Flynhi's Travel/Rev blog (CLOSED)

[Flynhi]

****NEW HOME OF THE BLOG***http://kitelife.com/forum/blogs/blog/3-flynhi-pipakite/

 

 

October 30th, 2014 - Went to Huntingon Beach to visit the Kite Connection store. Purchased a set of LGP 50ft 50# lines. The owner gave some pointers about string lengths. Owner also pointed out my kite's fabrics were all wrong and likely custom made for the previous customer. Neat. The weather was perfect for the SUL.

Huntington Beach

October 31st - Met a fellow Valley Kiter. His name is Brian and he has been flying dual string kites since the 80's. He was very nice and let us try out his progressive stacked kites. We exchanged numbers and plan on flying again in the future.

Progressive stacked kites

November 1st, 2014 - There was a gentle breeze. Working on stable flight in low winds.

Today's Horizontal flying

Kites are fun!

[makatakam]

Yes, they are! Nice flying. Good control on the Rev, and it will get even better. I'm sure you've seen the Barresi videos. Now you can watch them again and pick out the finer points in the instructional ones. There is not limit to what you can make your Rev do.

Have fun, don't forget to breathe and keep the videos coming.

[Flynhi]

There is not limit to what you can make your Rev do.

I love this!

November 2nd, 2014 - Made a video today because the weather was so nice. No milestones, just working all the kinks in the muscle memory. I changed the handle line lengths a bit and it really threw me off. Getting a little closer to perfect line lengths every day.

Video of today

This video is unlisted and this link is the only door to it.

I will upload another video when a major milestone is met. Probably stable bicycles.

[makatakam]

I can see improvement already, less wobble and crisper moves. Watch the videos and you can see it too.

[Flynhi]

November 3rd, 2014 - Got 3 hours of straight airtime today. A lot of major breakthroughs in stance, reading the wind, letting different wings of the kite lead, letting both wings of the kite work together, and keeping the sails full of wind. I haven't gone through the footage yet, but I did make a time lapse. The moon rise with the sunset and eastbound winds are beautiful conditions.

Video from today

I need to find the best spot in the valley to fly. Where I am at has too many buildings. Southern Chandler seems ideal for wind.

[RobB]

That moonrise was super-cool ! Not sure what time that was by you, but that could've been shot around here @ 5pm this time of year ! Give it another month, 4pm...

[Tmadz]

If you get some sissy sticks, they are good for adding LED's for some night flying. See my photo. It's nice when you can extend your flying time to include the night. You even get an occasional visitor to see what the heck is going on.

[Flynhi]

That moonrise was super-cool ! Not sure what time that was by you, but that could've been shot around here @ 5pm this time of year ! Give it another month, 4pm...

I think the moon started rising around 4:00 - 4:30. I love using the moon as a reference point in the sky.

If you get some sissy sticks, they are good for adding LED's for some night flying. See my photo. It's nice when you can extend your flying time to include the night. You even get an occasional visitor to see what the heck is going on.

I was using a headlamp to illuminate the kite, but some LEDs would be really fun to play with!

November 3, 2014 - I am about to head out for some sunset flying. Hoping to get more control with clockwork.

Video from yesterday

[Flynhi]

November 5, 2015 - Drove out to the desert searching for a nice spot to fly. Found a hill against a small mountain that was perfect for the wind conditions (10 mph from NE). Flew the Prism Nexus when gusts picked up to 15 mph and grabbed the 1.5 SUL when the wind was between 8 - 10 MPH. The isolation from the urban sprawl combined with the perfect weather (82 degrees and under 10% humidity) provided a euphoric flying session. I have pictures and videos on my computer at home. I will upload them on Saturday after work. No flying today or tomorrow.

Progress: Clockwork is coming along great. 60% of the positions are hard wired into muscle memory. More time on the lines is all that is left. This sport is awesome!

[Flynhi]

Cranked out 40 work hours in 2.5 days. Now I have 4 days off to fly, travel, and edit the footage from November 5th.

njAvWcgd8O0I am starting to fall in love with dual lined kites. Watching people tumble is amazing to see!

No flying today, cleaning the house and planting winter grass.
Winter is the best season in Arizona, I can't wait!

[Flynhi]

Well here is a quick edit of the rest of the footage from Desert Peak. I tied my phone to my head to get a new POV of the SUL flying. Too bad 99% of the footage was no good. The phone was pointing at the sky for 2 hours. Nothing to ground breaking happened, just getting clockwork practice in. Anyways here is the video:

Desert Peak B footage

[makatakam]

Beautiful scenery! I think you'll go through a lot of line sets, unless you launch and stay far away from the ground.

[PereiraM]

Very nice.

[Reved]

I'm going to Patagonia Az for 2 months. The scenery and wind in your video looks great. Can't wait to get there.

[RobB]

Yes, that's some harsh looking terrain for the ripstop sails, and the lines for that matter. Looks like you've got pretty solid wind to play with there, though.

[Flynhi]

I'm going to Patagonia Az for 2 months. The scenery and wind in your video looks great. Can't wait to get there.

I have never been there. Hit me up on here when you arrive. Let's plan a day to fly!

Thanks for the replies! Let's me know people are reading this stuff. The mountain did have too many hazards to be a regular flying location. There are a lot of good spots to fly here in the valley, I am going to find all of them.

November 11, 2014 - I met up with Brian to catch the last hour of wind for today. All day it was 15 MPH until I got off work, by that time it tapered off to 10 MPH. Brian pulled out his custom made Wakeless Progressive Stack.

Video of Today

The park was full of people so we had to go to a hidden area that didn't have the greatest wind. We talked of making a road trip out to San Diego sometime in the future. Looks like I finally found a real kite buddy in my area! I am buying his Into The Wind Progressive Stacked kite. I can't wait to fly it!

[RobB]

Looks like you found a nice spot to fly, I didn't see anything wrong with the wind. I'm a little confused.... you mention an ITW progressive stack, but the one in the video is tagged as a Wakeless Stack.... two different progressive stacks ? If I remember correctly, the Wakeless stack has a 10' kite as the biggest one, but the ITW version has only a 6' or 8' big kite. The one in the video looked to be pulling pretty good, whatever it was.

[hyzakite]

Michael, I'm enjoying watch you enjoying your kites! Mike

[Flynhi]

Michael, I'm enjoying watch you enjoying your kites! Mike

Thank you. This next vid might make your cringe. Took the SUL out in 10 - 13 mph wind to see what needed work, turns out everything needs work. The poor SUL took a bit of abuse, but it was worth it.

High Winds

Flew in higher winds to see what needed work, turns out everything needs work. The wind was blowing my mic out the whole session, apologies for the music.

I also made a b roll vid of Riverview park. It is unlisted on my channel, but I will provide a link to the vid here:

Riverview Park

(edit: someone requested it be public, so it is public now)

I'm a little confused.... you mention an ITW progressive stack, but the one in the video is tagged as a Wakeless Stack.... two different progressive stacks?

Two different stacks, Rob. The ITW flew at higher winds, the Wakeless was screaming with 9 MPH wind. Pretty neat kites.

[PereiraM]

Great Vids. Keep it up. What are you using to record your videos?

[hyzakite]

Ouch! The highest I took my xtra vent out in was 17mph with 4wraps. If it can't float, it sinks!

[Wayne Dowler]

Ouch! The highest I took my xtra vent out in was 17mph with 4wraps. If it can't float, it sinks!

X/V - 4 wraps - 17 mph?? That's it?? 17 mph is when the X/V comes out with either 3 wraps or my green race rods!! Had it flying in 25 mph solid with 30 mph gusts!! BUTTAH!!!!

[hyzakite]

Wayne, I float Revs. Over 17mph, I'm in the house doing something else. But at 17mph if it doesn't look like a feather floating in the breeze, I ain't flying!

[dragonfish]

This next vid might make your cringe. Took the SUL out in 10 - 13 mph wind to see what needed work, turns out everything needs work. The poor SUL took a bit of abuse, but it was worth it.

Didn't look too bad to me....or maybe it's hard to see the cringe-worthy stuff via video.

As winds pick up, the kite will become more and more sensitive to inputs and wind gusts. You have to be a lot more careful not to overdo the inputs and sometimes you have to compensate for the gusts as they hit (not react after they hit) to fly precisely. Venting helps a lot here.

I don't feel too bad for the kite.

Ouch! The highest I took my xtra vent out in was 17mph with 4wraps. If it can't float, it sinks!

X/V - 4 wraps - 17 mph?? That's it?? 17 mph is when the X/V comes out with either 3 wraps or my green race rods!! Had it flying in 25 mph solid with 30 mph gusts!! BUTTAH!!!!

I've had my full vent with 4 wrap frame out in 25mph and gusting higher once. That was fun (not!). I was barely holding my ground and got dragged forward every time a gust hit. Kite survived. Not doing that again if I can help it. The next time I had to fly in those conditions (at a festival), I borrowed an xtra vent. Time to get a higher wind kite.

[Reved]

If the schedule goes as planned, I'll be driving thru Phoenix / Mesa on Sat. Are you up for some flying that day? Give me an address and time of your favorite spot and I'll plan on being there.