that I did not post this. Shame on Pete for trying to influence the old RNG ... Cheers, Tom

Hmmm, well then, let me introduce you to another kite flier and pinball lover. Here's his homepage. Cheers, Tom

Some folks on the east coast build and stack 42 inch (LE rod length) Rev-like kites. I was going to build some, but the correct rods were not available. The rods I could find/afford were a little stiffer, so I upped the length to 48 inches. Experimented around for half a summer with those kites. Eventually stacking three of them, but they never became more than a novelty in the kite bag. Called them "half-pints" 'cuz they were half the size of a 1.5 Rev. Later I was given a chance to fly a Rev progressive stack. It was lust at first flight. A progressive is fun to fly 'cuz you can see all three kites while you're flying it. I then built a mini-progressive consisting of a four, five and six foot kite. Just as much fun, only the pull is like flying a single 1.5 Rev. One day I pulled the five foot kite out of the progressive stack and flew it for awhile. It flew well and seemed more like a kite than a novelty. That was when the idea of a linear stack really took off. Carbon wrapped tubes and poly ripstop aren't cheap, but what the heck. The kite you see above is the result. It pulls hard, but not nearly as much as a stack of Rev I kites. I've talked Lee Sedgwick and Kent Kingston into flying it to give me advice on tuning it. Both are great stack fliers and freely shared their advice. BTW ... I asked Ben for permission before doing these builds. Cheers, Tom

Duane, John Chilese is the main photographer of Kite Party. Here is a link to his photos. You'll notice a warm-fade-black-center six-stack of Rev-like kites in his photos ... that's my 'Lil Lee stack. Cheers, Tom

Yes there is ... but they didn't get it right ... I'm in the process of fixing it! Cheers, Tom

To that point, let me share one trick to getting them equalized right from the start. If you're going to make a set of 120 foot lines do this: 1) Sleeve the first end with your top sleeving. 2) Measure out 120 feet (+/- your extra length for one sleeving) then go around a pin and back to the beginning. 3) Cut and sleeve that end with your top sleeving. 4) Now go back to the pin and put the loop through a carabiner or pulley ... tug on the loop with double your normal pull ... a little less than 2 X 0.65 X line strength. The trick is that you now have induced equal creep into both of your top lines. If you pulled each one independently, the creep will be slightly different and will show up during the first few flights. 5) Cut the line right at the loop and sleeve the two remaining ends. Or double check the length and cut accordingly ... I guarantee it'll be too long. I usually end up with an extra two foot plus cut off piece ... Now you have a matched set of top lines ... repeat for the bottom lines and you're good to go. None of the above will make you a better flier ... it'll just give you more time to fly ... and take away one of your normal excuses for why the kite won't behave. Cheers, Tom

Just to add one more variable to the mix. Most spectra lines will creep (commonly mis-refereed to as stretch) about 2% right off the roll. That means that 120 feet of spectra will creep 2.4 feet ... more than enough for the end loops. So, how brave are you? Care to cut four 120 foot pieces and count on them to yield enough for end loops? BTW ... that expensive bridle line that you've bought will also creep about 2% ... you need to pre-stretch it before building bridles or stacking lines. One last point ... creep is a plastic deformation of the spectra. The amount of creep you experience is based on the force that you apply to the line. You need to pull/tug up to the limits of the knots to get the best set. Even then, you'll still get a little line growth during the first couple of high wind flights. Cheers, Tom

Usually the sentence right before that is "Here hold my beer!" Bummer ... -Tom

Well actually, after looking at your calcs, I was wondering why you weren't buying a third subscription!!!! Cheers, Tom

Congrats Rocky! Enjoy, Tom

Mitch, Thanks for the compliment ... I have pulley on a strap to bring down the larger kites. Some folks use a carabiner on a strap ... put either of them over the line and walk the line down. The third way is to simply walk the line down hand-over-hand. Go visit the IKE website for info on local festivals. In the forum pages you'll find write-ups from various members about most of the festivals. Kite Party is a unique situation where Dave Shankman, owner of The Kite Connection, runs the weekend like a get together amongst friends rather than a festival. However locally(?), you might check out the Grand Haven festival in late May, the Milwaukee festivals during the summer (one on July 4th and one in September I think), and also look at Kites Over Lake Michigan up in Two Rivers, WI (it's usually the week end before the Milwaukee festival. Sign up as a member of IKE ... no dues, no meetings, just a group of like minded folks from around the world ... plus, the forum to communicate quickly with each other on current events. The main group is in northern Illinois, but Ahmayzon is a member and lives in the St Louis area. A quick PM to her might get you hooked up with others in your area. Cheers, Tom

John, Just bring in to Kite Party after the RNG finally gets around to my number ... it'll save shipping costs that way. Cheers, Tom

I'll lead off first. Started a couple years ago with a 1970s Kenmore that is now set up principally to do binding. I steal my wife's Brother embroidery machine to duplicate the size of the 3-step zig-zag stitch on Rev-like kites ... it has an add-on walking foot. My principle machine is a 1975 Pfaff 1222 machine that was recently refurbished. The Pfaff has a true walking foot that really helps keep the ripstop aligned for sewing the big kites. I'm still hot cutting everything, so the cutting table is the glass top from a coffee table. It goes on top of the sewing table during hot cutting. The sewing table is a saw horse and framework supported 20 foot by 4 foot melamine topped table. There's a 4 foot by 1 foot indent right in the middle where the sewing machine and I are located. It makes it much easier to sew the larger foil kites. One end of the basement is dedicated to building RC planes and kites. Kites completed: Rev-like kites (asked Ben for permission first) 1) Three four foot singles ... one is vented just for the hell of it. 2) A six stack of five footers 3) A progressive stack of 4, 5 and 6 footers 4) A full size mega-vent Foils 1) Four Micro-Mocks (5 sq ft) ... was playing around with rib height on foils 2) Two Mini-Mocks (20 sq ft) 3) One WK100 (90 sq ft) 4) One Stealth (190 sq ft) One Rok On the to-do list: 1) A two stack of reduced size indoor Rev-likes 2) A cross color foil in the 80 ~ 100 foot size 3) A couple more Roks ... one or more will be with applique ... got to start sometime. 4) Maybe an FF4a ... Cheers, Tom

Yes, I made this one also. Took about a week of part time work. Wasn't going to start on it until after vacation, but ... You haven't seen some of the big kites that Barry has in his fleet! He has a 2200 sq ft kite called Pee Wee. And a 500 sq ft self designed kite that has the same cross color pattern as my 20 sq footer. Barry has a 5000 sq ft shop - designed for commercial use - that is his hobby shop. He builds, repairs and cleans kites full time as a hobby. He simply loves big kites and helping folks get big kites in the air. So, couldn't beat out Barry in two life times. Thanks for the compliments ... Cheers, Tom

Since I finished my latest foil kite two days ago, the new-kite terrible weather patterns have been hanging around central Illinois. Last night's storm left town during the night and the result was a blue sky, 10 to 16 mph winds and 33 degree temps. So off to the flying field I went the new kite. The winds were high enough that I should have had tube tails on it ... they're on order, but not here yet. I added the banner tails instead ... they don't add much drag, but they were close enough for pictures. The kite measures approximately 90 sq ft. With Kite Party around the corner and spring festivals soon after that, the building table will remain empty for a couple of months. Cheers, Tom

Yep, you pushed me into it! Earl Scheib fixed the avatar up for only $79.95!! A fancy form of red is my current Jeep color, so it's fitting. Cheers, Tom

I use a large loop of 1" webbing like you see in Darryl's picture. The looped webbing is handy for hooking up to fence posts, the rear hitch on the Jeep, etc.. On the kite end of the webbing is a carabiner ... cheap $1 ones for small kites and rock climbing types for the larger kites. I use a cats paw to attach the line to the carabiner. Since the cats paw starts out as a larks head and progresses by adding extra twists, it can be tied with one hand ... just takes a little practice. To untie the knot simply open the carabiner latch and slide the knot off ... it's very easy on the line. Some of the big kite guys use the homemade attachment in the Tie Down picture. It's basically the loop of 1" webbing with an aluminum bar added at the kite end for stiffness. Two cleats are added; one to hold the main line and one to hold the show kites that are attached to the main line. The dual cleat arrangement allows both kites to be adjusted independently. The ring at the top is added to keep everything in align with the kite. Some big kite guys are very conscientious about reducing the amount of metal on the lines, thus they tend to stay away from this arrangement. As to extra metal on the line ... I am able to park the Jeep in the middle of my flying field and tie off to the hitch ... 4000# of anchor sure does the trick!!!! I just bought one of these Giant Chalk Boxes from Amazon ... notice the Sharpie pen just above it in the picture. It currently has 150 feet of Gomberg's 500# line on it ... looks like it might hold 200 feet comfortably. Only time will tell if it's as functional as it first seems. Cheers, Tom

One of my big kite mentors, Darryl Waters, finally posted this picture and writeup on another forum: "Big Box hardware stores carry "contractor stakes" for $2-3 each. Half inch diameter in various lengths (I've seen 18, 24, 36 and 42 inches long). I use two to anchor my Peter Lynn giant show kites. Here's how I do the straps on them. Cross them as close to the ground as possible. Take your strap, and go under the crossover, then loop over the top of the stakes. Holds securely, but if they ever pull out, you have your best chance that the straps will let go of the anchors (it's not actually tied to them, just looped around them) and drop them instead of dragging them through the field. Darryl" Darryl is one of the major "big kite" fliers in the mid-west. You'll find he has a neat collection of show kites, lifters and plain old big kites. He's very willing to share his knowledge and experiences. Look him up at the Grand Haven kite festival. Oh yes, tell him you loved seeing his TV presentation on digging sand anchors into the beach. Seriously, one of the news reporters interviewed him one year at Grand Haven while he was digging in the sand ... wish I could find that news cast again ... it was a real hoot!!! Cheers, Tom

Ah Duane, evil was probably not as good a choice as "cluttered." A truly eloquent solution for an engineer centers around simplicity ... the more minimalistic the the solution the more beauty in the eyes of technical folks. The opposite also holds a place of respect ... Rube Goldberg type complex, whimsical solutions to simple problems is the most obvious example. A little background on my avatar. One of the sections in my work group was "Corporate Markings" ... they are responsible for the corporate "image" that Cat equipment projects. In that group are some extremely creative folks. I gave one of the guys the task of creating an avatar for me that would represent the Jeepster name in an iconic manner. I also told him he couldn't spend more than 15 minutes coming up with the avatar. About a half hour later he sent me what you see. 13 lines and there's no doubt it's a Jeep ... what could be simpler? Maybe I'll go wild and crazy and color the lines!!! Cheers, Tom

Duane, Like what? MiniVan02 ... You have an evil mind. Cheers, Tom

Today was an extremely beautiful day in the neighborhood ... 45 degree temps with lots of sunshine. The family went kite flying in the afternoon ... lots of SLKs 'cuz that's all the littlest kids can fly right now, our one dual line that was a gift to my grandson, and my stack of 5' Rev-like kites. Fun was had by all!!!! This picture was captured by my son on his smart phone ... the new smart phones are better than the dedicated cameras of a few years ago ... geez. Cheers, Tom