John Dvoracek
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John Dvoracek commented on Neil's gallery image in Member's Galleries
Sad but I know how you feel. My wind meter does that at least once a week. -
Thanks for the confirmation. Look at my set #5 which I had flown very little. Three lines were almost equal and one was over one inch shorter. When I flew that set yesterday after adjustment, my tendency to spin one direction was gone. We pay a lot for these lines. I am thinking they are a money maker for the shops, not that I begrudge them (too much). I have been trying to find where to buy seriously bulk Spectra to see how much it costs, and it is difficult. A Chinese merchant on eBay sells 1093 yards of 100 pound "Super Strong PE Spectra Braided Sea Fishing Line" for $30 including shipping, but is fishing line the same (yes?) and is this Honeywell/Allied Signal Spectra? Then there is the problem of sleeving and tooling, and new Spectra (and Dyneema more) "creep" about 2%, so how long and hard would you stretch before cutting? We probably pay the shops as much for what they know as for their materials.
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intermediate Rev Tutorial - Tuning Theory I
John Dvoracek reviewed John Barresi's file in Outdoor Quad Line
Recently I replaced the stock leaders that came with my Revolution handles with pro leaders offered here https://kitelife.com/forum/store/product/18-pro-leaders-100-black/ They are longer on top, and the knots are a little closer together. That got me to rewatch this tutorial, and the new leaders gave me, or more factually made me, retune. I ended up with the bottom lines about the same distance as before from the handles, but the top lines are now two inches further out. This is described as a brake heavy setting in the tutorial, and it just brought my two new kites to life - a full sail Bazzar Poulter Phoenix Pro and a Kite Forge Djinn mid-vent. I have always had trouble with reverse, and with the new tuning, the kites are much better "balanced" and have so much better reverse. This is not about the kites, but there is a difference. The Djinn is the most responsive (sensitive to input) of the nine quads in my bag, and while the Phoenix is close, tuning really makes a huge difference with the Djinn controllability. I am guessing all my other kites will have more balance and better reverse. I completed a reverse circle for the first time, well, a reverse polygon which practice may turn into a circle. Side hovers were also much easier to hold. If you are not happy with your kite, especially balance and reverse, watch the tutorial and try retuning! -
Over the past week I have equalized five of my six quad line sets. The sixth is very new so I didn't look at it yet. I had NEVER done this before. The background is I am a very casual flyer, and in 10 years I had probably flown as much as John Barresi does in a month or two. Some of these line sets were used more, but all were used. Black (BLK) were almost always connected as the brake lines. Black and red pairings were not always maintained, so BLK 1 could have been with both RED 1 and RED 2. In each set, one of the BLK lines was always the shortest and was used as the reference line to which each of the other three were adjusted (cut). I recorded the amount I removed from each of the other lines in the set, and I circled the line(s) with the greatest stretch in each set. Set 3 (50# 120' LPG) had some pretty impressive stretch, but I think I flew it a lot - and I remember having trouble with reverse. I would like to thank Bryan Wagstaff for nagging me on the importance of flying with balanced lines. Also see JB's tutorial on this website https://kitelife.com/forum/files/file/685-rev-tutorial-line-equalizing/
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Bryan Wagstaff flew my kite and immediately said it was "unbalanced", had I equalized my lines? (no) -
All my things kiting
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I tried the anchor method but couldn't get the anchor to hold tight, probably a size issue. I had some 5/16 oak dowel lying around. Running a 5/16 inch drill inside the handles removed the inside lip left by the pipe cutter when the handles were made, at which point the dowel fit in fairly snuggly but not super tight. I cut four 2 inch lengths of dowel, drilled a 3/32 hole 1/4 inch from the end and used some old epoxy to glue these into the handles to remove any chance of them moving. I also added some heat shrink tubing I thought would make it hard for the end caps to move. As others note, this makes the handles a little longer, but these were my original short pair anyway.
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beginner Rev Tutorial - Line Equalizing
John Dvoracek reviewed John Barresi's file in Outdoor Quad Line
Is this really important? For ten years I flew alone although not a lot, and I never equalized my lines. Recently for the first time I flew with a very good flier who wanted to try my Rev 1 Carl Robertshaw Masterpiece (bought because I loved the colors). Soon after launch he looked at me and asked if I had equalized my lines because the kite didn't feel "balanced". I didn't think that would matter much, that my brain would just compensate for minor inequalities in line length. He said no, equal lines do really matter at any level. I had watched this tutorial in the past but thought it was for higher level pilots than I, but today I rewatched, measured, and learned one line on my lineset that he flew was one inch shorter than the other three. -
beginner Rev Tutorial - Line Management
John Dvoracek reviewed John Barresi's file in Outdoor Quad Line
This is a clear, concise tutorial which will really help you manage your quad lines, especially if you pay attention to all the points emphasized. Ten years ago I started flying quad kites, and my only instructor was these JB tutorials. I haven't always flown a lot, but for quite a while what I learned from this video served me well managing my lines from setup to breakdown. Somewhere I lost my way and began to experience excessive line tangles and twists. I just watched the tutorial again and read through https://kitelife.com/forum/topic/7662-line-management-suggestion/ whereupon I just realized my error. When you watch this tutorial, pay attention to the part near the end when you should bring the wound lines DOWN TO THE HANDLES without disturbing or turning the handles. I was lifting the handles by the wound lines and taking them to the SUV trunk to disconnect the lines. It makes a difference! -
OMG, I feel and probably am just old and dumb, but I wondered what the purpose of the extra bridle knots was. It never occurred to me that you would adjust the bridle, but with all the other DJINN innovations, why not! In addition to flying more, I need to read more.
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1) Thanks to JB for posting, Watty who apparently made the video, and everyone who has added ideas. I am doing my old, original Rev handles today which I rarely use since I prefer my second, longer snag less set. However, nice to have backup and if I ever get my grand kids interested, they can start on the shorts. 2) Shame on Rev for leaving those nasty burrs. One of mine measured 3/32". 3) To get the end cap soff over the above burrs, I closed a small adjustable plastic jawed clamp to just slide over the tube, then used it to apply pushing pressure to the end cap to slide it off. This left a nice mark on the inside of the cap which I guess won't hurt anything, but it's just sloppy work.
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How do I remove a gallery picture from my album?
John Dvoracek replied to riffclown's topic in The Web Site (nuts and bolts)
This doesn't seem to work anymore. The only two options Manage Image on the website offers are Edit Details and Hide. There is no Delete. Thanks if anyone can advise how to delete a gallery image. -
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John Dvoracek commented on John Dvoracek's gallery image in Member's Galleries
Facebook image by Ron Hofbauer, sepia and vignette added by me -
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John Dvoracek commented on John Dvoracek's gallery image in Member's Galleries
February 15, 2020 at Lion's Park, overcast day -
Thanks for ALL that technical experience - I will try all of that!! I just got the 30' lines to try to overcome my frustration with low, variable and swirling wind days of which we have a lot. I am trying to fly outdoors a little like indoors on these days, and I might go so far as to acquire some type of SUL quad. I worry about that though because even with the Zen, the wind will go from nil to enough to really fill the sail which might break a SUL. I don't have 60' lines but do have 80', but I need wind. Next time I am taking my son's Kestrel 5500 Weather Meter to record the wind every minute or so to just know what is really out there - or not. Thanks again!
