SHBKF

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The $50 evil one. The pictures at the site were interesting. SHBKF

I'll be very interested to hear what you have to say about this one when you get it & fly it a few times. Please let us know. SHBKF

Welcome Jerry, glad you made it back. I too like to fly all types of kites. I am especially fond of the big foils. When you get to five meters & beyond you need to be extra careful. Even the 2.5 Snap Shot can be quite a handful. Things can get pretty exciting with the gusty inland winter winds around these parts. SHBKF

I followed this good advice some time back & I too now leave the kite in the one setting that works best for my style. My sweet spot seems to be in the mid point of adjustment. I have received a few kites from very skilled fliers, Rob for instance, and I continue to fly them with the settings that others have preferred. Some kites I fly are pretty touchy & seem offended if I mess with them too much. Even in very light wind I don't like the feel of the light wind settings. The Prism 4D, that I flew so much, was the kite that really showed this to me. SHBKF

February has been quite a month. Working six days a week passes the time quickly. I finally had a day when it wasn't bad weather and coincided with a day off. As I headed out Sunday afternoon I checked the thermometer, sixty degrees. Checked the lowest recorded temperature and it read zero. I had not reset it since the beginning of the month. The breeze was blowing gently in my little valley so there was hope for stronger wind at my nearest flight area about five miles away. Grabbed a few kite bags & headed out. It had been quite some time since I had flown any kite and over three months since I had flown quad. So I started with a kite I had not flown before. I had high hopes for Will Sturdy's Saber II & I was not disappointed. I assembled it & leaned it against the rear of the car. Unrolled some 90# x 100' lines with Norm's straps on the ends. It launched nicely off the back of the car in a light breeze & immediately it showed fine precision. Even a flailer like me could do nice wide ground passes & figures in the variable wind. It flew a little slower than other kites I've flown of that quality & I liked that about it. Somehow it seemed like I had more time to think about the next move. I tried a few slack line moves. "Dang! this kite is just right for me", I thought. But maybe I am just making progress & it is more me now than the particular kite. I don't really know at this point. Regardless, I was not disappointed. I especially like to do a back flip launch to fade, rise a little & roll out. I will fly this one as my standard for a bit of time while going to the Sea Devil light or Solus UL as a light wind kite. I will also carry the Pro Dancer SUL for the puffy light air days. After a few years of collecting kites I have many other fine standards to choose from but the Saber goes back to some of my first flights when a friend let me fly his in a snow shower three years ago. Below image is the Saber II. Next up, why not fly another kite I had not flown before. I laid out a set of 50# x 50' quad lines, attached some 11" handles & set up the little B2. The wind moved up a notch & I thought, "This is gonna be fun." So I like fast kites. Short lines make them seem even quicker. After a half hour of screaming across the little arc of lines, doing several mad spins, smiling a bunch, I parked it & went back to the Saber. Flew the dualie until it hummed & quivered. Landed it, weighted the nose down & got out one of my favorites. The Sedgwick Rev 1 had a black race leading edge & Zen verticals in it so I thought I'd give it a go on 90# x 85' lines . Not too good! The wind was ten or so with gusts to fifteen. Flew it carefully but it was obviously being overpowered with the big sail & the light frame. Luckily I did not break it. Time for THE DARK ONE. So some of my kites are named. My full vent Rev B 1.5 has dark blue & black stripes with a black center. It looks almost meanacing in the sky. A gusty wind is where it really shines. The wind began varying widely & a few times I flew to the side of the window with the lines singing as large long gusts nearly blew my Tilley off. Last I flew the Christmas kite, my Prism Bora 7. It is a looker & would have been willing to fly with all the line out. Had a few spectators that day so I tried extra hard. Round here I am the best flier, the worst flier, the only flier. SHBKF

Thanks for the comments. Long work hours have kept me quiet for some time now. I need to awaken from my winter slumber & soar in the stormy skies. Yesterday morning I smelled spring on the way. Later the robins in the yard confirmed it. SHBKF

Sometimes true love takes time... SHBKF

So it's dang cold tonight with no prospect of flying a kite anytime soon. So I am reading this interesting topic. At this location, out here in the sticks, I too once had a party line. We didn't call it hacking way back then but someone spliced into my line about two miles away. They used it carefully & had free phone for quite some time. I finally called the investigator after about getting kicked out of my home by an irate spouse who heard someone talking to a lady one night.... but not really on this topic. Just a little story for your amusement. SHBKF

I am using what Wayne suggested, the Zen tubes for verticals and the race/two wrap/race leading edge. I have tried the full black race frame in the Zen but could not discern any advantage. The Zen tubes seem just fine as verticals. So by only using two of the black race tubes I have three left over from my full set that I now have in my Sedgwick as the leading edge. Verticals take the highest stress during flight, leading edge tubes take a beating during crashes. Just trust me on this because somehow I know..... SHBKF Zen on the left, Sedgwick on the right

Congratulations on the bonus. I too sometimes add a nice kite when unanticipated funds show up. Your description of your Revolution kites, handles & line sets answer many of the preliminary questions we might ask. Sounds like you have it all covered to me. The Zen is a different kite when compared to the 1.5's for sure. I had flown a Revolution 1 Sedgwick quite a bit before I got my Zen. It had taught me to slow down a bit. I was still flying without much brake in my handle leaders & I was zooming around fluttering with the smaller wings. When I received my Zen I wanted to fly it as factory issued for some time before moving onto the suggested changes. To me, the Zen rods seemed to make the kite sort of rubbery in it's responses. I also had trouble with my inputs to the point that I jerked the kite out of the sky or flew off the side of the window. Eventually I moved to the suggested framing you mentioned and it made quite a difference. I am still learning to say the least. Light lines & longer line lengths will be preferred by some. Persevere & you will be rewarded with that Zen experience. It's not for everyone though. When conditions are favorable I am amazed at the huge window you can fly it in. I anxiously await other's posts. Wishing you well with your new wing. SHBKF

Love it, the flight. the kite & the music. Reminds me of the kite that gave me the break through to repeatable fades. Hmm, now where did that kite come from.... Thanks man, SHBKF

I don't know, kites make me want to boogie. So I am always moving to some degree. But each time you pass low in front of your body the kites slows a little as the shadow swirls the wind. The fans did not have much air flow very high. Mostly the air seemed to be fifteen feet or lower. Also the wind did not extend out very far. Nature's wind is much more powerful. Our efforts seem so puny compared to it. SHBKF

I have actually tried flying in the air of banks of large exhaust fans. Limited window, short lines & your own wind shadow is noticeable. You can find these winds at greenhouses & large factories. Have not been asked to leave either of those type locations....yet. SHBKF

You're a good man.

Guess I've been watching kite flying videos for several years now. Early on I was impressed with the skill displayed but really had no clue as to what was going on. I too wanted to know more of the specifics of each video. Then, as I read more & flew more, I began to understand that my inland winds were never going to be ideal. Looking at the wide flat mostly treeless landscape in the video I realize what a great spot that he has found for kite flying. Also I could not comprehend the slack line dualie tricks but the Rev flying was easier to view. So I worked on both. As time has passed I found that my skills slowly improved. But I now I know that I will have to develop several styles to take advantage of my changing sketchy flying conditions. Still working on that I am. SHBKF

My first memory of kite flying goes back to the fifties. It was a spring time activity for all the children of the suburban neighborhood I was being raised in at the time. I would say kite flying is one of my earlier memories. I know how old I was at the time because we had just moved to our new home in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. That would put my age at five the following spring. My brother is six years older than I am so he would lead me through all my young adventures. So my first flights would be just to be one of the gang so to speak. We had small kites from Hi-Flier that were traditional diamond kites made of paper, string & wooden framework. Cotton string was used for kite lines. We flew in the street in front of our home as we would not have thought to find a better place. Of course our kites did not last too long as we were pretty rough on them. Also we had the typical issues with phone lines & trees. Kites were commonly seen hung up on the overhead lines throughout my youth. In later years, the eighties, I was on a vacation in a coastal beach community & I saw a professional kite flier for the first time. He owned a kite shop & was flying a set of five dual line diamond kites in the evening darkness from a boardwalk in front of his store. I recently spoke with this man & he told me that they were Peter Powell kites. I had never seen anything like that & was drawn back into the kite world of those days. A short time later I bought my first sport kite. Then there was a time my life was occupied with other pursuits & kite flying died off for me. Three & a half years ago I saw a cool kite in a clearance store, bought it & have not stopped flying since then. I don't know specifically why I fly kites. It just speaks to my soul somehow. It is not about wanting to fly like bird but perhaps to just join them in the sky with my sail. SHBKF image from an online seller

Early morning, the house is quiet, the crow caws as I drink my coffee & watch Krijn fly the Enigma in higher winds. Clarity of thought while all is well & I achieve some insight for my perception. Flying in light wind is more graceful. It calms my soul. Each time you fly the world of wind is a bit different & the kite shows it well. Higher winds have always excited me but the light wind is subtle & magical when you gently play in the sky. Just out here in the woods, SHBKF

Your flying has always mesmerized me. It's a perfect blend of style & skill. Wow is insufficient. Thanks Master, SHBKF

I get ya Frankie. I really like your style. I feel the article was written to help give direction to novice fliers like me. While I have advanced a bit it still helps me to focus my efforts. Intent is still important for my Rev flying plus I am involved with many other types of kites as well. So I use the thought across the spectrum. Your videos are inspiring to me. I am flying short line urban type flying more & more as I find it works well for my local inland condition. Plus I really get a kick out of it. Keep flyin, SHBKF