makatakam

If it's a choice between those two I would go with the Rev 1, especially as first Rev. It's bigger and slower than a 1.5, so should be easier to learn on. Pulls about 10% harder in the same wind. A bit heavier than the 1.5 because of the mylar panels, so lower wind range will be about the same. Price is quite good for an RTF (ready to fly) package, and cobrakites is an established, reputable dealer, so you should have no problems and someone who will work with you should one arise. The PB2-4 as a training kite will drive you crazy. Too much power to learn the control inputs you need to fly it. It will drag you around and put you down and you will not learn anything except that you need a smaller quad to learn on. Price on it as an RTF package is in the $400 (roughly) and up range.

Not a problem. I can make those blue panels red. Have spray paint, will travel. All kidding aside, nice prize!

Do you know how strong the line tension is, in pounds? It may be too heavy for Revs, unless they are the Speed or Power Series. For the 1, 1.5, and 2 sizes they may be too much.

Congratulations. Enjoy the kite and let us know how you like it.

a what ? ... that is more liking "WTF ?" LOL ... in english, please I'm sorry. I meant to type "water tip flume", not "water tail flume". My bad. I don't understand how putting spin on a cue ball would help.

Everybody forgot the water tail flume, also known as wtf.

You'll have to wait until April, Wayne, and then I'll explain it, but only if the data I've gathered supports my theory.

Quote of the week. Stay tuned, the next edition of "quote of the week" will debut shortly, and will expand upon the controversial issue of "symbiotic line drag as induced through exponential usage of uncontrolled leader extension". I'm shooting for early April, as it will take several months to gather all of the pertinent data.

Crash was the first one I learned.

I concur.

Hi, Carlos and welcome to the forum. You will love flying a Revolution kite once you learn basic control. For winds that average around 10 knots a standard sail is appropriate. It will handle wind from 4 knots to about 15 knots easily, and as you gain experience that range will increase. Which model you select in a standard (non-vented) sail depends on how much money you wish to spend. Google revkites.com and click on the products tab to see what is made and feel free to contact the company by telephone or e-mail for pricing. Kite stores on-line, and eBay are another good place to look. For a complete, RTF (ready to fly) package including kite, frame, case, lines and handles, expect to pay about $240US up to about $650US depending on the model you select. All of the 1.5 size kites can do the same things, the price differences result from the amount of time required to sew the sail, the frame you select and the overall durability and "professional" features. Most people start with an SLE model and expand their collection later, when and if they can appreciate (feel) the difference. The standard sail is not vented. To fly in stronger wind than 15 knots most people prefer a vented kite (three choices, depending on wind speed). If you have any specific questions, no matter how trivial, please ask and we will all do our best to help you get started. Welcome to the family.

I was really hoping you would get that perfect wind. You got me interested in this, and now I'll be looking for the opportunity to try this. Thanks for the video.

Sorry about the Missouri thing. Lots of new people here this year. Hard for an old fart to keep track of everyone. Then add the other kite forums I'm on, with the same guys, only different handles. My bad. For crap and/or variable/inconsistent winds a full-sail is your go-to kite. Eventually, if you really get into it, you will expand your quiver. Once you have basic control, anything in the range of 4mph to 13mph will be do-able. Above that, have a beer, or fly someone's vented. Have fun, smile, don't forget to breathe.

We would like, in general, to save you the aggravation of hitting the field only to find that you can't fly, and then spending hours or days making various changes and adjustments just to be able to lift off, and then repeating that procedure in order to make it fly well. In the meantime, you learn control movements that you will have to un-learn later. As I mentioned, my first quad is my avatar, which I made myself. Everything on and for that kite I made by myself, including cutting and ferruling the frame, and tying the bridle from braided fishing line. I did not know how to fly a quad before I built it, so the kite and I "grew up together". 100 hours of changes and tuning is what it took to gain basic control -- something you will accomplish in under 10 hours. The next year, finances improved, and I bought a Rev sle. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The things I learned from that Rev SLE kite actually allowed me to make the changes to the kite I had built so it could fly well. I have built other quads since then, but unless you build them exactly like a Rev, they don't fly like a Rev. It's that simple. Even minor changes in the design affect the way it flies. Lack of symmetry also makes it do weird things. Unless your intent is to learn aerodynamics and flight characteristics of quad-line kites in general, instead of learning how to fly one, you should avoid all imports in that $120 price range. There are some, like Freilein and one or two others, that are of better quality, but then you're right back in that $240 and up price range for the RTF package.

Yeah, I noticed that too but forgot to mention it. That kite will not fly for a beginner in wind less than 10-12 mph. If you're dead set on geting one of those, get a full sail. Are you in the Midwest? For some reason I think you're in Missouri.

I bought a PB2-4 last year, and even with 7-year's experience with quads, I find it difficult to fly, possibly because I haven't gotten used to it yet. It is, as everyone will tell you, a completely different beast. If you can make to any of the festivals in Illinois next season you'll probably run into me or people from IKE (Illinois Kite Enthusiasts) there. Team 180GO!, the official Rev team is comprised of many members of IKE and will be at a few of those fests. Join us for some fun. You can join IKE and check out the forum at ikeclub.org -- it's free, and you can check the calendar for upcoming events. Where in Kentucky? are you?

You could do Fire, Citrus, Fire. Although Ice would be nice. (No extra charge for the poetry. Thank you, I'll be here all week.)

One of the people at the Kites Over Lake Michigan festival this last September, not one of the regulars, just someone who showed up at the fest with his imitation Rev, asked for some help with his kite because he was having trouble flying it. He said he paid $90 for the package. Steve Anderson and I tried for nearly an hour to get it all adjusted to just barely fly. Everything that could possibly be wrong with the frame, sail, lines and handles was. We got it half-a_ _ed working for him and he tried to fly it without too much success, since it was still not at 100% adjusted. We could tell he had been trying to fly it since a few months back when he got it and had made some progress in learning basic control so we put him on a real Rev, Steve's EXP. He took off and started flying and had basic control with no problems. I believe he bought a used Rev from Steve before he left. He mentioned something about throwing the import in the garbage, or something on that order. He definitely said the word garbage. True story, ask Steve or ask Jynx. She was there when we were trying to make it fly, and I think she took a shot at flying it too. Ok -- point of the story. I'm not saying that the kite is not well made, it may be. Not saying it won't fly, it may fly very well. Not saying that the lines and handles are of bad quality. Not saying that everything is out of adjustment, it might be perfect. I don't know. Do you? The kite in your link looks to be better than the one we tried to fix at KOLM. It may or may not be. I don't know anyone who has purchased one, or anyone who has flown this model. You can save some money, but if the kite needs major surgery are you capable of doing it? Do you know enough about the aerodynamics of a quad-line kite to make it happen? I can do the surgery for you because I've built several quads myself, but I'll charge you the difference between what you paid and the price of a Rev. Just kidding, but you get the idea, right? If you are tight on cash, you can build one yourself. The first one I made (see my avatar) cost me less than $60 in materials to make the kite and handles. I purchased an 80' line set at a kite fest after my disappointment with spectra fishing line, although lately I've heard of one called something Crystal, made by Berkley that is supposed to be deccent. Other option, wait a bit longer, save up an extra hundred, and get the real thing. Those who have were not disappointed. Revs are like Timex watches, "....takes a licking and keeps on ticking". Edit: Just took another glance at your post. You don't have to get a B-series or a B-Pro. You can get an SLE package with lines and handles, new, for about $220, or keep an eye on eBay where frequently you will find some sets for $120 to $150. Contact Lolly at Rev Kites, ask if she has any beaters laying around.

Twisting a handle or both like a doorknob does nothing. The movements that do something are: moving one handle forward and backward or both in opposite directions, tilting one or both handles forward or backward. When he twists the handles it is generally when the kite is inverted to help keep it steady, and in some tricks so he doesn't hit himself in the nuts with the handles. The constant movement you see in John's hands are minor adjustments to keep the kite stationary. If he kept his hands still the kite would be bouncing around. He is counteracting the kite's tendency to move in response to the wind. The kite needs to have a cupped shape in order to give the pilot better control. This cupping is achieved in lighter wind by using more "brake" and a light (flexible) frame. If the kite is flat it will tend to slide and fall. If the frame is flexible (light) enough the wind will cup the kite. If the frame is too stiff for the existing wind the frame won't flex and the kite will remain fairly flat. Use the kite you have to learn how to control the kite before you get anything bigger. The larger kites do not react as easily to pilot inputs, and will fight you all the way while you try to learn. It's like learning to drive. You don't get into a piggy-back semi-tractor/trailer to learn how to parallel park. It's not impossible, but it sure makes learning hard. You will need at least 40 hours on the "training kite" before you can expect to have ANY control over it, and even then you will probably break something, possibly bones. The videos you posted here are of master pilots with many thousands of hours each on the lines. Don't expect to do what they can in a short time, unless you put 40 hours per week into it for a year. I've been flying for 7 years, and both those guys can fly circles around me, literally. The key to control is finding the balance point on the handles, where the kite, in any position will not move forward, backward, or sideways. That is where your middle finger belongs on each grip. Moving forward, backward, spinning, turning are accomplished by small inputs from your index or ring fingers, combined with forward/backward movement of one arm or the other. Get together with other flyers somewhere. Where do you live? Check the members tab at the top of the page for someone near you. Go to a kite festival. Drive 2 or 3 hours if you have to. The time will not be wasted. We're all a friendly bunch and will do whatever we can to help. If you must learn on your own, just go for it. Keep flying and eventually you will have some "ah-ha" moments, and it will become easier. A word of warning -- do not fly near any power lines or airports. Stay away from trees; they eat kites for lunch. Do not fly your kite near people, as you may have seen in videos, until you have more than 110% control of the kite, and then be very, VERY careful. If there is any chance you're going to crash, run towards the kite or just drop the handles. This will reduce the severity of impact with the ground. Watch the beginner tutorials here, and watch them again and again until you're sick of watching them. Then watch them again several times. Pick one thing you want to learn and go out and practice that. And I don't mean advanced tricks, you must be able to crawl before you learn to walk, you must be able to walk before you learn to run. But, more important than anything else: Have fun, smile, and don't forget to breathe.

Many of John Barresi's tutorial videos have picture-in-picture so you can watch his hands and the kite at the same time. Also, most of his videos give you kite, line, wind speed and other info. You can use golf club shafts for the verticals, but they are thicker and therefore heavier than the original Rev spars. Adding 20 grams of weight will not help the kite to fly in light winds. You can find Skyshark p-series rods on-line at reasonable prices if you want to try using different weight and flex in the uprights and leading edge.

I use 50# lines for light wind flying. Have made up sets in 120, 80, and 40 feet. I like 40 over 30 because it gives me a bit larger wind window to fly in, and you can still catch and throw with ease. With the 50# spectra there is very little parasitic line drag, even on 120-footers. The kites I use for low-wind are either one-piece sail 1.5 with bridle, bungee, and end-cap modifications to reduce weight, or home-made sails. Framing is Diamond rods, 2-weight, or P90 Skyshark depending on how much flex I need to load the sail. Once you can keep the sail loaded most of the time, you can fly sitting down in 1/2 mph wind if it is steady. Keeping the sail loaded is the key in any wind, but especially in low wind conditions. If the frame won't flex, you're flying a "barn door" which just slides out of the air. Leader adjustments become a major factor in low wind. Each sail will have its own "sweet spot" which invariably is very close to the maximum amount of brake you can give it and still move forward. If you don't use a ton of brake, you won't be able to keep the sail loaded. I have lately been cinching down tight on the leaders at points between the knots to find that sweet spot. Play with all the variables, one at a time, to see how each affects the performance. Also remember that your control inputs will need be much less than in normal winds. The same input you give the kite in normal wind will merely jerk it out of the sky in the light stuff. Last of all, and most important -- Have fun, smile a lot and don't forget to breathe. Remember, it's not rocket science, it's a kite.

For mere puffs of wind I use a one-piece sail which has modified bungees and endcaps, as well as a 150# spectra bridle. I fly it on 50# lines down to about 1 mph, for less than that I switch to one of my home-made ones. I have 50# lines in 120, 80, and 40-ft lengths. When most are grounded, I'm flying.

Go to the Rev forum. Homepage. Colorizer. Have fun. Try to get some sleep too.

Once you get the hang of light wind flying, you will begin to look for those light wind days. I don't work up a sweat. I prefer to fly without moving or even sitting down, so to that end I have built some kites, mostly Rev-like, that will fly easily in wind as light as 1/4 mph. As long as it's steady, I can sit down and fly while others work up a sweat just trying to stay airborne. It's like anything else. If you put enough time into mastering the task, it comes easy. Therefore, keep flying the light stuff; it will make you a better pilot overall.

The PB2-4 is a 2-meter that pulls like a 4-meter foil, hence the name "PB 2-4". I have a Red/Wht in the same pattern as JB's Blu/Wht, and in a 6mph wind I struggle to stay on my feet. I only weigh about 140 pounds, but if the wind is at 8mph, I don't even think about flying it. The PB4-8 is big enough to grab air in 10mph+ winds, and the 2-4 is enough to get me off the ground. If you are or want to get into boarding or buggying they are the way to go if you want ultimate control.