The "danger" of mixing Dualie and Quad flying.

[Captainbob]

I got my third Dual line kite, the Widow NG, about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Since then I have not touched my Revs, but have been flying the Widow, my Niknak, and my new Zephyr for hours and hours. This past weekend I flew the Widow and Zephyr almost 8 hours total. I went to the field this morning and and again flew the Zephyr since the winds were a bit low, but were forecasted to pick up this afternoon. This afternoon, after lunch, I almost grabbed the Window NG, but I decided instead that it was time to get back in the air with a Rev, so I grabbed my 1.5 Std with the Race Rods and Magic Sticks, and headed for the field. I didn't know quite what to expect, since I have read about "unlearning" dualie habits, and sticking to one kite or the other to avoid any pilot confusion. ( let's see do the brake lines go on the bottom or the top? )

I set up the Rev, and by this time the wind was picking up a bit. I thought for a minute about going back to the house and getting the B Mid vent instead, but, I figured this would be a good chance to see how the std sail , race rod, magic stick combination was going to work in higher winds than usual. The wind was around 6-8 at the surface, but up 50 feet or so the big trees were swaying, and it was gusty, and probably more like 14-16 in gusts. Up I went. I flew around for awhile, checked the wind window, and then did some inverted slow descents, to see if I remembered how to do them. Piece of cake ( probably helped by the magic sticks, no doubt). Then I did some figure 8's, with downturns at the edges, lateral flying across the window, and then some slow reverse flying back and forth. No problems, the reverse flying was smooth as silk, even with the gusts. It suddenly occurred to me that I was flying the Rev much better now, than I was when I stopped flying them 2 1/2 weeks ago. The dualie flying not only did not harm my Rev flying, it seemed to help it for some odd reason, which I can't quite figure out. I also owe alot to the Magic sticks, since they make reverse and inverted flying so easy, and seem to handle the gusty winds much better.

So I flew my 1.5, for about 2 1/2 hours straight, and had a blast. Hope the wind is as good tomorrow, because it is going to be another Rev day.....

[SHBKF]

I am not highly experienced but I am not surprised. There is a lot to be said for time on the lines. All kites that you fly teach you a bit more about the wind. I would say you flew better because you are more one with the wind. I don't have a great deal of natural ability & each improvement is hard won. But I have come a long way thus far & each flight of each kite has added to my experience. Just fly something any time you can.

[Paul LaMasters]

you're learning to feel the wind better and maximize the window thru your hands, moving your feet and relaxing the rest of your body. You've acquired some new equipment and used it enough to learn it's capabilities. The flying location is known too and you'll had experience with whichever way the general direction of your home turf wind prefers to blow.

[Amexpmh]

Bob, I think it's rather obvious what your next kite investment should be. A kite bag. Then you can take all of your kites and be as prepared as you can be for what ever wind conditions you encounter.

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[SparkieRob]

Bob, I think it's rather obvious what your next kite investment should be. A kite bag. Then you can take all of your kites and be as prepared as you can be for what ever wind conditions you encounter.

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You'll always want more no matter how prepared you are...

I also found my "touch" with my revs improved after an extended stint of dual flying. I think that you have to quiet down your hands for duals and this helps with revs.

[Hedgewarden]

I did not find moving from duals to Revs that the muscle memory from one interfered with the other. My theory of why some have complained of problems is that they are free-style dual line fliers who normally do slack-line tricks requiring exacting timing and subtle control inputs that are not appropriate for quads. Those skills may not translate to Revs well (unless you fly like Watty).

Just my theory.