Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 05:28:40 -1000 From: plepez@ulb.ac.be (Philippe Lepez) Message-Id: <407vr8$ok9@rc1.vub.ac.be> Organization: Free University of Brussels Subject: Passport to heavens (a report) Last WE, there was a festival organized by the Brussels shop Heavens in Knocke. I had the opportunity to be there saturday. The weather was hot and the wind starts mild to finish at 5-6 bft. The flying arena was much too small, in particular there where no distinction beetween single liner and stunter. In practice there where very few stunter in the air, due to this lack of space : I have flown on 8 m lines below the line and the lines toys of a large parafoil ! David Britain, was for me THE attraction. With its REV, he - played + hook and hat ; or + hook and spectacles ; or + hook and ... ;, - buggyed on one wheel, on a circus bicycle ( ?!) with one wheel (NO he had no red nose and no large shoe ;-) - discovered a better way to place its paper while painting (inclined from left to rigth instead of rear to front). David was amazed by the power of the net (6 people had called him to say he should call his brother). BTW. Dean, I left a message on the answering machine of Heavens, dont know if it will reach David before he leaves Belgium. I was puzzeled by its REV II. It has no bridle, looks like an ultra ligth and David was playing with it even in the high winds of the end of he day. I forgot to ask hil about the spar he uses as a leading edge. Any idea ? Willy Koch (Germany) put in the air what is probably the best kite I have ever seen in term of detail and craftmanship : a star with a japaneese motif. The tail was a bamboo forest with some animals (panda, tiger, ...). Every leave in the forest is a piece of stiched ripstop. Willy said he had spend 320 hours (no mistake 320) building this kite. Raoul Fosset (Belguim) had a large wheel (a la Andre Cassagne). For me it was the second best kite of the day. Jan Valk (sp?) (Belgium) attached beautyful line toys under its large parafoil. I pariculary appreciated the elephant. There where also Cladio Capelli (Italy), Maxime Fellion (France), Frank Schwimann (Germany) and some others. This very WE Chris Houters had organized (date chosen long before Passport to Heavens) another meeting in Zeebrugge, that is to say 10 km away from Knocke. We were few to go and share the evening meal with this group. They also had a lot of fun (on a much larger place). A great thanks to Anne De Roye for setting up this event despite vanishing sponsorts. Next year, more room and a non conflictual date should make this a really great event. Good winds. Philippe. -- Philippe Lepez (CP 125), | | Good kite Universite Libre de Bruxelles, | Email: plepez@ulb.ac.be |+ Good wind 50 av. Roosevelt, | Phone: 32.2.6503553 |---------------- 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique. | Fax : 32.2.6503323 |= A lot of fun ! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 13:18:41 -1000 From: jburka@Glue.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) Message-Id: <408rch$679@geog25.umd.edu> Organization: Project Glue, University of Maryland, College Park Subject: Re: Passport to heavens (a report) In article <407vr8$ok9@rc1.vub.ac.be>, Philippe Lepez wrote: (about David Brittain) >- buggyed on one wheel, on a circus bicycle ( ?!) with one wheel (NO he > had no red nose and no large shoe ;-) David was playing around with his unicycles at East Coast last May -- he has an off-road unicycle that he was playing with on the sand down by the water. He doesn't really use the kite for traction, just flies it while he cycles around. Still, we're talking *way* too much coordination. ;-) >I was puzzeled by its REV II. It has no bridle, looks like an ultra ligth >and David was playing with it even in the high winds of the end of he day. >I forgot to ask hil about the spar he uses as a leading edge. Any idea ? I've flown a stock Rev II (ie Advantage 3 wrap frame) in winds of 15-20 without a bridle with no undue effects to the kite. And I've flown bridleless Rev IIs with SkyShark IIIp frames in winds of 10-12 with no trouble. Beside not having a bridle, what makes you say this kite looked like an ultralight? The only real difference between the stock and UL revs are 1/2oz sail cloth (which looks a lot like their standard stuff) and spectra bridles -- I doubt I could tell from a distance if a rev was stock or UL, especially if I knew the flyer was good enough to be flying a stock kite in the given wind. Sounds like a fun festival...thanks for the report! Jeff -- |Jeffrey C. Burka | Pithy, insightful quote to be inserted when one | |jburka@glue.umd.edu | occurs to me. *If* one occurs to me. | |http://www.wam.umd.edu/~jeffy/html/home.html | = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 20:35:37 -1000 From: plepez@ulb.ac.be (Philippe Lepez) Message-Id: <409kvp$717@rc1.vub.ac.be> Organization: Free University of Brussels Subject: Re: Passport to heavens (a report) >Jan Valk (sp?) ^^^^^^^^ Jos Valcke, sorry, actualy, the line toys are build by its wife. Reagrds. Philippe. -- Philippe Lepez (CP 125), | | Good kite Universite Libre de Bruxelles, | Email: plepez@ulb.ac.be |+ Good wind 50 av. Roosevelt, | Phone: 32.2.6503553 |---------------- 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique. | Fax : 32.2.6503323 |= A lot of fun ! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 20:50:14 -1000 From: plepez@ulb.ac.be (Philippe Lepez) Message-Id: <409lr6$717@rc1.vub.ac.be> Organization: Free University of Brussels Subject: Re: Passport to heavens (a report) In article <408rch$679@geog25.umd.edu>, jburka@Glue.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) says: >Beside not having a bridle, what makes you say this kite looked like an >ultralight? The only real difference between the stock and UL revs are >1/2oz sail cloth (which looks a lot like their standard stuff) and spectra >bridles -- I doubt I could tell from a distance if a rev was stock or UL, >especially if I knew the flyer was good enough to be flying a stock kite in >the given wind. Well, in fact I don't really know the Rev line of kite. I just noticed a sticker on the visible spars with someting like 'ultra light' on it. Philippe. -- Philippe Lepez (CP 125), | | Good kite Universite Libre de Bruxelles, | Email: plepez@ulb.ac.be |+ Good wind 50 av. Roosevelt, | Phone: 32.2.6503553 |---------------- 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique. | Fax : 32.2.6503323 |= A lot of fun ! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 04:28:49 -1000 From: jburka@Glue.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) Message-Id: <40agn1$ffg@geog27.umd.edu> Organization: Project Glue, University of Maryland, College Park Subject: Re: Passport to heavens (a report) In article <409lr6$717@rc1.vub.ac.be>, Philippe Lepez wrote: >In article <408rch$679@geog25.umd.edu>, jburka@Glue.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) says: > >>Beside not having a bridle, what makes you say this kite looked like an >>ultralight? [...] >Well, in fact I don't really know the Rev line of kite. I just noticed >a sticker on the visible spars with someting like 'ultra light' on it. Fair enough, that would seem like a pretty good indicator, at least on face value. Unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Rev/Advantage has different stickers for their various sticks depending on the usage. For stock Advantage such as one might find in a dual line kite, I believe the 4 wrap is labeled as stiff, the 3 wrap is labeled 'Ultra Lite' (light?), and the 2 wrap simply says something like "Advantage: For Professional Use Only" (ha!). Stock Rev II spars are 3 wrap but have stickers which just say "Rev II" on them. The SUL Rev II is framed in 2 wrap, but their stickers say "Rev II SUL" (or maybe just UL). In other words, the same frame could say "Rev II" or "Ultra Lite" on it... I suspect this is just more confusing (particularly without my inclusion of a comprehensive list of stickers and spar types), but at least it addresses the one point. ;-) Jeff -- |Jeffrey C. Burka | Pithy, insightful quote to be inserted when one | |jburka@glue.umd.edu | occurs to me. *If* one occurs to me. | |http://www.wam.umd.edu/~jeffy/html/home.html | = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 02:49:02 -1000 From: John Ruggiero Message-Id: <40fjjv$jo6@news1.wing.net> Organization: TechGnosis Subject: Re: Passport to heavens (a report) Thanks for the report. About a year ago, I read an article about Dave B. in Kite Lines. If all the article says is true, this is one great guy. I have never seen him fly, but would love to. BTW, I will be in Belgium August 28 for two weeks. Is anything (kitewise) happening over the weekend of Sept. 2 near Brussels ? I'll check the FAQ, but locals know best :). = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 04:22:04 -1000 From: plepez@ulb.ac.be (Philippe Lepez) Message-Id: <40fp2c$l4l@rc1.vub.ac.be> Organization: Free University of Brussels Subject: Re: Passport to heavens (a report) In article <40fjjv$jo6@news1.wing.net>, John Ruggiero says: >BTW, I will be in Belgium August 28 for two weeks. Is anything (kitewise) >happening over the weekend of Sept. 2 near Brussels ? I'll check the >FAQ, but locals know best :). I'll check on my records. The minimum will be a meeting of my club (once a month) in Louvain la Neuve. The field is not good at all, so I definitively don't feel it is worth comming for you except if you have nothing else to do. For more information give me a call when in Brussels at the number in my signature. Regards. Philippe.(who will be away from its mailbox for a week) -- Philippe Lepez (CP 125), | | Good kite Universite Libre de Bruxelles, | Email: plepez@ulb.ac.be |+ Good wind 50 av. Roosevelt, | Phone: 32.2.6503553 |---------------- 1050 Bruxelles, Belgique. | Fax : 32.2.6503323 |= A lot of fun ! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =