Fractured Axel

Today I took my new Rev 1.5 SLE vented out and put it through it's paces.

In consistent winds and a temperature that was not unreasonable for this time of year I spent a thoroughly enjoyable two and a half hours flying.

2004 seems to have been a particularly windy year and so I had been on the lookout for a Rev 1.5 vented for a few months.

Helen had bought a second hand Rev 1.5 vented from Jason in June and it wasn't until she let me have a go that I understood why it was that she had bought one

I arrived on Dunstable Downs at 13:30 and much to my relief there was a good wind. I took the leading edge out of the vented and replaced it with the one from the Rev 1.5 EXP; my other new kite. Dave Boyle had also sorted me out with a set off Climax lines, the ones that are pinkish in colour & have a waxy feel.

I prefer to fly Revs on extended handles which I've modified by removing the 'V' shaped metal connectors from the ends. Instead I've tied lengths of sleeving through the holes which contain a number of spaced knots that are used to larks head the the lines onto. The problem I had previously was that the metal connectors would swivel around to the back of the handles or snag the lines during energetic maneuvers causing problems.

On the previous Sunday at the Stopsley STACK event I had balanced the handles by adjusting the lines so that the kite would neither pull forward nor fall backwards at the mid-point in the sky when the handles were held relaxed.

Having spent the summer flying the Airbow, the Rev 1.5 vented came as a sedately change to the energetic moves that the Airbow lends itself to. One of the advantages that the Airbow has given me is that I now have the confidence to try out moves on a Rev that I would never have previously attempted. The way a Rev handles IS different to the way an Airbow handles and it wasn't until towards the end of the day that I finally managed to fully switch back into the Rev flying mindset.

At 14:00 I broke for lunch and with the whole place to myself enjoyed sitting looking out across the surrounding countryside of Dunstable Downs

Afterwards I successfully tried out flic-flacs and was amazed at how easily the vented Rev 1.5 does these. I was never able to do this as comfortably on my Rev 1 & although I did occasionally run into trouble when the kite did its 'I'm a brick' impression, more often than not the kite would flic-flac successfully. I believe that the fact it is vented makes it much more capable than the standard Rev 1.5 at these type of tricks.

As well as spending a lot of time just flying the kite slowly and precisely I also worked on cascades, fountains and axels which performed ohh so sweetly. The length of line that I'm using seems to suit itself to my style of flying.

The vented Rev 1.5 is a fun kite to fly and although I did have to walk back to recover it a number of times (I've been spoilt by the total recoverability of the Airbow) I still had a lot of fun.

I look forward to taking it out again next Wednesday on the Downs (weather permitting), if not before.


The original text of this article can be found at:
http://www.aeolian.co.uk/kites/features/rev15.html

Brian

yeah thanks Brian,
work sucks!!!!!
See you Sunday????

Gary the Rev

Updated today with photographs taken against a beatiful blue sky on Dunstable Downs.

Brian

Part II is now online in which I go into a bit more detail on the setting up of Rev handles:
http://www.aeolian.co.uk/kites/features/rev15.html

Brian