Hello from Champaign, IL

[Nekoshi]

Hello my name is Crystal. I started flying about 2 years ago when I was looking for an activity for our family to enjoy together. Being from California originally, and regularly visiting the San Francisco beaches in the 90's, kiting really stood out in my mind as an enjoyable experience for me and I had always wanted to fly a stunt kite, but at the time, I was too young. One day we took a day trip and picked up a kite for each of us and once my fiance saw the dual in action he had to get one too. Since then the collection has continued to grow. I got bit by the kite bug pretty good (more than the rest of the family imho, must be that California blood). I can often be found out flying in the local parks in my area on nice days when I have some spare time. I'm very interested in meeting other flyers in my area to learn more and find a sense of community. I had just been talking with John Barresi today, picking his brain about Rev's, and he had mentioned this forum and that there were some flyers near me that would be a tremendous help in learning if I could manage a meetup somehow. So here I am. Hope to see you around the fields or maybe a kite festival nearby. Until then happy flying!

[Mike]

Hi Crystal!
This forum, and the actualy the club, has been super quiet lately.
But!
I live an hour south of you in Charleston and I go to Champaign once a month or so. I’d be happy to help you fly a Rev.
I’m a Southern California boy and don’t care much for the cold, but I bet we can meet up after the holidays if we can find a warmish day.
There are also rev fliers north in the Kankakee area and some in Chicago too. All are good fliers and would be happy to help.
Also, there’s a kite store in Pontiac that is run by Rev fliers: Route 66 Kites. There’s a huge tree-less space to fly in Pontiac and they have regular club flies in warmer weather.
Welcome to the club!

[makatakam]

Hi, Crystal. I'm Mark and I live in Schaumburg, IL (NW Chicago suburb). I'm not close to where you are, but I'm sure we'll meet at a club fly or a kite fest next year. I don't care for the cold either, and probably won't be doing any flying until it warms up a bit in April. I'm a Rev flier primarily, but have experience with most types of kites. I look forward to sharing a field with you.

[goestoeleven]

Hey Crystal - welcome to IKE! Glad John pointed you in our direction. As Mark and Mike mentioned, we'd all be willing to spend time with you flying Revs. Most of the IKE members fly revs . . . and some of us fly single line kites and duals (pretty rare for me). I don't fly as much in the winter, but I do get out some. I'm in the western suburbs of Chicago and mostly fly around here when I'm not at festivals (or IKE club fly events).

This club is really informal. No dues, no formal meetings, etc. Anyone can suggest a club fly by simply posting on the forum. Other than going to as many festivals as we can manage, about the only organized club event is the annual IKE Retreat to the Indiana Dunes in September. If you want to fly Revs with other people, that's one of the best events since the beach is great and almost everyone who attends will be flying revs at some point. It's usually about the 3rd or 4th weekend in September, depending on the year.

If you are into building your own kites, there is a kitebuilding workshop called U-Make in early March in Oregon, IL. Lots of people who are really into kites will be there (including me & some other IKE members). u-make.org for information on that one.

Glad to hear from you! Hope to meet you on a field soon.

[Nekoshi]

Hello all! Sorry I've been absent for a while. I've been hibernating a bit I guess. Still waiting on that warmer weather, but I did make it out on one of those warm spells we had and got a good session in on the Rev. I basically practiced my hovers, but I would love to meet up sometime still. I'll try to be better about checking back in on this group or you can find me on facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/NekoshiSnowpaw. Just send me a message with your request so I know your from here that'd be the best way to contact me I think. Thanks everyone for all the info and let me know if your in the area! I have one Rev EXP and a couple duals. I don't have any kites that can handle much more than 25mph but I have an indoor/light wind dual. I'm also testing out an indoor location I found in Philo tomorrow that is kite friendly.

[goestoeleven]

Thanks for posting. I think everybody is hibernating....

[makatakam]

We'll probably get most of the Chicago area fliers all together in Pontiac this Spring for a Route 66 Kites fun fly. It is about midpoint for all the serious fliers in NE Illinois. Looking forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, fly when you can, dream when you have to.

[edmond]

welcome and for sure will meet you at one moment

[goestoeleven]

Did I see that you won a custom Polo rev on KiteLife? If so, congrats. It'll be a very nice kite. You'll have many IKE members who will happily help you with Rev flying if you are new to it.

[makatakam]

Yup, she sure did! Shall we call it beginner's luck? Congrats again, Crystal. As I mentioned on the KiteLife forum, there are plenty of quad pilots in Illinois who will be happy to get you set up and started with this wonderful kite. Since you already have an EXP, and I assume line and handles, it may be wise to get a vented model if that's an available option in the raffle -- something that will help broaden the range of wind in which you can comfortably fly. I'll have to look at the raffle again to see what the choices are. Don't rush into choosing a particular model without "consulting" with experienced quad pilots. You may even discuss your options with Polo Kites and tell them what you have and ask what would be a good choice. A vented Polo is such a sweet flying kite that if you have the chance to get one, you will not be disappointed in your choice.

Most importantly, have fun, smile and don't forget to breathe.