More Basics for Easy Rev Flying by Revolution Kites

Transcript

1. ›

   Goal: airtime

   0:00

   Hi, I'm Joe Hadzicki, inventor of the Revolution kite, and I'm here to tell you your first flight does not have to be difficult. But let's get started on the right foot. Number one, let's keep things simple. Number two, let's lock down the basic skills. And number three, let's get a feel for the sensitivity of your Rev. When you're starting out on your Rev adventure, the goal is airtime. Think ten seconds. Launch, one, two, three, four, five. Awesome. Every second in the air gets you closer to mastering your Rev.

2. ›

   Problem 1: overcontrol

   0:35

   Now to the problems. Problem number one: overcontrol. The Revolution is very sensitive, and it's very easy to overcontrol it. So what I want you to do is stick to the basics: lines tight, thumbs back, launch, stop your Rev and back it down. This rotation is the sensitivity we're talking about. Here we go. Tight lines, thumbs back, launch, stop, back down. Not bad, but a little bit too much overcontrol, a little too much thumb pressure on that. It's sensitive, so try not to overcontrol your Rev.

3. ›

   Problem 2: pulling for a turn

   1:18

   Problem number two: pulling for a turn. This is natural for all you two-line pilots. You guys know how to control your two-line delta: you just pull for a left turn, pull for a right turn. So we're going to stick to the basics: lines tight, thumbs back, launch. To turn, you want to push the left thumb for a left turn and push the right thumb for a right turn. Okay, this is what it looks like. Lines tight, thumbs back, launch.

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   Breaking the habit

   1:52

   Okay, so what went wrong there? We started out perfect, the launch was good, and we even got a couple of turns in with our thumbs, but then it got a little out of control. We panicked and went back to our natural reaction, which is to pull for the turn. Notice that that's the problem. Break that habit. Focus, talk to yourself, and keep those hands together while you're going through those basic turns.

5. ›

   Problem 3: reverse-launch cycle

   2:09

   Problem number three: the reverse-launch crash cycle. This is what it looks like. Oh, it crashed, but it's no big deal, it's a Revolution, I can just reverse launch. Oh, crash again. No big problem, I just reverse launch. All right, there are two problems with this. Number one, you're beating your Rev up, and number two, you're not getting any airtime. It's cool and everything that you can reverse launch your kite, and people get caught up in that and they're just constantly crashing. It's cool, but it's not accomplishing anything. So let's go for the ten-second rule. Get everything nice and tight: lines tight, thumbs back, launch, and count to ten. Try to get ten seconds in the air. Every second is improving your Rev mastery.

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   Problem 4: poor wind

   2:56

   Problem number four: poor wind conditions. Either your wind is too high, too low or unsteady. If it's perfect, it's perfect: in that 8 to 12 mph range, there are no problems. But if it's unsteady, or high, or low, you can run into some problems. For high winds, stick to the same thing: launch, stop and back down. The difference is that it's very sensitive. In high winds your Rev becomes super sensitive, and in light winds it's not as sensitive. So if our original sequence was launch, stop, back down, in high winds it's going to be more like launch, stop, back down with very small movements. As long as you're aware of that sensitivity, you'll be on your way.

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   Light and unstable wind

   3:44

   The problems of light wind and unstable wind share the same solution. The problem is instability: in light winds it's hard to get enough wind to get a stable flight, and in unstable winds it's hard to get a stable wind to get a stable flight. So we're going to do something a little different here. It's basically the same thing, but remember for our normal launch: stick to the basics, launch, stop and back down.

8. ›

   Flying higher for stability

   4:06

   In light and unstable conditions, let's fly up higher so we can get a little more stability. The wind tends to be a little more stable and a little stronger when you get up high. So fly up, then keep going up a little bit higher, and then, up here, let's go for that ten-second rule. Try to hold it steady, try to balance the wings, and seven, eight, nine, ten. Every second you can stay in the air is going to improve your skills, so go for that ten-second rule. If you can get the basics down for these unstable conditions, you can fly in anything. The key is to recognize the problem and apply the solution. Remember, the goal when you're starting out is to get airtime. See you on the field.