Jeepster

Kyle, I can't help you with your power kite question, but I can welcome you to the forum. You'll find a fun group of folks who will go out of their way to way to be helpful. Cheers, Tom

Hi John, That is great news! Can you send it to my home address in Lockport. If you don't have the address in your records, email me direct and I will give it to you. Thanks again, I will continue my support even though I cannot find time to read the online magazine as much as I would like to. Keep up the good work. Congrats Ted. I can help you with having more time to read ... just forward the kite and you won't have that temptation to fly it. BTW, is that Lockport, New York or Illinois? Congrats, Tom

Ahh, the micro bug ... 3 feet in diameter and 15 feet long. That would look cool on the festival field. And, if an IKE member won it, I'd get to enjoy it without the fuss of setting it up, taking it down, storing it, etc.. Wonder what my new odds are? Oh, but I've got a 4 1/2 year old grandson (insert violin music here) who'd go bonkers over it! Thanks for the chance John. Cheers, Tom

You're right, you couldn't get the smile off my face last night. Talked the 180GO! squad members into flying the "Half Pint" quad ... approximately 2/3 the size of a REV II. If you think a REV II is a little quick, this size kite is like a bumble bee on steroids. It took about two minutes for each of them to stop sucking air and slow down their handle movements. But then, they were able to fly it quite well. Not bad when I was afraid the darn thing wouldn't even fly. Can't do with this kite. That was the promise to Ben ... not for sale! Besides, if I only made minimum wage, no one could afford to pay for a Half Pint. The real turn on is the research, the planning and the futzing around making a kite. My hat's off to anyone who can make a living manufacturing and selling kites ... not an easy occupation. Cheers, Tom

Rick, Those really are great looking kites. I'm working on a six-kite stack of half scale rev-like kites. I'm really astonished with the work and decisions that go into making a simple quad kite. Your kites look way beyond the simple ... I'm very impressed!! Thanks for sharing, Tom PS ... At Kite Party, I asked and received Ben's permission to build the half scale kites.

In most of our north western parks we have signs that say "Don't Feed the Bears" ... Boxboy, that seems appropriate here. Darn things become terrible pests if you start sending them kites feeding them. Glad the problem is solved. A quick look at the picture suggests that it is an adjustment problem rather than humidity/temp problem. The kite is really neat ... do you make other kites? Pictures of those kites? A web page? Please do share! Cheers, Tom

BoxBoy, Do you have a picture of the end results? One area you might think about is the differance in expansion/contraction of various materials due to humidity and temperature. A carbon fiber rod does not expand or contract due to humidity, but a wooden dowel will change dimensions. Poly is not as affected by humidity as much as nylon. Thus, a poly sail on a carbon fiber rod frame will not see problems due to humidity as much as a nylon sail on a wooden frame will. Not sure who winds the expansion race with a nylon sail and a wooden dowel ... the wood or the nylon ... but a picture might yield an answer. Going off to a weekend festival right now ... Cheers, Tom

Bob, Let me echo the Bear ... your updates are appreciated and read with interest. Please do continue. Cheers, Tom

Ken, Come on, give in to the virus, go fly the kite ... and then tell us all about it. Actually, kids and kites mix very well. I got my son interested in Revs, so now he calls me to go flying. My grandson (4 1/2 years old) comes along with us most times and flys one of his SLKs ... and just generally runs around the field having a good time. All the "don't do that" and "no" and "why did you do that" comments are absent on the flying field, so he really loves it. When he gets bored with simply goofing around, we put him in the car with a DVD player and a video ... The key phrase is "Honey, I'm going to go spend some time with the kids!" ... with that you're magically transposed from a shiftless kite bum into a caring, nurturing father. Cheers, Tom

Hmmm, maybe you made the webmaster mad ... but, no that can't be. I'm able to bring up the website without having to log in each time. Cheers, Tom

Well then let me thank both John and Theresa for another chance to try my hand at dual line kite flying. The winds will be just right here in the midwest in May. Cheers, Tom

Ken, The assumption is that you purchased a red and black standard sail ... correct? And, your first day of flying went how? Cheers, Tom

So now I have tis mental image of fuzz protruding out from your ears to test the wind, then nipping back into the warm of your "ear-ole" so that it is not de-sensatised by too much exposure to the wind. This is obviously special fuzz for Rev Jedi. Actually, hair growing out of your ears happens naturally as you get older. God has a funny sense of humor ... damn hair stops growing on top of your head and starts sprouting in other places. Growing old is not for the weak of heart! Cheers, Tom

Yes Darin, John pulled an April Fool's joke on you ... he's mean that way ... please forward the kite to Subscriber #477. Cheers, Tom PS ... Oh yes, congrats on your win!!!!

Short answer: The Rev I is the larger of the three and is a slower flying kite. The Rev II is the smallest of the three and is a very quick, less precise flying kite. The Rev 1.5 (std or B-series) seems to be the best balance between speed and precision. That's the kite "size" that most teams fly with. SLE refers to one of two things: 1) The 7/16" leading edge that many folks claim is too stiff and heavy to be effective in less than gale force wind conditions 2) The non-B-series Rev 1.5 kite ... this is the kite that iQuad has used in the past and 180-GO! still uses as their team kite. The SLE kite comes standard with the SLE leading edge, but many kite shops will switch it out for a 1/4" leading edge at no cost. Again, most flyers will tell you, if you order an SLE, to order it with the 1/4" leading edge. The SUL kite is basically an SLE sized kite with a 2-wrap 1/4" frame standard, lighter weight sail material and a lighter weight bridle. The EXP is an entry level kite. It is slightly larger than a 1.5, but close enough to have most of the same flight characteristics. If you stay in the hobby and add additional Revs, the EXP is kind of odd man out ... you fly it in the same configuration as you bought it. Many folks have started on an EXP and still have one in their kite bag. If you really think you're going to stay in the Rev end of the hobby, you might be better served to skip the EXP. End of short answer ... It's not as bad with Revs as with dualies, or so I'm told, but in both genres, one kite will not handle all wind conditions. You need at least a non-vented and a full-vented 1.5 Rev kite to handle the majority of wind conditions. Every kite after that that you add to your kite bag simply complements what you've already bought. That's the beauty of the 1.5 series ... frames are interchangeable: 2-wrap, 3-wrap, 4-wrap, race rods, SLE 3-wrap, SLE 4-wrap, Silver bullet, doubled leading edge, mixed-wrap frame sets, etc. Then mix and match the SUL, SLE, B-series, Pro-series and their various venting configurations. Plus, add in various line lengths from 10 feet to 120 feet and you have an infinite set of combinations to match the environment and/or your mood. Once you have your basic kite bag filled with 1.5 revs, you can start branching out into the REV indoor, REV I, REV II, EXP to loan to others, REV I stacks, REV II stacks, progressive stacks ... oh, and surely you'll want a speed series or two ... then there's the BLAST series to investigate. Cheers, Tom

Psst, John ... it's April 1st ... time to wake up Mr. Random ... Cheers, Tom

John, You said three questions and then asked five ... geez. Three or five doesn't seem to matter for a newbie kite flyer ... Although, it looks like the gentleman modified a dual line kite to fly it with quad lines ... probably using a dog stake to fly it close to himself. Love the handles ... they seem to disappear in his hands. Cheers, Tom

HQ sells the bag in both a 55" and a 71" length. I bought the 55" length for my SLKs ... then built a ROK that was too long for that bag ... now have a 71" bag on order. They both sell for about $25 from Midwest Kite. It's a very well made bag. Since many of us fly bright gaudy colored kites, what's with shying away from a purple and black bag. BTW, I found embroidery thread in the same shade of purple and personalized mine. Can't say yet what can be done with the 71" bag, but it would be a simple task to shorten the 55" bag to accommodate revs. The only downside is that pocket storage is internal to the bag proper ... thus, it reduces the internal kite space slightly. Cheers, Tom

John, I really appreciate how hard you are working at pushing me into flying a dual line kite. Cheers, Tom

Good going Rudy ... congrats. Cheers, Tom

Awesome ... thanks for sharing. Cheers, Tom

John, Don't forget now ... one week till the drawing. Cheers, Tom

John, The timing is perfect! After Mr. Random selects my number, you can simply bring it to Kite Party and save on shipping. Of course, I'll probably spend days trying to hook up all four lines ... it does take four lines doesn't it? Winning a dual line kite seems a lot like the free kitten that my son came home with one day. That damn cat cost me so much money ... first it's the ... well, you know how much pets cost after the initial acquisition. In a similar manner, that kite will take different weight lines, different handles, bright tails, new books on how to fly the darn thing ... and surely the wind range will be on the edge of what's normal in the Midwest ... so, others will appear via the brown kite truck. That free kite will be so great at first ... and then it'll create a new addiction that will be so costly ... talk about a dual-edged sword. And don't anybody tell me that they'll help me out by taking it off my hands ... you know I'm too dumb to let it go. John, thanks again for the opportunity ... the lotteries are appreciated. Cheers, Tom

Mike ... Happy birthday again. But geez Mike ... cook your own birthday meal! I've been thinking all day about eating at the Silver Saddle, La Fuente or Chads ... you're just a step or two away and have a great reason. Cheers, Tom

You've gotta lovett That's a really bad pun ... on so many levels ...