Paul LaMasters

I Dispute your glide comparison, not even close

Roll-up landing: First practice session begin with the kite standing upright on the down spars, ready for launching, step towards the kite SUDDENLY giving slack. It should roll backwards winding up into the flying lines and resting leading edge forward flat on the soil. Now maybe this is easier with a wrap in the flying lines (brings em together, doesn't it?). Your objective is to execute this trick without resting on the ground, by powerfully flicking your thumbs at the kite and stepping forward,.... this is abusing your new wing, abrasion to the trailing edge, possibly cutting the sail with thin flying line too. UnRoll-launch: First practice session begin by staking the handles down, walk to the kite, lift it and roll it carefully into the flying lines, noticing the tendency of where the lines want to go. You don't want the left handle side wrapped inside the down spars and the right wrapped outside. In competition you would insure your wraps were the same way on both sides. Ready for launch, back to the handles. Pickup knowing left from right (I recommend vinyl electrical tape, colored on the right handle) and take two steps away from the kite backwards. The first step snaps it over to standing back upright, another step sends it airborne, 2steps, two beats of music, 2 movements of the kite. Again you are banging the kite around intentionally, that's hard wear and tear on your equipment! So the safest practice session, or easiest incorporation of these techniques in competition is........what order they are done in! You start your routine rolled-up, insuring everything is laying where intended, finish it back rolled up again to end, not caring if it's properly executed because the music is over. Now to show off, you'd execute one and then undo it back immediately,... Four musical beats, land, roll-up, un-roll, launch, slicker than ice on glass! Too easy you say? It is just walking with the kite,.... Shhhhhhh! Nobody knows but you. Technique is everything, with practice you can execute these moves w/o sissy sticks, but I would cover the bottom knots of elastic on the sail with covers so snagging a flying line is eliminated. Risk vs reward.

Fliers first, kite merchants second..... The Shooks!

Smithy doesn't use his thumbs at all, zero, nik, not touching

Sticks "change" the float and glide, not better or worse,... just different. You are adding a structure onto the back of the sail, stiffening and connecting the two halves. Balance point changes, the kite will want to glide downwind from the top of the windowALL BY ITSELF, without handle inputs or even dropping them entirely to drag behind the kite. I want you to do a comparison, ideally with a friend, try different wind conditions and some precision figures too, one stock, one with sticks. Try some slack line tricks, you can probably get out of any screw-ups because the sticks will "shed a flying line tangle", roll-up the kite to land and do the dramatic unroll to launch! Only sticks make this a novice technique in either direction. I flew the first 6 years with the stock bridle, the first 7 years without sticks, the first 14 years with stock sail construction. I hope you also develop a style and feel that's yours alone. Some folks love to fly my rig and some hate it! Experiment and prove to yourself whether sticks are beneficial. Eliot makes and sells 'em but doesn't use himself. My nemesis Dennis smith is stick-less, Burka, Dantonio, Johnny bee, lots of respected pilots can prove you don't need this crutch! My flight role model does and until I can do what he does, as well and as easily,... The sticks STAY

Personal preference to be sure, but not too expensive to give it a try for yourselves. Some folks will laugh and some enviously frown, you can't buy hours on the lines

Personal comfort is most important, changing your grip position can have dramatic impact on F/R also My forward takes effort, hover and reverse are easier, a glide is effortless

You can obtain handles with various thicknesses of foam, I prefer skinny so one-handed is easier. Two kites the same will allow both of you to fly together. One of each will insure you can almost always use one of em. My boy lives hours way too far, but sharing this activity can last a whole lifetime! Several retailers would love to assist you, or call the factory and restate your requirements again. We all want you to become happy members of the family

the bonding tape will work, but you want to stick it to something solid, not just the mesh (it will pick-up debris otherwise) I personally would add some reinforcing patches over the torn area too, from the front, wrapping over the leading edge and onto the back. On this kite you can see how the factory (actually Bazzer) did it Run rows of the bonding tape next to each other for solid areas and a single width around the parameter for the mesh at a minimum. Iron it for permanence, or leave it under something heavy overnight. You can peel it up quickly if you make a mistake, but this product is made to "bond" two pieces of metal together. Imagine the fabric next to your bond will fail before the adhesive. I have made several kites entirely using this technique and flown for literally thousands of hours. (No-sew construction is the term) I prefer these patches on everything now https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202213682478376&set=a.10200884097639586.1073741826.1079141123&type=1&theater https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200468097999855&set=t.1079141123&type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/269662239733283/photos/t.1079141123/606002589432578/?type=3&theater

Eliot Shook has fixed my beaters into brand new kites. He's also slapped a quickie solution together while we wait, if you just want it fixed as opposed to back like new. Honestly? I think he makes a pretty good living off of just Rich Comras' repair needs! My revs would go to the Shook Kite Hospital in North Carolina for a stay if it was a serious injury! Who'd you trust more than a masterpiece artist?

tape alone will not offer more than a couple of hard knocks before giving out again, when this happens it's quite dramatic. The sail rips in half all the way to the leading edge I have fixed this problem permanently, here's how,...... using 9460 bonding tape and kevlar patch (cut to the same shape as the one you've torn thru) Bond the kevlar into place over the old one. and then bond a second layer of black fabric OVER both sides to cover the patch you've just made. You could go lazy and paint the kevlar with a sharpie pen (but it could possibly leech some color onto the sail if wet!) if you didn't have some scrap fabric laying around for the black. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201221925525072&set=a.10200884097639586.1073741826.1079141123&type=1&theater

try two attachment points from the spine (towards the back kite) so the second bridle does not come into play at all. Then the steering is done with the front kite and the back just follows along without a choice. Precise adjustments will be necessary on the lengths of these two lines, since the wings aren't that large overall. How much "bite or flutter" on the 2nd wing is appropriate? (it angles away? or towards the first kite?) I'd start with "parallel" and experiment from there

I've never seen anyone do anything impressive with it, but I haven't witnessed Professor Hot Tricks on a ProDancer yet!

you might try a second attachment point, instead of a single lined link between bridles. Both lines should be centered though, (emanating&ending from the spines) so it can still steer with line tension. The second bridle will not be used in the stack. This could be a fun bunch of experiments to a final solution. Please keep us informed of your progress!

the proDancer does not do tricks, (except fly with little effort even when everyone else is grounded)

I have always started a rev lesson with the kite inverted (that's how it lands in a crash). The first thing learned is the cartwheel, then you don't need someone down-wind assisting. You can't drag my leading edges to launch, you shall instead "rock the kite" onto one wing-tip with control inputs to the halfway point, then relax your handle position back to neutral (in front of you, parallel, loosely held, imagining the fat parts of your thumbs were touching). If you hold the roll-over too long the kite will keep going across the window, now you have a wrap and it's still inverted. Next push both thumbs instead of a single one and see the kite fly backwards. No, that's too much control, just a tiny bit of inputs, relax everywhere, loosen your grip (you're choking the poor thing!) Every kite goes forward, just run down the hill Forest,..... no run FASTER! In an hour they are holding a hover inverted, it's the first thing to get, easy in good smooth beach wind. "Less is more" on the controls, nope you are STILL squeezing a cobra instead of gently grasping a baby chick! Did I show you THAT? You look like your auditioning for referee in the NFL. I never told you to fly with the handles up next to your shoulders, instead I want to see your thumbs getting caught into the jacket pockets. That stake (and holder) at your waist has got to go too! Add or take-away energy using your feet (with lesser handle movements to smooth things out). It's okay to move around, rotate your hips

As my bride says, "we can't do em all", .... Do you want old faithfuls or new locations

No, I'm hard on stuff and it wears out eventually too. Does the dirt and grime care if it's water or silicone that allows adherence? If you expect to fly in any conditions then sometimes you pack up muddy and wet, throw in some sand and high wind, repeat for a week

I arrive the 15th and depart the 26th, must be decent weather in that schedule sometimes. My preference is dead calm wind, sunny, hot and humid. I could promise this locally in my home town, probably for five straight months!

in low wind conditions sometimes the lines lock together just from that wetness. I have sprayed silcone onto a rag and just run that down the strings after staking-down the handles. I find it's easier to under-frame than worry about damage in a sudden gust. A new crisp sail is also less influenced by wetness than a tattered ole' mess of a kite too!

indoor gliders make flying possible almost anywhere, suddenly trees and buildings are not interfering with kite fun.

I have a set of kylar lines I've been carrying for a decade. Just waiting for someone who wants to "fight with quads",.. Want more aggression? Gotta' a sacrificial Rev, do you? we can mount single edge razor blades on the leading edge corners and see who rules the sky and who's still trying to stay airborne on just 3 lines! I have a set of 150#/120' lines I haven't used once in three years, it just hasn't been windy enough to warrant that excess drag. You carry a bunch of stuff knowing full well you probably won't use it all.

I run Diamonds in SULs, as well as the Zen. (3 piece leading edge) Diamonds in 1 mid-vent, Black Race in the other Black Race in the 75% shook mesh kites. I like a hybrid frame too, but my choice is unique to my personal preferences I'm sure. Rev's Diamonds (2) on the outer pieces with a green race frame center (4) formed as a six piece leading edge. 3 wraps in the full vent, 4 wraps in the 100% shook, on very rare occasions I've used the SLEs in the 100% also. I have a gibian masterpiece full sail that flies perfectly when others use 75% shooks or their full vent pros! It is built as heavy as a tarp but looks fantastic, many spots are 4 thicknesses. The point is,.... what feels right on the ends of the lines. That is a situation arrived upon after some personal experience. Using the French Bridle spreads the stress over a larger frame area, (many more bridle legs). It also bends the kite on the outer thirds, instead of the center of the kite. Adding magic sticks allows you to frame lighter (folks mistakenly assume you are ADDING weight). B2 has a P-90 frame as well as a black race (3 piece leading edge) Custom indoor (Ashworth's 2nd generation) has a P-90 leading edge center with "Breeze" tapered outers (orcon/icarex sail ~ down spars are point 125 carbon tubes). I will switch-out down spars depending on smooth or gusty wind conditions too,..... in everything except the Zen. I have cut-down 2-p tapers (inch short, frame ends at the sail edge now, must re-adjust lower bungies though). Response 12 (discontinued taper from SS, probably a decade ago), plus all the Rev tubes. With the sissy sticks on those vertical spars I can always go lighter than anyone else w/o 'em. Of course everyone switches frames back and forth trying to arrive at the perfect moment in flight, or loans stuff to those without. So sometimes you have to search for what you are seeking through several kite bags.

We watched in horror as a friend carried both handles and the kite whilst dragging the lines behind him. Huge tangle but it's not an error that will be repeated. Wind em up or drag them behind you in a straight line outstretched

or the shook mesh kites