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1-Handed Revolution Kite Flying: The Basics by Revolution Kites

The basics of flying the Revolution with one hand, in five progressive tips: from a simple launch to spins, then the reverse launch.

From the series Spins, hover and reverse. Transcript by QuadKites.org.

1-Handed Revolution Kite Flying: The Basics by Revolution Kites

Key takeaways from this video

  • The principle does not change with one hand: thumb back to take off, forward to stop and land.
  • Start simple, climbing, stopping and backing down in reverse, to feel the handle rotation before adding wider and wider turns.
  • For a spin without losing height, keep the pressure on the way down and give a little reverse when the kite is upside down.
  • Work with both hands, then add the reverse launch followed by a spin.

Transcript

  1. Basics of one-handed flying

    0:00

    Hi, I'm Joe Hadzicki, inventor of the Revolution. Rev pilots are always looking for new ways to push their Rev skills to the next level. If you're good with chopsticks, you're going to love this next challenge. Here are five tips for flying your Rev with one hand. One-handed Rev flying is simple in concept, but it takes a little practice to get used to it. Here are the basics. With two handles, you bring the thumbs back to launch, and push the thumbs forward and down to back up and land. It's the same thing with a single hand: rotate that thumb back to launch, and push it forward to stop and land it. Now let's see how it looks in real time.

  2. Tip 1: start simple

    1:29

    Tip number one: start out simple, just like you do with your standard Rev. Just jump it up, stop it, and back it down. The mistake people make is that they jump it up and fly all the way up to the top, get out of control, and crash. Our goal in this first part is just to get a feel for the handle rotation: forward flight, stop, and reverse.

  3. Tip 2: adding turns

    2:01

    Tip number two: now let's add some turn controls. With two handles, you rotate the left thumb forward, rotating that handle, for a left turn, and the right handle for a right turn. It's the same thing with a single hand. You need to rotate the handle with the thumb forward on the left side for a left turn, and with the thumb forward on the right side for a right turn. Gradually add bigger turns and longer flights.

  4. Tip 3: adding spins

    3:05

    Tip three: we're ready to add spins. The trick with spins is that you have to get through the downturn, because gravity is going to want to take you down, so make sure you maintain your pressure all the way through the spin. An advanced version of the spin is to jump, spin, and land. What this requires is that you keep your altitude. The way you do that: when you spin and get too close to the ground, as you get inverted on your spin, give it a little reverse control to lift it up. This also has the effect of slowing your spin down.

  5. Tips 4 and 5

    4:01

    Tip four: practice one-handed flying both left-handed and right-handed. Now you'll be ready to fly two Revs at the same time. Tip number five: reverse launch. Everyone needs a reverse launch. Once you reverse up, spin it and fly it up.

Keep going

In the series Spins, hover and reverse — Revolution Kites tutorials

  1. The Inverted Hover: An Advanced Rev Skill from the Quad-Line Inventor, Joe Hadzicki
  2. Revolution Kites: Advanced Inverted Hover Skills
  3. Advanced Rev Inversions, Part 2
  4. 1-Handed Revolution Kite Flying: The Basics — you are here
  5. 1-Handed Rev Flying: You Can Do It!
  6. Revolution 3-D Toss and 3-D Flying
  7. Revolution Reflex 3-D Catch and Throw

See the 24 videos of the series

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