New Camera !

[RobB]

Hey Kitelifers...

I had a great day out on an empty beach. The wind was a little high, but perfect for doing some KAP and flying some four line. I just got a GoPro, and it turns out that it's a great camera to KAP with...

I used the 12' Double DC... it's a plenty strong, stable lifting platform...

A bunch of shots just leaving the ground... (self portraits)

A few shots of the beach... great wind from any direction here !

The water is nice & clear this time of year. Easily 20'-30' visibility. The beach drops off very quickly

here, if you walk into the water 10', you're in over your head !

Boats are still wrapped up from the winter...

The new Rev... I put the 3 wrap sticks in it, and got to fly it a little. The wind was pretty high, so I put it away

before something happened to it. At least it got the sail stretched out a little...

And a little bit of vented flying with the Kitelife Ghost Deltas in the background. The big DC got pulling so hard, it was dangerous, so I had to take it down. The Ghosts can take 20mph with ease... you could easily hold onto them if you wanted in this wind.

Happy Kite Month !

~Rob.

[SteveA]

Happy Kite Month! I just started playing with a friend's Gopro on my (home made) picavet KAP rig. It does seem to be a good choice for KAP.

Mt. Sinai harbor? I lived in Pt. Jeff for 5 years when I was a kid. Learned to fly a rainbow stunt kite over on the Pt Jeff beach just across the entrance to that harbor, if I have your location right.

[RobB]

Yes, that's East Beach right on the other side of the inlet. The backside of Pirate's Cove can be seen in the distance. I live in Port Jeff now, and have lived in the area for over 30 years.

I'm interested to see how your pictures come out !

[John Barresi]

Wow, the photos are great - nice spot you've got there.

[RobB]

Thanks, John. It's a great spot from September until the end of May, totally empty. During the summer I have to share the space or drive fifteen minutes to find an empty field.

The GoPro takes decent pictures, but check out the video !

Choose the HD version...

[John Barresi]

Nice... Mighty solid Rev flying too.

[mystainedskin]

Sweeeet! I was smiling the whole way through and for a bit afterwards. With some Rev play too......

[RobB]

Thanks John & Scott... the tutorial videos here helped me a lot. I've never flown Revs with anyone else, and wouldn't have gotten anywhere on my own. See, even the vertical sticks are on the right side !

[John Barresi]

*chortle*

[Reef Runner]

Hey Rob, cool camera, and I see that Rev is finally taking up a little more air time ! Great

[RobB]

OK, Rev folks, I got some video of my flying...

I need suggestions of how to improve. I have been working on my control, but this trip out to the beach, the wind was a little high to practice clock turns & upside down hovers. My wrists are kind of weak from carpal tunnel syndrome, and once the wind goes above 15mph, even the vented pulls too much for me to get good control over it. I know... Mega Vent...

But is it just an experience thing that allows you guys to look like you're flying with purpose, and not just zipping around ? I think of JB's dock play videos, and they look like the flying is a lot more planned and deliberate.

I don't know, maybe 2 line trick flying has warped my thinking, with that type of flying, there's always another trick to learn, or just learning how do do some tricks better.

Thanks in advance...

~Rob.

[John Barresi]

When in doubt, try more brake (extend the top leaders more).

Rob, have you had a chance to see all three of these KiteLife tutorials?

http://kitelife.com/forum/files/file/684-rev-tutorial-tuning-theory-i/

http://kitelife.com/forum/files/file/702-rev-tutorial-sail-loading/

http://kitelife.com/forum/files/file/700-rev-tutorial-body-posture-and-grip/

The third one talks about how to grip the handles (using 3 primary fingers and squeezing instead of rotating your wrists).

==

When hovering inverted... Instead of rocking your wrists, trying moving your hands up and down (like a slow tomahawk chop) and see what happens... When you slowly chop down the kite should rise in reverse and when you raise up, the kite should drop.

Get a feel for that, then also try using your thumbs for leverage on the back of the top of your handles.

Then think about the actual rotation of your handle with wrist motions.

Those are THREE methods of control to achieve the same thing, using each one more delicately in combination, you should find more stability.

[John Barresi]

The trick for me, is that I have the tuning set up so I can balance the kite's pull on three fingers, and simply let the handle play (varying tension between index and ring fingers) to apply throttle, brake or control.

[John Barresi]

Just finished your last vid... Looks good man!

Just a matter of finding that "pivot" point on the handles, so you're not working your wrists so hard.

[mystainedskin]

Being a rookie.. I can't offer a whole lot other than what I've experienced. I found that you have to focus on being "deliberate" As Barresi stated not long ago....flying with intent. I also fly alone,and love to zip and float around at random... But if you focus on even simple patterns in the sky, the hand positions and muscle memory start to build and it all becomes easier... Hope maybe that helps? and the whole leader set up for sail pressure.

[mystainedskin]

....and I have mailed my letter to Santa! Have to get me one of those nifty little GoPros

[RobB]

John, I should watch those again. I watched them a few times when I first got the Rev. I would've taken me a lot longer to figure anything out without the videos. I try to do the work with my thumbs, but probably forget at times and go back to old bad habits. I've flown quad foils for years, and got some bad habits from learning those with no instruction. (that is probably partly responsible for my bad wrists.) Revs are a totally different type of flying, they only share number of lines and similar controls. So, there's a bunch of re-learning for me.

What do you do as basic exercises ? Fly shapes ? Hold a position for X number of minutes ?

I appreciate what you guys are saying about sail pressure, I really haven't taken my top lines off of the middle knot in the leaders. I guess it's time to start messing around & tuning.

I don't have much time on the GoPro, I just got it as an anniversary present from my wife. I'm pretty happy with it so far, it would make a great stocking stuffer !

[mystainedskin]

I found stationary hovering in different positions for "said" time and squares or diamonds to be useful, as you use the entire window and get the different feels of the areas. With stops or spins or clockwork on the points. Remember that with your body and arms you can get ..give or take...6' of play in power or stopping. This will make evrything more pronounced and more "dynamic".

Once I got stable inversion...and handles set to a point neutral was comfortable...it all started to click in my head..now if I could just get it transferred to my hands.. Practice,practice,practice.

[John Barresi]

In my experience, it's all about throttle (trailing edge / back line tension) and rotational control.

First major building block to advanced control with a Rev is more or less owning a hover in each of 12 (or more) clock positions...

• Don't try to make it stay perfectly still, give yourself a "wandering" range of a couple feet and work to say in or close to that.
• Focus primarily on the angle of the leading edge (facing correct clock position), break it down, see the angles, take mental pictures.
• If you're facing 3 o-clock, slowly turn to face 4 o-clock and hold the hover there for 10-15 seconds, maybe more, before shifting.
• At each of the 12 clock positions, at the moment you have a semi-decent hover, take a mental snapshot of how your hands, body, feet and head feel, try to store some of the "body set" for each position, so you can settle into each in turn as you rotate through the clock positions.
• Don't worry about "clockwork" (snapping), just shift the orientation smoothly and slowly, focusing on your ability to choose any orientation, rotate to it, hover there, choose another, and so on.

I think really, the other thing that takes work is finding the hand position that allows you to drive the Rev at one speed, without the oscillation between forward and brake... Figure eights, circles, squares, diamonds, all good shapes to practice this - and feel free to push the edge, feeling how much finesse it takes to keep an even speed - not unlike a dual line.

Some of my favorite, regular drills that I do for both fun and practice (works great with a funky beat)...

• Off the ground pass, at one consistent speed through the turns: diamonds, octagons, squares, etc.
• Always, always trying to land either with both tips at the same time, or flat on the 45 edge, no bounce.
• Hop, bicycle rotate, land on both tips.
• Hop, clockwork rotation, land on both tips.

If you look hard at my Rev flying, you'll see it's really not extremely different than my dual line flying... That's my dirty little secret, is that I fly Revs like dual lines (with regard to sail loading, modified combo turns and landings) - the same moves feel good, Rev is more complex, but the dual lines give more "krakow!" in the movements.

[RobB]

I found stationary hovering in different positions for "said" time and squares or diamonds to be useful, as you use the entire window and get the different feels of the areas. With stops or spins or clockwork on the points. Remember that with your body and arms you can get ..give or take...6' of play in power or stopping. This will make evrything more pronounced and more "dynamic". Once I got stable inversion...and handles set to a point neutral was comfortable...it all started to click in my head..now if I could just get it transferred to my hands.. Practice,practice,practice.

Yes, time on the lines... I use my arm motion a lot more when the wind is lower, and also walk back & forth. In this wind, the smallest hand motion made the kite move a great deal, and I guess I need to get quicker or refine my inputs more. I will look to get the handles more 'neutral'. Thanks !

[RobB]

In my experience, it's all about throttle (trailing edge / back line tension) and rotational control.

First major building block to advanced control with a Rev is more or less owning a hover in each of 12 (or more) clock positions...

• Don't try to make it stay perfectly still, give yourself a "wandering" range of a couple feet and work to say in or close to that.
• Focus primarily on the angle of the leading edge (facing correct clock position), break it down, see the angles, take mental pictures.
• If you're facing 3 o-clock, slowly turn to face 4 o-clock and hold the hover there for 10-15 seconds, maybe more, before shifting.
• At each of the 12 clock positions, at the moment you have a semi-decent hover, take a mental snapshot of how your hands, body, feet and head feel, try to store some of the "body set" for each position, so you can settle into each in turn as you rotate through the clock positions.
• Don't worry about "clockwork" (snapping), just shift the orientation smoothly and slowly, focusing on your ability to choose any orientation, rotate to it, hover there, choose another, and so on.

I think really, the other thing that takes work is finding the hand position that allows you to drive the Rev at one speed, without the oscillation between forward and brake... Figure eights, circles, squares, diamonds, all good shapes to practice this - and feel free to push the edge, feeling how much finesse it takes to keep an even speed - not unlike a dual line.

Some of my favorite, regular drills that I do for both fun and practice (works great with a funky beat)...

• Off the ground pass, at one consistent speed through the turns: diamonds, octagons, squares, etc.
• Always, always trying to land either with both tips at the same time, or flat on the 45 edge, no bounce.
• Hop, bicycle rotate, land on both tips.
• Hop, clockwork rotation, land on both tips.

If you look hard at my Rev flying, you'll see it's really not extremely different than my dual line flying... That's my dirty little secret, is that I fly Revs like dual lines (with regard to sail loading, modified combo turns and landings) - the same moves feel good, Rev is more complex, but the dual lines give more "krakow!" in the movements.

John, thank you for describing some drills to work on. My landings were kind of sloppy in the video, I can do better, and I'll work on that. I am starting to fly more figures & less tricks with my dual-line flying, too. I've been practicing a box figure with the Rev, holding 9,12,3, and 6 o'clock hovers while making the sides of the box.

My hand positions are definitely something I have to work on... I find myself leaning my hands to the right or left, following the kite instead of keeping the same square position at all times.

Well, another weekend is fast approaching, weather looks good for the Sunday fly... I'll let you know how I do. Thank you for the suggestions, I'm going to review the tutorials again, and head out !

~Rob.

[mystainedskin]

Man ...there is nothing like having an encyclopedia set at your finger tips! Literally... I love this site

[RobB]

*

Man ...there is nothing like having an encyclopedia set at your finger tips! Literally... I love this site

Yes, JB got me rolling with learning how to fly & trick dual line kites... now he's planted the seeds to learn flying quads to a higher level. Thanks, JB & Kitelife !

BTW... revised the video, it's easier to watch, now...

[Tammy]

Cool photos! I love the colors of your new Rev!

[Tammy]

Cool photos! I love the colors of your new Rev!