--Pete
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From the album: Rigs & Tools
This is a rig I designed and made for flying stunt kites too hard-pulling to fly from a standing position. (The tiles are 1' square for size comparison) The rope is 1/2" (13mm) braided nylon and the pulley is from the main sheet of a largish sailboat. You fasten the pulley to a sturdy ground anchor; hook the flying lines to the loops at the left; pick up the loops to the right and fly. (You will need someone to launch the kite.) This puts you out of the line of fire if the pulley breaks or the ground anchor lets go. Suitable for up to about 500 or 1000 pounds pull.© © 2010 Peter W. Meek, Ypsilanti, MI
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From the album: Rigs & Tools
A few stakes and ground anchors. The stakes are 12" x 3/8" nails with the heads cut off and threaded to fit the 1.25" machine handles. The ground anchors are cut from a piece of 1 1/2" structural aluminum t-section. They're good for 100# or so in turf or hardpan; next to useless in sand.© © 2010 Peter W. Meek, Ypsilanti, MI
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From the album: Rigs & Tools
I made this back when I first started flying stunt kites. I was really concerned about keeping the lines sorted. Also, I usually flew alone, so being able to lay out and wind in the lines easily was a concern. Note that the reels are doubles, so that each line in a lineset wound separately. Note also the "combs" in front of the reels to separate the lines. (Really obsessive about keeping the lines untangled!) Bungee cords to keep the reels from rotating in transit, and to lock down the line-ends. Double stakes, so it wouldn't rotate as I pulled lines off or wound in. Obviously, space was not a concern, as I drove to flying sites or kite fests in my old Bronco. Several of the linesets are braided Kevlar. Now, of course, I realize that if you wind on and wind off in exactly the same way you simply don't get tangles or twists in your lines.© © 2010 Peter W. Meek, Ypsilanti, MI
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From the album: --Pete & Kites
Flying a train of 13 Rainbow kites at Manistee, MI Kite Fest on Sep. 11-12, 1987. These are hard pulling kites. I blew out 200# clips on the train lines several times, and routinely flew them on 300# braided Kevlar™.© © 1987 Peter W. Meek, Ypsilanti, MI
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It wasn't altitude, but my dad had over 3 miles of kite line out back in the 1950s. Using seine twine (a hard cotton cord for net-making) and dimestore kites, he let line out until it sagged to the water, added another kite on a 50' leader, and began letting out more line. Repeat until out of kites. The terns would come and sit on the line, making it slowly drop to the water. Then they would fly away, and the line would slowly rise again. Back they would come to the line. Down they would go again. Fun to watch for a 10 yr old.
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On another forum (non-kite) I find that I'm up to 1240 posts since 9/09, so watch out!
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For this sort of thing, you might also try SailKote. I got mine from Jamestown Distributors, but plenty of people carry it. Note that the solvent is nasty stuff and highly flammable, so apply it in a well-ventilated area and keep flame away until it is dry. It dries extremely fast (In seconds), so you might want to string the lines up like a clothes-line and spray with one hand and follow with the "smoothing" rag with the other. (Or two people, working together.) People also use this to waterproof their sails (both kite and sailboat). Makes them very slippery, too. Read all the instructions carefully -- twice.
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Yeah, I do get a bit talky.
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Actually I live near Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, and now I'm on KiteLife as well. If you (cgregurich73) or anyone else is in the area (on a day when it isn't 6F) I'd consider doing a bit of flying. It's been a while for me, so it would take a bit of searching to dig out the wherewithal for anything but my two new Revs.
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Check my join date and number of posts. I expect there will be a few topics brought back to life as I explore the site. I've seen it in other forums: a newbie goes exploring and answers posts from the dim reaches of history. The difference is, that I know I'm doing it. I'll try to pick topics that can stand re-airing. (And Reef Runner, I suppose that Miller Ack-Emma would mean 5:00 in the morning?) (Guru4tru: 30 Millers? What's that in wine? We went through almost 70 bottles on my last birthday. I think I may have had several, but I can't remember and most of my friends are still talking to me so maybe I didn't have all that much.)
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I had tubes like these (but 6" x 10' heavy-walled and with padlock hasps) permanently attached to the roof of my '86 Bronco. They were strong enough that by adding cross-bars I had a sturdy carrier for other things. I kept my kites in them during the season, so I was ready to fly anytime. I had to include a 10' hook-ended rod to pull out shorter kites, since I couldn't pick them up and shake the kites out. I did get some odd looks and questions occasionally.
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First "Rev" historic article ? (Kite Lines)
--Pete replied to Guy Capra (Alomphega)'s topic in The Web Site (nuts and bolts)
Guy, Great video! It made me think about wish-lists. Mine, back in the summer of 1989 might have included: 1) Have a photographer (it would have had to be film back then) to record my learning curve. 2) If I had a photographer, maybe he/she could have set my kite up when I crashed it. 3) Since I didn't have a photographer, I wish my lines had been shorter than 150 or 200 feet. (45-60m) That was a LONG Walk-of-Shame! Yours might have included: 1) Longer lines, as those short (15m?) lines didn't give you much time to react. 2) Tighter brake lines, as you might have discovered launching from leading-edge down sooner. 3) Reading the instructions a bit more carefully to get the vertical spars assembled properly the first time. I am assuming that was all on a single day. It took me a LOT longer than that to get to where you were by the end of the video. Thanks for this. It should come on the instructional video that Rev provides. People should KNOW that they will crash at first, and that they WILL learn soon enough.
