SHBKF

This is exactly how I got my Rev B out of a palm tree one night I walked toward the tree & the kite somehow lowerered to be reachable. A bit scary at first, thought the lines were gone. Quite a night, But oh what a night! I got my thirty foot line set free, reattached the kite & continued flying for quite some time. Best night time "urban flying in the campground" session ever. SHBKF

I agonized quite a bit before choosing the Widow Maker. Just one is not like me at all. I love so many kites. But the WM makes me smile so much when the wind is right. Some kites are just exceptional. SHBKF

Ditto, almost a constant companion already, thanks Rob, SHBKF

Wow! Niels first post is to accept the coveted B2 prize! Could it get any better? Hope we hear much more from you Niels. Welcome to the KiteLife. Not so long ago I was a surprised winner of a three stack of Peter Powells myself. The B2 is a very special Rev. Hope you have great joy flying yours. Best Wishes, SHBKF image of my little purple wing

The Z was the first decent quality modern dualie I bought just over four years ago. First time I flew it I thought, "WOW, so this is what a good kite is like!". It was the first kite I rolled up, flew around & unrolled. I had "Know Eye Deer" what was even going on but knew it was cool. Flew it a bunch, broke it in a heavy gust, repaired the lower spreader then bought a second Zephyr as a spare. Still a kite I fly often. Guess I like it to say the least. It comes ready to fly with decent lines, straps & versatile sleeve. The lines that mine came with were 150# x 85'. I like to fly on 90# x 100' lines. 50# lines are too light IMHO. If the wind picks up I would go to a bit stronger standard kite. You can fly in light wind if you want to work a bit. Removing the upper spreader helps. I like it in 4 to 12 mph winds. Just my "For what it's worth" SHBKF

Thank you all so much. The kind greetings are greatly appreciated. Life has been generous with me. It's been a monumental day but no wind, sigh. No kites as gifts today but I suspect Santa's sleigh may have some powering it this Christmas. SHBKF

Wisdom from you all, hints that might never arrive in my thoughts, help sent to me like you've all read my mind. And it seems like it's just when I need it. I love the KiteLife. Thanks, you all have "Know Eye Deer" how you've helped someone just out here in the sticks. Well, maybe you do. Best Wishes, SHBKF

Keep em in the air, it just keeps getting better. I smiled when you mentioned kites not yet flown. After just over four years of more active flying I still have kites I have not yet flown. Seems they just keep coming to the Kite Dungeon. SHBKF

Because of this topic I have been trying to improve my meager sliding skills of late. Recently I was flying the Widow Maker. There were quite a number of people on the beach that day & I knew sport kites with long tails were always enjoyed by spectators. I had bought a new 50' ribbon tail so I landed & hooked it up. I am not a great sky writer but amused myself for some time trying to do entertaining movements. Slack line tricks are not too good an idea with a long tail but I thought hmm... how about a slide? Gave it a try and made it quite a ways across the window in a fairly strong breeze with a good looking slide. Maybe the best I had ever done! Is it cheating? Maybe. But it is doable & no doubt valid practice. It looked great with that long tail trailing below. Pulling flat tails with a dualie eventually rolls them into tubes. Maybe that's how tube tails were invented. Next day I used the 75' tube tail. Could not slide as far but it looked marvelous. Give it a try sometime. SHBKF

Really good to see you here on KiteLife. I enjoyed meeting you on the beach. I am a solo flier nearly all the time so it was very extraordinary to fly with you. Your Rev flying inspired me to push quad sport wings a bit further. Explore this site & meet the fine people of the forum. Join us in chat if you have the notion. It is a real time discussion of mostly kites but not exclusively. People that are my kite heroes actually chat we me now. If you see the red chat marker on the tab line just click right in. We love company. May you always have the joy of smooth winds. SHBKF Hope you enjoyed a little Nirvana.......

No apologies necessary, I really enjoy hearing the advise even after several years of exploring the world of kites. You have received excellent advise from people who have been my mentors on my journey through KiteLife. I have done all the above suggested things & can say that for me it just keeps getting better. Follow your heart or even just your whims. I bought kites because of their colors for some time. I liked blue & white, sky & clouds I thought. Don't worry about being in a big hurry to fly em all or learn everything at once. It is the journey down the path that always pleases me the most. Well at least for me that is true. Best wishes & hope to see your kites fly someday. SHBKF

I liked mine so much I conspired to get family members to gift me four more at Christmas time. Kind of turned into a power kite setup. SHBKF Image of early stack with homemade 36" link lines. Currently have on four foot links & usually fly with blue tails.

Stepped outside to do some chores this morning & heard that magic sound, the wind chimes in the gazebo. If the wind is blowing down in the little hollow where I live it is usually flyable over in a nearby hay field. Down in the dungeon I grabbed a few more kites to put in the truck with the everyday carry selection that lives on the back floorboard. Sun shining, temperatures in the fifties, wind measured at 8 to 10 mph. Flew the Nirvana standard for a bit to get the feel of the sky so to speak. Then attempted a session with the Rev 1.5 three stack but the gusty changing wind was not too good for smooth flying. So out came the Riff modded Symphony as I fly it on the same lines & handles as the stack. I flew it for a long time. I am really beginning to develop a relationship with the little foil. This kite really excels in gusty inland conditions. Nothing seems to phase it. I continue to improve my flying of the kite as I get more of a feel for what it likes. One thing I tried today seems to be useful. If you give the handles repeated short pumps, (whumps?), the kite's cells fill firmly & it moves forward gaining speed & the apparent wind effect sends you on your way again. The wind picked up & turned into a extra vent Tekken kind of day so I flew the pretty blue kite for some time. I heard the roar of a couple low flying jets above me & looked up to see two A-10 Warthogs fly over. Ah yes, what a sight to see on Veteran's Day. We salute you, SHBKF

Just got back from a field session with a custom Riff Special. Had tried before in lighter wind & realized I needed a bit more so I waited until the wind, weather & available time coalesced into a beautiful October afternoon. The wind was an uneven ten to fifteen with gusts into the twenties. First tried four different style single line kites with only the Prism Bora 7 willing to tolerate the variable strong winds. Carefully staked it out & put my grandson in charge of monitoring the pretty kite. Time to use one set of quad lines that had a questionable heritage. I had received them in a used kite buy & really did not know the weight or length. They had no sleeves & I finally decided they were 200# x 100' home brewed. Quite an exercise in laying them out but with calm careful patience I unsnarled them in about ten minutes. Attached the kite, then a set of Rev power handles. Gave the handles a sharp pop & the kite inflated, taking to the air easily. The kite was flying in changing wind directions & pressures with no problems at all. An earlier late summer light wind session had exhibited some tip collapse in the narrow window but none of that occurred with the stronger winds of autumn. Of course that earlier issue could have been be the flier/flailer me. A big gust came along & the little wing started to really pull moving me around a bit. Ground passes were very straight & easily controlled. Flying to the top of the window straight over my head I felt like the kite could have given enough lift for little hops. But I really enjoyed diving straight down with a dive stop, spin & back to the top. Backward flight was easily accomplished even though the leading edge ram air effect into the cells was lost causing the kite to fly as a sheet. If you did it slowly enough the cells would stay inflated. The kite is easily backed down to a landing straight down wind using the brakes. It parks well & is easily relaunched. As the wind varied up & down I tried flying to the side of the window & pausing about twenty feet up. The kite stayed pasted to the spot very well. Launches, inverted launches, dive stops, spins, reverse flight, inverted flight, hovers, I really like this kite! I need some lab grade beach wind to really explore this great kite further. A very worthwhile modification of a two line beach kite, a winner Riff! Thanks, SHBKF

Martyn, Greetings from out here in the woods in the mountains of Virginia! I too have left the work-a-day world were I was a small cog in a large wheel. Sounds like you have some very interesting kites. Look forward to hearing further & hope you will post some pictures of them. You have found a great place for all things kite. Welcome to the KiteLife, Ralph aka SHBKF

This may be a bit tongue in cheek but I have pondered using the large diameter SLE 1.5 leading edge tubes as verticals. No doubt it would change the balance of the kite & be a bit heavier than a conventional 3 wrap. But you would be less concerned about breaking the highly strained "spines" of the kite. Of course then you get to start being worried about sail stretching in higher winds. That's the thing about the quads, very versatile with all sorts of tuning possibilities. SHBKF

My kite mentors suggested early on that I would do well to use a larger kite. Many fliers start out with smaller kites as they are more affordable & perhaps a bit less intimidating. An eight foot kite, or what used to be called a full sail, will generally fly more slowly & be easier to see in the sky. I fly shorter lines at times to enable me to see exactly what the kite is doing. Some kites, like this Will Sturdy Saber II, are designed to fly more slowly. It has an extra deep sail. It can be disconcerting to fly in lighter winds as you have to actually wait for it to slowly cross the window. It gets there in it's own good time. Early on I tried to fly some slower kites & thought there was something wrong with them. Of course it wasn't the kite, it was me. Now, with more experience, I like the slower flight as I have more time to think about what's next. But the kite that really taught me to fly more slowly was the Skyburner Pro Dancer SUL. The PD has a very shallow sail & is a very different kite. Thanks for posting this topic as it has given me much to ponder & try next time I'm out there in the field. SHBKF

Welcome to the forum. Glad to hear you have rekindled your KiteLife. I love hearing the stories of peoples connection with kites as they come & go in their lives. It is great to hear you have supportive people in your family. My wife gave me my first TRLBYs, my first Rev & other several other fine kites. Look forward to hearing from you further. SHBKF Her Christmas gift to me four years ago Her birthday gift to me the same year. What a Lady!

In the world of cost no object reinforced plastics a technique called filament winding is employed for complete control of the characteristics of the final product. This might be done in an item like a radome for a the nose of an aircraft where consistency is important for imaging accuracy of the radar antenna it covers. The radome is wound, cured, ground & then corrected on a radar range. If we could make our own mandrels, source resins & fibers, we could fabricate our own custom tubes with a bit of experimentation & practice. These would not have a spine. It would be quite extreme to do so not to mention a bit expensive. Just out here in the sticks thinkin', SHBKF

I would love to bring it to my home in Virginia. I will take it. Thanks! SHBKF

PM sent edit 9/30/16 Dang! missed it this time but there remains a special one out there for me I'm sure. SHBKF