Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1993 14:28:40 GMT From: Peter Manson Message-ID: <1993Feb22.142840.10135@bnr.ca> Organization: Bell-Northern Research Subject: Rev sideways slide Ok, all you expert Rev fliers (Rev I if it matters), I've seen the "sideways slide" manoeuvre many times, but I don't know how to do it. You know the one: the kite is facing downwards on a 45 degree angle, and moving horizontally near the ground towards the side of the higher wingtip. Anyone care to pass on some tips? Thanks much. Peter = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: 22 Feb 93 17:05:33 GMT From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) Message-ID: <18627@umd5.umd.edu> Organization: University of Maryland at College Park Subject: Re: Rev sideways slide In article <1993Feb22.142840.10135@bnr.ca> pmanson@bnr.ca (Peter Manson) writes: >Ok, all you expert Rev fliers (Rev I if it matters), > >I've seen the "sideways slide" manoeuvre many times, but I don't know >how to do it. You know the one: the kite is facing downwards on a 45 >degree angle, and moving horizontally near the ground towards the side >of the higher wingtip. This is an inverted slide, and the kite doesn't need to be at a 45 degree angle--it can be parallel to the ground (it's very difficult, though, to do this if one end is lower than the other, and you're moving toward the *low* end). Basically, you hover upside down and then evenly pull back on the arm of the side you want the kite to move in (note: as the kite is upside down, if you want the kite to move to your right, this will mean pulling back your *left* hand). You need to be sensitive to the way the kite is acting, because you'll need to make minor corrections by rotating the pulled-back wrist. But it's a very easy (and effective) trick...in fact, it was the first real Rev trick I really picked up back in June '90. It's far simpler than a non-inverted slide (which takes far more balancing). Last year at SunFest, one of the stuntkite games was a quad-line limbo. I was about the 5th person in line, and amazed a number of the other contestants by going under the pole inverted. While I could have gotten through the first and maybe seconditeration with the kite right-side-up, I doubt that I could have gone beyond that without inverting the kite. (And no, I didn't win--First and second places went to Dave Arnold (who I believe placed 3rd in Eastern League OQB last year) and Paul DuGard (who taught me to fly the Rev...) The Hadzickis make a big deal about flying the Rev with yoru wrists and not with your arms. Everyone I know who flys a Rev well uses a combination of wrists and arms. Don't be afraid to experiment! Jeff -- |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Fairies are the perfect people to do this | |(suffering Bad Grammar) | sort of work. Biologically, their upper | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | bodies are strong enough to wield a pickaxe...." | = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1993 20:41:29 GMT From: sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) Message-ID: <1993Feb25.204129.15929@das.harvard.edu> Organization: Harvard University Subject: Re: Rev sideways slide In article <1993Feb22.142840.10135@bnr.ca>, Peter Manson writes: >Ok, all you expert Rev fliers (Rev I if it matters), > >I've seen the "sideways slide" manoeuvre many times, but I don't know >how to do it. You know the one: the kite is facing downwards on a 45 >degree angle, and moving horizontally near the ground towards the side >of the higher wingtip. This is one of the few Rev "tricks" that I can do easily and repeatedly. I would suggest starting by landing the Rev, spar down just to the left of downwind. Do this on a smooth field. Tilt the handles foward until the kite just starts to lift off of the ground and then just a hair back to put it back on the ground. Now, tilt the left handle forward to lift the right side of the kite off of the ground and pull steadily on the left side until there is about a two foot difference between your hands. The right side should just clear the ground and the kite should be sliding to the left. Reverse things to kite the kite to go in the other direction. Once you get the hang of dragging the tip, it is a simple matter to increase the forward tilt until the kite actually lifts off of the ground. On a right to left "slide", I like to think of the left hand controlling the height of the kite, the right hand controlling the angle of the kite, and the difference between the hands as controlling the kite speed. -- Marty Sasaki Harvard University Sasaki Kite Fabrications sasaki@noc.harvard.edu Network Operations Division 26 Green Street 617-496-4320 10 Ware Street Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 Cambridge, MA 02138-4002 phone/fax: 617-522-8546 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =