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Rev. It Up!


Guru4tru
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Hey...this is cool!! I'm able to post under the "Quad Head" topic...I'm usually confined to the "Open Topic" heading for the oddballs!! ;)

This is about my 3rd or 4th time out with "my wife's" new Rev.!! The wind was reading (from my super-dooper wind meter) 15 to 18 mph from the NE. I put it into the air using the UL rods and it bent into better then a half circle and I figured it was going to break any second, so I brought it down. I was using the rods called "Ultra Light" and I have the other set called "Professional" but, I couldn't remember which was the stronger...the 2 wrap or the 3 wrap...nor could I remember which rod name went with which wrap number!?!? But I remembered reading that one could combine the 2 and 3 wrap together in the leading edge for strong wind.

I wasn't impressed when I read that the 2 & 3 wrap could be put together in a strong wind. I sort of thought of that as an unprofessional throw in after all the real engineering was done...like just an add-on someone thought of. But I inserted both rods in the leading edge and it really worked GREAT!! It was just right for the heavier wind! I was amazed...and somewhat humbled by my prejudgment of combining the rods.

But I still somehow have conflicting information in my brain. What wrap is the "Professional Use Only" rods? And what wrap number goes with the ones called "Ultra Light". And which is stronger the 2 wrap or the 3 wrap? (In some things, like certain wires, the larger the number the smaller the item is). :confused!:

To some up this flight though...I DID GREAT!! (Relatively speaking of course.) I'm developing some kind of learning. It's nothing conscious...I thing learning Rev. flying can probably only come from experience and lots of flight time! But, it's happening and I was real happy with how things went today! :innocent:

Keep It Up!

Duane

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All right Duane!!!!

The general rule with Rev rods can be summed up like this:

Revolution Equipped ..... 4-wrap ... 4 feathers

Ultra Light ............. 3-wrap ... 3 feathers

Professional Use Only ... 2-wrap ... 2 feathers

Since you recently bought your "wife's kite", I'm assuming that you have silver labels on the rods. With the change over to silver labels (from gold) Rev added a "feather count" to the label. The more feathers, the heavier and stronger the rod. A speed of 18 mph is close to the maximum for 3-wrap rods in a full sail, so you were wise to double up on the leading edge. Skilled pilots can push the limits of rods because they gain a feel for when to and how to unload the kite. But, you and I need to keep a good size safety factor.

I did some calculations once and determined that a 2-wrap plus a 3-wrap in the leading edge is approximately the same as a single 4-wrap leading edge. So, if you don't like to double up the leading edge rods, you can substitute a 4-wrap frame set. Of course, the simplest way of getting a 4-wrap frame set is to buy a vented B-series ...

You own a number of dual line models because you need an assortment to handle all of the wind speeds you normally encounter. The same thing holds true for Revs ... except that you really only need two models. A full sail and a vented sail with three frame sets (2-, 3- and 4-wrap) will handle about 90% of the winds you'll encounter. I flew today in 15~20 mph winds with my full-vent and 4-wrap rods. No worry about breaking rods and quite comfortable to fly. My full sail would not have been as fun to fly ...

The Zen, mid-vent and mega-vent kites are for the final 10% of the wind conditions that you'll experience. Great to have, but not necessary yet!

Glad to see you're enjoying the Rev!!! They are quite addictive. Keep us posted!

Cheers,

Tom

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Hi Tom!!

Yes...once again to my rescue!! ;)

Thanks for helping me with this!

I went and ckecked it out and there are silver feathers on all the rods!! (I wonder sometimes how I ever got this far in life!) :wacko:

Simple things are difficult to grasp when you've never been there before.

The combined rods really did work well, but a 4 wrap or vented Rev. would be a lot simpler and better, which is really great because I'm about to get one in the raffle soon!! ;)

And YES!...my wife really enjoys (watching me with) her Rev.! (Maybe I should get her a vented one for Christmas!! heehee!!) ;)

At first I was uncomfortable with the Rev. and didn't want to move in that direction because it's SOOO different then the dual liners, but I really like the difference now. Flying duals AND the Rev. really broadens the kiting experience. Like today flying in 18 mph wind, which I call "Quantum Time", the Quantum was really a blast and it pulled me half way across the field. But then I flew the Rev. and could manipulate things so, for the most part, the pull was of no great concern and I could fly basicly in place. And I figure with a vented Rev. the wind wouldn't be of much concern at all.

Yeah...Revs. are Good! With my many moods I should have many different kites to fit them!

Thanks again,

Keep It Up!

Duane

PS After I win the raffle I'll report back to you with my "vented Rev." experiences!! :innocent:

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Hi again Tom,

I remember Hedgewarden's picture of his "Black Rainbow" mid-vented Rev. and found it on EBay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270358132618

That sure is a beautiful Rev.! What are your thoughts on it?

(Not that my wife will remain with me if I spend another 300 buck on another kite...maybe it will be like that country song..."I sure am going to miss her!" heehee!) ;)

Keep It Up!

Duane

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Duane,

The black centered rainbow is a neat looking kite. It's a B-series that Dave had designed special for "The Kite Connection" and introduced it at Kite Party 7. I've flown Jynx's mid-vent and my son's full-vent ... both are good flying kites. If I hadn't just purchased a Pro mid-vent, I would have bought one when they came out last March.

You can buy it as a kite only ... no DVD or handles for about $25 less. The only hick-up with the mid-vent is that it comes with just one frame set ... yep, same cost, but just one frame set. Both the full-sail and the mid-vent come with two frame sets. If you call Dave at The Kite Connection, you can usually talk him into supplying the Revs any frame set you want. Dave is a good Rev pilot and is very knowledgeable about them ... he won't lead you astray.

You should talk to someone, who flies Revs in your local area, about what they have in their kite bag. In mid-Illinois the winds are such that the order of purchase is: full-sail, full-vent, and then a mid-vent. If the winds are generally under 15 mph in your area, then adding a mid-vent next probably is a good choice. If they get up into the 20+ mph range quite a bit, then you might want to think about a full-vent next. Or, you could simply buy one of each and get the agony over quickly.

The advertising says the mid-vent range is 8 to 28 mph. Yes, it will fly in 28 mph winds, but the fun factor disappears well before you reach 28 mph. I pull mine out when the winds are in the 8 to 15 mph range ... maybe up to 18 mph.

Cheers,

Tom

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Hi Tom,

Thanks again for all the information. I really like that Black Rainbow mid-vent Rev. There usually wouldn't be the need for a full-vent here in South Florida. If the winds get that high here then there is usually a hurricane coming through and I'd be working shutters instead of kites.

So if by some remote possibility I don't win that raffle then I'm going to go for the "Black Rainbow"! Now I just have to wait for the 300 bucks to drop out of the sky and into my lap!

Keep It Up!

Duane

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Hi Duane,

Don't get to comfortable with the idea of getting that raffle kite. I have a good vibe about this one.(I always do) :innocent: I did want to put my 2 cents in about the mid vent. IMHO it is much closer to the full sail than the full vent. My full sail sees MUCH less sky time ever sense I got a mid vent which I love to fly, but I still pull out a full vent when the wind picks up. Funny ;) you say you don't need a vented this weekend with 25+ winds all over Fla.

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Hi MrDenny,

Yeah...you're right on that wind speed, but I don't think that's the norm. I went out today and put my beloved "Serenty" (Nirvana STD) into the sky and I soon decided to forget about any slack line tricks..."slack" line was impossible. So I tied a 100 foot rainbow tail on her and just had fun.

I took the Rev. along, but didn't have time to fly her. While I was flying "Serenty" this little girl came walking across the field to me. She was about 10 or 11 years old and ask if I could help her because she never flew a kite before, then she handed me her kite. It was all apart and the line connecting to the kite was all tangled up. When I put it together and untangled the line I realized it was a dual liner kite about 1 1/2 x 2 feet wide...and she had one spool of line. Needless to say, it took the afternoon...and the 20 to 25 mph wind was of no help at all, but she was flying it after an hour or so...and she was delighted to pull off a couple minutes between crashes (which I had to run after and pick up--quite a work out...heehee!) Her father came over later and wanted to know how it worked too.............

But while I was out there I decided to buy at least a 4 wrap frame set for the Rev. I have. I ran the "Black Rainbow" across my wife last night and it was a...NO GO!...for sure! I figured even "when I" win the raffle I'll still need it because the kite in the raffle comes with a 3 wrap frame.

But here's the good news...Kent at "A Wind Of Change" (AWOC) has this set up that when you buy something from him he gives you points that you can later cash in on any future order...and...also AKA members get a discount. So believe it or no (but it is true) the 4 wrap + shipping cost about 75 dollars (which is about standard) but when I applied my points and the AKA discount to the order the price came down to about 25 dollars...as rare as this may seem, even my wife smiled!!

Thank you Kent! ;)

Keep It Up!

Duane

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