dragonfish

Any tips on where to stay? I know places get booked early so I hope I am not out of luck. Are there any places other than the hotels I would find by looking at googlemaps or a travel website? Better yet, any ladies looking for a roommate or has an extra space to share? Thanks.

Who here has plans for going? Is it too late to make plans? Dates are August 17-23, 2015.

How many knots do you have in your leaders? If there's just one on the original top leader, and one on the original bottom, which you attached to the top, then you need more knots. Have several knots about an inch or less apart, so you can make incremental adjustments. Find the position that works for you. Sometimes minor adjustments will be made depending on wind conditions. Just make sure when you tie them that the right and left sides have the knots at identical positions. Also, if you haven't already seen this: http://www.revkites.com/forum/topic/4409-my-leaders-your-thoughts/

I would be flying a full vent in steady 15mph. But, I also don't like to be overpowered. I know some people would still be flying midvents in that wind. Just for reference, I start getting pulled by a full vent around 25mph, and I am on the smaller side. Don't know the point for midvent, because I switch kites before it gets to that. I do not believe the EXP is available in any vented models, so you probably want to look at one of the other 1.5 sized Revs (SLE, NYM a.k.a. New York Minute, B-series, B-Pro). If your winds really are 12-20mph when you want to fly, I think some sort of vented Rev would be a good idea to start on. When I had just my EXP, there were many times I would go to the flying field, walk around, and think do I really want to fly in this wind? Eventually I got a full vent to solve that problem.

Actually, not quite, unless I am interpreting your words wrong. If the kite is going to one side, let's say the right side, it has too much drive on the left side. So, you actually want to give brake on the left side, i.e. thumb down input. The "pull back" motion for most people will actually pull top of the handle back, when you really want to be pulling the bottom/pushing the top. I also think you should double check the kite and lines for issues before you start blaming yourself. A lot of people have already posted on what you could check. I have one more thing to add: hidden unwanted knots in the bridle. This has happened to me at the pigtails in the bridle where you would connect the bottom lines, but I suppose it could happen at the top too. Take a look at these pictures from the bottom line attachment pigtails. Can you tell the difference? Look really closely. There should only be a single overhand knot that creates the pigtail. This is what you see in the picture at the left. The leg going toward the bottom of the picture goes to the end cap at the bottom tip of the kite. The leg going to the right continues to the crossover of the horizontal and vertical bridle legs. In the picture on the right, there is an extra knot around the overhand knot. Basically, a loop was formed somewhere and the pigtail worked its way through the loop. The next picture shows the extra knot loosened up. I've had this spontaneously happen to me some time in the process of breaking the kite down, storing it, and setting it up the next time. I set the kite up, took off, and immediately felt something was wrong. It kept pulling to one side. Neither I nor my teammates could figure out what was wrong on the field. I ended up pulling in the top line on that side a whole inch on my handle leaders to compensate and it still felt kind of funny (makes sense because now the lines were slightly shorter on one side). When I got home, I took the frame out of the kite, folded it in half, and started comparing everything right to left, focusing on the bridle. That was how I discovered the extra hidden knot. Now I check for it every time I set a kite up. It's amazing how much of a difference one small knot in the bridle can make. Once you know what you're looking for, it's pretty easy to spot.

Nice. So that's where you disappeared off to. Looks windy. I've also realized recently that European festivals seem to have a lot more "art" than the ones I've been to in the US. Between your video and some pictures from another recent European festival, I want to go to one now. Someday.....

Found a picture of the Rev megafly for Ron. I've updated the first post to include it.

I think Brasington's are awesome as well, but I am holding off for the moment waiting for the picture. I suspect others might be doing the same.

The 9th annual Morro Bay Kite Festival was held on April 25-26, 2015. Late Friday afternoon, I started my trip down to Morro Bay. Saturday morning, we woke up to this. It had rained overnight and was still drizzling and wet. We stalled a bit, and it quickly started to dry up. Pretty soon, we were setting up in front of Morro Rock under blue skies. The big kites were going up too. (Still some clouds every now and then, but no more rain.) The sport kite fliers flew demos most of the afternoon. We had individual, pairs, and team routines, dual line and quad line. Apparently taking pictures slipped my mind, because I don't have anymore from Saturday. Somewhere in the middle of that we had a candy drop for the kids, dedicated to Jim Strealy. We ended the day with a Rev megafly. Winds were good and probably in the mid to upper teens throughout the day. Sunday brought another wonderful day. Our hotel had a kite festival banner out front. Back to the beach for another day of flying. With light winds in the morning, several people (myself included) took advantage of the conditions to fly their dual line routines. Around 12:30, we did a Rev megafly for Ron Despojado, who recently passed away. Getting set up. The white Just Rev kite is a special kite made in memory of Ron, and is travelling to various festivals for people to sign. We got 14 Revs in the air for this megafly, and spelled RON. I am still waiting for pictures to turn up on the internet, as I was flying in the megafly and obviously unable to take pictures. Update: Found a picture from Mark Lummas's FB page. He said I could post it here. In the middle of the megafly, the winds shot up from something like 7 to 17mph. Almost everyone was flying their light wind setups, leaving us all way overpowered. Fortunately nothing broke and no catastrophes occurred. After we finished the megafly, everyone changed over to vented kites, and the wind would stay around the mid to upper teens for the rest of the day. Like Saturday, more demos were flown throughout the afternoon, with another kids candy drop at one point. The large kite display from Sunday. The announcer found this guy (on the right) with a cool looking tetrahedral cellular that he made himself. Looks like Mark and Jeanette Lummas are photobombing with their docked Revs. Messing with the MC. The bottom kite landed on the announcer's head for a while. We ended the festival with another Rev megafly. It was a wonderful two days despite the initial rain delay and somewhat strong winds. And to top it all off, I got to enjoy the sun setting behind Morro Rock while having dinner before heading out of town.

Alright.....we have a winner! Congratulations bbailey49! Thanks for keeping the karma drawings going. Looks like it pays off.

Alright, a little less than a day left. Now's the time to get in if you're still thinking about this. I'll do the drawing Monday after dinner (Pacific time). Entrant list at the bottom of the first post should be up to date as of now. If you thought you should be on there but are not, make sure you used one of the magic phrases or let me know if I accidentally missed yours.

Walt probably has some. I'm pretty sure Marshall was being sarcastic as he's made some stake holders that have been given away in past karma drawings. I have one. And by the way, the stake in this drawing does come with its own holder in case anyone is wondering.

Only 3 people attracted by shiny things?

Wow, that's really cool. Who would have thought VW and an auto show would be interested in indoor kites.

Yes, I have experienced this at least two times, though probably not as strongly as what you describe. I heard the electricity-in-the-lines humming and felt tingling in my thumbs (probably where they were touching the metal part of the handles). I was using stock handles. The first time I think it was drizzling a little. The second was right before a storm rolled in. I don't remember it being a storm with a lot of electrical activity. There were a number of us out flying. By the time I felt the tingling, there were 3 of us still flying Revs. I was the first to notice it. At first, the other two people were like, what are you talking about. Then I handed one of them my kite and he felt it. Eventually everyone felt it, and on his own kite. We decided to call it a day and go have dinner. The rain drops started when we were just about packed up, and it was raining pretty hard while we were eating dinner.

I just decided my next kite will be an all white kite, probably SLK. Not sure what exactly yet, but the ghost deltas are sure tempting.

Oops, knew I forgot something trying to do this on my phone (no internet right now). Thanks for the edit, Barton. That drawing method was what I was planning to do. Now let the fun begin.

The next karma drawing will be for a Davis Marble Stake from LS Custom Kite Accessories. From what I've seen, these are really pretty marbles, and Walt turns them into kite stakes. I have one of Walt's original marble stakes and get compliments on it. A Davis Marble stake is sure to get more compliments. To enter, start your post with "I'm in" or "Oooohhh, shiny" (any number of o's and h's will do). The drawing will be done on 4/20, and the winner will get to pick the stake from Walt's stock at that time. As an example, the attached picture was what he had a few days ago. The back row are the Davis Marble Stakes. He's already sold a couple and is planning to make more soon, so the selection will be different by the time the drawing happens. Good luck. (Moderator Edit: Entry number will be determined by order of entry and the drawing will be done using the standard RNG method, unless Joanna gets on here and says differently - Standard Karma Note from the Moderators This is a Karma Drawing. The winner of the drawing is expected to pay it forward by offering their own prize for the next drawing. Please do not enter unless you are willing to offer your own prize, preferably not the prize you just won. Drawings should be open for entry approximately 2 weeks, and the next drawing should be posted as soon as possible to keep the Karma rolling. These drawings are run by and for KiteLife members. The moderating team only ensures that your drawing post contains all of the pertinent information (drawing date/time, adequate prize description, drawing rules) before approval. If you are a KiteLife member from the US or Canada, you are eligible to enter. You do not have to be a paid subscriber. Members from Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii are welcome to enter the Karma drawings provided they are willing to pay half of the Karma prize shipping cost. The method and timing of the payment will be agreed upon between the two parties after the drawing for a particular prize. Here is the link to the original Rules and Guidelines thread: http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/5426-rules-and-guidelines-please-read/ The mechanism for the drawing itself is entirely at the discretion of the person offering the prize. In the past, entry number has been determined either by order of entry or by the post number in which the member declares entry into the drawing. The drawings have been performed using the RNG method (http://www.random.org/sequences/) or by choosing the numbers out of a hat (I believe an adorable daughter did the picking in that scenario). The only requirement is that the method of selection is clearly spelled out in the drawing post. Entry into the drawings is done by STARTING a post in the drawing thread with the entry phrase chosen by the drawing host (Traditionally "I'm in", but "I LIKE" has been used as well). In order to remove any confusion or misinterpretation, only entries with posts that START with the phrase will be considered. As with all other KiteLife drawings, bantering is encouraged. This is for fun after all. Entries: 1. bbailey49 2. makatakam 3. Tmadz 4. Amexpmh

I like to start my one handed attempts high too. Try putting the kite at the top of the wind window where it will kind of just sit there. Then put both handles in one hand. I find one handed launches quite difficult, especially in lighter winds. Now, trying to fly one handed while tracking the kite through the camera screen is hard for me.

One more thought. I believe the OP said he also acquired a Rev. If the 2 kites don't fit in the tube together, take the frame out of the Rev, put the frame in the tube, and fold/roll up the sail smaller and put it somewhere else (like in your suitcase). Get more kite for the space. I got 1 dualie, 4 Rev frames, 1 SLK, and a medium-sized indoor glider in my 4 1/2 in diameter tube if I remember correctly. That's a lot of kites for the space. Good luck.

Sorry for the radio silence. I've been super busy with moving. I'll get something up in a few days. Thanks for your patience.

Wow, thanks! This is great, signing in to find out I won something after a day dealing with irritating stuff. Now I gotta figure out what to put up next.

I've used a document tube, also known as a poster tube in academic circles. The kind that people use to bring their posters to conferences if you're familiar with that. It fits in the over head bin of a plane. I'm guessing the airline people are also used to seeing those containers, so they won't even know you have a kite inside. Mine is adjustable, set to about 36" long to fit my kites folded down all the way, diameter around 4", so length+width+height comes out under 45". Some airlines say l+w+h < 45" is allowed as carry on, in addition to the specific l, w, h measurements, although I seem to have a harder and harder time finding ones that explicitly say the 45". Haven't had problems with the poster tube. Even had a flight attendant ask if I wanted to put it in the coat closet as I was boarding. I said sure, why not.

I'm in too. Like Rob said, not really something I'd buy for myself. After all, I've been flying for several years without one. But it would definitely be cool to win one. Would definitely help me calibrate my descriptions of wind speed to others. Thanks for the offering Rob.

Thanks for posting that up Brian. And thank you for helping to spread the word about the workshop as well. I loved Drew's description of the wind that day. Something like, it went from super ultra light to super vented.