rexracer

I have a Bullet 2.5 that I fly with a bar. Never had handles. I don't know how it compares, but it's designed to fly on the front lines (just like a 2 line kite), and the rears are just for de-power. It sounds like your rears may be too tight (mine noticably sag in flight) but also maybe the bridles for the fronts are mis-adjusted. If the angle of attack isn't right, it won't fly right. Good luck!

I think it needs to be in western Connecticut. It would be like a vacation for that vented kite. It could laze around the back seat of my truck and soak up the sun almost all summer!

I'm sure that's the largest part. I'll do what I can with the tools (kite, wind) I've got.

Thanks for the info. I don't know if I'll get a chance to fly someone elses kite, at least around here. The only other rev I've ever seen in person was in San Francisco when vacationing last year. I do have a vented B, and I noticed right away that it felt more "locked in" to the air. I thought it might just be the venting, but maybe not. It definitely feels like it locks on center when you load it, while the SLE doesn't load up the same with a tug, and feels like it lets more air slide off of the edges. A full sail B, or Zen may have to wait, but I am going to get a roll of 50# and make up some lines.

ON the top floor of the garage ("open air")... youtu.be/bMywuOsFk4I?t=3m43s Lines, 30' x 50# LPG. Wind, variable 0-4 mph, 7 stories up, shifting wind directions (45-180 degrees at a time). == IN the garage was closer to indoor, 0-2 mph with little gusts in variable directions. youtu.be/bMywuOsFk4I?t=4m36s Thanks JB. Hope your Bday was the best. Just curious...For light wind, how much difference is there between an SLE with race rods and a B with race rods? On 50' lines how big a difference going from 90# to 50# lines. I gotta get a spool of 50# LPG.

I would love to win this kite. Do I need it? Compared to some on this forum, I need all the kites I can get. I have 4 total, and 2 are revs. A full sail SLE and a vented B. I don't, however, have 4 wrap rods. If I win it, maybe I'll trade it for a mid vent or full sail. One can dream...

That explains it! Long Island is stealing our wind!

Well, I made the trek down to the coast today with my daughter. TWC website called for 10-12mph winds in Westport so I spent the day at Sherwood Isle state park. Dead calm. Wind picked up at 2:00 so I hooked up my SLE with race rods on 50' lines (90#) Wind was 2-5 mph so flying was tough. Put it away for a bit then flew later for about an hour while it blew 5-10 mph. Almost pulled out the vented at one point when it was blowing about 10mph steady, but that only lasted maybe 15 minutes. There were quite a few people walking around and no matter where I flew, someone was always "invading my space". I had to wrap up my lines every time I wanted to take a break. I waded around with the kid for a while, and decided to put the kite back up on 30' lines and fly from the water. Got to bounce the corner off of some 1ft waves for about 5 minutes when the wind died out completely again, swamping my kite. I got it up to dry after pulling it out of the surf, but I used about 100 yards of beach to do it, so I wrapped it up for the day. I was hoping for more (wind) but it was a good day. I did get to talk to a couple of people that were fascinated by the kite, and there may be 2 more revs sold because of my trip today, so that's a plus. Highlight of the day: After 10 minutes of trying, with dirty and variable winds in the 8-12mph range, I set my kite down on it's left tip on top of the 4x4 that supported the "no swimming beyond this point" sign. I flew that flag for a full minute and a half before taking off again.

Congrats Ron! That's one sweet kite! Thanks for the chance, John, and lest I forget

I never win anything, so spending it before I get it is most of the fun. Ask me about my $500,000,000 powerball shopping spree! Planning to spend it is the most fun. I would be commissioning kite builders for years. I call it my $2 fantasy. well worth spending the money to dream for a couple of days. My first PB win purchase would be the Rev Pro set I designed in black, yellow and purple. The private racetrack and fleet of Mustang GT's would take more planning.

I never win anything, so spending it before I get it is most of the fun. Ask me about my $500,000,000 powerball shopping spree!

I found this, and it looked interesting, so I decided to post it. I haven't had a chance to dig into it yet. It seems to be for single line only, but since it's a beta and they're looking for input, any sugestions on changes may be in future versions. Check it out. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/kiteprog.html

Please disregard this post. It's strictly for the RNG. 1091...1091...1091...1091...1091...1091... Shazam! Now where is that sacrificial chicken... No animals were harmed in the making of this post.

sounds like I may get 2 line sets for the price of 1 if I do that!

I just had to add this. I watched a video of JB, and maybe Watty? "urban" kiting, and at one point they were in a parking garage. I found that VERY impressive. If you can find the time John,(I know you're swamped right now) I would love to hear what kind of wind you had that day in the garage (if any), and what setup you were flying.

Agreed. It can still get frustrating sometimes, as my best low wind kite right now is my full sail SLE with race rods, and all of my line sets are #90, but I'm eyeballing a roll of #50 and maybe there's a Zen in my future... I think I may pull the trigger on a Prism 4D. I was reading another thread and it was recomended as an inexpensive low wind kite. I may even be able to learn how to do some cool stunts with one of those! Dealing with the wind conditions may have slowed my learning curve in some ways, but I've found that when I go somewhere with better wind (like the beach) I have better control than I thought. I know I've improved since I was in CA last summer, so I can't wait to get down to the coast and get some smooth wind practice. Who knows, I may suprise myself!

Thanks John! That kite would sure look sweet next to my B vented "night". If I win it I might have to stack 'em and hook up some UV lighting for a night fly...C'mon 1091!

I'm now official! When you get a chance could you look mine up too? Thanks, Randy

Don't know if I'll make this one...I hope so. I do know one thing for sure, though. Don't know what it is yet, but MY NUMBER"S BIGGER THAN YOURS!

I'm working on lights for my SLE. It's a harness system running on 2 CR2032"s. I used velcro to attach. I put the "fuzzy" (loop) side permanently on the kite at the leading edge (x5) and I'll use small elastics to put one light on each tail end cap. Those lights look like they should work well...you might try the velcro so you don't have to keep peeling adhesive off of your kite. My harness with batteries, holders, lights, wiring and velcro weighs in at 26 grams, but may go up since I didn't have any resistors when I assembled it so I wired it direct to 3v batteries. Should be about 1oz when done. If you hear of any UFO sightings in western CT don't worry. It may just be me testing my night lights.

I can relate. I can deal with the wind speed changes, but direction changes are tough. I've had my kite close to center in the window and had the lines blown slack when a gust blew in from 180 degrees from where the wind had been. Days like that I like to fly on 50 footers for the quick reaction times.

I don't mean to pressure anyone. I just wanted to get the info out there. Squeeky wheel, you know That is a nice kite, and I do want a shot at it, but kite or not, I've been meaning to subscribe here for a long time to help support a site that's been my sole resource for info on how to fly these great kites. I hope to meet John one day, and when I do I'm sure I'll come away a better flyer. Maybe I'll be able to swing going to Wildwood next year. That seems to be as close as he gets to where I am, and I've never had a chance to fly with any Rev fliers that I would consider "good" let alone his caliber.

Summer's almost here and it's getting warmer, so I have a question. Will storing kites in your car damage them or the lines in any way? I admit that my (comparatively few) kites ride with me most of the time. I'm a single divorced dad and it's tough to find time to fly. I like to have my kites with me in case the wind is up and I can get in some flying after work when I don't have my daughter. I haven't noticed any problems with my kites, but the Rev's are fairly new for me, so if the heat of the car is a no-no, I may have to re-think my habits.

Well, I paid my subscription on Saturday. Still waiting for it to go through...Holiday weekend I suppose. I only have 2 revs. A full sail SLE and a B night vented. That std B in lime would look good next to my night, and I could sure use another Rev!

I was thinking about some of the challenging conditions I've flown in, and started wondering what challenges others have overcome. I almost always face challenges when it comes to wind since I live in inland Connecticut. I commonly fly 270 degrees during any session. Last week I set up with a good semi-steady wind out of the north, and 5 minutes in it was directly out of the west. About 15-20 minutes later it was SSW and 10 minutes after that it petered out and I packed up. One of the most challenging, and most rewarding sessions happened last year while vacationing in the Yosemite area last summer. We found a cool swim spot on the Merced river and the wind was blowing 10-12 MPH (a guess) right down the river valley. There was a small beach to set up on, but I flew from thigh deep water with the kite over the water downstream since there was basically a cliff on one side, and an embankment on the other with peaks at least 500ft higher than I was on both sides. I was flying a full sail SLE with travel rods on 20' lines. To say the kite was a bit hyper would be an understatement, but after a couple minutes of over controlling it, I got a handle on it, and had a blast for about 15 munutes. Then the wind started to die, and switch directions. It is definitely a great kiting memory. This is my daughter standing on that little spot of beach.