Power Kite Forum

pl twister 2 -5.6m quick observations

kitejumper - 6-10-2009 at 04:24 PM

just got dino's twister on the pass the kite and decided to take it for a short demo--first ,the kite is beautiful!! color coded lines and bridles--very nice--handles are solid, and this was my first xperience with the pl kS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s......winds were about 10 and gusty as usual--first launch and i bring it up to zenith and i get picked up about a foot off the ground--this thing has some serious lift!! i was getting pulled around easily, so i decided it was time to go for a buggy ride as i dont want to jump until i get more flying time under my belt..... so i get in the buggy and off i go---i shot off like a rocket and when i got to the end of my field i accidentally did this crazy 360 power slide which scared the S@#T out of me,but then i realized i was ok---back the other direction a few more times until it started raining and it was time to go---i was pleasantly surprised how much grunt this kite has and it goes upwind very easily--winds are going to be about 20-25 tomorrow, so i think this will stay in the bag.....more to come......

mougl - 10-10-2009 at 08:47 AM

I'm very interested to see what you think of the 5.6 in higher winds (15+)

kitejumper - 12-10-2009 at 03:22 AM

i'll post again after i take it out in 15 plus

acampbell - 12-10-2009 at 04:26 AM

I had mine out in 10 gusting 14 yesterday and I cannot fathom why you would want to take it out in 15 +.

f0rgiv3n - 12-10-2009 at 07:20 AM

I had that same kite at the coast and the winds were just below 20mph... I was just jumping like MAD!! that kite floats you down nice and easy :) . It's very stable and i loved static jumping with it at 20mph.

kitejumper - 12-10-2009 at 10:04 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by acampbell
I had mine out in 10 gusting 14 yesterday and I cannot fathom why you would want to take it out in 15 +.
the answer is quite simple, really.......I"M NUTS!! hahaha---actually, though,i have to ship it to the next in line, so there will be no insane jumping --too bad, it would have been crazy

kitejumper - 12-10-2009 at 10:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by f0rgiv3n
I had that same kite at the coast and the winds were just below 20mph... I was just jumping like MAD!! that kite floats you down nice and easy :) . It's very stable and i loved static jumping with it at 20mph.
you're the man--rock on!!:smilegrin:

mougl - 12-10-2009 at 03:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by acampbell
I had mine out in 10 gusting 14 yesterday and I cannot fathom why you would want to take it out in 15 +.



I usually take mine out in 8-12 because thats a "good wind" day here lately. I've had mine out in 16 G20 before and yeah, it was insane. I had a LOT of fun that day but scared the $#!! out of myself so I ended up packing it in and unpacking the Viper 2.6 :wee:

kitejumper - 12-10-2009 at 04:26 PM

hey mougl, how much did you pay for yours? im thinking of getting one maybe......

mougl - 12-10-2009 at 08:15 PM

well, i still have both arms and both legs so it didn't break the bank :D

Jack1988 - 13-10-2009 at 11:29 AM

this is pl answer to ff' blade no? everyone was saying to get either a twister or a blade for jumping, just didnt have the cash.
Shame you didnt get a chance in 15 plus KJ- Im sure you would have loved it.

kitejumper - 13-10-2009 at 12:48 PM

yes , this rivals the blade and its probably alot cheaper price, too......i might pick this up--if u want lift, this will deliver the goods.....

stetson05 - 13-10-2009 at 07:41 PM

The twister provides a lot of lift. I would say it provides about the same lift as my pansh ace. It is much more stable than the ace. I only had one problem with it over flying the window. My ace overflies the window all the time. This kite showed me I am not a jumper. It was fine for me until about 12mph, then it started to generate too much lift for my comfort. I got one great jump somewhere greater than 12mph or so but while I landed fine, I was done. Great kite. Lots of grunt. Lots of lift starts in wind greater than 10-12mph. Great buggy engine until then. If I was looking for a lifty kite I would get it for sure. I don't trust the ace but I trust the twister. NOT a bash on the ace. I got what I paid for.

kitejumper - 13-10-2009 at 08:35 PM

dont worry stetson, i'll bash the ace--they suck--not reliable-ugly colors-cheap material-luff all the time--ok im done lol

Berg25 - 17-10-2009 at 01:53 AM

I think the Ace is a brilliant kite, as long as the winds are steady. In even seabreezes my Ace is perfectly reliable, though I have to admit it took me some practice to handle her correctly. But once you can fly an Ace, you'll discover it's true potential. I've had some great sessions around 5 bft with 12 - 15 ft jumps. I wonder whether a 5m Twister would give me the same heigth.

And if you can master an Ace, you can fly any kite :D

I have to admit I bought an Ozone Haka 5m to replace the Ace, but that;s because I often ride inland with more gusty conditions nowadays and the Ace does not like gusts...

kitejumper - 17-10-2009 at 08:52 AM

well, youre right about one thing--if u can master an ace ,you can master anything......and pansh kites are brilliant--that is until they face plant you into the ground--and no it never happened to me, but there are plenty of vids on utube.....

mougl - 17-10-2009 at 09:03 AM

KJ- did you have an opportunity to launch the twister in higher winds? I'm curious to know what you think of the twister in comparison to the blade. As you know, I'm hungry for a blade (among several other kites) and was wondering how it compares.

trancein1 - 22-10-2009 at 10:38 AM

Once I get a chance to fly the Twister then I can give comparison. I just got the Blade in, actually both of them were delivered yesterday. So hopefully this Sunday i will get a chance to get out there if its not raining.

Jack1988 - 22-10-2009 at 11:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by kitejumper
dont worry stetson, i'll bash the ace--they suck--not reliable-ugly colors-cheap material-luff all the time--ok im done lol


haha, Ace bashing, to be honest i love my lil 4.5, it doesnt suck, mine has been reliable and ive given it some punishment, mine is black with a red edge and gold writing, i like that colour. Cheap material your probably right.

When i first got my Ace it did luff and bowtie alot but ive grown with it and seen all of its sides, when it wants to luff i know now exactly what to do to get it back on track and people complain about it luffing after jumps, thats because they arent redirecting, man if anything its a warning to people jumping saying REDIRECT lol.

I feel ive almost mastered my lil ace now and ive loved every moment :D

lives2fly - 18-12-2009 at 04:07 AM

Hey

I have a 5.6 Twister II and a 6.6 Blade IV and they are quite similar kites to fly.

The Blade is faster through the air (even though its a bit bigger) and has more aggressive lift - though not necessarily MORE lift. The Twister has better lateral pull so you can get more horizontal speed out of it. Its also a bit more stable in gusty wind and will respond better when low in the window.

I struggled with the twister using the PL bar - its a bit short for a 5m+ kite in my opinion. I kept having to tug the leaders in very light winds!! I am now flying it on a 70cm flexifoil "extreme" bar and it is perfect.

The Twister is quite sensitive to tuning - you need to mess around with your trim strap or brake leader knots quite a lot. Too tight and the kite stalls a lot, too loose and it wont turn worth a damn. You soon get the hang of this though and its only critical in really light winds (when you would probably switch to a bigger kite anyway.) but I'm a perfectionist. The Blade just flies great in any wind.

Wind range for me is about 10 - 18mph on a landboard. A couple of mph either side of 15 seems to be the sweetspot and it works better in the upper part of its range. I have flown it in 20mph but found it very hard to edge upwind at all. I would usually change down to my rage at this sort of speed. It should be fine if you are heavier (i'm 70kg/155lb) or more skillfull than me though!

I love the Twister II. The Blade is slightly better quality and its probably a slightly better kite for jumping but I'm not good enough to take advantage of that yet. I'm going to get the 7.7m Twister aswell though its slightly annoying you cant buy it Kite only.

Hope this is usefull