Reef Runner

Ok Wayne, the "Hippy Dippy Weatherman" says, "H E A V Y R A I N" I'm out of here..........

Having a great time Barton. Thanks.............

Well, I suppose the Weather Channel can be wrong on occassion. It ended up, NOT raining yesterday (Wed afternoon), and so far today (Thursday), nothing.........but nice wind. Here's another toy I found down deep in my kite bag. Must be 10+ years old, and never flown. Anyone ever heard of a Prism Triad. Actually, I think you can still buy them today, for about $30 +/-, so definitely not a rarity. Another neat little toy, when you just don't want to string out a bunch of line, and had rather just kick back (and wait for the rain) . I think our luck is about to run out today !! Beach time is just about to come to an end.........

Hey Rob, If you got race rods, you can beat the cat with the 2-wraps............just kidding (but I've never used 2-wraps). I think that you may have seen, somewhere, where several people mention, that if you have a set of Revs (that is Std, Mid, & full Vent), then it's just easier to switch kites as the wind changes, rather than changing frames. Many will set up as follows: (many won't) Standard Sail - Black Race Rods Mid Vent Sail - 3-wrap Full Vent Sail - 4-wrap I'm sure others will chime in, and will have many other ideas on this subject.... Example: yesterday & day before, I had all of my B2's set up, with lines attached, staked out on the beach side by side. As the wind would change, I could quickly switch kites, but mainly, it gave me an opportunity to check out each kite, quickly, in the different winds, just to get a feel. Yes, it was a lot of trouble to set up all three at once, with lines, but I was able to fly one, land quickly, hook it on a stake, then launch another. Oh, and yes, I was flying B2's, but they were still set up, as listed above. They are all, so smooooooooth, but it was really neat to be able to sample each set up, all at the same time........... As for the handles, just do the retro fit. Works perfectly ! http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/5324-the-insanity-grows/#entry34728

And tomorrow........(Thursday).........H E A V Y R A I N !! And Friday.....(more Heavy Rain)....... Thank you Andrea ! We are outer here, soon ! It's just that four hour drive home, in the pouring rain..........sheesh!

More "but-tah", for the week. What I flew today, before the weather set in..............crap ! rain rain rain rain rain

Added some actual photos, taken today, back into the original post. The first one that I used was just some stock photo that I had found online............

Gosh, a five stack, un-attended self-launch, could be a real disaster. Glad no more damage was done, although I'm sure you had a few tense moments. That's what I like about the revs. You park them LE down, and no way! Maybe a little side to side, but no UP !

Well, congratulations Pete, and best wishes for a Happy Birthday ! Sounds like a great event (18 liters)...............

I'm sure that any of you, that fly dualies, have had, or come close to having, an unattended self-launch, of your staked kite, when you weren't quite ready, or weren't quite back at the "business end" of the lines. I'd like to know, if anyone has ever had a self launch, the went up all by itself, and stayed up ? The reason I ask, is that I have a dual line, diamond kite, that I have had for over 15 years, and have never flown it, until today. I happen to be on vacation this week, on the coast of NC (OBX), so as usual, I brought a bunch of kites with me. But today, after an extended period of Rev flying, in a wonderful 15 - 20 mph, NE wind (off of the ocean), I decided to pull out this old dual line diamond kite, that I've had in the bag for so long, and see if it would even fly. Note: Sometime back, I had made a new bridle for this kite, because I didn't like the one that came with it. I also took the lines off of the separate, left and right hand winders. I sleeved them, equalized them, and then wound them onto a regular dual line, figure-eight winder. Then, back into the bag, everything went, in anticipation of the day, that I would finally find time, to check out this kite. Well, that day was today. Again, after the day's Rev flying was over, I went back up to the cottage, and got this little jewel out of the bag. It was only about 4:30. The wind was still cooking. It was time for the "virgin flight", maybe (?). After struggling a bit, to put it together, while fighting the wind, I finally got the lines laid out and attached to my, "bridle retro-fit", put on a home-made 25 foot tail, and now, it was time to "do it". When I pulled back on the lines, much to my surprise, this big old beauty took off, unfurling the tail as it rose. Ok - up it went - pull right - it went right - pull left - it went left - extended pull to the right - and a graceful, but perfect loop. Darn, this thing will actually fly. I was amazed. So, on this went, for a while. Did you understand that this was a "diamond" kite ? Anyway, while flying, I began to realize, that if I put both wrist straps onto one index finger, side by side, the kite went straight up overhead, and sat there, pinned to the sky, as if it were a SLK. Interesting, and I was amazed, as to how stable this kite was, when flown like this - both lines on one finger. Ok, now the surprise. This is one of the older diamond kites, that was fashioned, somewhat after the famous old TRILBY's, however, this kite is quite a bit larger, and it has a much more substantial frame, which is continuous, around the entire perimeter of the sail. It comes with an eighty foot tube tail, and believe it or not, it flies great. Yep, this is a "Cayman" (ever heard of it ?), made by a company called, "The Caribbean Kite Company" (ever heard of them ?), another one of those older companies that bit the dust, years ago, but what a great little kite ! Now, get this !! On one of my trips back to the kite (yes, the walk of shame), I set it up, a bit to "upright", and guess what? Much to my amazement, and my wife's, this kite self launched straight up (glad I had it staked well). Oh $#!T, I was 100 feet from the kite stake & straps, and hoping they would hold. No problem. That kite went straight up like a bullet, just like it had good sense, and then it just sat there, pinned to the sky, waiting for me to get to the wrist straps. Who would have ever "thunk" it ? The kite was just sitting there, 100 feet up in the sky - picture perfect...no right - no left - just sitting at the top of the window, waiting for input. I was in such disbelief, that I actually landed the kite, and tried this self-launch, several more times. Perfect every time. You can actually sit in a beach chair, with one hand on one arm, and the other hand on the other arm, and fly this kite with one finger, on each hand, as you sit back, and gaze at the sky. Again, an amazing little dual line diamond kite.. "The Cayman" - by "The Caribbean Kite Company" - and to think, they are no longer made, and the company is gone......... (and to think - I've had this kite in my bag for nearly 15 years) What a neat little kite !!

Finally made out first trek to the coast for the season.............All I can say is that: + = "but-tah !!! Gotta keep an eye on these two and keep them a part. I think it might be mating season, out on the sand ?

"And another one bites the dust"..................congrats Ron..........enjoy.........

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If you are a paid subscriber, you are automatically entered in the drawing, which John does with a "Random Number Generator". Good Luck.............(well not too good, but still, good luck)

Me thinks that the Forum Administrator, might have had a couple, or six

I'm thinking that our Forum Administrator, is looking a bit haggard, probably as a result of all the recent travel and events, he's been attending. Sure hope he gets a new pic for his b-day............. Happy Birthday JB...............

OH, and just a small bit of banter, on my part. Wayne is getting ahead of me %() , %() , %()

I'm sure if John ever gets back home and settled down, he'll let you know your number. Your profile says you've been a member since May 24th, so you must be "IN", and for sure, if you are paid up, you are in ......... Worry not ! John will let you know soon, I'm sure........

Hey Joe, I got that same Wala (same color), but mine is usually on the ground, or in the bag. I just haven't caught on to this glider stuff, yet ! I did finally get mine in the air last week, in 10+ mph winds. Flew great........... I added pigtails to each wing tip loop, and got rid of the metal hooks on the tail. I also cut the tail in half, creating two tails - one for each wingtip, which I lark's headed to each of the pig tails. I didn't particularly like the big looped tail. I think they look better, streaming straight back from each wing tip, but that's just my opinion......... As for the pictures, I have the same problems, on occasion. Just recently started. When that happens, I just flip them back the other way, here, in my photo program first. Then when I post them, and they get flipped, they are right-side-up..... I don't know why this has all of a sudden, become a problem........ Maybe when John get's back, he can look into the matter

No argument here, as I have had both kites, but for the money, I'd still go for the Magnum. As you mentioned, Jon Trennepohl and Wayne Brunjes, designed both kites for Premier, the Widow, being a "knock-off", of the $300 Widow Maker. Still, the Magnum, and the Widow are tremendously, similar, as is the Nighthawk (just smaller). They are all great kites.............GET ONE !!!

Try a Premier Nighthawk (3/4 kite), or a Premier Magnum (full size kite). Both kites are identical, except for size. The Nighthawk is a bit quicker than the Magnum, but both are great kites, not too expensive, and tough as nails.............I have two of each, and always fly them, when I'm messing with dualies............

Good luck with your repairs. The CA glues (Cyanoacrylate), work quite well, for that kind of repair, and they are very fast (hot). Zap is one of the better known brands [ http://www.zapglue.com ], if you are not familiar. I have also used plain old two part epoxy, which is quite a bit thicker than the CA glue, but works just fine. Sometimes you have to work on it, to get a good coating of glue, on the inside the new rod. I use a toothpick, to smear a small amount of mixed epoxy, all around on the inside, then I put a small dab just inside the end of the rod, making sure not to get any glue on the end of the tube, or on the outside (it's really best to be very careful and steady, and not get any glue on the outside). Make sure that you DO NOT put any glue on the ferrule itself. Then insert the clean ferrule into the rod, while rotating it slowly as you go, which will help to evenly distribute the glue, up inside the tube. Do NOT retract the ferrule, once you start in. Also, I have found that it is good to measure, and mark the center point of the ferrule (example: 3" ferrule - mark at 1.5"), and make sure that you don't push it in, past that mid-point. When you are complete, you want the ferrule glued at a point, where it will be equally distributed in both pieces of rod, so you don't want to push the glued end, into the rod too far, which will leave the exposed end, too short. During the gluing process, you also don't want to push the ferrule in too far, and then have to pull it back out, which will bring glue with it. This will just create a mess, and if not cleaned off completely (which can be very difficult), will then make inserting the exposed end of the ferrule, into the other rod, difficult, if not impossible. It's much easier, to carefully rotate and push the ferrule in to the pre-determined mark, and stop right there, than it is to go in too far, and then have to pull it back out and clean up. Any amount of retracting the ferrule, is going to bring glue with it and create problems, so it's definitely best to push it in to the mark, STOP, and carefully lay everything aside to complete the curing process. The ultimate goal is to have NO glue at all, on the outside of the rod and ferrule, so you have a clean shoulder, for the other rod to butt up to...........any excess glue around the joint (shoulder), will cause a gap where the two rods meet. Of course, if you use one of the CA glues, it's even more important to know exactly where to stop inserting the ferrule, because if you stop at the wrong place, it just may end up curing right there. SO, if using CA's, it's really important to know exactly how far to push the ferrule into the rod, which should be done in one smooth motion, stopping at the exact spot, where it will cure, almost immediately. Again, good luck with your repairs............

Yes, welcome to Kitelife, Escape. Sounds if you are getting some good advice. Been there, done most of that, and I try not to do it anymore. I think I heard somewhere, if you're not breaking anything, you're probably not learning anything. I did the "drill-it-out" thing, on a Rev, leading edge spar, sometime back. Actually, it worked much better than I though it would, but as Dayhiker said, "if it's already broken", what have you got to lose.............and as Pete said, if you got spares, you probably won't break it again........... It's a funny game we play...........but welcome, welcome, welcome.

Yep, come to think about it - I'm all into flying fast and keeping the kite out of the dirt !

I think I am about a 2.1, on "Dowler's Scale of Kite Flight"............as long as the wind is cooking, that is!