Who is flying what & where this week? 2011-7/17-7/23

[goestoeleven]

Getting this thread started a bit early this week as Mark suggested flying somewhere on Sunday and Jeff suggested he might fly after work next week. Post up your plans & results! Happy flying.

[makatakam]

Just quit my job, can fly anytime, anywhere. Anyone flying on Sunday?

[Mike]

Just quit my job, can fly anytime, anywhere.

There's a man who's got his priorities straight!

[makatakam]

Have kites, will travel. Anyone want to fly today?

[goestoeleven]

Possibly. I might go out later in the day if I get some work done. It's looking awfully hot though . . . and no leaves are moving on the trees outside my window right now.

[Jeff]

Monday and Thursday are out. I'll have to see what the weather brings for the other days.

[Darkspark]

Flew for a bit tonight over the pond behind my parents house. Until I started to melt anyway. This is gonna be a rough week for us more sensitive folk.
Besides being in the heat all day makes me want to avoid it in the evening.

[goestoeleven]

Glad to hear you got out there Mikey. I didn't get out today - heat and . . . wife said she's much rather I work on the daughter's room (prep for painting) than fly today. I did get the backup sump pump done yesterday . . . but no flying for me yesterday either. Looking at the weather for the week, it looks like we'll have some wind in the area, but with it will be heat indexes up around 100 degrees. Anybody out there flying this week, make sure you take lots of breaks and drink plenty of water. Don't forget the sunscreen too. Maybe this is a good week to stay inside in the AC and work on building something new!

[Mike]

, but with it will be heat indexes up around 100 degrees.

Over 115 down here.

[makatakam]

Flew at Busse Woods on Sunday, new all-wht rev imitation, blk/red 1.5 sle and my avatar. Wind varied from 0 to 9 every 10 minutes; blasted thermals (I actually loved them when I was flying rc gliders). Made adjustments on all of the above, practiced bicycle spins, flying backwards, and inverted hover & rise. My avatar is actually the easiest to do these with. Why????

Anyone who wants to fly call or post here and I'll join you.

P.S. -- We need a heat exhaustion smiley!

[goestoeleven]

on my way to busse now

Went to busse, flew with Mark for an hour and a half or so. Wind was a bit variable, but OK for a full sail EXP on 120s. Was surprised by the weather - it was hot, but with the wind it was not unbearable.

Hmm . . . I just read the Elix post after mine . . . flic flacs still elude me after months, and so do axels. I was getting some pretty sweet low altitude slides across the window tonight, though. Still have to work on my clockwork too . . .

[Elix]

Flew my new B series tonight. Perfect winds, finally. Only had an hour but I could have went all night it was so much fun. Moved lines out to the ends of my top leaders and everything went well there. I feel much more confident with this kite than my smaller non-rev. I tried flic-flacs a few times and got the right motion a few times. Other times the kite came tumbling out of the sky, but thanks to the JB videos, I knew how to fix tip-wraps and flat landings, so there were no walks of shame! Inverted flight is just beyond my fingertips. Sometimes it magically happens, other times I just don't see how I can use less input yet I flip back to upright. With the solid breeze, I'd occasionally catch myself gripping too much in fear of losing the handles, but when inverted, it still felt like not enough wind to hold me up without walking backwards. Practice, practice, practice! Can't wait to get back out there...

An observation: my 80' laser pro gold lines sometimes hum/whistle in the breeze like a musical instrument, it's a delight to hear. And when I get a few twists in, sometimes moving the lines across each other at the right speed will cause a grunt like pulling a bow grudgingly across violin strings. Little things are the spice of life

[makatakam]

Flew my new B series tonight. Perfect winds, finally. Only had an hour but I could have went all night it was so much fun. Moved lines out to the ends of my top leaders and everything went well there. I feel much more confident with this kite than my smaller non-rev. I tried flic-flacs a few times and got the right motion a few times. Other times the kite came tumbling out of the sky, but thanks to the JB videos, I knew how to fix tip-wraps and flat landings, so there were no walks of shame! Inverted flight is just beyond my fingertips. Sometimes it magically happens, other times I just don't see how I can use less input yet I flip back to upright. With the solid breeze, I'd occasionally catch myself gripping too much in fear of losing the handles, but when inverted, it still felt like not enough wind to hold me up without walking backwards. Practice, practice, practice! Can't wait to get back out there...

An observation: my 80' laser pro gold lines sometimes hum/whistle in the breeze like a musical instrument, it's a delight to hear. And when I get a few twists in, sometimes moving the lines across each other at the right speed will cause a grunt like pulling a bow grudgingly across violin strings. Little things are the spice of life

Music to my ears; I've considered attaching bells and/or whistles to my kites. (Still trying to find something that will go "beep, beep, beep" in reverse so you don't have to, Mike.)

Backing up helps when inverted and near the ground because of the turbulence near it. That's why pilots landing a plane need to pull back on the stick a bit to avoid toucing down "hard". It helps if you position your kite on any rise in the area. The ground at most flying sites is not perfectly flat and even the silghtest "hill" will give you a bit extra useable lift. More brake will help. I've made changes in the bridle itself, moving the knot closer to the tip, but I don't recommend it until you become extremely familiar with the flight dynamics of a rev, because every change affects every other part of it.

Other than that, Practice,Practice, Practice.

[Mike]

There's some wind in the forecast but it's so hot and muggy that I'm actually working on the house rather than fly kites. Pretty messed up, huh?

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[Jeff]

Was thinking today would be good to get out after work for a while. But the heat and humidity will be so bad, I'll just have to play it by ear...

[catspaw00]

I am flying the big boys today - gonna be up at Madison on one of the lakes thereabouts. W00T!!! First time we've had enough wind for the boards... at some point I'll get to ride when someone is available to take pictures, so I can post for you guys to see. <GRIN> I'm SO PSYCHED!!!!

-Wendy

[Mike]

In this heat, playing on a lake sounds perfect. Have a blast!

[goestoeleven]

Was thinking today would be good to get out after work for a while. But the heat and humidity will be so bad, I'll just have to play it by ear...

Same here. I'm tied up with work, but I've considered flying afterwards if it's not too hot. I'll be working near 355 & 88 this afternoon so I could potentially make Busse later on if that's your plan. Depending on the wind direction . . . it might be possible to find the shade of a tree there and still fly.

[makatakam]

Was thinking today would be good to get out after work for a while. But the heat and humidity will be so bad, I'll just have to play it by ear...

Same here. I'm tied up with work, but I've considered flying afterwards if it's not too hot. I'll be working near 355 & 88 this afternoon so I could potentially make Busse later on if that's your plan. Depending on the wind direction . . . it might be possible to find the shade of a tree there and still fly.

If you guys can make I'll be there. If you can't make it I'll be there. It's 10:30 am now and the wind is looking pretty good. Should keep us from overheating.

[Jeff]

Same here. I'm tied up with work, but I've considered flying afterwards if it's not too hot. I'll be working near 355 & 88 this afternoon so I could potentially make Busse later on if that's your plan. Depending on the wind direction . . . it might be possible to find the shade of a tree there and still fly.

I'll head over after work. Sometime after 5.