I might have to disagree with the common notion that depower is not fun to fly static. Today I had the venom out and the wind was forecast to be decent. As usual it varied greatly and was frustrating in the buggy. I was getting ready to pack up but the wind was picking up just a bit. I had walked back to the kite bag with the kite still flying overhead and was pretty far away form my buggy so I decided to just fly static a bit. It was great fun. There was enough wind for small jumps and scudding. That was the first jumps I had done with the arc or hooked in for that matter. I enjoy this stage of constant learning. I told myself I wasn't going to jump anymore to play it safe, but that's like saying your going to skip the fries when you get a value meal to be healthy. It just doesn't happen.

I took my reactors to myrtle with me this past week. I rarely flew without being hooked in. I mostly flew the 8.6 regardless of the wind. I was flying in 17-20 mph on/side shore mostly.people say reactors are not lifty kites, but all I did the whole time on the 8.6 was jumping. Huge floaty jumps with multiple redirects. I even have some video footage of me jumping my younger sister and my grandmother. That bit is going in our family reunion video this year so much fun. Even though I was kicking myself for not trying to get the buggy down there to ride the hard pack, I still had fun static flying and jumping around.

I love flying my Reactors static... I had my 5.5m out in VA a couple of weeks back and flew it in really light steady wind and had an absolutely great time, just relaxing and enjoying flying. I'm getting more used to my 8.6m in higher winds, and yes, in spite of their "low lift" I can and do jump with my Reactors.

Back on topic though... Good news on enjoying the Arc static... I always got the impression that it was a matter of appreciating them more while moving.

Me too! I love flying static with the LEI's. Big floaty jumps with soft landings and total control. I think some have said in the past that certain depower kites need to be moving as soliver also mentions to really appreciate their potential.

All kites need to be moving to enjoy their full potential:D

Errol, soliver, that's cool hearing about jumping with the reactors. You don't hear that very often.

Redsky, are you usually on the beach when you jump?

The more and more I think about depower, the more and more I'm hungering for a Montana.... One day... One day

And yes, I agree... All kites need tone moving to appreciate their full potential

Sebonze posted a vid in the kite jumping forum with him doing his crazy big jumps on a Reactor... I'll see if I can find it.

Here it is... This guy does some awesome jumps

[/rquote]

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

All kites need to be moving to enjoy their full potential:D Errol, soliver, that's cool hearing about jumping with the reactors. You don't hear that very often. Redsky, are you usually on the beach when you jump?

The week before last I was flying high on grass but thats another story. The best jumps I've ever had were at the beach. Also I feel more confident jumping on the shingle as it disperses the energy even when you land awkwardly. I really go for some hard pendulum action at the beach.

Quote:

Sebonze posted a vid in the kite jumping forum with him doing his crazy big jumps on a Reactor... I'll see if I can find it.

The end of the video told what kites he used. One was a biii 8.5 and the other was a reactor 3.5 :o

Quote: Originally posted by RedSky

The week before last I was flying high on grass but thats another story.

uh... oh, you mean your kite was WAY up in the air and you were on top of a really tall grassy hill right???

or was it a typo where you meant to say "...on high grass" meaning that the grass was really tall???

uh... wait ... what?...

I have to agree, I've had just as much fun flying my Venom static as I have on the board...





:frog:

pongnut, what would you guess the winds were when you did that? Was it gusty or fairly clean?

Quote: Originally posted by pongnut

I have to agree, I've had just as much fun flying my Venom static as I have on the board... :frog:

Sweet floaty jumps!

Quote: Originally posted by soliver

Quote: Originally posted by RedSky   The week before last I was flying high on grass but thats another story. uh... oh, you mean your kite was WAY up in the air and you were on top of a really tall grassy hill right??? or was it a typo where you meant to say "...on high grass" meaning that the grass was really tall??? uh... wait ... what?...

:D
I would never condone the use of recreational drugs unless they're for medical or spiritual reasons. I don't smoke the stuff myself but I am a passive smoker of the pot. Delta kite fliers and dog walkers mostly.

I think most of the really good jumps were with a Mandibule and large Blades. The Blades had been converted to 2 line which I don't understand. You can jump with a Reactor but it isn't an equal to a big Blade. Notice those shots of the guys standing still with their arms stretched tight straight up? I'm guessing a Blade is responsible for that. The Reactor would ease off right at zenith. This also is a phenomenon referred to as "praying to the Crossfire" referring to the original HQ Crossifire. It compared closely to the Blade.

Yea, Bob ... I've read through some of sebonze's posts and it seems like he has converted all of his Blades to 2 lines strictly for jumping. If you watch any of his other vids, they are all with him using a Blade on 2 lines... Seems like a bad idea to me, but he obviously seems to have it in control, and he gets some wild jumps out of them.

Yeah, to me that seems like a two person operation just to land the thing, because a kite that big I cannot fathom how to land solo. Even a little gnat fart after you set the thing down on the edge of the window would send it back up in the air, unless you land nose down, which I wouldn't want to do every time I had to land my big expensive Blade.

I just don't understand what slack back lines can do to hurt jumping performance. When I had my Blade IV 6.5m, I would use some brake tension to enhance my turn that initiated the jump and on subsequent redirects. It seems similar to taking a wheel off a corvette so it has less rolling resistance.

My guess is he puts it to the edge of the window and lets go of one handle. Either that or someone grabs it for him.

Yeah I mean any kite is easily landed with a partner to catch it on the edge of the window, but I am trying to figure out how to solo land it. The only thing I can think of is landing it nose down on the edge of the window and hooking your loops to the stake. Either that or a friend catches you.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

pongnut, what would you guess the winds were when you did that? Was it gusty or fairly clean?

Typical 10 mph gusts on top of 15 to 20 mph base during these clips.

Pongnut, you got some nice float there

On the water, 4 line on a bar.


Two-Line on the water


Some folks just fall into this category....



ATB,
Sam