Taking Your Revolution Kite on Vacation by Revolution Kites

Transcript

1. ›

   Arriving in Central Park

   0:00

   Hi, I'm Joe Hadzicki, inventor of the Revolution, and today I thought we'd talk about how we can add a little Rev adventure to your next vacation. Have you figured out where we are yet? We're in New York City's famous Central Park. Let's see what I've got in my bag.

2. ›

   Wings and bag contents

   0:14

   I always travel with two wings, in particular the XX, because I can fly that in zero wind up to about eight or ten easily, and then my Super Tarantula, which is a fully vented XX version, and I can fly that in winds up to like 25 miles an hour. So I've got everything covered. Let's see what I've got in here. I've got a sweater there, I've got an extra jacket. The travel kit is awesome because it's easy to travel with and you still have lots of room for everything else. There's my frame sets. I've got two line sets, a short line and a longer line. I think I've got a 30 foot light set and a 60 foot line set. And then I actually brought three wings: my XX, Super Tarantula, and my Eagle. I just saw a hawk fly by a few minutes ago, so I'm going to fly the Eagle for sure, but maybe I'll give the XX a chance too. The winds aren't that big. They're pretty unstable here. It's coming up now, about three or four miles an hour, and it's changing direction all the time. But we've got a Revolution, so we should be able to handle it.

3. ›

   The compact travel frame

   1:31

   What I really love about the travel frame is, look how compact it is. I've got my leading edge shafts, I've got my down struts, I've got my skin rolled up. It's so easy to travel and take anywhere. Basically all the shafts have been cut in half, so it's a nice small package and it fits perfectly into your suitcase.

4. ›

   Assembling the wing

   1:52

   All right, so here are the parts. They just ferrule together and now you have a full shaft, and you just slide it into your leading edge and keep the structure going. The other amazing thing about Revolutions is they're so easy to assemble. So here we have our two shafts, put them together, we have one shaft, pop that leading edge on, pop our Reflex spring on, pop our bottom cap on, make sure our bridle's clear, same on the other side, and we're ready to go.

5. ›

   Line sets and unstable wind

   2:25

   All right, let's talk about equipment a little bit. I've got two line sets with me. I bring a short line set, 30 feet in this case, and a longer line set, 60 feet, in the other case. We have really unstable conditions here. The wind was just blowing a second ago, probably approaching eight miles an hour that way. Right now it's blowing about two miles an hour in the opposite direction. We're between a couple of bodies of water and the wind can't decide which way it's going to go.

6. ›

   Choosing longer lines

   2:53

   What I would normally choose in really unstable conditions would be the longer lines, the 60 foot lines in this case, and it's going to give me a little more time. I can get up in the air, and if the wind drops, I have a little bit of float time to regain control.

7. ›

   Why 30 foot lines today

   3:06

   Today I'm going to fly on 30 foot lines, for a couple of reasons. Number one, it's easier for the camera to see both me and the Rev at the same time. And number two, even though this is a relatively big park, there are a lot of people here, and I don't want to take up a lot of space. The XX is the perfect wing for that. It takes a larger sampling of air because of the bigger wing, and that helps stabilize the flying conditions.

8. ›

   Hand launch in swirly wind

   3:32

   All right, here we go for the hand launch, around 30 foot lines. Let's see what happens. The wind is really swirly, so let's see if I can keep it in the air. That stability is really awesome. See, it's kind of buffeting over there too. The shorelines are kind of questionable. Wind just dropped there. Let's take it back up again. I can feel the wind, but there's not anything on the wing itself. There it is. So it's really shifting and unstable. Let's get up there on the New York skyline. Look at those skyscrapers, just crazy architecture.

9. ›

   Flying the Eagle

   5:16

   Okay, let's put the Eagle up and see how she does in these conditions. All right, so here's the deal. I'm flying on 30 foot lines, the Eagle, the conditions are completely unstable, the wind is shifting 270 degrees easily. In these conditions I would definitely choose longer lines to give me a little time to deal with those unsteady conditions, but I'm flying short lines for the video shoot and because the park is getting more crowded. So it's a little bit of an experiment: you've got to try out different things to see what works best for you. And it's a spectacular experience flying in Central Park. I hope this inspires you to add a little Rev adventure to your next vacation.