I'll keep this short and brief, much like my flying time with my new Rev.... I received my new Rev kite yesterday (Friday). Today we took out the 4M Beamer IV and the 2.4m Sting II..... and the Rev 1.5 SLE. It was about 8-10mph wind. The foils were great. The Rev is just a different animal.... beautiful in everyway but whoa, it is different! After a few failed attempts, I launched and even held it (the Rev) steady for a minute or 2 but as soon as I tried to move it left or right...... no deal. As soon as I tried to 'correct', I had no idea what to do and it didn't come naturally. Knowing that I had to go home and revisit the training video and try to understand the basics, I wrapped it up and put it away. Once the Rev was stored in the bag, I went over to my Beamer an hugged it like a baby blanket! :shocked2: That is not to say I am giving up, not at all. I am saying I need to drop back and come at it again.... the Rev is not as natural and intuitive as the others in my quiver. On the other hand it is fast, quick, and challenging. I'm up for it. I'll be baaaach....

Rev's are a ton of fun to fly once you get the hang of them. I've got a 1.5

Start off thinking of your hands handcuffed together. No need to pull in on one side or the other, just rotate your wrists on one side or the other. Start slow and easy that way... Pulling on one side or the other, instead of turning, can make them slide sideways in the wind.

But when learning, keep your elbows to your sides and use wrist action (thumbs up ) Next thing you know you'll be doing dive stops and trying to make it hover upside down :wee:

Hmm always wanted one of them, was going to make one but the spars would be a problem ... off to check eBay! Damn you Donald

ahh..now you see how the Revs operate with very minor inputs. it won't take long if your flying in decent winds.
yes...keep your hands together (handcuffed is a good analogy) as though they are on small steering wheel out in front of you.
if you feel you must pull a handle in order to turn kite (as opposed to spinning kite on axis (one thumb back other thumb forward)) always return that hand to rejoin the other at steering wheel position.
i see it all the time, at some point shortly after launch newbie has one hand over his head off to the side and the other is down below his waist somewhere. both hands pulling, yanking, and flailing all about. kite usually does nothing but fall down. i can't say no one ever saw me in that position:D
i am self taught and may have developed a bad habit. i rotate my hands/wrists (turning the steering wheel) on same axis as kite when flying. this might be a no-no with regards to future, more technical team (iquad) flying, so you may want to check and or disregard.
*thumbs back/keep hands together:singing:

Recommended online shop?

Don't know if you've seen this but it definitely got my interest. I'll add a Rev to the fleet one day.

Awesome ... and to think, that once upon a time my friend and I thought the epitomy of stunt kite skill to hit the other guy in the head when he dropped his kite on the ground and went to pick it up

Once you get the hang of it, one hand may pull in or push out with respect to the other in order to:

1) let the kite side slide left or right across the window with the main spar horizontal, or
2) to make the slight adjustment you need in order to keep the kite flying level across the window when flying with the main spar vertical (you need to do this to counteract the force of gravity)

Otherwise it's little flicks of the wrist, and you must remeber to return the steering input you've made to the neutral position in order to stop the turn.

krumly

Not much wind today... I got it up and did a little flick left or flick right to see and feel the difference. The wind was so just not enough such that i could not feel much feedback from the Rev. I'll call today an OK day under the circumstances but I'll report back when I have better winds.

Just be careful... Rev's are addictive. I made some bridles to try stacking mine :roll:

SUCCESS:wee:
The winds were not good but good enough. I finally got some air time, no serious crashes, a few 'controlled' crashes. For most of an hour I flew the Rev. Several times I had to just wait for the wind but i did some 90s right and left, did some 180s, and did some figure 8s. I launched and landed and launched and landed. It was a good day. At least I could engage the new baby. It sure is a different feeling than the foils. I like having both. I really need to get to the beach to try those winds. Hopefully we can go this weekend.

Don't you find it incredibly relaxing, flying a kite? Even just zooming around a foil, not riding or scudding or anything just ... flying. I bet people think you're mad but it's just so peaceful and calming ...

Donald,

I had a lot of problem flying 1.5 SLE until I received excellent advice from a kiter: stick your elbows to your body when flying the Rev. It's that simple and it worked! As long as your elbows are sticking to your ribs, your wrists are close togehter and you control/fly the kite with wrist movements.

Kamikuza
I find it relaxing and peaceful. I work from home and live about a mile from the park. At the end of the workday, I leave my house and drive to the park.... within minutes I just feel the workday fade away. It is fabulous!

Quote:

Originally posted by KiteProject Donald, I had a lot of problem flying 1.5 SLE

SLE's come with 1/2" front spars.... change them out to some 1/4" ...4 wrap spars and tame it until you get a lot of time on it. The 1/2" spars are great for precision but snap very easy too!

D, I too have a rev 1.5 sle and it has taught me alot about 4 line kites. wait until you do your first dive bomb -hover- reverse or whatever it is they call it. :wow: you will learn to make it tip stand, reverse flight, and that sideways flight , that is where just a little pull on either side will work. In fact I think that is the ONLY time pulling is what you should do. Everything else is a flick of the wrist.
WG

... say, we haven't seen Don for ages - hope you're ok dude I'm not gay or nothing but I thought about you when I took my Rev out yesterday

I’ve been eying the Rev kites for some time now. The high price did take the wind out of my sails though, so to speak. I finally picked one up last weekend while I was in Lincoln City, Oregon. What a hoot they are, I bought the 1.5sle. A big change from anything else I’ve ever used, but great for light wind days or when you’re nursing those sore muscles after a hard day of kite boarding.

And chuck 'em in the trunk - good for a fix at lunchtime too

I fly 3 Revs'. I don't recommend them after flying any kind of Power Kite. Your inputs will be way off. Fly the Rev first. It is a balance of twitches in your wrists to make it fly gracefully. If you just flew a Power Kite, you have no concept of wrist twitching, but pure grunt force.

I always feel like a bafoon when flying the Rev after flying the Power.

I just entered in the the Rev' thing myself. LOVING IT !

I am fortunate to have some amazing folks to learn from!

What all are telling me to do is :

( sounds like you have found the right handle position ? )

Fly the kite up and back it down to a PERFECT 2 point landing. Do this until you can repeat it 10 times.

Pick a spot dowwnwind and touch one tip down on it. Touch same spot with the other tip. Repeat till you can do it 10 times perfect.

That is as far as I have Gotten.
I found it was nice to take a break and just fly but see that the boring repeat of those basic moves translates into important reflex memories.

I have hopes of REawakening our indoor crowd this winter ! :yes

Something that confused me at 1st was that I thought you strictly use the wrist flick to fly and resisted moving my arms. It is required to control the kite cross winded after all.

Your steering is all done with the wrist movements. Your arm movements will not turn the kite. Instead your arm movements will change the horizontal angle of attack of the kite which will effect how the kite hovers or slides left and right (or up and down if you have the kite positioned on its side).

Another thing to practice is to land the kite upside down and then bring the kite up about 5 feet off the ground under total control, hover it for a bit and then settle it gently back down on the ground.

These are all things to practice on to get your hand/eye muscle memory in sync. If that is all you do then it can be somewhat boring to fly so do these things when you want to improve your skills but then just fly the kite and have some fun with it.

Fun things to do, bicycle turns are very hard to learn but once you get them figured out they are a blast. Inverted side slides just inches off the ground are also way cool, and then there's the super simple but ever impressive dive stop. Rocket the kite straight towards the ground and then stop it instantly just inches above, flip and then shoot it back up and do it again. Way cool and very fun to do.

Once you get this down pat then go to your 2.5 Profoil and do the same maneuvers on that for some real kicks! Reverse flight really sux but the rest is fun to do.

Hope this helps.