--Pete

I tried that, but the edit screen also changes size as you change the size of the browser window, so it is still variable for each user. And I don't have all that much screen "real-estate". I know one guy that has four 27" monitors in a 2x2 grid; each screen is covered in text so small I can't read it unless I'm practically touching the screen with my nose. He says he needs all that information (programming code) on the screen(s) at once to keep track of everything.

On my screen, the words line up perfectly. I can MAKE them ragged by changing the size of the window. No way would I ever use a browser at full screen. I might enlarge four browser windows to fill the whole screen, but it would still be excessive. I like having all the shortcuts available at all times. Y'never know when you might need another kite-quote.

Baloo, Just adjust the width of your browser window to even up the lines. (He says; getting Baloo to concentrate on his voo-doo.)

Now see -- that is just BANTER. John wants to see: PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER, PRE-DRAWING BANTER. That should do it.

Getting ready for that B2... (Strangers in the night.... Doo B2 B2...)

I think you keep your original number. It goes with your registration, and is either active or inactive, depending on your subscription status. Hamlet: To Be or not to be... Sinatra: Doo be doo be doo... --Pete: 2B 2B 2B

Same thing with Sigs. Change your sig, and it is changed on all your old posts, too. I used to modify my sig sometimes to match a post. No more. You might change to a sig that makes an older post unintentionally offensive. Now my sig is just that: a sig. If you want something that will stay with the post, put it at the end of the post - above the sig line.

Andrew Brown, also of Northville, (currently having trouble posting here) suggests Wednesday evenings at the Schoolcraft College soccer fields (see http://www.kitemap.org for directions). There are experienced people flying there most Wed evenings. (I can never make it as I am busy every Wed & Sun evening.)

It is Atchison park - where the Lyon Kite Fly was held. 6/23 is a Thursday, so unless you have a long weekend planned, you might be able to make it. (And it depends on the weather too. No one will be up on that hill in a thunderstorm! Or a dead-calm.) (And the Lark's Head Knot is very secure when used properly.)

Bill, As you can see, everyone has their own opinion. I am quite near you; we can probably meet up at some point. Some folks are trying to set up a fly on the evening of Thur 6/23 at the Lyon Twp Park in New Hudson, which is VERY near you. (This is the sound of envy!!!) I plan to try to get there, myself. (Look for my yellow cap.)

Swivels are needed only if you put twists into the line. It is possible to avoid doing this by discipline. I like hoop (Halo, Cuban Casting Reels, etc) winders, but you must make yourself manage the line so as to avoid adding twists. If you hold the hoop in one hand and wrap the line around it with the other hand, you will add exactly one full 360 twist per wrap. If you ALWAYS let the line off by holding the hoop crossways and letting the line spin off, you will remove exactly one 360 degree twist per wrap, with a combined twist of zero. To do this, you have to always put line on and take it off the same side of the hoop. (I write with a felt marker, "ON AND OFF FROM THIS SIDE ONLY".) For 500' of 300# line, you want a big hoop. Big hoops also take in more line per wrap than small ones. The only down-side is that they weigh more, and take up more room in your kite bag. Oh, yes -- you will need a leather glove. As you let the line fly out and as you wrap it back in, it will burn an unprotected hand. If you let the hoop slide in your hand, letting it turn and unreel the line, then you must rewind it by turning the hoop, which is fairly slow and tiring. There are people who say they can accurately wrap 10 times from one side and then 10 times from the other (for no twist; and let the line out by letting the hoop turn), but the slightest bias in the number of wraps per side will eventually add up. To attach the line to the hoop, as you say, a "lasso" knot of some sort. A loop in the end of the line and turn it back on itself to make a noose which you can slip onto the hoop. No swivel needed at the hoop end. Frequently, you will not let out all the line, and then a hoop-end swivel would never get used. Remember, you have a large, spectacular kite. What is the point of flying it so high that it looks like a tiny kite? Usually you fly just high enough to get into steady wind. (There is also the tedium of winding in a LOT of line at the end of the day.) Crank-type winders require cranking, which I (personally) find tiresome. Your mileage may vary. There are also winders which are a long board with U-shaped notches at each end to wind the line around. These can store a LOT of line, but are heavy and bulky. I have some for my very heavy and long lines. Some people wind around; some (like me) wind the line on in a figure-8 (which puts alternating 1/2 twists in the line, for a net twist of zero.) With the best of intentions, you will probably get some twists in the line, or it may just make you feel better to have a swivel at the kite end of the line; that way it can keep swiveling right up until you wind the kite completely in. You probably will want a ball-bearing swivel, rather than the brass bead type. The bead type can wear out and break unexpectedly. The ball-bearing kind will lock up (which you will notice) before it wears out and breaks. Dacron is a trademark for duPont's brand of polyester fiber, so they are the same plastic. Kevlar™ is also a duPont trademark (which they defend vigorously) for aramid fiber, a different plastic. It is very strong for its weight; it is yellow; it is not very stretchy. In general, if a Kevlar line crosses a line made of any other plastic, the other line will break. This might keep your kite safe, but it will make you VERY unpopular with other flyers, unless you intend to fly alone, forever. It is also somewhat dangerous; a Kevlar line under tension, pulled across a person, will cut them, badly. I think it is better to use braided Dacron/polyester line for single-line kites (SLKs). It is slightly stretchy, so gusts of wind are less likely to break the line or the kite. There are other kinds of line, used by 2-line and 4-line kite flyers. These lines are very slippery, very un-stretchy, and so, not particularly useful to SLK flyers. They are usually made of stretched polyethylene (which lines up all those long molecules so they can't stretch much anymore). Polyethylene (polythene to those in the UK) is naturally slippery, and requires some extra efforts to make knots that won't slip. The important things about tails are their drag, and their weight. The length can affect those characteristics, but is not particularly important in itself. Generally speaking, Deltas (and Delta-like kites like the Sky Bird) tend to be very stable and straight-flying kites. I would determine whether the kite flies well first, and then think about adding a "draggy" tail or a heavy tail, depending on what is needed. (A draggy tail pulls the after part of the kite down-wind; a heavy tail pulls it towards the ground.) If nothing is needed, you could add a light, smooth tail just for looks. I hope this is enough to get you started.

Imagination is the highest kite one can fly. (Lauren Bacall) Now, if I can just imagine that the RNG will choose #833...

I may see a loophole: "I'm Here!!" After all, I became a new subscriber on or after 6/15/11. (6/15/1911 that is. Or even 1811, 1711, etc.) In case I accidentally DO qualify, I hereby toss G4T's two numbers back in the hat, to be claimed by anyone who qualifies according to a sensible interpretation of his offer.

Macduff: He has no children.—All my pretty ones? Did you say all?—O hell-kite!—All? What, all my pretty chickens, and their dam, At one fell swoop? Not that a B2 is a hell-kite, nor yet even a chicken...

Jamie_AP, You appear to be relatively new on Kitelife. Now you just have to qualify for Guru4Tru's specifications. He said: ...so, you registered a while back, but if you qualify as to the subscription date (JB knows when you subscribed), get typing, and post those words.

...the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. (Like having #833 drawn)

The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? (like, maybe a B2?)

B2 or not B2, that is the question.

Neither one of them a bit afraid of the ground, are they?

I have to say, that is a pretty poor print (silk-screen?) job. The spars/dowels should be right as well, but I think the printing would bother me more, since I can't fix it myself.

I suppose that dowel-dammit-not-ferrule will now enter the language as a mooged-into-one sort of word. Just when I was making a bit of headway.

Check inside the other 2-wrap spars for the other dowel (dammit; not ferrule!). If they are loose, the other one may have been pushed inside. Or maybe in the bottom of the bag if it fell out. Just kidding about the dowel/ferrule usage (sort of; I really do prefer dowel when talking about dowels). A bit of CA (super) glue or even epoxy will fix you up. Just be careful to avoid making a fillet where the dowel meets the spar; the mating spar needs a nice square shoulder to rest against.

I just re-read Alice since the last post; now on to Through the Looking-Glass.

One thing about shared/looped tails: they transfer the drag/weight to the highest kite (or kite attachment point). This is why they work nicely on wide kites. When the kite tilts left, the loop is longer on the right side and shorter on the left, which immediately acts to pull the kite level again. Straight tails/drogues on each side pull equally at all times and lever the kite back to level (or at least balance, depending kite and tail symmetry) and work only by leverage caused by having the attachment point astern of the center of effect of the kite itself. Of course, single tails/drogues on a twin bridle pull hardest on the high side, but pull the sides together to some extent. I expect that as a shared tail between two kites it would do the same: as a kite rises higher than its companion, it gets a larger share of the drag and weight, pulling it back into line vertically. I don't know what effect it will have on side-to-side movement, though. I wonder what effect/appearance a series of looped tails would have on a train: a loop between each pair of kites; thus two tail ends attached to EACH kite except the highest and the lowest, which only get one. The top and bottom kites will have less drag/weight than the middle kites, and might need a small extra straight tail to compensate. This might be described as a Festoon Tail, referring to a decorative method which has a long curtain or banner which has multiple attachment points with swags between and a straight hanging part at each end. (A quick search on { festoon } suggests that not all - or even not most - have the straight end pieces, but I still think it a good name.) I expect that the tail material might have to be a bit lighter/less draggy with so much loaded on each kite. I think each loop would have to stay as long as the shared tail above, or it might pull the sterns of the kites together undesirably. Packing up such a tail at the end of the day might be troublesome.

G4T, Glad you're enjoying Alice. Just don't get in MORE trouble! You're making her sound like so much fun, that I think it is time for a re-read for me as well. (Been a while for me, now.)