Captainbob

I had very briefly thought about getting a full vent Rev, when I bought my mid vent, and am very glad I didn't. I think in the last 5 months, I might have been able to fly a full vent, maybe once, if that much, due to the winds in my area.

With the Mid vent, on the ground the wind was around 6 mph. at altitude around 12-14 mph. This is pretty typical in Atlanta. Today I flew for about 2 hours, in another field, and ground was around 4-6 and probably around 14+ at 30+ feet, judging by the way the dualie I was flying, was reacting. Winds have been fantastic for days, which is unusual for me, but it looks like tomorrow, it goes back to the normal low winds, where the Niknak and Freestylist UL will get all the flying time. Btw, on the Facebook Revolution Video page, I posted the B series Midvent video, and I got a "like" from JB... .. That made my day.....

Made one more video of my Rev B Midvent which I don't get to fly very much due to winds .

Probably. but I think the Freestylist just handles better, maybe because it is larger. I just like larger kites.

I decided a couple of weeks ago to try shooting some HD videos using the camera on my smartphone, since it is capable of shooting HD 1080p definition with an 8 mpixel camera. Some phones have much more than that now, since my is a Nexus 4 which is almost 2 years old in it's design. In order to do this, I purchased an inexpensive tripod that would hold the phone, from Amazon for about $17, and a camera clamp mount to hold the phone for another $14 or so. I experimented with this rig this week, and brought it to the field this morning. The major problem I had was trying to see the screen in the very bright sunlight on the field, even with the brightness set on max. I may bring a towel or something next time, to drape over the phone while I set it in place to capture the area where I intended to fly. This morning, all I could do was to try and have the bottom of the view, on the ground, and get as high as I could by angling the phone up with the tripod. It took me a minute or two, to guestimate where it should be aimed. I started the camera and took a couple of videos. The hardest thing was trying to figure out where I could fly and not fly out of the range of the camera, but I think I was pretty lucky in figuring this out, because I managed to keep the kite inside the camera view for almost all of the flight. I was concentrating more on positioning the kite more than flying it, so my flying was kind of sedate, but what I was trying to accomplish as fare as staying in view worked pretty well. This video is of my Rev SLE with magic sticks, and the second is the Freestylist UL. The wind was around 3-5 mph on the ground at the time I made these videos.

There is a difference between a nut and a knot.

Guess Devin likes the Freestylist UL too. http://www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=11353.msg100710#msg100710

Round & round... as I have said, I have flown my Zephyr in those low winds. I know other people who can, too. This was a constant topic of debate when the Z first came out, too. I was actually questioning the lower wind range at the time, but after I followed the advice of more experienced fliers (remove the weight, the upper spreader, adjust the knots towards the nose, and fly on 50' lines (which were included with the original Z)) I was able to fly mine in SUL winds. It took effort, but all light wind flying does. No, the kite is not an SUL by any stretch, but it isn't claimed to be. You are not going to be able to just stand there & get the Z to fly in 1 mph winds. It is a light standard or UL (pretty much the same thing) that is robust enough to survive beginner or intermediate abuse. Unlike a true SUL kite. the Zephyr is easily trickable, and can also be flown in double digit winds without exploding. Difference between a real UL kite like my new Freestylist UL and the present day Zephyr is like the difference between a standard sail Rev and a Mid Vent Rev. Where the Freestylist flies without effort, with weight in, spreader in, 65' 90# lines, the Zephyr struggles to stay aloft with the weight out, bridal adjusted 3/4" above the low wind knot ( per Mark Reed) and front spreader removed in the exact same wind. ( flew them back to back last week) The wind specs on the Freestylist UL are 2-12 mph. Zephyr wind specs, are 1-17mph... Prism needs to take a look at the Freestylist UL, and either change the advertised specs on the Zephyr to something more realistic, or fix it so it flies in that range. I think a more realistic range for the Zephyr would be 3 or 4 to 17. By the way, I have googled this topic and read many forum posts on the Zephyr, and it is almost always referred to by other people that have flown it as a "light standard kite" .

If you read the comments, the NYPD copter was chasing the drone, not the other way round. So who is to blame there? [ my 'aitch" key just died this morning. I have to cut'n'paste every h from somewhere else on the page. Arrgh! ] The police were chasing the drone, because the drone flyer was doing something potentially catastrophic to anyone flying in that airspace, not to mention the danger to someone getting hit by the drone. If a drone is dangerous to a helicopter, and a drone is dangerous to people on the ground, then how can the NYPD pilot justify risking the 'copter by bringing it close to a drone while the 'copter is over said crowd? Supposedly he was arrested for flying too close to the copter. I read the report of the arrest, and it is pretty clear to me that the drone was breaking multiple laws, including flying at 2,000 feet in FAA controlled airspace. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/nyregion/two-men-arrested-after-drone-flies-near-new-york-police-helicopter.html?_r=0

If you read the comments, the NYPD copter was chasing the drone, not the other way round. So who is to blame there? [ my 'aitch" key just died this morning. I have to cut'n'paste every h from somewhere else on the page. Arrgh! ] The police were chasing the drone, because the drone flyer was doing something potentially catastrophic to anyone flying in that airspace, not to mention the danger to someone getting hit by the drone.

Been waiting for your impressions. Great looking kite, too. Bill I was blown away flying this kite today, just as I was when I first flew my Niknak after weeks and weeks on the 4D. It flies itself, basically. You just have to think about what you want it to do, and it does it....

First of all, I think when you get to fly a Widow NG, you will really be surprised, and many very experienced fliers that have flown the Widow maker and the Widow NG have been surprised on how well the Widow NG flies, especially factoring in the cost. Now on the Zephyr, I have read post after post after post, that clearly state that the Zephyr is not an SUL or even a UL, it is a light standard, period. Haven't read one post yet, that raved about it's low wind performance. The difference, for me, between flying the Zephyr and flying the Freestylist UL, is like the difference in driving a Corvette compared to a Lincoln Navigator. The Zephyr feels heavy flying, and it also feels heavy just carrying it in the bag. Not sure what it weighs, because it seems that Prism doesn't want that shown on their website, but I'm betting it weighs alot more than other low wind kites. . The other issue with the Zephyr is the trailing edge flutter which acts like a speed brake any time the wind picks up, which I think is part of the problem. As soon as the kite achieves some decent speed, the TE starts buzzing, and the kite slows down. No, I haven't set the leech line, because of the reported problems with trailing edge wear, and the leech line ripping through the TE if the leech line is used. I have asked on the Prism facebook page about using the leech line, and received no response at all from anyone, users, or the company. I have read quite a few posts from people in the UK, where if you claim a product can do something , and it can't, you can get into legal trouble. They are all surprised that Prism hasn't been called out on their 1-17MPH claim, which is obviously not true.