Rev ShootOut 2013

2013 Rev Shootout Winner - Cas Pittman

Flying kites, in my humble opinion, is a great way to pass the time and relax. Single line, two line, or quad line, it’s all a great excuse for a picnic. Something to enjoy with family and friends!

BUT, get a couple of guys together and a competition’s going to break out! At the September general meeting of the San Diego Kite Club ten guys were all vying for a paper dragon trophy to the best flyer, and a brand new Revolution kite to the person randomly drawn from the ten participants.

Once the basics of quad line flying are learned it’s all loops and circles, up and down. The club’s annual Rev ShootOut competition is set up to introduce the flyer to the next step of flying. We used some of the AKA rules and compulsory figures. Five compulsory figures were announced at the August meeting. A couple of weeks before the September meet three figures were pulled from those five for the competition; Clock Tower, The Felix, and Camel Back. Three judges stood behind each competitor and critically evaluated each performance. Marks were scored and winners were chosen. Cas P. took the trophy, followed with close scores by Ron D., then Don F.

2013 Rev Shootout Participants

Special thanks to Carol and Iris for jumping in as judges. It’s a difficult position, whether an experienced competitor or not. As the third judge, I learned more about the act of judging (each performance goes by sooo fast!), the art of flying, and that we need a calculator that can be read in bright sunlight!

Would also like to extend special THANKS to Ben and Rev for the Rev EXP participant prize. Thanks to Dave C. for the paper dragon trophy. Thanks to Iris C., Carol P., and Dave C. for the thankless task of being field judges. And congratulations to Dave L. for winning his first Rev!

—kitepilot (aka Dave Corning our Future Past President)

Handcrafted Trophy by Dave Corning

People photos courtesy of Charles Champion. Trophy photo courtesy of Dave Corning