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Revolution Next Level Skill: Follow the Leader by Revolution Kites

A game with the Reflex, 'Follow the leader': letting the Rev fly freely on autopilot and following it, then the 90-degree hand launch when it comes down.

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

Revolution Next Level Skill: Follow the Leader by Revolution Kites

Key takeaways from this video

  • With slack lines above you, a standard Rev stalls and falls; a Reflex goes on autopilot, recovers and heads downwind.
  • To start a glide path, climb above you, slide the Rev to the side, walk under it so it lies flat, then pull the top line.
  • After the glide, the Rev often ends up inverted: recover it like a dive stop, thumbs forward.
  • For the hand launch, throw at 90 degrees to the wind; slightly downwind for more speed, slightly upwind for more float.

Transcript

  1. The Follow the Leader game

    0:00

    Hi, I'm Joe Hadzicki, inventor of the Revolution, and we have a new game for you to play with your Revolution Reflex. Normally your Revolution is all about total control, but what if we flip that upside down and put your Rev in control? This game is called Follow the Leader, and you are going to follow your Rev.

  2. Reflex autopilot

    0:59

    If you take your standard Rev up overhead and then let the lines go slack, it stalls and falls straight down to the ground. But if you take your Revolution Reflex overhead and let it go slack, it'll go into autopilot, recover, turn, and fly downwind. Re-engage your Reflex and you're ready to go. The object of the game is to let your Rev fly free, and then you follow. Sometimes it flies to the right and then to the left. Sometimes your Rev Reflex will fly fast. Sometimes your Reflex will fly low. Sometimes your glide path will stay nice and high.

  3. Setting up a glide path

    3:48

    To set your Rev on a glide path, fly her up overhead and continue overhead. As she is overhead, slide her down slightly to the side as she continues forward. Now, to set her into the glide or float mode, with her over here, walk in underneath her. That will cause her to lay out flat and start to glide. The minute she starts floating, pull on that top line, and that will cause her to go into a glide path. Oftentimes after the glide, your Rev will end up in an inverted position. The way to recover from this is just like a regular dive stop: throw those thumbs forward and catch it at that inversion.

  4. The 90-degree hand launch

    5:09

    When your Rev is on the ground, this is a perfect opportunity to practice your hand launch. One of my favorite hand launches is the 90-degree hand launch. The wind is blowing straight downwind here, so 90 degrees is straight over here. If you want to add a little speed to the launch, launch it slightly off the 90 degrees, downwind. If you want to take off a little speed and have a little more float to it, launch it a little upwind of 90 degrees. The more you practice your fly and glide skills, the better you're going to get to know your Revolution Reflex. I'll put in the description below some videos to help with some more advanced fly and glide skills.

Keep going

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

  1. Revolution 3-D Toss and 3-D Flying
  2. Revolution Reflex 3-D Catch and Throw
  3. Club 38 Member Seth Learns the Reflex Catch and Throw
  4. New Revolution Fly and Glide Skill: The Revolution Reflex 360
  5. Revolution Next Level Skill: Follow the Leader — you are here
  6. Reflex Skills Are Possible for Everyone
  7. Rev Mastery, Episode 2: The Tumbleweed

See the 24 videos of the series

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