dragonfish

Thanks for the info. I've been trying to figure out how to take my kites on the plane, so I'm looking into this fishing rod tube now. To get a better sense of size, how many WidowMaker-sized kites do you reckon could fit in the tube fully collapsed? Or, if you fly Revs, how many Revs do you reckon would fit? Thanks.

Lol. I've never actually timed myself on assembly/disassembly, but Revs are much faster for me. I think this is one of those things that is highly flier dependent though. I know other people who think dualies are much faster to set up as well. However, I think one important variable is how much you break down the dualie. If you take it down all the way, there are a lot more steps to assemble/disassemble. If you leave the LE full length and don't take the lower spreaders out of the LE connectors, you've just saved yourself a lot (half?) of time. It sounds like your quad lines get caught on the winder but not your dual lines? Not sure why this is happening. Mine will snag while unwinding, but it just takes a second to unsnag and I'm on my way again. Hope JB helps you get it sorted out.

This video reminds me of your ProDancer video. Slow, graceful movements flying around the wind window, no sudden movements. It's much harder to keep a Rev up in low winds if it's not moving, in general, IMO. Haven't flown a Zen yet, so don't know if it needs movement more than a 1.5.

I've flown in groups with a mix of LPG and Skybond. Does not seem to be an issue. My 120's are LPG, my pairs partner's are Skybond. Besides pairs, we also fly team and megateam with others. No problems on my lines so far. I don't think he has had problems with his lines either, but you may want to wait for a first hand answer from someone who flies with Skybond just to be sure.

Great report Terry, and great job Ed and everyone else involved. I am now contemplating getting a setup for myself and the team I fly with. I sometimes feel bad running our music over a portable speaker all afternoon while practicing, disturbing others nearby who might not want to listen to the same thing over and over again. Although, I guess running it over a speaker is beneficial to the people who stop by and watch, so I don't know... I guess I'll have to see what the team thinks and if we want to invest in radios, etc. Am I understanding correctly that only the leader radio needs all the gadgets, and everyone else just needs a radio and earphones (if desired)? Good to note. I would have made the same assumption. What is different? Is there a workaround? I run music off my smartphone. I actually use a set of earphones from an old iPod that probably doesn't work anymore. The earphones work just fine with my phone (and computer for that matter), so I would have assumed the connectors are the same.

Nice. The venting material on the kites has got me intrigued. It seems a lot more white and less noticeable than what I am used to seeing. When the kite is in flight, they almost look like white panels instead of vent panels. I could only tell from the closeups.

Ocean Beach. Lots of space, smooth wind off the ocean. Winds can be on the high side though, or they can be on the low side. I don't fly there frequently enough to know the typical weather patterns. I personally have not flown at Crissy Field. Hopefully others can chime in more. If you make it across the bay, Cesar Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina is also a popular kite flying spot. Sometimes there are enough people around for some impromptu Rev team flying.

LOL, thanks. I didn't even know you were taking that picture, and it looks like I was posing for you. A bee cage? Did I read that right, as in the insect? Didn't know such a thing existed.

Just watched the video. Wow. Almost looks like you were flying in slow motion. I guess that's what it takes in winds that light. I like the color of the ProDancer too. Looks great in the sun.

Wow, I really want to see one of these in person now. Must look even better than in pictures.

Oh whoa, it has spiderweb stitching too. Didn't notice until I clicked on the picture for the full res image because I saw something that looked like signatures and wanted a better look. The signature in silver is obviously Jon T. Who are the other two (or three)?

Congrats to Ed's sister and team. Looks like they were going fast the last few days. Wasn't the ETA from a few days ago on the 22nd?

Whoohoo, congrats Dayhiker. Looking forward to seeing pics and hearing more about it.

What happened to 1200 to 1999?

Nicely color coordinated team flying.

Thanks! I don't know how it flies compared to the iFlite because I don't have one of those. Definitely agree with the visual appeal. I saw some pics of the iPrey and knew I wanted one. Didn't have that reaction with the iFlite when I first saw them.

I'm thinking about trying out a short line set on dual line kites for a different perspective. I expect to primarily use this in light winds, and possibly in small-ish neighborhood parks. In general, I am working on learning tricks. If it makes a difference to your recommendation, my light wind kite is an Ocius UL (7' wingspan). Suggest away! Feel free to share what conditions you like the length in, which of your kites it works well with (or doesn't work well with), etc. Thanks.

I finally got an iPrey on Sunday! They finally arrived at my LKS. In-flight pictures are so hard to get. I had the camera on the floor pointing up and set to take a pic 10s after I pressed the button. Unfortunately, with burst mode there was no flash so that didn't work. Took many tries at one picture at a time.

I'm in. I like self-made stuff too.

I wouldn't go so far as to call the SilverFox a "piece of *#@%", but admittedly it is my least favorite kite. I always seem to have issues assembling/disassembling it. My other two dualies are SkyBurner kites, so maybe the bar I have is a bit on the higher side. I got the SilverFox vented for the high wind days. There don't seem to be very many options in that area. I also wanted to +1 the suggestion of looking at used kites. You may be able to find something in your price range that normally goes for more. This forum and others have for sale or swap meet sections that are good places to look. That is how I ended up getting a SkyBurner WidowMaker when my price range was closer to that of the Premier Widow.

I've had at least one come loose. Fortunately discovered it before it had moved much, pulled it out, and re-glued it. Can't remember which kite (frame set, really) it was on though; might have been one that I had for a few years. On another note, I've had to fix a ferrule on a dual line LE that got loose and slid out part way. Discovered that issue when the leading edge pieces wouldn't separate enough to fold down. Now that was a pain to fix. Dual line LEs don't come out like Rev LEs do.

Maybe I'm playing devil's advocate, but personally I have not seen an EXP with broken spars whereas I have seen a broken SLE (yes I mean the fat leading edge spar). I will admit that my data set may be rather small, and the owner of the SLE kite with the broken spar had used it to teach lots of people to fly (he taught me too) and in fairly strong wind, so maybe my comparison is not fair. However, my point is, don't expect the SLE frame to never break. Maybe it's harder to break, but it can still happen. The label on my EXP frame says "EXP" (kite was purchased in 2010). I think there is something else on the label, but cannot remember (maybe "Revolution"?). I identify the frame set by the "EXP" text, but treat it as any other 3 wrap set. It gets swapped into other kites as needed and if it's the most convenient set to grab.

I like SparkieRob's description. In addition, the B series package also comes with 2 frame sets, which will give you a larger wind range (swap them out as necessary), and longer leaders on the tops of the handles. You may not need this feature when starting out, but it becomes useful down the road for better precision flying. Of course, it's easy to make your own for any handle set (sesrch this forum or the Rev one for more info). The B series package also does NOT come with line. The EXP RTF package does. Just wanted to make sure you are aware of that. However, if you're looking for a used kite, these differences may not matter to you, as people don't necessarily sell their used equipment in the same combination as the factory packages. That said, the EXP is a great kite to start with. It was my first quad line kite, and I was still flying it even when I started participating in sport kite competition.

Looks like fun! I'm curious what that vented dual line is.

I hope others who know the area better will be able to give you better advice, but I'll give a shot at it. (FYI, my typical flying spot is across the bay in Berkeley, and I don't frequent SF.) Unfortunately for you, winds usually come from the west off of the ocean. They are typically strongest in the afternoon. The next week looks pretty windy based on forecasts. I have no idea how the winds will be at the small parks on the eastern side of the city, but there are a lot of tall buildings in the area you mention. From what I gather, the popular flying areas in SF are Ocean Beach and Marina Green. Ocean Beach can be very windy (and far from your location). I was at the Marina Green last weekend for the Rev clinic. Throughout the day, we flew everything from standard to full vent (and wishing for Xtra vent at times). Hope that helps.