Who is flying what, where and when this week 8/7-8/14

[Darkspark]

Have fun Tom, Want to hear all about it when you get back. WSIKF is on my bucket list.

[FlyAway]

Flew yesterday late afternoon with T.J. at Lunt street beach at Lake Michigan. Super smooth wind, started out at 8-10, dwindling slowly as the sun started setting. Everything is so much easier without the bumps. Flew full vent Phantom, switching to my home-made "Mardi Gras" revlike as the wind started subsiding. TJ got some time in on his 1.5 sle and my Phantom and home-made. He also learned what those vinyl cap covers are for; yup, we flew on the sand. - Makatam

I was able to fly another of Mark's designs which was pretty cool. I told him he should start marketing them.

Had to take the Rev home partially assembled because of sand in the endcaps we couldn't free up. I hope the plastic explosive will help free them up...

T.J.

[goestoeleven]

Revs and SLKs at Long Beach, Washington ... attending WSIKF for the first time.

(That's two thumbs up to you for the trip to WSIKF).

Hope to see you there . . . about Wednesday, staying through Saturday afternoon. We will bring our IKE shirts so hopefully we'll connect.
This is my payback for spending most of 2009 and 3/4 of 2010 flying back and forth to a client in rural Mississippi every week.

[goestoeleven]

Flew yesterday late afternoon with T.J. at Lunt street beach at Lake Michigan. Super smooth wind, started out at 8-10, dwindling slowly as the sun started setting. Everything is so much easier without the bumps. Flew full vent Phantom, switching to my home-made "Mardi Gras" revlike as the wind started subsiding. TJ got some time in on his 1.5 sle and my Phantom and home-made. He also learned what those vinyl cap covers are for; yup, we flew on the sand. - Makatam

I was able to fly another of Mark's designs which was pretty cool. I told him he should start marketing them.

Had to take the Rev home partially assembled because of sand in the endcaps we couldn't free up. I hope the plastic explosive will help free them up...

T.J.

Glad you guys are getting out there and flying!

Careful on the marketing . . . some of them are pretty close to Revs (but lighter)

About the sand, try flicking the cap with your fingernail to help the sand migrate around enough to loosen up. Even if it's tight, the worst you'll do is scratch the spar a little bit when you pull the cap off.

[goestoeleven]

Have fun Tom, Want to hear all about it when you get back. WSIKF is on my bucket list.

Maybe next year . . . you'll have to have a vendor booth for your dog stakes!

[Jeff]

There isn't really room for the public to fly at the gardens. Jeff usually goes, but I think he's out of town right now. If he sees this post he can fill in the details.

Yup, that's true. It's a good place to watch the Fire and the others perform, but the small field either has demos or a crowd of kids flying. There isn't room for other sport kiters.

[Mike]

Careful on the marketing . . . some of them are pretty close to Revs (but lighter)

Yup, Rev will sue on anything with a Rev shaped sail if you try to sell it without their permission. You can make all you want for your own use, but if you try to sell one, Rev will find out--it's a small community.

[makatakam]

Is anyone planning to fly in the Chicago area this weekend?

[Jynx]

[i]

Had to take the Rev home partially assembled because of sand in the end caps we couldn't free up. I hope the plastic explosive will help free them up...

T.J.

Quick tip for sand problems in the spar caps:

Get some plumbing "O"rings that fit snugly around the spars...

Place an O-ring over/around the spar and, when assembled into the caps, push the O-ring against the end cap. Keeps (most of) the sand out and eliminates the sticking/sand problem when disassembling.

A cheap/quick/fix... and it works!

[makatakam]

Had to take the Rev home partially assembled because of sand in the endcaps we couldn't free up. I hope the plastic explosive will help free them up...

T.J.[/quote]

I was wondering if anyone tried 3m blue painters' tape for this purpose. 1-1/2 to 2 wraps overlapping the cap and spar should keep all the sand out. A bit time-consuming, but if it works it would be worth the extra 3 to 5 minutes.

[FlyAway]

Thanks for the tips, all.

I was able to get them loose but I'll have to try some of those recommendations; it is really fun flying on the beach.

T.J.

[Captain]

I flew couple of single line kites for an hour at montrose. I would have kept going if not for the night. I did try flying my first stunt foil kite....so complicated, couldn't get it to fly.
Side note question: Where do you tie your kite lines ? There were two different knots. One where all the other strings were attached and one that was little bit further down (to lower end of kite).

Didn't work with either one....I am going to try next time when I am out.

[Darkspark]

Could you post a picture of the bridal? would be easier to tell what you are talking about. What kind of kite is it?

[makatakam]

I flew couple of single line kites for an hour at montrose. I would have kept going if not for the night. I did try flying my first stunt foil kite....so complicated, couldn't get it to fly.
Side note question: Where do you tie your kite lines ? There were two different knots. One where all the other strings were attached and one that was little bit further down (to lower end of kite).

Didn't work with either one....I am going to try next time when I am out.

I ususally tie mine in the living room. Seriously though, it's not that complicated. First make sure that all those lines are not tangled and twisted. Tie your lines to the knot that's the farthest from the kite; should be a single line that all the others are attached to. The hardest part of getting it flying is positioning the kite for take-off. Stake your handles, take your kite to the end of the lines as you unroll them, attach, lay the kite flat on it's back in a manner so it can't take off by itself, with or without folding part of it. Go back to the handles and launch.

Next time we get together I'll give you a hand, and we'll fly some foils.

[makatakam]

Revs and SLKs at Long Beach, Washington ... attending WSIKF for the first time.

(That's two thumbs up to you for the trip to WSIKF).

Hope to see you there . . . about Wednesday, staying through Saturday afternoon. We will bring our IKE shirts so hopefully we'll connect.
This is my payback for spending most of 2009 and 3/4 of 2010 flying back and forth to a client in rural Mississippi every week.

PM me when you get back, I gotta know all about it!!!!

[makatakam]

Flew at Turner Park in Roselle on Saturday and Sunday, HQ SkySong Cool, SLK converted to QLK, and today at Busse Woods, SkySong and home-made lattice rev-like (the one you flew at Greene Valley, Steve). A few more tweaks to each and they're as good as gold.

[Jeff]

Flew in Longmont, Colorado on Sunday with some area fliers. Four of us on Revs. Wind was pretty crazy all day. Nothing one minute, then 15+ from one direction, nothing again, and then strong again from another direction. Storms going by the area really mixed up the winds.

It was fun, even if a bit up and down. Did some basic team stuff with the local Rev'rs.

Was up in Rocky Mountain National Park today, and there was a nice 12-15 mph wind up there over 12,000 feet up. I was so tempted to get out a kite, but I'd probably have a Ranger on me in no time.

[Jeff]

Here's a video taken in Colorado on Sunday. I post it here not because of any of the flying, (we're not even flying here, just helping to un-knot one of the fliers) but because it shows the weather we were dealing with. The storms would keep passing by relatively closely, and kick out gusts of wind at us, and then it would get quiet again when they were gone. You could really see the storms coming out over the mountains and over the open spaces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoWieVp1K1w