rev landing/launching

alawhead · Since 19 May 2008 23 Posts

crew
got my new rev 13 the other day. awaiting some wind for its maiden voyage. was wondering what the most reliable way to self land and launch would be. i used to do the sand on the wing tip with my old diesel which worked great. reading some other posts the hook in to fixed object method seems to be fine. feedback would be great.

Donny Baker · Since 13 Jul 2006 80 Posts

This winter I would just take a climbing quick draw (two carabiners attached with a piece of webbing), hook it to my bumper and the chicken loop of my REV. Id walk to the kite and stand it up on the wing tip, where it would stay till I hooked in. Reversed the process for landing.

kyle.vh · Since 11 Jul 2007 713 Posts city of angels Addicted

Is this a bow kite? If so you can just 'hot launch' it off of the sand as if it were a water start. Rig the kite, then rotate the kite so that it almost catches some wind in one side, then strap in and tug on the lines (sometimes requires some walking), to get the kite to catch the wind until it looks like a water start. Then launch.
If you do it right, it won't even be directly down wind of you, but on the side of the wind window.

FlyDunes · Since 09 Oct 2007 1034 Posts Aloha XTreme Poster

pdxmonkeyboy · Wed Jul 02, 08 8:18 am

I've used the sand technique to launch my REV. Sometimes I fold the edge of the kite over sometimes I just put a bunch of sand and make sure that my lines are really heading downwind. I've used the anchor method as well and just used my leash to tie off to a log.

To self land, I usually find a good non slippery part of the launch and zoom the kite towards the gorund and forward edge of the window. The last part of the zoom, the kite is probably 10 feet off the ground. Then I crank the bar hard and once the leading edge is on the ground or about to touch down I reach up and grab A BUNCH of the leading edge line that is close to me to rotate the kite into the wind and have it sit on the beach like you normally do.

Does that make sense? Not that hard but you should practice in light wind. It easier to do with bigger kites. In high winds the kite may slide back and relaunch. I wouldn't try this method with C kites.

magicmaker · Since 29 Oct 2006 895 Posts da Hood Opinionated

i like to drift launch my Rev. if i am not launching from the parking lot at the sandbar, drift launching where hte Hood River meets the columbia works pretty easy. The trees create a little wind shadow so sometimes you have to move north to get enough wind. but i find i can usually just toss my kite into the water, let it start drifting back and just do the normal relaunch procedure. Sometimes you can walk off to the side of the kite as you get it to stand up so you aren't as hot while launching it.

one of the coolest ways, IMO, to self launch my Rev 13m, if the kite is straight downwind of you, LE on the water; instead of pulling on 1 back line to get the kite to raise up on it's side and flip over, grab both back lines and pull, this will usually lift the kite off the water, reverse re-launch foil style, by letting go of one back line and the kite will turn and fly up into the air. i've only done this a couple of times when the wind was too light to actually get the kite to flip by pulling on only 1 backline, so your mileage may very. i just thought i would share because i think it is neat the kite can reverse re-launch like that. has anyone else had any similiar expieriences?

pivot launch works really well too with the Revs

Donny Baker · Since 13 Jul 2006 80 Posts

Donny Baker · Since 13 Jul 2006 80 Posts

And when landing, I would just lower the kite to the edge, then hook it back into the bumper. I found that since there is less friction on the snow, it's real hard to self land a kite without an anchor. Cause even when you drop it, front edge into the wind, the kite will start sliding across the snow. Of course this doesn't happen as easily on the sand.

Mocean · Since 21 Sep 2005 343 Posts Newport Obsessed

I've placed some hooks in driftlogs at a couple of our local spots. Its really nice to come in, hook your chicken loop to the hook and take a break for a couple minutes, adjust footstraps, harness, etc., without fully landing your kite. Just let the bar out all the way with the kite at the edge of the window, grab only the chicken loop, unhook, and re-hook on the fixed hook you have set up. This technique is probably best on nice wide sandy beaches with convenient logs here and there, which we're lucky to have.

FlyDunes · Since 09 Oct 2007 1034 Posts Aloha XTreme Poster

jimmyc · Since 04 Aug 2005 74 Posts Cape Cod, MA

I've got a friend who uses one of those dog leash beach screws (or whatever they really are). Screws it into the beach and leaves a tether for anyone to use. Works here where we don't have logs on our beaches.

Personally I still do the fold the wingtip over and sand technique as that's always what I did with Fuels. I'm just a little more careful about where I put the sand and how much I use, also making sure the front line bridle is in front of the leading edge...I've experimented with pinning the bridle down with heavy sand a few times - that works nice to keep the front bridle ahead of the LE.

Luckily most of us are willing to come in and launch someone when we see them ready. I rarely ride alone, or at least launch alone. Landing is of course much easier.