My first Quad and its a Rev

[Chook]

I just use little pig tails so I can remove the lines easily on all my kites.

Particularly on my power kite lines when I'm wearing gloves it makes it so simple to do. 

Short bits of 150 lb dyneema fishing line with a simple overhand knot, sealed with a cigarette lighter and larks headed on.

[happysuperbutton]

Hi Little Dab welcome to Kitelife. People here are incredibly friendly and warm, keep posting about your journey and keep asking questions.

Super cool looking how a new journey is starting, I started mine only days apart from you exactly a year ago wowee. 

Enjoy, can already tell you've got that bug, so prepare the wallet 😂

[Little DAB]

Sunday and today I was able to get some more flying in ,the winds on Sunday looked good from the house so I'd thought I'd try one of my back fields exposed to the north wind, on top of a hill .Wind was gusty and a big variation in speed from top to bottom of window .The biggest pita was the hay I kept snagging the lines on hay made landings and launches a challenge and the deer flies buzzing my head ( but I learnt how to fly with one hand and swat flies with my hat in the other)

Today race frame came in had some nice constant wind for about the first hour ,I'd guess about 8mph .

Something that I notice was how loose my Vertical rods were if I pulled on the sail   (sail wrinkle near leading edge when leading edge on ground)   I could get them out of the caps without stretching the bungee cord at all < So I tightened up the cord at the points IS this the right way to do it???? and How tight should the sail be ????

I did notice the sail flapping had stopped and I seemed to have better control, the kite also flew straighter on launch with very little input.

Was happy with my control it's getting better ,so much so I had to try to DIVE and STOP ,I did it stopping within a foot of the ground backing up a few feet then 180 and forward to the top of window ,---then dive,  stop, 180 and land I had a smile on my face !!!

The wind started to drop I was determined to keep this kite in the air ,keeping forward motion worked ,did a lot of back pedalling and pulled to much on the top lines a few times but was able to get the kite from flat in the sky back under control with a snap of the brakes .Till of course the wind just died kite was at top of window it spun somehow tangling the lines inside themselves but came back to earth gently ,called it a day, untangled lines .Checked lines llength again my top lines were 2 inches longer than my bottom lines I'll have to fix that before I go out again.

Oh and I did some one handed flying again, dam flies  (kite at the top of the window for now) HaHa

 

 

[makatakam]

Next time out just put the bottom lines on top. They will stretch and pretty much equalize after a few flying sessions. You can check as you go. 

Tighten the bungees on the verticals on the top (leading edge) first so you can keep the top endcaps sticking out no more than 3/8 of an inch, a 1/4 inch to flush being ideal. This way there will be less sticking out to catch on stuff when you are sliding while inverted.

Dive stops are a gas, aren't they?! Try pushing both arms towards the kite briskly when you hit the brakes. This will take the bounce out of the equation and give you a true dead stop.

So many things to improve your skills. That's what makes it a lifetime learning situation and a lifetime of fun.

[Little DAB]

When tightening the bungees up near the leading edge should there be tension on the sail ??

Good idea about changing line around ,hope the new leaders get here soon that way I can adjust the difference out as they stretch.

I think its late June, anybody here any details on the djinn ? I was kind of wondering if there was going to be full, mid ,vented options on the first run ,also guesstimated wind speeds for each ? frames? price approx. ?

 

[makatakam]

1 hour ago, Little DAB said:

When tightening the bungees up near the leading edge should there be tension on the sail ??

Yes. Figure proper tension at about 1/3 to 1/2 between zero and completely stretched. Should be approximately the  same amount for all six points around the sail. Of course, the ones opposite each other naturally equalize. You just need to keep the bungee lengths on the left about equal to those on the right to keep the sail centered on the frame. If you have more sail on one side of the frame, that side of the kite will want to move faster than the other.

I think the Djinn will be available in about 3 weeks and probably in all versions, but I'll let JB definitively clue us in on that.

[Wayne Dowler]

Take the time to equalize the lines first, then use the leader adjustments for field use as needed. JB has a great video on doing this, here on Kitelife.

[John Barresi]

Djinn: waiting on the factory samples to be done, re-tested and finalized, hopefully in the next couple of weeks? Then we’ll be able to release info about pricing, pre orders and shipping timeframe.

[Little DAB]

So back to flying finally Hay season took over my life for a month and some extremely hot humid weather .

Got the new leaders from TK and installed <got to say couldn't believe the poor workmanship on the Rev handles had to grind off sharp edges left from drilling holes in handles and smooth out the ends of the handles )put the new leaders on and converted the handles to no snag -should of said that first .Also got some 120 90# lines so thought Id try those out .

The trees were waving back and forth , set up not to bad for new lines ,first screw up ,I always put white on top of handles then i put white on top of kite ,this only works if your launching with kite facing up ,but i launch with kite facing ground and handles staked at top leaders (just a Brain Fart ) Then i walked to the kite to change them around ,I know could of just changed them at handles (another brain fart). launched finally got my lines all straightened .

The extra length in lines seemed to me to have a real effect on input reaction (less reaction to inputs ) was also adjusting leaders to find the right knots for me .Well not more than 10 min into flying and the wind drops to zero .The kites start falling to the  ground couldn't back pedal quick enough to keep it up flat spin to the ground  .Another 240 ft walk, a min later wind is  back up ,lets try this again still adjusting leaders I'm not getting the response feeling back from the kite I had with the 85 ft lines,  another wind drop to zero, another 240 ft walk .I would of switch to other lines but didn't bring them out with me .The third time enough packed it up had a beer .

Is it common to feel less attached to the kite with 120s or do I just have to get the leaders adjusted properly ?

[Edmond Dragut]

 is normal, input take 120 with some belly to react. you will become use with  

[makatakam]

Yup, longer lines make you feel less attached. If you look down the length of the lines you will notice that they sag -- have a belly in them -- which means you must remove the sag by pulling on any particular and/or all lines to remove the slack before your input is transmitted to the kite, so there is some delay between input and reaction. It also dampens the energy of the input, so you must give it greater input than you would on shorter lines. For this reason it is very easy to pull the kite out of the sky on very short lines. On very long lines, like 250', it seems like eternity before the kite reacts.

Adjusting the leaders is something that's somewhat counterintuitive at times. Keep letting the top lines further each time you go out to fly until you can't launch the kite when it is standing upright. Now try it with the kite inverted and it will launch and fly. That's only one aspect. You would think that for lighter winds bringing the top lines in would be appropriate. The opposite is true. More brake puts more pressure into the sail, and pressure is what keeps it off the ground.

Smile, have fun and don't forget to breathe. It's a life-long journey.