makatakam

Most likely to be Spectra, but it would be worth checking if you aren't sure. Is there a kite shop in your area? They can tell you for sure. Looks like Piedmont Kites is out of business.

XXL = Extra Extra Large?

A foot off? Wow! Check the lengths again quickly the next time you set up. Can't think of how they could possibly be that far off, but then again, stranger things have happened. Ideally they should be identical, but 1/4" is within acceptable limits. Helpful hint: If you find your lines are unequal on the field and don't have time to equalize right at the moment, you can adjust by moving the long one(s) in on the leaders.

A bit greater range of motion for his flying style. Also, he dances with the kite, and uses exaggerated inputs to enhance the visual aspects of his performance. His ballet style is yank-and-spank most of the time. If you watch some video of his precision routines and the tutorials available on this forum, you will see a marked difference in the input movement. You will commonly see this tendency in those whose style is not static. In other words, those who move their feet around the field quite a bit. It doesn't add very much more effect to inputs that he couldn't do sitting on his butt, but sitting on his butt is not his style. I don't believe he is intentionally doing it or immediately aware of it. It is something that has just become part of the way he moves.

Also, with the bottoms of the handles pointed down and out, you don't hit yourself in the nuts when you make a large sudden brake input, for instance the kind needed to initiate an axel or dive-stop. To get an idea of the additional range of motion this gives you, make a fist and put it in front of your face. Now, keeping your fist at the same level as your face, move your entire arm out to the side and swing your fist out behind you as far as possible. Now try it with your fist at the same level as your waist. The A-frame position you see peoples' hands in during inverted flight adds stability, by increasing the distance between the bottom tips of the handles. This position actually decreases the brake input from each handle by increasing the differential. Imagine two tables. One that has the legs this ll far apart, and one this l l far apart. Which is harder to knock over and therefore more stable? This is more stable regardless of the kite's orientation, but is more critical during inverted flight. Going totally horizontal with the handles will increase the differential as will moving your hands away from each other. The hand positions you end up using is determined by your personal ergonomic comfort zone, your style of flying and what you want to accomplish. This will naturally all fall into place on its own as you develop greater skill and experience, and will change as you age and/or your physical ability and stamina change. For now, just fly and don't sweat the small stuff. It will all sort itself out with time. Have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.

Only 102.

I already have one. I'll show you mine if you show me yours. Any interest in 3D quad?

I have Revs that will be eight years old this coming season, specifically the SLE and the Phantom full-vent that were the first two in my quiver. I have flown those two very much, especially the SLE, and have done a lot of modifications to them. They have been flown more than 20 days per year, 10 hours per day on average for about 5 years until I got my B-Pros. The mesh still looks just fine. If you are careful to pack them away correctly each time, and don't spend 3-5 days per week flying, it will be a long time before they begin to fall apart. I also have kites that I built, using the hot-cut holes at the leading edge, and have noticed some fraying at the edges of the holes. Of course these were my first attempts at building quads and pre-date the Revs from a time when I couldn't afford to buy the real thing. My avatar is one of them, and is made of nylon ripstop, not polyester. Everything on a kite will eventually wear out; it is unavoidable. How long it takes depends on the quality of the build, how much you fly it, your flying style, and how well you take care of it. The kite brands you are considering are well-made and should last quite some time with just a bit of care. The weaknesses noted here are by flyers who spend more time flying each week than many people spend working. If you know where the materials will eventually fail, you can take preventive measures to at least delay the failure. That's one of my early home-made with the SLE behind it. As you can see, it's just a tad on the large side.

Heck, it's Christmastime. Get an SUL, Standard and Vented of everyone you thought of. The ones you don't like or never fly you can send to me, and if I don't use them, I'll send them to another flyer.

Congratulations, Zach.

Bikini Rev with gentle curves.

Me too. Waiting for warm air.

If you fly your Rev from the deck of a sailboat, would that be termed "double-luffing"? Or "penta-luffing", one single + one quad sail? What if you were fishing for crappie? Would anyone like cheese on their French fries? Turning the boat more into the wind can be a really "tacky" move. Kiting does not translate into any language except Smile, one which everyone speaks. Why are they called prevailing winds when they stop as soon as your kite is set up? Why do birds sing so gay? Why do fools fall in love? Why don't we get together and fly a kite? Come on, April -- are we there yet?

I tried to stop you, remember? It didn't work.

Your leaders and handles look fine. Should be no problem in most conditions. Top leaders are long enough and in the right proportion to the lower ones. Number of and location of knots is good. If you can launch and fly with the lines attached to the knots as shown in your photo, you're doing great! There will be less to unlearn later. Compare the left and right to each other and adjust if there is more than 1/8" variance in location of the knots. Ideally, both should be identical. The inverted reference was to the kite, not the airplane as most don't do well going backwards. I wonder if a comparison to a helicopter rotor would be more valid? Especially as it concerns variable pitch. However, that airfoil doesn't reverse and go the other way either. The problem with a kite sail is that it is a reactively variable airfoil. It is controlled by changing/warping the airfoil to achieve changes in speed and direction, like the early Wright brothers' flyers. If you stand directly below the kite as someone else flies it, you will be surprised by the amount of shape-shifting the sail goes through.

Congratulations, Niels.

True, up to 45 degrees? Once the angle of attack increases beyond a certain point the airfoil ceases to produce any lift? What about inverted flight? Now the AoA is near negative 90 degrees? The terminology is not completely interchangeable between the wing of an airplane and the sail of a kite. I do understand that it is technically an increase and have edited my post to read that way so it's less confusing. The complex and compound curvature of the sail does not translate well to the camber and chord of the airfoil of an airplane wing, since the kite sail simply has no camber. It is more akin to the terminology used to describe the forces at work on a sailboat sail.

Are you using longer leaders at the tops of the handles? The factory set-up is shorter than what most experienced flyers use, so that beginners can actually launch when the top lines are attached to the knot furthest out. Moving the top lines out (away from the handles) adds brake, squares the sail to the wind (increased angle of attack), thus putting more pressure into the sail. If at times the kite feels like it is sliding and not there, adding brake will eliminate that. General rule of thumb: Strong winds call for more brake, giving you more control so the kite doesn't go shooting off wherever it wants to when you hit a gust. In medium to light winds you can use less brake if you wish. I use a knot or two less, depending on conditions. For very light wind, however, maximum brake is required. Maximum brake puts the most wind pressure into the sail which is what keeps in the air. No pressure in the sail, the kite falls out of the sky, unless you run backwards and create some. If it's starting to sound like rocket science to you, don't lose any sleep over it. Once you start playing with moving the attachment point around while conditions remain the same, the effect it has on the kite will become clear. But to do that you need to have long top leaders. Read the posts in the "pigtails" and the "leaders" posts in the "Quad Heads" topic. Once you have good basic control of the kite you will need to start the transition to longer leaders. Takako (John Barresi's wife), known as TK to everyone, makes and sells them at a very reasonable price. Once you put in the time to tie a set yourself you'll know what I mean, and you may not get them to be correctly done the first time. I tie my own, but I make and fly home-made quads which require a greater range than the Rev does. Her leaders are highly recommended, even by those who don't have them!

Hope the weather cooperates for you.

Hey, Kevin. I'm a casual flier and not into tricking duals, yet. I did have a Zephyr, an E2 and an E3, as well as other duals. I found the Zephyr to be a capable low-wind kite and was quite pleased with its performance and appearance overall. Of all the duals I had, which is nowhere near the number some of the people on this forum have, it was my favorite. Like I said, though, I didn't have a lot of high-end performance kites or the expertise to judge them as others can. I'm sure a few others will pop in and share their preferences.

What you said -- analogies included -- is dead on. Shorter lines will make it a bit more difficult to learn because everything happens faster. The difference between motocross and riding a Harley on the interstate. But if you learn to do it very well on short lines, doing it on longer lines will be super easy. Short lines are a great way of ironing out moves that you want looking better and more precise. Soft hands are a plus; it can be flown with fingertip control, unless the wind is rippin'. Outflying the gear will probably happen eventually, but even after almost 30 years of Revs' existence people are still finding new things it can do every year. Not all folks want to do crazy tricks, some just enjoy being able to move the kite around the sky with a bit of control. Others yank and spank and make it do everything. Most are somewhere in between.

Great -- yeah the wind doesn't always cooperate. However, just being able to set up the kite without making a mess of it is a monster step in the right direction. Good job! Whichever way you go, always do it the same way until it becomes a routine that you no longer have to think about. The method JB shows in the tutorial is preferred and will never let you down. Most flyers use it with only minor modifications, if any, but like anything else in kite flying, whatever works for you is fine. JB's method is fast and easy, and when done correctly will have the kite and lines set up or broken down in under 3 minutes, without even rushing it. Just keep doing it exactly the same way each time. You can eventually modify it to suit your preferences once you have it down pat. As far as learning to fly goes, and I know you don't want to hear this, but wait for wind that is at least half-decent. I know what inland winds can be, but fighting the wind will teach you nothing except how hard it is to fly when you're fighting the wind. Shoot for wind that is 8-12 mph, without a lot of stop and go gusts and it will be easier. If you can find an experienced flyer near you and hook up for some air time it will help very much. Learning on your own is not impossible, just a lot more difficult than it has to be. If you are within reach of any kite festivals that are coming up (drive 3 hours one way if you have to) attend them. Kite flyers are a friendly bunch, and always ready to help those who are starting out. All else aside, get out there and fly, and keep us posted on your progress. Ask questions. We'll all do what we can to help. Have fun, smile, and don't forget to breathe.

@SoggyWombat Fly to music or not -- repetition, which can quickly become boring, is what builds muscle memory. Practice, in anything you attempt, is what makes you improve. Repeat everything you have learned, every time you fly, especially the very basic moves. The simple stuff, like taking off slowly, hovering, flying straight and slow, landing exactly where you want on both tips at the same time, etcetera, are the underlying foundation for all other moves. Without a solid foundation the rest will not stand. When the repetition gets boring, break it up by doing something just goofing around. Flying as slowly as possible will improve muscle memory faster, but is definitely not as much fun as zipping around. Find a balance between the two that you can live with, but don't ignore either one. You will need both in your skill set to pull off advanced moves. Flying to random music is known as "soul flying" and becomes an expression of your individual style when you can ignore all the other stuff happening around you and feel the music. Put your stops and goes on the beat, your turns, lines and curves with the bass, your direction, altitude and attitude with the melody, and you'll be able to improvise to any tune.

Hi, p23brian. You'll get all the help you need right here, that's for sure.

If you want to fly a Rev in a 1/2-mph breeze you will need one that weighs 4.75 ounces or less. This can be accomplished with a one-piece factory sail, with modified bungees, modified endcaps, 90-lb spectra bridle and 50-lb flying lines. These mods will bring the one-piece sail down to a little over 4.75 ounces. Any multi-panel sail will weigh in at over 5 ounces. If you want to fly a Rev, sitting down, in a 1/2-mph breeze, you will need to build your own and make each component as light as possible, with as much increase in sail area as possible. This means cutting back on the weight and/or amount of all materials used, which does make the finished kite somewhat more fragile, but not eggshell fragile. The sheer joy of flying with your butt firmly planted on the ground while most others can't even get airborne for more than a few seconds and work up a lot of sweat is priceless.