Jim Foster

Stephen Laugh not! At one of the Kite Partys in Huntington Beach there was to be a small quad mega fly on Sunday. Lines had been restricted to 50' that year, but 75' was to be used for the quad fly. Saturday evening at home I found an old set of 75s I hadn't flown for some time. On Sunday I went to set them up and they were a real mess. I was trying to get them untangled and looked up to find Ron Despojado and Mark Lummas helping to get me into the air. Help from high places happens......and is very welcome. Jim

cbabbman has it right. I put a knot in the very end of the sheathing of the top lines at one end and the botton lines at the other end. This keeps the lines the same length and allows you to larks head the sets together at both ends without them coming apart. I leave those knots in. Detatch the lines from the kite and larks head each set together, then lay them on the ground. Detatch the lines from the handles and larks head each set together. Insert one set into one slot of the winder and the other set into the other slot. With the winder in one hand, grab all four lines in the other hand with your index finger between the two sets. I wind in a figure eight, holding the lines tight to the winder while walking toward the kite end of the lines as I wind. Pay no mind to the difference in length when you reach the end. No one seems to be able to explain why this happens.. Bungie the lines and you are done. Next time, attatch the lines to the handles, stake them and unwind. This swaps the lines end for end each flight, which spreads the wear. When unwound, hold the two sets out to their respective sides and pull out any faux twists. You will seldom have more than one real twist. Total setup, seldom over five minutes with 100' lines. Total take down, about the same. Jim

Come on out. Be part of the 32. Jim

We took these photos last August on the beach just north of Seaside, OR We met up with Bob Serack and he broke out his six stack (part of a 24 stack) he made of mini-revs, with tails. We flew the stack on 130 foot lines. Great fun. Jim

Sometimes I play with 40' Trilby tails. Jim

One winder.... Our longest lines are 120s. With you kite set up on the lines and staked, undo the lines, tie them in pairs, and lay them on the ground. Go remove your handles and tie the lines in pairs, left and right. I have a knot at the very end of the sleeving on the top lines at one end and the bottom lines on the other end. that keeps the lines the same length and allows you to larks head them together. Put one set in each slot, secure with bungie in both slots.. With the index fingure of your left hand between the sets, wind in a figure eight, holding tension on all four lines. Tension seems to be the key. At the end, the line sets may not be exactly the same length, makes no difference. Undo the bungie, then wrap it around the winder and back into both slots. Set-up: Undo the bungie and unwrap about three feet of line sets. Re-attach the bungy to both slots, but not around the winder. Attach the lines to your handles and stake as though the kite was attached. Walk out to the end of the lines letting them out while holding the winder by the hole at the center, letting the lines play out. You may need to give them a little help. Take the ends of the two sets out of the winder and hold them apart. If you can see them twisted together, turn them around each other to get the twist out. Otherwise go ahead and attach them to the kite and set the kite upright. Go back to the handles and get out any twists that may be there. The above method swaps the lines end to end each time you set up, so that the spot where they wear near the middle is spread out rather than being in one place. The only time we have had any trouble is when we have deviated from the above for some reason. Jim

When flying vented with three wrap spars, if the wind gets stronger, just add a set of two wrap leading edge spars right along side of the three wrap spars. It makes the kite stiff enough to fly in higher wind and flexable enough to be smooth. Learned that from Barresi. Thank you John Jim

Just got the latest version. Great job Mike. Great. Thank you for your hard work. To those of you who are nervous about flying together, you will get over it. Quickly. Once you start flying with someone else, flying alone is not nearly as much fun.

John Welcome to the forum. Ostend...........our favorite city is not far from you, Brugges. The next time we come across the pond we'll have to get to together for a quad fly. Jim

Here is a photo of all 10 Jim

Don't forget Washington. Whidbey Island, Ocean Shores and, oh yes, that little week long thing called WSIKF in Long Beach in August (20th - 26th this year), and others. Jim

Just got home from flying at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa. Lynn and I had been flying our quads together for a few minutes when a family with three small children walked onto the field and stopped right in the right side of our window, about half way between us and our kites. The children started running all around the field. They had a "Nemo" single line kite. You know the ones that will cut a sport line like a hot knife through butter? Young Alex Herzon was flying just to our left. We landed and I asked if they intended to fly their kite there, if so we would move on down the field. They figured out in a hurry that they may not want to be there. They moved down some and Lynn and I continued to play "Grab Ass" in the sky. The family flew "Nemo" for a little while, then spent nearly an hour watching our two matching patriotic Revs flying up, down and around each other, painting the sky with red, white and blue. For other kite flyers, education may be the answer. For ball players, other methods may be in order. Had a great fly, Jim

We fly at a park in Costa Mesa, CA. It is under the control of the city. The city found over the years that field sports tended to tear up the grass, especially if cleats are used. Some years ago several kite flyers in the area asked the city council to designate a portion of the park for kite flying. They did just that. However, they did not post it as such. What they did was put up signs in two languages that use of the field by groups of ten or more requires a permit. It is still abused on occasion, but for the most part there is compliance. Jim

John I think your idea of inviting them to give it a try is a good one. At the very least they will get some idea of what is happening in that space and that it might not be a good idea for them to try to place themselves there. At the best, you just might get someone started in this fun hobby of ours. Maybe, someone to fly quads with. Jim

Ben Just sent mine to you. I'm sure Lynn will follow soon. Jim

ant Nice kite. Lynn and I love the patriotic theme. Jim

With regard to leading edge screen. We made or first kite, the flame quad, without leading edge screen. It flew just fine in light wind, as John can tell you. He flew it for half an hour one morning at WSIKF on 35 foot lines in very light wind. Flying in higher wind is a different story. The kite would fly backwards as long as you didn't try to go too fast. Spinning in it's own space (bicycle), the side of the kite flying backwards tended to force the side of the kite flying forwards to fly a little faster. This could be overcome somewhat with control. A while back I added leading edge screen. Problems solved. I think that if the leading edge screen didn't help the performance of a Rev, Revolution would not go to all the trouble to add it. It makes the leading edge very complex if you do it the way they do. Jim

As most know, Lynn and I have made four quads. The flamed quad and the checkered quad both won first place ribbons at WSIKF in 2005. We also made two patriotic vented quads. We have six Revolution quads. The first was a blue and pink EXP that I modified to the patriotic design that I fly most. We just bought another blue and pink EXP which we will modify to match the first as we like matching kites when we fly together. It will be done by kite party. Both Lolly and Joe have seen our home made quads and have been assurred that we will not make any to sell, or give as gifts, only for our use. Making a quad is lots of work. It is far easier to earn the money, and buy a Revolution. And yes, when someone asks where they can get a kite like ours we always say, "Go buy a Revolution". Jim

Baloo My wife and I both fly Revs. We started with EXPs which came with 11" handles. Three years in Long Beach Washington we bought a set of 13" handles. Liked them so well that I modified the old 11" sets. Very simple. 1/4 inch rod from the hardware store fits perfectly into the stainless tube. I forced them in as far as I could, drilled an 1/8" hole through where the "hog ring" was removed and used a 1/8" pop rivet. I then cut the rod 2 1/4" longer than the stainless and drilled a hole about 1/4" from the end for the lower pig tail. I then cut a hole in the end of the vinyl cap and slid it over the new rod to it's original position on the stainless, covering the pop rivet. Looks good and works very well. Go fly, Jim

Get an "E" guitar string. About $1.25 at a music store. Sometimes they will give you a broken one. They usually break at one end or the other. Fold it double to form a great sheathing tool. Jim Foster

I have had the same problem. Mine was caused by the coating wearing off and the carbon frm the spar rubbing on the kite. I washed it off with mild soap and water. I then re-coated the spars with Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating #1303. I now re-doat whenever the spar gets dull. No more marks on my kites.