Captainbob

OK, I got it right now. . Thanks everyone.

OK. O see where I have it wrong. now. I have the short end, and the long 11" end reversed.

Well I think I have it fixed. Took about 45 minutes. As was pointed out, the left side was the correct side. The right side was a hodge bodge of knots and loops, so what I did was I took all of them out except the bottom one. Now I was left with the bottom loop of both sides matching in position. Then I just worked my way towards the spar end cap, duplicating what I had on the left side, and I believe I have it perfect now. Both sides are equal length, and look identical to each other.. ( I need a Martini now..... )

I am been looking forward to today for days. Forecast wind, 9 mph. weather clear, etc. So I head for the field next to my home. First thing I do is unwind the lines that I equalized yesterday, and carefully wrapped when I was done. I did not use JB's method of winding them straight, I went by the method on the DVD I got from Revolution and used a figure 8. After I got the lines unwound and hooked up to the kite, somehow I had gotten a tangled mess from one end to the other. I finally took one line at a time and walked back and forth and back and forth , to get the twists and turns out of it. Time spent about 45 minutes. Now I start to assemble the kite, and I cannot get the spars to slip into the center spar . Twisting and turning and pushing, I was actually afraid I was going to break something trying to get them to slide together. I decided, to pull one all the way out to look at the end to make sure it wasn't solid ( big mistake). It looked OK, so I slid it back in and when it got to the place where the first bungee is located for the top bottom spar, end caps, it wouldn't go past there. The bungee cord was so tight, that the spar would not slip past the bungee in the sleeve that it slides into. Finally after wrestling with that for about 10 minutes, I get it to slide past, and finally get the two spars inserted in the middle one. Now I hook up my lines, get everything ready, wind is a steady 10 mph, and I am ready to launch. I launch the kite, and immediately it rolls quickly to the right and land's inverted right next to where it was launched from.. Hey if I was trying to do this purposely, it would have looked impressive. So I have watched enough tutorial videos by JB, so rather than walking all the way to the kite, I am going to try an inverted launch and go up just a few feet, to see what happens. As soon as the kite starts to rise, it spins hard to the right again and lands upright his time, perfectly I might add. Meanwhile, I am holding the left brake on and right thumb back and it still wants to spin to the right........ Hmmmmm something isn't right here. I walk to the kite and look carefully at it, trying to figure out why the control seems to be screwed up, and I suddenly notice that the bottom bridle on the left and right side are totally different. One is about 5 -6 inches shorter than the other and is constructed totally differently from the other side. One has a loop that extends about 12 inches from the vertical spar end cap, and the other side has a series of knots, loops, and the only place to hook the line on is about 6" down from the opposite endcap. Now the question of the day, is which side is correct, since it's obvious one of these sides was assembled by someone that was trying to design his own unique bridle design. So now what, do I give up, or try and fix this so I can fly. So decided to try and untie some of the knots and loops on the shorter side, because that side looked the weirdest of the two sides. After a half hour struggling to get the knots which were really tight loose, and moving things around, I still couldn't get that side to look anywhere near like the other side. Now the wind was starting to disappear, I was thinking that launching with an asymmetrical bridle was probably pretty high on the " don't ever do this " list, so I packed up the SLE, wound the line ( this time using JB's method) and headed for home. I guess the best thing to do at this point is call the dealer and have them send me another bridle, since I have zero confidence on trying to jury rig this one and rely on it. I think if the bridle had been OK, I would have had a nice day of flying. You can see the obvious difference between the right and left bottom bridle attachments.

Sounds like a plan....

I found this Kite fly today, using Google..... Tybee Island Kite Flying Festival Tybee Island Kite Flying Festival at the North Beach parking lot entrance @ Museum and beach area! Come out and fly a kite to support and create awareness about Parkinson’s and other movement disorders. Event Details Start date April 27, 2014 Start time 11:00 am End date April 27, 2014 End time 5:22

I was really looking forward to the Festival in Ft Walton Beach the end of March, but it was apparently cancelled. I wonder if they have any other Kite festivals planned for the Southeast this year? Well, I Googled, and just found this one, on Tybee Island: Tybee Island Kite Flying Festival Tybee Island Kite Flying Festival at the North Beach parking lot entrance @ Museum and beach area! Come out and fly a kite to support and create awareness about Parkinson’s and other movement disorders. Event Details Start date April 27, 2014 Start time 11:00 am End date April 27, 2014 End time 5:22

I'm pretty sure that's in one of the tutorials. Yes it is, can't remember which one, but I watched them all at least 1/2 dozen times.

Going back to my piloting days, and Murphy's law, if something is going to go bad it will, I marked one of the handles today with a big piece of red shipping tape. Red for right. and now no possible way to mix up the handles when distracted by something. By the way, I decided to order some spare small parts last night, like end caps, etc... so I won't have to stop flying the Rev if something "falls off".. http://www.awindofchange.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AWOC&Product_Code=rev_caps_connectors&Category_Code=

But I keep those rings on both ends, Wayne ? As for right & left, a quick slash of red spray paint always works............ I do hope that people realize that we are being facetious, here ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: fa·ce·tious Full Definition of FACETIOUS1: joking or jesting often inappropriately : waggish <just being facetious> 2: meant to be humorous or funny : not serious <a facetious remark> About a year ago, someone posted on an Android phone forum that he had got water on his phone and wanted to know how to dry it out. Someone posted that he should put it in a microwave oven for 5 minutes on high. Apparently he did, and reported the next day that when he took it out of the oven, the front screen had cracked......

Is that an overhand knot?

Without the vertical spars, it wouldn't fly at all. The sail would just flop around in the wind, as it hung from the leading edge. What we are talking about, is some people get mixed up, and put the vertical spars on the front side of the kite (the side towards you, or the windward side). When they are put in that way, the wind could easily blow the sail out the back, and break those spars (or look like a pig) Just make sure that they are on the back side of the sail (opposite side from the bridle & logo & YOU). Like the first rule of flying when I got my pilots license, "Always Preflight..... and be sure to make sure there is a wing on both sides of the plane.......

But if you get it wrong, you can always take heart in the fact that our fearless leader nearly abandoned revs because he was setting them up wrong and they subsequently flew like pigs. All the love, JB I would imagine that without those spars it would fly like a pillow case.

Well today is the day that UPS delivers my new Rev SLE........Can't wait to start setting up. Watching the tutorial videos every day.

Just got back from Walmart, I got 2 two pound weights, they didn't have 1 pound, but I think that weight should be perfect. They should roll right off with a tug on the lines.

Can't seem to get that link to work.

Well I finally got to actually fly my HQ Symphony 1.8 today. I was at work and we were really slow and the winds were reading 16 mph at home, so I jumped in the car and drove home. Since I had to self launch this foil kite, I grabbed a long 2 by 4 at work to lay on the trailing edge, which seemed to work OK. I had read on a post this morning that a length of chain that would be on a kids swing set works better, and of course is easier to cart around than a 3 foot 2 by 4, so I have to stop at Home Depot this week and get some. . I was really surprised how fast it accelerates in a strong breeze, really gets your attention. I also noticed when it gets to the top of the wind window, it's almost directly overhead.... I did some figure 8's, and some dives towards the ground ( some unintentional) but managed to pull it out just in time. One time I tried standing the kite up, and putting the board on the trailing edge, instead of letting the kite lay on it's back, figuring it would be easier to launch, since the sail would already be filled. As I was walking back to the staked control handles, I saw the line start rising off the ground... The kite was flying......... I ran for the handles, but by the time I got that it had already crashed..... Scrap that method of launching. At the end of the session, the wind started getting weaker and going from a gust to a lull, so the kite would be flying along and then just lose it's lift and kind of fold up and crumple to the ground. At that point I decided to call it a day. Anyway it was a blast, and can't wait to fly again.

Well I guess I am quickly learning that you can't always take the advice of every dealer. One dealer who sold a competitive kite, told me this morning that the Niknak "would not work outdoors". I was going to order one up till he said that... Oh well, maybe my next SUL....

Have been thinking about buying another kite to fly in very low winds and have been looking at these four kites which are in my price range. I did some research today and called some dealers asking for information on these four kites. and here are my results: 1. Prism 4D. Fly's well, parts are easy to find and I might even order some parts to get a repair kit on hand. , wide wind range. Seems to be a favorite of some of the forum members. 2. HQ Shadow - apparently obtaining exact replacement parts is not supported very well if at all, by the company, which I was told when I contacted them a couple of weeks ago. Not comfortable with having to search for repair parts if needed. 3. Sky Burner Nik Nak ( was told that is it a better indoor kite than outdoors, where I would be flying it) 4. Airwave UL ( again parts problems in case exact replacements are need. So I decided to go with the Prism 4D, since I have heard and read many positive comments about it and Prism's great support of their products. Got one on order. I even ordered a few spare parts already from Prism.

Looks like a great flying kite in that video. Think that will be my next purchase.

Regarding the leaders, I called a Kite shop today, http://www.thekiteshoppe.com/ and spoke to someone there and he knew exactly what type of leaders I I wanted, which he had already made up. By the way, he says that JB is frequently in his shop, so sounds like he knows what he is talking about. So I ordered a set of leaders for my yet to arrive Rev SLE, which by the way, is supposed to arrive this coming Thursday. It's like Christmas, all over again....

Nice music too ( and I am a musician. )

Let's see I have a new Rev SLE on the way, that I bought last week, so I could put this one right next to it....

Will do....

Yeah, my first kite, which I just tried flying today for the first time, is a HQ Symphony 1.8. Unfortunately the wind was not cooperating about 1 hour ago when I was at the field, with it steady at 1 mph, so the only practice I got was setting up the kite and folding it back up again, and winding the lines a few times. . I should have known, because before I went to the field I looked at http://www.caniflymykite.com/ and it said NO!!