Happy Boxing Day! (Stand-by For a Bit of Turbulence)

Date: 12/26/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 15 to 30 mph, W Weather: Cloudy, 48º 23 flights at $14/flight

I didn't go shopping and I didn't "box" up any kites, I went out a flew one. Even with my vented Rev the wind was very very bumpy, with some gusts around 30 mph, maybe over 30. But with the current heat-wave (almost 50º at Christmas in northern-western Minnesota), it wasn't too cold to fly. There almost seemed to be a layer of slightly slower wind near the ground, but I still got pulled around some today.

Christmas Nirvana!

Date: 12/25/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Nirvana on 100' Wind: 6 to 8 mph, SW Weather: Cloudy, 41º

Merry Christmas! Today was a wonderful day to fly my Nirvana kite! The wind was just right and it wasn't too cold. It was not a "White Christmas," but it's hard to fly in "white." I had some runs of Jacob's Ladders that were between 15 and 20 times! Fades were gentle and smooth. I also had some very nice runs of back-spins. I am still not "hitting" well on slot-machines. This was a very fun flying session!

Silent Night Flying

Date: 12/24/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 8 to 14 mph, W Weather: Sunset, 39º 22 flights at $14.64/flight

We went to the 100 Acres Park very late (for such a nice day), starting the flying session after the sun had set. There was a nice sunset that I mostly didn't see because it was behind my back. But it was still a fun kite fly. It was interesting to see (or try to see) the "Sunset" kite as it got darker. This kite was actually designed by people who fly near Las Vegas to be fairly visible at night, since it's often too hot to fly there during the day. I think that they succeeded nicely. It was surprisingly warm for so late in the day on a Christmas Eve. Also, the 1/4" of snow that we received yesterday was practically gone.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Date: 12/22/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Rev 1.5 "Hawk" 3-wrap on 70' Wind: 6 to 10 mph, W Weather: Sunny, 38º 17 flights at $15.18/flight

Happy Solstice! The sun is coming back again and the days will become longer.

Variety makes flying kites fun and flying a kite I haven't flown for a while is makes it so I never get tierd of this sport. The sun lit up the black and red colors of this kite so that it looked very striking flying through the deep blue winter sky. This kite has a different feel to it than the vented Rev. It feels more lively, more responsive to gusts, and less forgiving -- but definitely still lots of fun to fly.

Last Day at Microsoft

Date: 12/21/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 9 to 14 mph, NE Weather: Sunny, 36º 21 flights at $15.33/flight

My job as at Microsoft ended this morning unexpectedly and without any explanation. But at least it was nice weather out for some kite flying to take my mind off my work situation. The sun and warmer weather made for pleasant flying. The wind was great for my vented Rev "Sunset" kite.

I practiced infinity-signs and bow-ties (infinities with extra small loops in the center). The sun was somewhat in my eyes, but that made the sunset colors of my kite shimmer and look great.

The Wind and Sun at My Back (at a Microsoft Field)

Date: 12/18/2011, Sunday Place: Microsoft Field, Fargo, ND Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 8 to 14 mph, SW Weather: Sunny, 46º 20 flights at $16.1/flight

I had to work today, Sunday, because I traded with a co-worker. (He wanted Christmas with his kids.) It was strange working on a Sunday. The day was very warm (for this time of year) and sunny and since it was Sunday and there were hardly any people working at the Microsoft Fargo Campus,  during lunch I decided to fly my kite in the field near the parking lot I usually park in.

The wind was very nice for the Sunset Rev. The sun and the wind (of course) were at my back. I did a lot of the usual flying. I worked a bit on hovering upside down and then sliding the kite sideways left and right -- a hard skill. Flying up and then (with no spinning at all) down at different slanting angles worked well today.

And, no, I didn't break any Windows at Microsoft!

A Jacob's Ladder Monster

Date: 12/17/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Nirvana on 100 Wind: 6 to 8 mph, W Weather: Sunny Sunset, 35º

It was a nice day for flying the Nirvana! Not too cold yet and the wind was just about perfect for this kite. And still no snow other than a skiff of snow on the grass. The sunset was not very colorful as great sunsets are, but still nice -- and way too early in the day (about 4:30). We are approaching the Winter Solstice.

My Nirvana kite was a Jacob's Ladder and Back Spin "monster" today (monster in a good way). Those two tricks went very well today. I only did one so-so slot machine. That trick is going to need a lot of work. I wore some new winter gloves and they seemed warm enough for at least today's temperature and wind.

Is it Spring Again Already?

Date: 12/11/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: 4d on 12' Wind: 0 to 1.5 mph, NW Weather: Sunny, 44º

What a nice day after the cold days we have been having. It kind of felt like the start of spring. The 44º with the sun shining, no hat, no gloves, and just a  just a T-shirt and a very light fleece, and practically no wind, made for a very nice no-wind day flying the 4d. I did lots of spirals, 360s, axels, half-axels, and fades. It was good to get some exercise moving around with a dual-line no-wind kite. And it was very peaceful, and much more quiet than usual. I didn't see any geese flying overhead, nor even hear their honking.

Happy Birthday Ron!

Date: 12/10/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Rev 1.5 "Hawk" 3-wrap on 70' Wind: 5 to 9 mph, SW Weather: Sunny, 36º 16 flights at $16.13/flight

This was a nice sunny no-snow wintery day. Annett walked while I flew my kite. I had more line trouble than usual, a knot at the start and then several times the kite got stuck upside-down on the ground and I had to walk to it and make it right again. It was maybe the lightest wind day I've flown a quad-line kite in. Usually if the wind is this light I fly a dual-line kite. But at the start of the flying the wind seemed too strong for a dual-liner. There were lots of geese again, but mostly to the east of where I was flying. 

Ron was my 1st best friend until I was 10 and we moved from Livingston to Bozeman, MT. I still remember when his birthday is.

Infinity Plus or Bow Ties or Lazy 8s

Date: 12/3/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 8 to 12 mph, NW Weather: Cloudy, 30º 19 flights at $16.95/flight

While not exactly a "bow tie," I practiced a lot of lazy eights, a figure 8 that is laying over or is actually an infinity sign. the bow tie effect is when I add an extra spin at the crossing point. I also practiced flying up, then back down at different slanted angles.

I think that soon it will be too cold to fly outside in the Fargo/Moorhead area, though at least for now there is no snow on the ground.

4 - 5 Gusting to 6

Date: 11/27/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: 4d on 46' Wind: 4 to 6 mph, SW Weather: Sunny, 32º

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and even though it was only 32º it seemed warmer with the sun shining on my back and only a gentle breeze blowing. Annett walked in the park while I flew my kite. It was definitely a 4d day. The wind was 4 - 5 mph, with gusts (?!) to 6 mph. No 360s and spirals today, but all the other tricks were possible. Fades were easy and glorious. With me standing in one place a fade would gently and slowly rise or just stay in one place in the sky. I could control the fades with just a twitch of my fingers, not even using my whole hands. A dive, a flair to a pancake, then a pull to a fade was the easiest way into a fade this afternoon.

An Opposite Day From Yesterday

Date: 11/20/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Nirvana on 100 Wind: 9 to 5 mph, S Weather: Sunny Sunset, 22º

It wasn't quite like a night-vs-day difference from yesterday, but almost. It was a balmy 22º and the sun was shining and the wind was not a gale, so it was actually pleasant flying. I wore the same coats and layers as yesterday (where I was cold) and today I had to unzip my coat and put my hat's ear flaps up because I got too warm. This was also partly because today I was flying a dual-line kite and I always move around more with a dual-line kite than with a quad-line kite.

Justin flew his parafoil for a while until the wind died down too much for it to make that kite fun. Then he was able to take some more video. It was a very nice wind for my Nirvana. I was able to show Justin some tricks that I had not shown him before, namely: Jacob's Ladders (The Nirvana excels at this trick), Back-spins, Back-flips with Lazy-Susans, and a couple of Slot-machines.

Zero Flying

Date: 11/19/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 18 to 25 mph, N Weather: Cloudy, 15º 18 flights at $17.89/flight

Justin, my best friend from Minneapolis, was visiting for the weekend, and since I got him interested in kite flying, we had to go out and fly, even though it was frozen-finger weather. I also wanted to show him a real-life quad-line kite flying. I demonstrated many of the things I do with my Rev's, flying the vented kite since it was blowing a gale, which made the wind-chill temperatures around zero! Justin took some video with his new camcorder. This also froze his fingers enough that he passed on flying his parafoil. Maybe I'll post some video sometime when I have time to edit the raw-footage and figure out how to post video on this blog. We were rather crazy to even try and fly in this kind of weather. I found out that I really need to add some tabs of some kind to make it much much easier to undo the larks-head knots to un-attach the line from the kite's bridle. My fingers really got cold putting my kite away.

Kite Switching Wind

Date: 11/12/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Nirvana on 100', 4d on 46' Wind: 3 to 7 mph, SW Weather: Partly Sunny, 52º

I switched back-and-forth between the 4d and the Nirvana. Overall, it was a better wind for the Nirvana. Because the wind was sometimes on the lite side I got more wingtip wraps with my Nirvana than I like. But, it was also a good wind for trying Slot-Machines. I succeeded with three on the left.

11/11/11

Date: 11/11/11 Place: Ed Clapp Park, Fargo, ND Kites: 4d on 20' Wind: 4 to 8 mph, SW Weather: Mostly Sunny, 54º

The wind was very variable, but is was nice to move around flying the 4d. There was too much wind for 360s, but I did do some spirals, and some good fades. This was another mid-day lunch-break kite-flying session. On 11/11/11!

Sunny Lunch Nirvana

Date: 11/10/2011 Place: Rendezvous Park, West Fargo,ND Kites: Nirvana on 100' Wind: 10 to 6 mph, W Weather: Sunny, 40º

Today was a better day at work than yesterday, and a much nicer day for lunch break kite flying, too. It was a beautiful day, and warmer (because of the sun), with skateboarders out trying tricks on the ramps in the park. The wind was a little on the lite side for my Nirvana kite. But, it was still fun doing some dual-line tricks.

Very Gusty

Date: 11/9/2011 Place: Ed Clapp Park, Fargo, ND Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 20 to 30 mph, NW Weather: Cloudy, 39º 17 flights at $18.94/flight

Today was rough at work and it was very nice to get away for a long lunch again to clear my mind with some kite flying. It was a lot colder than yesterday, but I was dressed appropriately. It was a bit of a challenge flying with such gusty conditions, but kind of fun, too.

A Rendezvous For Lunch

Date: 11/8/2011 Place: Rendezvous Park, West Fargo,ND Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 14 to 18 mph, S Weather: Sunny, 50º 16 flights at $20.13/flight

I had a long lunch today because I worked extra late yesterday (not on purpose), which worked out great because it was a beautiful afternoon for flying a kite. The Rendezvous Park is 5.1 miles from the Microsoft Campus where I work.  The temperature was not too cold and the sky was a very blue, marred only to the west where some slash burning was happening. Flying the "Sunset" kite in this wind (not too strong) was nice. I worked on the usual, which is getting more precise with my flying.

A Lot of Bumpy Wind

Date: 11/5/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Rev 1.5-b "Sunset" 4-wrap on 70' Wind: 17 to 23 mph (Gusts to 30 mph), SE Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 57º 15 flights at $21.47/flight

A very windy and gusty day. The wind was so strong and gusty, I almost  didn't get my kite out. And it was a little scary flying it in these conditions. But, the kite did OK, and I didn't break it. It was very hard to fly it steady as the wind kept changing.

 There were a lot of geese sitting in the next field over. They seemed to be able to fly into the wind, but not very fast.

Quarter Moon and a Sweet Northwest Wind

Date: 11/2/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: Nirvana on 100' Wind: 8 to 3 mph, NW Weather: Sunny/Sunset, 43º

This evening's flying session was on the short side. As the sunset, the wind also disappeared, but before it was gone, it was very sweet, gentle, and steady.

I tried out a new line-set: 100'x100#. It didn't come with wrist straps so I had to "borrow" some from another line set. The line is yellow and I found it very hard to see against the blue sky. Otherwise, the line is of the best quality.

I did some nice Jacob's Ladders, a back-flip with a lazy susan, some nice flic-flacs, and one OK slot machine. I tried more slot machines, but found that I kept wrapping the line around the wing-tips. Also, as the wind died down, I ended up in the "dead-launch" position, with many "walks of shame" -- at least no one was watching :^)