Date:	Thu, 8 Sep 1994 15:48:11 -1000
From:	marke0318@aol.com (MarkE0318)
Message-Id: <34oesr$es8@search01.news.aol.com>
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Subject: Ultra-lighting a Rev I

Can someone give me the basics on taking a Rev I and converting it to an
ultralight configuration?  What parts are replaced?  What's a guesstimate
of the cost?  Will it still be strong enough to fly it in 20mph winds?
Why am I reading messages when I could be flying?!

Thanks!


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Date:	Fri, 9 Sep 1994 04:51:07 -1000
From:	hqbfk@aol.com (HQBFK)
Message-Id: <34psor$pg2@search01.news.aol.com>
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
Subject: Re: Ultra-lighting a Rev I

In article <34oesr$es8@search01.news.aol.com>, marke0318@aol.com
(MarkE0318) writes:

Ultralight Rev I

The spectra bridle is available separately and can be purchase through Rev
or an authorized dealer.  Skyshark spars come in standard 32.5" sizes and
are too short to fit a Rev I.  Avia G-Force provides a retrofit tapered
graphite replacement kit for the Rev I that will drop the weight
significantly priced arount $50-70 
(704) 345-6070.  As for wind range - the Rev I has a lot of sail area and
the factory version of a Super Ultralight Rev I is rated for < 10 mph.


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Date:	Fri, 9 Sep 1994 03:16:35 -1000
From:	jburka@eng.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka)
Message-Id: <34pn7j$1pl@mojo.eng.umd.edu>
Organization: Project GLUE, University of Maryland, College Park
Subject: Re: Ultra-lighting a Rev I

In article <34oesr$es8@search01.news.aol.com> marke0318@aol.com (MarkE0318) writes:
>Can someone give me the basics on taking a Rev I and converting it to an
>ultralight configuration?  

Pull out all the heavy sticks and replace them with lighter sticks.  TA DA!
A UL Rev is born.

If you want to make it a bit lighter, replace the heavy dacron bridle with
one made of 150# spectra. The Hadzickis sell such a bridle, though I'm not
sure if they sell it independently of the UL kit.

Don't worry about the endcaps or the bungees.

When you've done all that, either go out and buy a set of longthrows (Rev
UL handles) or extend your current handles to make the portion below the
curve longer.

>What's a guesstimate of the cost?  

Depends completely on what you decide to replace and what you replace it with.

>Will it still be strong enough to fly it in 20mph winds?

What I just said.

Frame-wise, you can use SkyShark IIIps (SUL) or Vps (UL) ($6-7 each for 5
sticks).  You can use Advantage 2-Wrap (SUL) or 3-Wrap (UL) (probably
arounbd $15 each).  I understand that Avia is now making a tapered frame
kit for the Rev I, but I can't comment on that.

As I said, I don't know if you can buy a spectra bridle individually.  If
you don't mind taking some measurements and fiddling with bits-o'-string
for a while, Rev bridles are fairly easy to make (though certainly time
consuming).  

Longthrow handles will cost you about $30.  If you have suitable extension
material (I use scraps of Easton 3-30; from my first set of extensions, I
just broke one after well over a year of extremely heavy use/abuse) you can
extend your existing handles pretty easily.

What wind will it withstand?  Honestly, how much of a concern is this?  It
takes about 2 minutes to swap out your UL frame kit and swap in the stock
frame.  No worries.

That said, at SunFest '92, I saw a fellow flying a UL Rev I in winds that were
probably a steady 20 or 25 with gusts to 30.  The winds were strong enough
that I couldn't hold onto a Skyburner (it wasn't pulling quite hard enough to
drag me, which made holding on a lot harder...).  The owner of the Rev
couldn't remember if he had 2 or 3 wrap spars in it.  The kite was curved
in a horseshoe and looked very little like a Rev.  But the Advantage rods
were holding up splendidly, due in part I'm sure to the way the bridle
distributes stress across the entire frame.

Jeff


-- 
|Jeffrey C. Burka     |  Pithy, insightful quote to be inserted    |
|                     |  when one occurs to me.  *If* one occurs   |
|jeffy@eng.umd.edu    |  to me.                                    |


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Date:	Fri, 9 Sep 1994 07:17:30 -1000
From:	jburka@eng.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka)
Message-Id: <34q5ba$775@mojo.eng.umd.edu>
Organization: Project GLUE, University of Maryland, College Park
Subject: Re: Ultra-lighting a Rev I

Hoy sez:

>The spectra bridle is available separately and can be purchase through Rev
>or an authorized dealer.

Thanks; this is something I've never been sure about, having never bought
a Rev bridle...

>Skyshark spars come in standard 32.5" sizes and are too short to fit a Rev
>I.

Oh?  That's funny.  I could swear I have a 36" IIIp at home that I paid a
mere $6.75 for from Joe Croot of Kites Up and Away in Annapolis.

SkySharks *are* available in 36" sticks.  But even if all you had were the
32.5" sticks, it wouldn't be a big deal to buy 6 of them plus enough
ferrules to build out your frame, and it would still cost less than $40.
But with the 36" sticks available, this shouldn't be necessary.

One of my big annoyances is that SkyShark sticks aren't the 37" I need for
the leading edge of a Rev II.  :-/  For those kites, I just buy 4 32.5"
sticks and extend the leading edges by 4.5" with scraps from the downtubes.

Jeff

-- 
|Jeffrey C. Burka     |  Pithy, insightful quote to be inserted    |
|                     |  when one occurs to me.  *If* one occurs   |
|jeffy@eng.umd.edu    |  to me.                                    |


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