Category: Rigs

My New Rig with a KAP Feather


Rig with KAP Feather
Originally uploaded by Bassoon Man.

Well, it seems like it’s been weeks and weeks since we’ve had a bit of decent wind to fly (at least on the days that I’m able to get out and try). Today was supposed to have been extremely windy but it couldn’t have been any calmer. I even tried a large number of locations in search of some moving air but there simply wasn’t any to be found. 🙁

As can be seen in this photo, I’ve now added a “KAP Feather” to my rig which is supposed to stabilize the camera while its aloft thereby drastically increasing the number of potentially useable pictures. Of course, I haven’t been able to try it out due to the lack of wind. It’s almost unbelievable as to how calm things have been – certainly not something I would expect to happen so often during our so-called “winter.” Heck, we’ve hardly had any rain too.

At the moment, I can finally hear some wind outside but it’s late, very late (just after midnight). I can only hope that it’ll continue to blow for the rest of the day. Keeping my fingers crossed. . .

The Titanic


The_Titanic
Originally uploaded by Bassoon Man.

Well, here it is – my KAP rig – which I have now appropriately named, “the Titanic!” Unlike the ill-fated cruise ship, my Titanic will sail again as everything still works. Of course, I’m going to have to straighten things out a bit but the electronics are undamaged. Yippee! I’m going to make a few alterations (or shall we say “upgrades”) to try and protect the camera better for the return of the Titanic.

While I’ve already discussed what happened (my son’s kite line crossed mine as I was reeling it in) – my Premier Power Sled 14 was lost in the wind and my rig “fell down and went boom.” Interestingly, while I was unwinding the Picavet cross, the apparatus at the top what is rigged (with string) to the kite, I discovered that the line was cut! In other words, it would appear as if both my kite line and the Picavet line were cut. This means that two (2) lines were cut at the same time! How that could have happened is beyond me – perhaps my boy had a good aim? Interestingly, the Picavet line also showed some signs of being somewhat frayed in a couple of places. Perhaps the winds (which had become quite strong) were a bit too much for the Picavet which then snapped subsequently also cut the kite line? If that’s the case, then my boy is off the hook! I’ll probably never know for sure. Hopefully, my next launch will be far more successful.