Can the shape of the Revolution progress any further?

Guido Maiocchi from Brugherio, Italy certainly believes so and he has done the modifications to prove it.

Since 1998 Guido has been flying with enhancements to the shape of the Revolution kite. On the rear of his kite are perpendicular spars mounted at the mid-point of the vertical spars. At the tips of these perpendicular spars four guide lines meet. As well as helping the spars stay in place these guide lines are tensioned so that they lift the leading edge tips off the floor slightly when the kite is laid flat on the ground. This helps with recoveries when the kite is in this position.

The main effect of this modification is that the two wings are more dependent on each other which in turn makes the kite more able to cope with tricks and ground work. The leading edge spars also bend less.

The kite can be parked with the leading edge down and so ground stakes are no longer necessary.

Guido has also done away with the bridle. Lines are attached directly to the kite which makes the kite more reactive.

Flyers in Italy, France & Switzerland have taken to this style of kite and Paolo Ceresa can be seen flying one in this RealVideo video clip from this Italian website.

Four Guide Lines

If you watch the video clip of Paolo's ballet look out for the flic flacs as this is what this style of kite excels at.

Guido is also putting together a video which should be out towards the end of the year. If the quality of the ballet routine that he and his wife Olga flew during the UK EuroCup in 2001 is anything to go by (it still rates as my favourite ballet routine), then a video of Guido flying should be something that will be of interest to quad line sport kite flyers all over the world.

Perpendicular spar attached to the vertical upright.

Beneath the connector is a grey reinforcing material to reduce wear from the connector on the sail.

Lower wing tip showing the short lower 'bridle' (line attachment point).

Note the Dacron pocket underneath the spar for covering the elastic knots which helps prevent lines from snagging.