Night Flight.... Lights

[trigger]

Busy with work, wife and 2 kids and needed to get more flying in! I figured after dark may be the best option to extend my flying hours.

I just got this together tonight and went out in the sleet and snow at 930 in my pajamas to take pics. I am hoping to get it in the air later this week and see how she flies. If she does good, i will post all the details.. if not I will ask for help

http://www.youtube.com/embed/i7vZRXcbZVQ

[SkyPuppets LimitVoodoo]

That's super bright! Looks amazing!

How much does it weigh?

Android OS ~ Tapatalk2

[Tmadz]

Jim, those wouldn't happen to be aftermarket auto LED's would they?

[trigger]

WHY.... YES... they are! they were on sale at work, I was worried about powering them with batteries since they are 12 volt, but they came with a battery holder for button batteries or I will probably modify it for 2 A23 batteries. the button batteries ran for over 4hrs last night!!! very excited about that.

I had this morning off, so the wind was..... 0mph... of course! I did a pretty good SHAKE down test in the house, nothing like flying but everything stayed put, I have some ideas if it doesn't in flight though, my goal is... SIMPLE IS BETTER!

THe weight is VERY MINIMAL, I don't have a scale to weight them, but it is BARELY noticable. the battery packs are mounted on the L.E where the verticals attach. It may be the weight of using an SLE rod....

I will keep updating

jim

[John Barresi]

Another fun thing to try, have someone track your kite with one of those super-powerful halogen flashlights (like a spotlight).

This would be a mini version of what they do in Europe, where they use both halogen spotlights AND flood lights...

(me and Steve de Rooy playing with Dom Guimond and Jessica Larche in Quebec last year)

The ground lights illuminate anything that passes through the otherwise dark sky, and the spotlights dial in on highlights.

[John Barresi]

Our light set up on iQuad, captured with long exposure...

http://kitelife.com/forum/gallery/album/340-iquad-night-fly-at-wsikf/

Check the album description for a link to a great, related discussion on the Rev forum.

[trigger]

only problem is getting someone out there with me

[John Barresi]

It'll come.

[trigger]

Ok, just had the preliminary flight! AWESOME!!!

1.5 fv 3wrap fram

8.5-12mph winds,, average about 9.5 per windmeter

I flew for 1.5hrs and didn't make one adjustment! Very exciting!!!!

there was 1-2 inches of wet snow on the ground that was very sticky. I thought for sure after a couple hard landings, L.E. drags across the snow that something would have shaken loose... NOPE!!! Usually my hair brain schemes require some modifying to keep things together but this went perfect.

flight characteristics were great. It did have a little extra inertia in spins so you had to cut out early to not over spin, but easily learned. the inverted hovers were GREAT and still had REVERSE upward flight.

I must have flown to "devil went down to georgia" atleast 6 times!!!!! If that doesn't break something... we're GOOD!

Now I just need some winds tonight and a wife that would like to film me.

[trigger]

It's a RUSH job,, we had a preschool registration at 7:00 and we set up the kite and filmed for about 10 minutes and were home by 8:00.

same kite... 1.5 full vent 3 wrap frame

winds were 6-8mph and stormy, sometimes 0.

this is by far my worst flying EVER but It gets the point across.

I even did some planned crashes and left them in.. Not telling which ones were planned though!

The kite looks heavy in the video but i think it was more wind conditions, cuz it flew beautiful earlier.

Never adjusted the lights once!!!!

http://youtu.be/QVr8A2HrEjc

warning... if you get motion sick... close your eyes and listen to the music

[Tmadz]

Oh. That is so cool. Friggin Awesome. (except for the crash at 2:40). Now you can freak out your neighbors. I love your wife at 3:09. Good job man.

[trigger]

Thanks, I am gonna try my duals next! it Really doesn't weigh much at all. went to radioshack today and came up with some cool ideas.. I think this will look great at GRAND HAVEN. Are you gonna be able to make it? I called for a room today but waiting on a call back. may have to go to another hotel.

yea, my wife was funny,,, with her its a butterfly comments and a few others i cut out. It was 30 degrees but just a COLD 30 degrees.

[Tmadz]

She videotaped it so don't fret about it.

Too early to tell if Grand Haven will happen. Too far for a day trip.

[West Australian]

Sweet Vid Dude.

Great Light setup.

I need to get some lights together, I am being confronted with slowly darkening mornings.

[RobB]

I said this elsewhere, but it seems like a potential start of a business. It looks like they exceed expectations, and if it allows me to fly & trick after work in the short days of the winter, sign me up !

~Rob.

[SparkieRob]

I said this elsewhere, but it seems like a potential start of a business. It looks like they exceed expectations, and if it allows me to fly & trick after work in the short days of the winter, sign me up ! <br /> <br />~Rob.

Me too!!<br /><br /><br />Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trigger]

Thanks guys, i just added another light that i think will illuminate the REVOLUTION in the center. We are getting hit with a good storm tonight but i will try to get out toninght and take pics.

Rob, good idea on the dual... i was thinking perimeter lights, but i was working with some different lights today to light the sail. I just need to experiment with placement... hopefully have one put together by thursday.

I have messed with wiring since i was 8, but not fine electronic soldering.... i think i got it mastered today :-)

[trigger]

We are just starting to increase our hrs of light. I will work hard for you guys down under, i know how the short hrs can really mess you up. Once i get it perfect, i can tell ya how to do it or we can save on shipping since you guys get to fly together.

[kwmf]

Very interested in seeing how this turns out ... I need lights

[trigger]

Thanks for the interest. I had a very LONG, but PRODUCTIVE night last night!!! I have not been able to get the rev out with the new light on it yet, but I hope to tonight and will take pics and video. Last night I worked on my DUAL set up and I think it turned out AMAZING! I will try to get it up tonight also. I am still working on how to fasten it perfectly, but I have some Ideas. I think It is different than anything else I've seen. I just hope it looks as good outside. Don't expect me to trick the heck out of it, but maybe I can get a volunteer to help me with that

I have actually ordered a fair amount of supplies and expect them to roll in early next week.

Please let me know what you guys think and if you have any ideas/requests

jim

[trigger]

last nights results

http://youtu.be/mJYVLewzVN8

[trigger]

ok, I did another kite and actually got out to the field tonight to fly.. I only flew the Zephyr because the wind was too much for the 4d and the lines were too much for the rev tonight.. They have all flown great and I think the zephyr flew better. I could lock tricks in better. The system weighs a tad less than the tail weight that comes with it but I moved it up the spine a bit. The video didn't come out but here are some pics

http://youtu.be/lcMIO8DK8u0

[trigger]

With a little help from my wife,,, I got the Rev all lit up....hopefully I can get it in the air tomorrow night after work

Everything hooks up and comes off easy too. only a couple minutes to set it up! I am gonna fly the SNOT out of the night fly at the GLKF in Grand Haven MI this year

I am just hoping I don't get the cops called on me too often at my local field

[RobB]

I like the way you lit the Rev logo. It should be really interesting to see in motion. How many lights can you get on a kite before the weight becomes too much ? I'm think a full sail Rev in a good wind could lift a lot of lights and still be sort of controllable.

My kids have some annoying toys that have really bright, blinking, multi-colored LEDs. Little bouncing balls & jewelry... I wonder if they would miss those toys if I adapted them for flight...

[trigger]

the lights weight next to nothing at all! the battery packs are the things you have to worry about. I have 2 small packs on this kite on the back side at the top of the vertical. the top 3 lights are run by one pack, and the second pack runs the 2 bottoms. with just one pack on and holding the rev in the center, it only dropped about 3 degrees on that side. I think easily compensated for.

we don't drive electric cars because the battery technology.. I hated ohms law! right now i just have one small battery and a switch in each box. I did find some batteries that I can double up and probably get 3 times the run time out of, but they are not as easy to come by. I tried the first set of led's and they last 10hrs with 6 segments(3led's per sement) now i only have 3-4 segments on each pack so I am hoping they will last a wicked long time but the jury is still out on that. I had a problem with one of my lights that dimmed to nothing while the other 2 were FINE... haven't solved that except put a new battery in and it was fine. If i find these lights last as long as i think they will, then i can add more with out a problem, I just need to experiment some more

seriously, do not destroy your kids toys(unless they are also loud and annoying) I have so much stuff here to play with, it would cost next to nothing to ship and I got it for a great price too.