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John F

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Everything posted by John F

  1. Litsong For new fliers I like to let them use a Borelli Glider. This is a single line kite with that is very easy to keep in the air. It is also a very nice indoor kite and very inexpensive to make. This teaches the principle of keeping a kite in the air with no wind. It teaches how to keep pressure on the sail and how to not over power it. It teaches some timing. Also be careful of basketball backboards. I ran my Reflection into one while I was trying to do a fast axle and ripped the sail badly. Keep fliers in the center of the court. Most important. Have fun.
  2. Fort Collins CO is having its first kite festival on April 19 at Greenbriar Park in North Fort Collins. This is a fun fly with events for kids plus demonstrations. If you would like more information or would like to participate contact johnfarl at msn dot com.
  3. Will After reading your list of things your kite can do, all I can say is WOW. JL's ML,s and insanes and can do tight corners on 10 foot lines. Sounds like it is a really good indoor kite. Do you have any weights on the kite? Congrats on a great looking kite.
  4. I think the indoor Charlie C should be flown over there. S --- he would be a fantastic addition to any event. Happy New Year mousie
  5. John this is copyright music but it is music you must fly to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOQCdro5ijA...feature=related Smiles from that side.
  6. John F

    STOLEN KITES

    Merry Christmas Mousie I hope the kites are in great shape and I look forward to seeing them next summer. Take care and lock your doors.
  7. I fly in the snow alot. It is great fun and the kite is beautiful against all the white and blue (sunny day). The only probles are the sharp ice crusts and getting your tips stuck in the snow. Just be willing to take the WOS to unstick your tip in the snow. There is a temptation to try to pull it out and that can be bad for your sail and/or frame. The other problem is ice dingle berries building up on loose threads. This just like a wings on an airplane icing up. Can lead to some interesting weighting on the kite. In fact we have about 2 to 3 inches of snow and temp is going to be about 45 so I am off to the park shortly.
  8. One of the problems I have had is seeing my lines in the typical gym lighting. Last night I tried something new. I have my lines on a small winder. I took a permanent black marker and soaked them in black ink on the edge of winder. This made a black striped line. It work very well in the gym lighting. It was very easy to see the lines and also seemed to stiffen the lines a little but no significant increase in line friction. I had far fewer tangles when casting the kite. Might do the next line set in a blue or green.
  9. I am really stoked. They opened our new rec center here last week. I was first on the floor with my kite. Had 3 courts to myself for 2 hours. Fort Collins rocks. I was able to fly there 3 times last week. So my winter is spoken for. We also got another new park with large open space two weeks ago. This is turning into a kite mecca and I am the only one who flys here. All we need is some wind. It is good to have a great SUL and a good indoor kite.
  10. T You better be checking in with your friends. They get worried. Hope you are feeling better.
  11. Mario flew the Bai beautifully at the Whidbey Island Indoor. He did a routine to music from Mask of Zorro and IMHO it was a masterpiece. He flew using a carbon tube with the line thru it. Most of the routine with fairly short line and it matched the music nicely. My wife just got one specially made for the Lady Kite Flyers. I am trying to convince her to fly it indoors to music. I think there is a lot potential to this kite for choreography. Monks what is your strategy to go from second to first in that Hot Tricks. Do you really thing you can do cometes with a REV?
  12. Good description John. You have a way with breaking things down. No wonder it is so easy for people to joing you on an IQuad line. I think I learned this setup and lauch technique from you
  13. A good way to setup is to attach the lines to your kite then hold the kite up right and roll it such that the lines come out under the kite over the trailing edge and then set the kite on the ground belly down nose towards you and the wind. Your lines are coming from under the kite over the trailing edge towards you. Now unwind your line. Your kite will not take off from this position since it is nose toward the wind belly down. Now when you pull on the lines the will roll over the nose or leading edge into the launch position. I have started using this setup technique over the past month and it has been 100% sucessful. I think the only way you could get an unintentional launch is to have the wind shift direction by 180 deg.
  14. John F

    WSIKF

    How many days to WSIKF 2008? 2007 was a blast. John B you were great. I love the way you include people in your IQuad group. I learned a lot and feel like a better flyer. We have already started planning for next year. My wife had a blast with the crazy ladies and will be performing some routine with them using those Spanish kites next year. I think the people of the Northwest are greatest and most welcoming I have ever run into.
  15. I agree. Just got my vented and fell in love with it. Flew it down to about 6 or 7 mph and up to about 20+. Immediately did some things I could never do before. Handed it to my wife and now it is going to cost me another one. Got the gold and love the look in the sky against pure blue.
  16. That guy is good. Thanks for posting. I like the snappy flying style.
  17. Had the same problem of dropping almost 50% of the frames. Upgraded to a new computer with1.78 ghz and 2 gb of Ram. This did the trick. I am using Windows Movie Maker and all is working well.
  18. John F

    kite lights

    I found finger lights at Walmart the other day. They are called Ring Lights & Strobe from Cool Concepts. They were by the check out counter in a Super Walmart on a flashlight display case. I am pretty sure these are the ones that JB is using. Tried them last night. Put 5 on Dual Line. Only one would stay one. It seems there is contact bounce and slight g forces would disconnect the battery contacts. This shuts the light off. One of the lights did not display this problem. I could flick this light with my finger nail and it would stay on. The others would turn off with a slight flick. The solution I think is to open the battery compartment and slide some folded paper under the contacts. I did this and it greatly improved the performance. I took about 1 inch by 1/8 inch strip of newspaper and folded it. It was interesting flying in the dark. You lose your visual cues and that makes things a little different.
  19. I started last year and bought a Genesis std from the Kite Shoppe. It is a reasonably priced kite that can trick and can be flown with precision. I now have a SUL, UL, Std, and Vented. I also have a Nirvana which is nice but my favorite is still the Genesis. The inputs for tricks are a lot lighter than with the Nirvana and that suits my tastes well. My favorite is the SUL. I live at the foot of the Rockies and have trouble with wind so the SUL is the kite I fly the most. Most tricks I learned started on the SUL on 60 foot lines. It is slow and you connect well with the kite. I am not sure about the vented but I think the real problem is that I am not fast enough to fly well in high winds. Compared to the E2 there is no comparison. I have flown an E2 and it is OK but that is it. Hope this helps.
  20. What spars are you using on the verticals? I have found 2 wraps work pretty good up to about 10. Is there a reason not to use them at higher winds?
  21. OK John How about the Carousel Waltz from the musical? Might be too fast for quads but it has a variety to it and each kite could be a horse on the way around.
  22. John I like the the Tango from the movie Scent of a Woman. Tangos have a lot of swirls, starts, stops and changes in tempo. They are also easy to listen to. They are good for sharp motions. Imagine breaking the team off in pairs with the pairs doing manuvuers around the dance floor (wind window) coordinated. Good luck with the selection.
  23. I have the same problem. They are at the Lincoln City Indoor so I am sure it will be fixed in the day or two when T returns.
  24. When I was in Newport Oregon the owner of the kite store there showed me his way and I have adopted it. Larkshead the lines from one handle together. Hook that to the winder and wind to the kite. Hook the other end to the winder and then hook up the lines from the other side and wind that side back to the handle. Use your bungi to secure. This way the two sides are wound separately. When winding all 4 lines together I am always screwing around trying to figure out what is going on. By winding the sides (2 lines at a time) separetely you only have twisted lines on each handle and that is easy to handle. I have been using this for several months and swear by it. I know some of the very accomplished flyers wind all 4 lines directly on the handles. I just can't handle that. My setup routine is to hook to one handle Put that handle overy a ground stake and unwind that side to the end. Setup up kite hooking the unwound lines to the kite. Then hook the other side to the kite. Set the kite up leaning back and unwind the other side to the handle. Hookup that handle. Sides are separated. So I look at the lines on each side and rotate the handles to untwist. Total walking 170 feet Not having the sides twisted together PRICELESS.
  25. When my park is crowded I go to short lines and find a niche. There is always a niche somewhere. If I see someone approaching where I am, I fly the wind window and try to show where the kite can go. Most people understand and stay out of the window. If they come into the window I land and wait. If it is little kids I ask them to help me by standing behind the kite by several feet and to blow to make wind for me. That has lasted a record of 2 min 34.6 seconds before boredom sets in. Then they are off chasing butterflies or something. My feeling is we are there to entertain people. That is the fun of flying something beautiful in the sky.
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