Traveller Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 "Back Tracker - Sportwing by Revolution" says the ad on the last page of the Fall 1994 issue of American Kite. I was looking through my kite mags for an article describing the various sail materials when I came across this Revolution ad. Looks to me like the forerunner of the EXP as the Rev I & II were already available @ that time. 65", 6.2Oz. A little small to be an EXP, no? Which brings to mind another question of mine... who's been flying Revs the longest (in this forum)? Enquiring minds want to know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 Shhh.. <_< we don't mention the back tracker to much... it's like the red headed stepchild who didn't live up to expectations. Rev. had the right idea. Make an affordable kite for new people. But the back tracker was faster, the lines-shorter, making it faster yet,... and ehmm, the handles were just yuk! So for a new person, it could be a very frustrating experience. But throw on some tails to slow it down, or long lines, or even rev. handles and you had a wonderful flying kite, but new people didn't know this. The exp was created and still affordable. The Backtracker sold for about $99. The EXP sales for a little more. I've only been flying since 1990-91. Elizabeth has what they belive is one of the first 10 ever built. It has a printed date of 1989 on it. and they weren't suppose to be selling them then. BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 Yeah, same here... I picked up my first Rev in August of 1990. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 We're getting older. What's really something is when my friends who try flying for the first time, after passing on the opportunity to try it in the past get hooked and say, "Wow! I wish I had tried this 10 years ago when I first had the chance!" BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Progcraft Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 I've still got my Backtracker sail. It's a good 8 years old (maybe 9) now. Still in awesome shape. I stole all the sticks out of it for use on other kites. That kite is a fast little beast and stops instantly. I remember flying it one day during a blizzard. You could hardly even see the kite for the snow!!! I still have those black plastic god-awfull cruddy handles too. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveller Posted June 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 Elizabeth has what they belive is one of the first 10 ever built. It has a printed date of 1989 on it. and they weren't suppose to be selling them then. Elizabeth? Is she a forum member? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 Check this bad boy out... The guy in the pic is Al Stroh from San Diego, he says this one is an original final prototype, complete with certificate of authenticity.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 And here are my own babies... Custom Rev I's, soaking up some sun with my Shivas. Note my trademark white, light blue, dark blue and black theme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 Elizabeth is not on the forum. Her Rev. is a Revolution dated 1989. I've been offered several Neos Omega's.... but what good are they? Their art now, not a kite to use daily. I'm a kite flyer not an art collector. Lovely kites, just not for me. BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exile Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 I have a Back Tracker. And I got it as soon as my kite shop in Alaska got it. In-fact, I had to wait for it to be shipped in.. Past that, I don't remember when it was or how much I paid for it. I was in elementary school, and couldn't afford to get a full sized Rev., as all the kites that I have, I worked for and bought with my own money. The owners of the kite shop recommended it to me because it was my second quad line, and flew completely different than the Quadrafoil I had, and was cheaper than the Rev I & II. Still a fun little kite, too bad it never made it's mark. Perhaps its a design someone could dust off, revisit, and get flying again, better than it did the first go round. Give it a re-boot as it were. *looks around for object to be flying at my head* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
--Pete Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 I bought my first Rev I in the summer of 1989 in Traverse City, Michigan. (According to my kite inventory spreadsheet.) I paid the (then) princely sum of $300 for it. That was the most expensive kite (by far) that I had bought up to that time. Nearly twice what I had paid for a Hawaiian Team Kite. I know I had seen them flying before that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonOsteo Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Hmm. Trying to think when I got my Rev I. I bought it from Flying Colours in Frimley, UK from a chap called Dennis who owned the shop. It was the first one he had in, and was about £200 I think. Definately around 1988/9 I believe. (Maybe someone at Revolution knows when he got his first rev in?). Rev II was the same, as soon as he had one in I bought it. A nice Sedgewick taft, probably my most flown kite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Dowler Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 The Back tracker was my first quad!! Only Rev 1 or 2s were on the market until the tracker!! Just a little rich for my pocket at that time, especially if I found out I didn't like it!! Store in Lincoln City had Back trackers on sale - figured the price was right and if I didn't get on with it, no big financial loss!! Flew it over a weekend, first day , UGH!!! Crash, untangle, crash some more!!! Second day much better, more flying than crashing!! That fall, the store changed ownership and they were clearing out the old stock to empty space for new!! Got a Rev 1 at a good price and I've still got that sail!! Been though more stuff than I can say, but it still flies great!!! Time is a little fuzzy after my stoke, but I'm guessing that it was around 1997 - 1998, that happened!! 7 panel Rev 1like the one pictured on the Rev forum header, just different colors!! My son traded the tracker for an older full vented SLE!!! My opinion - if you can fly a Backtracker, you can fly any other Rev, no problem!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mstroke2017 Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 I was like Exile, I couldn’t afford a Rev I, so I got a Rev II, in purple...still have it, still fly it, along with my Quadrifoil 25...I have several varieties of REVs...as well as numerous quad line foils, no spars to poke through my backpack...I’ve flown my B2 almost as much as my other REVs, newest acquisition is a vented Blast... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul LaMasters Posted April 17, 2018 Report Share Posted April 17, 2018 Out here in the mid-atlantic states the earliest REV adopters I know are Paul Dugald and Jeffery Burka, both in it since release Sold my Rev one/neos omega signed by the Bros, it was gift from Bevan Brown's collection but like Penny I fly 'em or they gotta' go I'm not a collector I still have my Back-tracker, but the handles were gifted to someone who PREFERRED them HA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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