The weather was supposed to be nice, and it was. The sun was supposed to be shining, and it was. The sky was supposed to be all blue, and it was. The wind was supposed to come in from a north-westerly direction, and it was. The wind speed was supposed to be like 4-5m/sec, but it wasn’t. It was more like 0,5m/sec.
So there was no way any of my lifters could bring the rig, the gimbal and the camera up into the air. Absolutely NO WAY.
But the very light winds didn’t keep me from flying! Hey, the weather was absolutely beautiful so I decided to stay awhile. And why not try to fly the Rok only? The wind surely being in the very low of the kite’s wind range, but I was ready to give it a go!
So I rolled out many meters of the flying line before I attached the Rok’ to it. Got it all set up, pulled the line and the Rok’ rose in the air. By working it, I got it to rise pretty high, but it was hard keeping it there. As soon as I let go of the line, the kite slowly but surely started to drop. Not fast, but it was dropping. So I needed to really work it to keep it up there.
A couple of times I thought the wind might rise a little and the kite was kind of hanging up there but after a minute or so, it started to drop again.
I did get some video shots though, and a few experimental ones, that you can check out in the video below. Swimsuit required?!
2 Responses
I still haven’t done any SLKs since childhood, so forgive my ignorance. Anyhow, I wonder what is the thing with ROKs (and by replacing ROKs with duals or quads I immediately realized that the question could be slightly annoying) ? What is one looking for? A very traditional kite? The stability? The challenge? Its flying characteristics? Ease (?) of handling, assembly and transport? A particular feeling?
That’s an easy one! All of the above…and it’s beauty in all its simplicity!
It’s really easy to make. All you have to do is cut one piece of fabric, frame it, bridle it and fly it!
…or you can use the sail as a canvas for the most intricate of decorations.
It’s all up to you.
And it’s off course always satisfactory to fly something you’ve created yourself! ?