Paramedic Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Hello. My name is Oscar and I am just starting out in my new kite hobby.. I am a Paramedic in the state of Texas. I find that flying a kite seems to take away a lot of the stress from work. I just recently bought a Rev 1.5 B and a Widow NG. I was out at South Padre Island when I saw the Rev for the first time and I knew I had to try one. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Dowler Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Ever flown the Rev? A couple tips if not: Top leaders - try to use the furthest out knot on the factory leaders. Most of us make our own and they are much longer. I'll try and put links at the end to illustrate my point. Longer top lines let you "square up" the sail to the wind and make the sail more efficient. Too short and yes the kite launches, but control while in the air gets compromised. Actual flying - PLEASE don't pull if you think you are going to crash!! Get this saying in your mind - Give To The Kite!!! Let everything go slack, even if it means stepping forward! Pulling just drives the kite into the ground - HARDER! Rather to straighten it out than have something break!! Luckily that isn't too often! The Rev is a pretty tough bird. Use your 3 wrap rods to start (marked Ultra Light with 3 feathers). If you have a standard sail, you may have a set labelled "Professional Use" with 2 feathers - called 2 wrap. Save those for after you get past the "unexpected crashing" phase! They can make your wind range lower, as they are lighter. To start - Attach your lines to the handles, run out your lines, stake out the kite end of the lines (don't attach yet), go back to your handles, pull gently and see if a line is too long or short. The handles "should" line up identically, if not adjust the offending line/s! Why? An uneven lineset will automatically go sideways or just loop around and crash! Sort of like a car with a bad alignment issue, pulling sideways all the time. By equalizing the lines, you prevent this right off the bat. DO NOT expect new lines to be perfect!!! In fact most aren't! It's one of the little tricks we pick up as we go down the path of flying these things. And I hope you have a stake!! If not - get one! You'll find it indispensable as you go on! Got that done - attach the kite (with the stake holding the handles now) and in a parking situation - invert the kite! Yep - put it upside down! It's in position to fly into the ground that way and won't accidentally launch, if dogs or kids walk through your lines! Untwist the lines, get the correct handles in the correct hands, turn the kite over, and - Just try launching straight up about 10 - 15', stop and try balancing the kite, then land back down with both tips touching at the same time. Rinse and repeat several times as you can get a feel of how it goes, before getting so high and maybe losing control - CRASH!! Get that solid and move on to higher, hover, land. It might be boring - BUT - it can help you get a feel of how the kite FEELS, how it reacts to the wind. And that is important to learn! First steps!! Happy flying!! Link to leaders: http://www.revkites.com/forum/topic/4409-my-leaders-your-thoughts/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Barresi Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 I think these links might add some detail as well... Pigtails (tuning your Rev with knotted leaders ) New to Revs, need tuning ? And of course... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHBKF Posted March 18, 2016 Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 6 hours ago, Wayne Dowler said: Ever flown the Rev? A couple tips if not: Top leaders - try to use the furthest out knot on the factory leaders. Most of us make our own and they are much longer. I'll try and put links at the end to ...................it can help you get a feel of how the kite FEELS, how it reacts to the wind. And that is important to learn! First steps!! Happy flying!! Link to leaders: http://www.revkites.com/forum/topic/4409-my-leaders-your-thoughts/ Dang! I wish Wayne would have been standing next to me the first time I tried to fly my Rev. I was in the launch-spin-crash cycle for the first hour. Next session launch-veer right- crash and so on... Wayne's the man! It's all good. SHBKF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paramedic Posted March 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 Thank you all for the awesome advice.This is my first time on a quad and I was really impressed by John's videos that I decided to get a 2nd rev. I can already see this will not be my last one. I still need a lot of practice, but I feel I am in the right place to learn. Semper Fi. Oscar 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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