--Pete

Nice pics! Nothing like a sky full of 'line-laundry' to brighten up the day. Thanks, Duane.

Yay, Dom! Fantastic! (And, wishes for equally good luck to the rest of us for the next drawing.)

And I appreciate your good thoughts. Thank you. . . ... Buffett has always been one of my favorites... My Buffett quote is: "The best navigators are not always certain of where they are, but they are always aware of their uncertainty." Another quote on navigation (I can't remember who said it): The well-trained navigator draws lines on the chart and where they cross he stabs his pencil and says "Here we are!" The experienced navigator draws the lines and where they cross he draws a generous circle and says, "We might be somewhere in here." And yet another: ...I studied with diligence Neptune's laws, and these laws I tried to obey... [Joshua Slocum] This was cribbed from Slocum's book "Sailing Alone Around the World". The book was published in 1900, when there were no things like GPS or even Loran. He took a 37' yawl and left from the east coast of North America, sailed alone, eastward around the entire world and returned to his home port. I have taken the lines from a paragraph of prose, trimmed them and picked the line-break. The result is poetry of the highest order. (Read them out loud; several times, if necessary.) (You can get this book very cheaply from Dover Books.) One can do worse than order their life from quotations from serious navigators.

Yer makin' more of it than I am. As far as I'm concerned, the worst part is all the time spent on CYA conferences that the doctors/hospitals require. Have I ever mentioned that I like the Jimmy Buffett quote in your sig? I use a different JB quote as one of my Random Sigs.

My contribution may be delayed a bit. It now looks a though I'm going in for surgery Apr 21, to remove a small cancer from my left kidney. The doctors say it was caught early, is a generally successful surgery, requires no chemo or radiation, and has a fairly fast recovery time. So, I'm treating it as a nuisance rather than a catastrophe. But you wouldn't believe the number of pre-op appointments needed to satisfy everyone involved. So, I'm gonna be fairly busy for the next little while. (And I'm NOT gonna be pre-stretching any heavy LPG or Spectra line anytime soon.) But even if I won't be able to fly any fun (hard-pulling, that is) kites soon, I expect to get to Grand Haven by May 20-22.

I really like the "tail-tap" near the end of the second video.

Waiting on a supply of materials (for pics). Doing some write-up while I'm waiting.

Google for "rot13" and pick any of hundreds of converters. (EASY) Or look in your attic for your father's (or grandfather's) old toys and dig out the "Secret Decoder Ring" and set it to A=N. (COOL) See also ROT13 on Wikipedia for a more detailed explanation. Now I think it's time to go back to drooling over this kite-prize.

Dhees? Perhaps you meant "Purref"

Abj V'z tbvat gb unir gb gel nabgure zrgubq. Abgr jryy gung V qvq abg cbfg guvf rvgure.

If you haven't, now is the time to have another look at post #3 by Reef Runner. Improved, and with excellent pictures added. My contribution is still a work-in-progress.

In the Menu Bar (at the very top of the Forum window) the link "Subscriber Prizes" returns a #404 error. It points to: [url="http://kitelife.com/forum/2-current-drawings/"]http://kitelife.com/...rrent-drawings/[/url] (from top menu bar) It should point to: [url="http://kitelife.com/forum/forum/2-current-drawings/"]http://kitelife.com/...rrent-drawings/[/url] (from index)

Well, they made it a bit faster than I expected. A few out-lyers arrived by the 21st-22nd, and they were everywhere by the 24th-25th. Hooray for all you brave, dedicated little robins.

I am trying complete silence on the subject in order to influence the odds. You can tell by the strike_out that I did not post this.

Duane, if someone "under cuts" the blanks for a lineset, it is no trouble to make a set of four pigtails out of bridle material to extend the lines (if they really need them a few inches longer). You won't have caused anyone to waste 4x120' of line. By all means edit it to take into account the things like total stretch vs. percentage stretch, but please re-post it. When I get mine worked up, I would hope that others would point out anything like that, so I can edit it. BTW, I do recall seeing in one of the other web descriptions that someone had heard from the manufacturer (of some linear polyethylene line) that the proper tension for pre-stretching lines is equal to one half the rated line strength. How long to maintain it was not mentioned. (And this is entirely hearsay, so take it with a grain of salt, if you will.)

John, I'll look at those as well. I hope to put together a fairly comprehensive post on making line sets. (I have strong opinions about most things.) Here are a few places where I've sounded off in the (distant) past: http://www.kites.tug...rri/kiting.tips http://www.kites.tug...ewbie.questions Also, Nick and I have been hashing this out in a series of emails over the past week or so.

Yuck!

Very cool. I don't think I've seen shared tails in a train before. In fact I don't think I've seen them anywhere except as twin tails on a single kite.

3) I'm afraid I DID say that. I recognize the story AND the style. Somewhere, I am (self-)described as a bon vivant and raconteur which really just means that I like to enjoy myself and tell stories. It shows. 2) As with tools, if you keep getting more until you have a copy of everything in every location where you might need it, eventually it doesn't matter whether you can remember things. Now -- a complete flying set in every vehicle seem about right.

So I answered it there. I could have answered it here just as well. G'night all.

Did I REALLY say that?

Now that was the opportunity to make up a flyable Rev with a full complement of spars and handles, and TAKE TURNS FLYING. What better chance to get to know another Rev flyer? If all it would have cost me was the admission that i had forgot my handles, I'd have GIVEN him a spar set, to go flying with another rev flyer. (I expect that he'd have given his handles to you for the same reason.) Think seriously to many of my other posts. I normally USED to fly with Kevlar™ linesets. Do you think this says anything about whether I usually fly alone? I'm currently setting up with every length of LPG lineset I can think of, so I can fly with ANYBODY (if I ever happen to meet anybody flying Revs). I actually sat in my car for an hour and a half today, just hoping someone would show up with a Rev, just so i could ADMIT that I had come out without any handles, and fly with another Rev flyer. Off to the online kitestore to get even more different linesets and handles. I WILL NEVER BE WITHOUT THE PROPER EQUIPMENT AGAIN! (Think of Scarlett's many shouted declarations in GWTW. Or don't. It's not pretty. Wine, wine, wine; cursed by the fumes of wine. But I love it so.)

New reason to fly kites: memory improvement. I went to check out a flying location about 20 minutes from home. I took my two new (for me) Revs, linesets, a stake, a wind meter, my iPad (to check the weather). Now, WHAT'S MISSING? Oh, yeah -- handles. So I watched a guy trying to learn to manage a largish traction kite, talked to him a bit, read a bit (on the iPad), waited to see if there would be someone come along who just happened to have an extra set of Rev handles in his kit, and eventually came home. So, kite flying is a memory builder, as well as good exercise, a chance to get out in the fresh (48F, 10 mph, short sleeves), but slightly chilly, air. Maybe I should have remembered to check the temperature as well as the wind speed. (At least it didn't rain.)

Why? I think I like the physical control. I do things to the world, and the world reacts (fairly) predictably. I think that is why I like pinball as well (the real ones, not video/arcade games).