andykaplan

JWharton - No, hadn't seen those videos, will check them out. (JB's video tutorials here have been very helpful). Riffclown - Thanks, will try it today.

Okay, had a bit of a chance to fly and try out the suggestions. Definitely some improvement.... But: Was working on the ladder up and down, while "pinning" (or at least immobilizing) the hand that wasn't turning. As Wayne said, up was *much* easier than down. In fact, i couldn't really ladder down without at least a bit of movement in the "off" hand. The wing that was supposed to do the turn either didn't move enough or seemed to get stuck partway through the turn. A tiny touch of reverse on the other wing made it happen, but then it didn't really tip pivot (a bit of center spin). Any more advice for the ladder down?

Thanks all for the quick responses - very helpful. I'll give the advice a try today or tomorrow and come back if I still have questions. Much appreciated!

All of the above. The pivot point moves around, and the kite doesn't make smooth circles around the point. (Not too bad on overall altitude up/down). (I also find it's better in one direction than the other -- I find I have to be more conscious about moving my left (non-dominant) hand more than my right one. And I find that parts of the circle -- for example, the top half or right half -- is smoother than the bottom.)

I'm a developing rev flyer looking for some advice on tip pivots. I'm feeling pretty good about my bicycle turns (center pivot rotation clock turns), although there is still some room for improvement -- but my tip pivots aren't real pretty and are very inconsistent. Any tips (other than "practice, practice, practice")? Much appreciated. By the way -- as far as I can tell, anything less than expert rev flyers are kind of like baby pigeons -- I never see them!

I think I broke them both on a full sail 1.5 in about 10-15 mph winds. (I was using at least one GT 3-wrap rod). I was extra surprised that, both times, it was a vertical shaft that broke. I haven't been flying that long -- but I've definitely flown the older 3-wrap rods in much stronger winds without damage.

The problem is that it seems that I can't mix newer rods (green label) with older rods (no label or silver label). Unfortunately, I've broken a rod or two from an older frame -- and can't use the rods from the newer frame to replace. And now that a couple of the green label rods have snapped (which has never happened before), I have two partial frames.

I don't know the "real" difference -- but with the new green label 3-wrap rods, I've broken *two* *vertical* spars in moderate winds (in separate events). They both snapped right at the end of the green label. I've never snapped or broken another rod in my other 2-wrap, 3-wrap, or 4-wrap frames. Wonder if there are other manufacturing changes?

Thanks for the reply -- but I may have been unclear. I already own a few Revs (all 1.5's of some flavor) and would call myself an intermediate flyer. I'm intrigued by the Reflex, but haven't seen a real one nor spoken to anyone that's really flown it...so I'm trying to get a feel for who should buy it. The review has lots of pros and cons, so I was trying to ask for a more "boiled down" answer: a) is it ready for prime time, or are there still real issues to work out, and b ) where does it fit (is it just "different", is it a Zen alternative (don't have one of those but do fly in light wind with my SUL) c) is it kind of an easy to fly kite (marketed with "autopilot", so...?) or just another flavor of Rev with its own characteristics? Thanks!

Paul - Great review, very helpful....but I'm still wondering if you have a recommendation for purchase: now or wait for some of the kinks to be worked out? For those who don't have a Zen looking for low wind performance? For a fun alternative? For those of us less skilled (more forgiving kite at the expense of performance?) Where do you come out?