makatakam

It is feasible, on smaller size (RevII, B2) kites to leave them assembled except for the endcaps, and keep them in a bag specifically made for that purpose. Setting up becomes a simple matter of putting on the endcaps and attaching the flying lines. My personal sparring preference is: jab, jab, right cross, jab, uppercut.

Being consistent in the way you wind and unwind is everything. Keeping even tension, not so much that it makes the winder bend when you get to the end, but enough that when you reach the end there are no loose wraps on the winder, will eliminate one line from constantly snagging the end of the winder when you are "rocking" them off of it as you lay the lines out. Any loose loop on the winder effectively makes that section a bit longer and it stays behind as the others come off. Distributing the line on the winder so that it does not form as much of a bulge in the middle will help dramatically. When you watch others who have much experience wind up their lines it doesn't look like they are really paying attention to where they put each wind, but trust me, they are. I use a combination of straight wind and figure-eight, starting with the eight for about 1/4 of the length, straight for the next 1/4, eight for the third, and straight for the fourth 1/4. When I reach the end I wind down to the handles as JB does in the tutorial. The trick at the end to make the bottoms of the handles meet one end of the winder, if you are leaving your handles attached, is to take up whatever length necessary by unwinding some of the straight wraps and rewinding in a figure eight. The figure eight wind puts about 1/2-inch(?) more line on the winder per wind. How many winds are necessary? It will vary, but eventually you'll be able to get it done in seconds without really thinking much about it.

Moving the top lines in has the same effect as letting the bottoms out, and vice versa. All this does is tip the top of the kite toward or away from you. It changes the angle of attack. Tipping it toward you lets more wind "slide" off of the sail. Tipping it away makes the sail more perpendicular to the wind, increasing pressure and lift.

Seriously? konsman? And you expect someone to buy from you? That's funny! Not being mean or cruel or downgrading you. I just find the combo amusing. It's definitely worth the laugh to me. Thanks, you made my day!

I'm working on getting my local UPS driver into kite flying. To be continued .........

Glad you could get together with some experienced pilots. Makes a big difference, doesn't it? Life is so much easier when someone looks over your shoulder and says, "Try it like this", and you can actually see what they're talking about. You can read about it all day and still not get it, but once you see it happen life is good. From this point on you will have many "ahaaa!" moments. Don't obsess. If you try too hard to duplicate what you did, it won't come. In time it will become second-nature -- don't force it. The harder you try, the harder it gets. Let it come naturally by itself. Remember, your foremost mission in kiteflying is to have fun.

Where there's a will, there's a way. PM John and let him know if you are interested. He can probably squeeze in one extra..... As far as your new addiction is concerned all I can say is: boom, boom, boom, and another one bites the dust... Welcome to one of the sweetest slices of heaven on earth. Next time you fly don't overthink what is happening. Try instead to feel what the kite wants to do by where it's pulling on the handles. If it's what you want just let it happen. If not, rotate the corresponding handle opposite to the pull you feel. When you start overthinking what to do, stop and take a 10-minute break and think about fishing or whatever. Forget about kites. Then fly again and don't think, just feel. Consistent wind is a big plus in the learning process. Choose your breeze. Make it work for you not against you. Unruly wind will only teach you things that you will need to unlearn later. To add some turbo to your learning, join an experienced flyer on the field. Drive a couple of hours if that's what it takes. You won't regret it.

One little extra hint that I haven't seen mentioned here yet. Most flyers usually remember which lines are top and bottom this way: black = bottom or brake, b = b. If none of the sleeves are black, just put a black mark on the bottoms with a black permanent marker. If you repeat your set-up and break-down rituals consistently, you should eventually find that you can do either in around three minutes, although it's never really a race against time unless it starts raining. I leave the handles attached as I wind up my lines. If I need to switch to a different set, it's easy enough to do after the kite is set up. If you stick with it long enough you will end up with many linesets and handles and can have two or three "dedicated" to each other, where you leave the lines attached to the handles. In the tutorials JB shows how to shuffle the lines under the kite and turn it around so you can launch when the kite ends up face down, leading edge towards you. He makes it look much easier than it is (except for him), but with enough practice it gets easier. If you land in that position a lot you will get the practice. If you fly in unruly winds you will get a ton of practice. If you try new stuff all the time you will get lots of practice.

Yup, what riffclown said, plus a couple of other things. There's a lot of Rev pilots in the Seattle and Portland areas. I realize that's a bit of a drive, but not way too far. It would be beneficial to meet with one or more of them on the flying field before you buy for the reasons that riffclown mentioned, and also because the folks in that area will know the type of winds you are likely to encounter. In addition, there is no one-size-fits-all kite. The standard sail kites are made for wind less than 12 mph, and the midvent and fullvent sails are made to fly in stronger and much stronger wind, respectively. The actual wind range of any sail depends on your level of experience. Those with enough experience can expand the recommended wind range of any kite 4 mph at each end. A two-hour drive one way will save you so much grief. Check back here soon, I'm sure people near you will chime in and say hello. Kite flyers are a friendly bunch, and we don't bite. To have someone who can show you what not to do when starting with a quad is priceless. Think back to when you started with dual-line kites and multiply any difficulties you may have had by a factor of four. Click on the map tab at the top of the page to check the members closest to you and stay tuned to see who is active. The number of "wraps" or "feathers" is the strength/stiffness of the frame tubes. Two=flexible, three=medium, four=stiff. There are others, and you will learn of those eventually. They involve the characteristics of more than one rating, for instance, the stiffness of a three-wrap with the flex and/or weight of a two-wrap. You can also mix and match frames to create custom "hybrids" to suit conditions and flying style. You can double-up the leading edge in hurricane force wind. Quads afford you with many options to have the kite handle the way you prefer. If you must have your own now, go for it. Get a full (standard) sail and fly it within the recommended wind range. Flying above that range will prematurely stretch the sail. A standard sail will give you the most flying days per year, unless most of the wind in your area is over 14 mph average. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

What will help you the most is time on the lines. That said, watch the set up and line management tutorials again, several times. You should have no more than one or two twists in the line once the lines are tensioned. If they are out towards the kite, hold the handles close to each other and shuffle them alternatively back and forth. All the twists will come right to the handles where you can see which way they go. Pay close attention to what JB does in the videos and what he says. That's why I recommend watching them several times and then a few more times. When you lay out your lines and connect them it should only take a minute to undo any twists or cross-through lines. If you wind and unwind your lines exactly the same way each time it will minimize your problems. Recovering ground is difficult even for an experienced pilot if there is very little wind and changes direction constantly. Try to fly in medium, consistent wind as often as possible at the beginning. I know you want to fly whenever you have the time, but if the wind isn't fairly decent, you're better off watching the tutorials than acquiring muscle memory that you will have to "unlearn" later. Handling unruly wind is something that will just come to you with time and experience, once the kite is your friend as opposed to foe. Watch the tutorial on recovering from the face down position. Again, this is difficult at the beginning, but with time you'll get the hang of it. Waiting until you can see the wind moving the kite a bit helps. Patience is everything in lousy winds, and you can take a break while waiting for it to help you relaunch. If you don't wait for the wind to help you a bit, you'll do a lot of back-pedaling and will just end up with extra ground to recover. I drag my Revs on grass and sand all the time when launching, relaunching from a face-down position or a crash unplanned landing, and doing inverted slides in contact with the ground and the sail handles it all pretty well. I'm sure it puts more wear on it than if it didn't touch the ground, but even the kites I've been flying for eight years now still don't show excessive wear. I know I mentioned this before. You will put more wear on the kite(s) you use most often as you learn, but you probably will not kill them in the process. Good luck, have fun and fly with any experienced pilot you can join on the field. It will shave at least months from your learning curve.

Hi, @CDN_Badger, and welcome to the forum. Yes, we are a friendly bunch and enjoy getting others started with kites. This forum is a great place to get any info you need. The beauty of kites is that you don't have to replace the battery every fifteen minutes. You can keep flying as long as you have wind, and as you gain experience you can even fly without it. I look forward to flying with you someday. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

Awesome!

Happy Fourth, everyone!

Hi, netred, and welcome to the forum. On this forum we like anything and everything that flies, no matter how simple or complicated. There's a bunch of good folks here with some serious skills. I look forward to sharing the sky with you some day.

Cool! When the uprights are on the front it flies like an inflated bag. It resists turning, and most other inputs must be exaggerated to make it do what you want it to. Be ready for quite a bit more movement when the spars are on the back. Small moves is all it takes. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

That is going to be an awesome stack.

Hi, Anders, and welcome to the forum.

Look at the post above yours. It's 1428. Unless you purchased more than one subscription, that's it. Yes, you can purchase multiple subscriptions.

Hi, Bruce, and welcome to quad-line kiting, AKA the dark side. Ok, so you don't get a Lamborghini at a Volkswagen price, unless you get extremely lucky, but that doesn't mean the VW won't get you where you want to go. It will just take a bit longer. Yes to everything Riffclown said, and then a couple more things. I will repeat some of what he said so please be patient. Be aware that any one, or any combination, of the things discussed here will give your kite a "mind of its own". Symmetry is everything, starting at the kite and all the way to and including the handles. Take the leading edge frame rod completely out of the sleeve. Fold the kite in the middle so the left and right tips come together exactly. The outside edges of both halves ideally should line up perfectly. Left and right side should be a mirror image of each other. If not, note which side appears to be larger and we'll address how to adjust for that later on. Next, check the frame. In this style of quad each frame member is usually the same length. The center piece of the leading edge will have a ferrule at each end, but the tube minus the ferrules should be the same length as the other four. Check each of the five frame members for splits or cracks by holding it by the ends and twisting firmly. If there are any, you will feel and possibly even hear the defect. If any are cracked or broken they must be replaced. When you assemble the kite to fly it the ferrules that connect the leading edge members MUST be completely seated. If one is not, then the kite will do exactly what you described. After the frame comes the bridle. Get your measuring stick and check if every leg of the bridle on the left exactly matches the length of the corresponding bridle on the right. Don't worry about anything less than 1/4 of an inch. Anything over, make them match. When assembling the kite to fly and as you attach the flying lines, make sure that there are not twists or tangles in the bridle. Again, a perfect mirror image, left and right, is the ideal. At this point we check the bungees and endcaps. Each corresponding pair - leading edge tips, upper uprights and lower uprights - should be the same distance from the sail. When the kite is assembled, the upper endcaps should not protrude more than 1/4 of an inch above the leading edge, and although this is not critical at the outset, it will make a difference when you begin doing inverted side slides close to or on the ground eventually. When you assemble the kite, make sure each endcap is seated completely on the frame and there are no twists or tangles in the bungees. Remember, symmetry is everything, and even the upper upright caps should ideally mirror each other, with the bungee running to either the inside (toward the center) or the outside. Now we come to the flying lines. The ones that come with most kites manufactured in China are not "premium" grade. This doesn't mean they won't work. It just means that you'll have to do some extra work to make them work. First, go outside and anchor one end of lines with a stake or on something else that will not give when you put 75 pounds of tension on the lines. Don't let the end loops cross or twist when you check the length at the other end. Go to the other end and stretch and put about 75 pounds of tension on each line individually for two to five minutes. Now check if they are all the same length. If you have 1/4 of an inch in one or more you should equalize them. Watch the line equalization tutorial if you don't know how to do this. Ok, we're done, right? Wrong! Let's check the handles and leaders. The handles should be bent at the same angle -- if not, adjust by making the shallower one match the other by giving it some more bend. Don't try to unbend the one with the deeper bend. You may crack it, and a little "extra" bend helps just a bit when you are learning. The leaders on top should be exactly the same length and the knots on each should be spaced identically. Top leaders should be 5 to 7 inches longer than the bottoms and have at least six knots spaced at 5/8" intervals. You can make the tops longer by tying a loop in similar line, untying the leaders from the handles, tying the loop to the handle, and larksheading the leaders to the knot in the loop. The bottom leaders can be left as they are, but if they have only one knot, tie in another, or two if there is enough room. Not too complicated, huh? It's not rocket science -- it's kite science! Much easier than rocket science. If everything is perfect, the kite will launch and fly straight up as long as you keep the handles in the same position. If something is a little off the kite will have a tendency to turn slightly to one side. If more than one thing is significantly off on the same side this tendency increases exponentially with each one. What that means is that if 3 things are off on the same side of the kite, it will have 8 times the tendency to turn. Some of these issues can be resolved quickly on the flying field by moving the line attachment point. So, if one line is considerably longer you can bring it in one knot on the leader. If the kite wants to turn left, as in your case, bring the upper left line in a couple knots, or let the upper right line out a couple. In other words, you want to speed up one side or slow down the other, or a little of both. So, this is all you need to do to make it fly correctly. Other option is to buy better made kites, which also feature better quality control, parts availability and access to the manufacturer's warranty. The lack of quality control and good materials can leave a very sour taste in the mouth of a beginner, and possibly just give up in total frustration. I don't intend to disillusion you as you begin this venture but it is the nature of this beast, with which you are not yet very familiar. In time you will come to know exactly what is causing any peculiarity as soon as you launch, and be able to adjust for it in a moment. There are hordes of kite fliers in California. My recommendation is to share a field with an experienced pilot at a festival near you, and there are many all up and down the west coast, especially if what we looked at here doesn't resolve the issue. Don't let frustration get the better of you. We all had all the problems you have now and survived to tell about it. You will too. Good luck. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

Aha, another yardstick collector! Now I have company. This stack is going to be awesome. If they will be smaller than a B2, use lighter framing so you don't need gale-force wind.

You've improved massively -- congratulations! Now do everything backwards. Practice half tip pivots in opposite directions, vertically and horizontally. Then, slide circles, both with the LE towards and away from the center of the circle. Watch the tutorial and master the traveling bicycle. Practice clockwork, axels, and catch and throw. Learn all that and you will be Master Class.

I just looked at this list again and realized I didn't add mine yet. So here they are: 1 Rev SLE, blk/red, modded to reduce weight 1 Rev Phantom, blk, modded to reduce weight 1 Rev B-Pro, Std Sail, blk/red/gry/wht 1 " " Midvent " " 1 " " Fullvent " " 1 " " Xtravent " " 1 Rev Zen, partial color pattern match to B-Pros 1 Rev NYM, Std, red/blk/gry/wht 1 Rev Spiro, Rainbow Radical victim of karma drawing 1 Rev Spiro, custom red/wht on blk, bungees/bridle/endcaps modded to SUL 1 Rev II, teal/blu, curved logo 1 Rev Indoor, red/wht vintage 1 Rev Supersonic, std, rubine/blk 1 Rev Super Blast 2-4, red/wht with clear Mylar panels 1 Home-made Rev-like, std, red/wht (see my avatar), high aspect ratio 1 Home-made Rev-like, oversized SUL, wht/grn/pur, low aspect ratio 1 Home-made Rev-like, XUL (extreme UL), red/wht/blu, high aspect ratio 1 Home-made Rev-like, oversized XUL, wht, three upright spars, dual curve TE 1 Home-made Side-by-side parallelogram quad, red/wht/blu, bowed cross-spar 1 Home-made Synergy-like quad, blk/wht/red, low aspect ratio, bowed cross-spar 1 Home-made Spirit-like quad, wht, with flapping wings 2 Home-made Rev-like, XUL, increased sail area, 1.5 frame, belt-loop LE sleeve, both builds still in progress 1 NTK SkySong Cool, blu/dbl/wht, modded to quad

The ideal handles will be a perfect match for the size of your hands. Check where you grip in normal (medium) wind speed. Is it comfortable at that location? If not, shift the grip and bend location to a more comfortable spot.

Cangratulations, Ralph. Don't let the black and blue make you black and blue. Lead insoles is where it's at. Yeah, lead insoles.