KiteJan

Once I had got the basic stunt kites I spent a lot of time on the Internet finding out about various kites relating things. In the search I found out about 4 line kite flying - something I had never considered possible until that point. Various enquiries led me to discover the Revolution. Eventually in May 2001 I purchased this from my local kite shop, the 'entry level' model to the range. The four flying lines attach to the top and bottom of the kite & is flown by tilting the handles towards or away from you.

Purchased: May 2001

Details

Good Things

• Very controllable - can move the kite in any direction, including sideways and backwards.
• Robust design (if you assemble it correctly!)
• Impressive look in the sky, especially when some of the standard manoeuvres have been learnt - like the famous (and fun) dive-stop.
• Not as difficult as some people make out (at least in terms of basic technique - much harder to be an expert).

Bad Things

• Takes a while to get used to the quad line hand movements (i.e. it doesn't respond well to the 2 line flying techniques).
• The EXP model has a much more limited wind range than the other models.
• Don't even think about flying it in a 20mph wind!
• Having spars in it can lead to breakage's (to be fair I haven't managed to damage the spars by crashing yet, but have by not assembling the leading edge correctly).
• Not as fast or as accurate as the 'standard' Revolution 1.5.
• Some concerns about the quality of the webbing in between the leading edge and sail - mine ripped after about 2 months of use (repaired OK & been fine ever since). May have been a fault in the kite, or in the flying.

Final Thoughts

Excellent kite - will teach you all the basic quad line flying stuff - great fun and so on. However I no longer fly this one (although I retain it in my kite bag) since upgrading to my Custom Revolution 1.5 SLE.

I would suggest looking carefully at the more expensive Revolution 1.5 SLE (that's Super Leading Edge) at £199 if you can afford it - it's faster (due to the stiffer leading edge - hence the SLE name), more accurate and what the 'good' fliers use.