xizangman - 13-5-2006 at 11:26 AM
I am an old power kiter. I have never actually posted anything on here so here goes.
I just purchased and flew the new 3.5 Profoil from Kite Innovations. I was very surprised to find out that the company is selling direct now. Shipping
was very quick only 2 days from order.
The Bag- is a backpack type, very nice construction with 2 zippered pockets, 1 large and 1 small. Shoulder straps are padded and are adjustable. The
bottom of the bag has a mesh screen for sand to pass. The bag also has the size of the kite silk screened onto the bag.
The Handles- are made of aluminum that has color coded soft comfortable foam grips. The loops that are attached to the handles appear to be made from
spectra and has a plastic sleeve to protect the line from the handle and some nice fitting end caps.
The Kite- Size is a large 11’ x 3.5’. The graphics have not changed much since the original Quad-Trac profoil that I have in my bag. I see the same
strip across the leading edge only it is tapered instead of straight. The overall quality looks great. The center and tip cells are enclosed with
cross ports through out the span of the kite.. This is an improvement over the original quadrifoil 25 I have. The bridles are made of spectra bridles
that are knotted and then looped over the bridle attachment points. The bridle attachment points appear to be sewn right into and up the rib at every
point.
Flying performance- The kite is setup to attach even flying lines. I only had to do minimum adjustments at the handles. The winds were about 8-10mph.
As I launched the kite my first thought was Wow just what I would expect from kite innovations. The kite was very stable with a considerable amount of
pull. Once the kite went to the top of the wind window (which was almost directly above me) it stayed. When control input was initiated the kite
turned when it was supposed to either in the dual line push pull or the quad line turn mode. Overall this kite performed great. I will try it with my
buggy next.
The price was a lot less than what I had expected. I am looking forward to trying some more. I would recommend this kite to anyone.
Bucky - 22-5-2006 at 10:46 AM
From from what I've read, Ted seems to know his stuff. (I think its great when you can actually converse with the guy that designed the gear that you
use!!)
I too, have one of the old Quad-Trac Pro-foils (3m) , and I'm looking forward to eventually trying out one of the newer larger Pro-foils.
ProFoil 3.5
kiteskiteskites - 18-8-2006 at 09:23 AM
I bought a Pro Foil 3.5 and it has an 11' Wingspan: 364cm/143" Chord: 110cm/43"
The price is $211.95 and that includes the neon green kite,
handles and a nifty backpack.
The backpack comes with shoulder straps and a hook at the top to hang it in my car or closet.
The handles are foam covered but I haven't tried them. (I've been using the handles that I used with my Quad Trac Pro Foil 3 so that I can compare it
to the new Pro Foil 3.5.)
The bridles are plenty strong enough and handled the heavy wind I encountered at the beach. The bridles were connected with a larks- head knot to
make them easy to attach to the correct lines. The bridles were not marked or color coded.
I've flown the 3.5 in light wind and stong wind and I found the kite to be very steady when facing the wind and it gives strong, steady pull. I think
I like more brakes than most people so I get nice quick turns and a steady reverse all the way to the ground. It flew nicely and has a modern oval
shape that flies smoothly. It will even fly directly overhead. It spins and turns well and I feel that the 3.5 is a good size for me to use on land
without a buggy.
I loaned it to my friends John Ruggiero and Dan Delpapa who are both buggy guys. John tried it and said, "cool" and he elaborated and said that he
liked the turning and the light wind performance and that he'd like to try it at the beach in a buggy. Dan wasn't able to buggy with it because the
wind was too light that day.
I've since tried it in moderate wind and got an excellent performance out of it while it generated strong pull.
When I bought the kite, Ted was very pleasant to deal with.
sfvanman - 14-5-2012 at 10:09 AM
I need some help with this kite guys. I just bought the Quad-trac Pro Foil 3.5 used from a guy on Craigslist. It's my first four line foil (ive kite
boarded with 4 and 5 line LEI kites but never handles), and its in very good shape but something is up with the lines. I cant find any documentation
of this kite, ted dougherty (maybe the designer?) doesn't have a website, the kite innovations site is non-functional, and nobody sells this kite
anymore.
First the guy i bought it from had just thrown all the lines into the kite, so i had to spend an hour at the beach untangling 4 lines from a mega
knot, that was ridiculous.
Next no manual, so i figured put the two thick lines on the two top power bridles and the two skinny lines on the bottom brake bridles.
But here is where it got weird. As best as i could tell, the 4 lines are all the same length. But when i attach them to the handles (aluminum bent
handles with pads), there is absolutely no tension on the power lines.
The handles have different length (bridles?) on each end with 3-4 knots for the larkshead but no amount of shortening the power lines and lengthening
the brake lines would work. I ended up either having to "choke up" by actually holding the power lines themselves above the larkshead and letting the
entire handles dangle, or wrapping the power lines around the handle, which wasn't very manageable.
So whats goin on here? are the power lines supposed to be shorter than the brake lines? I could get it flying despite holding on to the the line
itself, but occasionally it would go into an unrecoverable spin, where it wouldn't respond to any amount of reverse braking or control input.
If anybody knows a store that might carry replacement lines/ a bar set up for this sort of thing please let me know. It was really frustrating.
Looking forward to getting out there on a mountain board. Thanks
beachrights - 14-5-2012 at 12:42 PM
Are your handles straight or do they have a bend in them? Possibly have them upside down??
indigo_wolf - 14-5-2012 at 01:05 PM
Andrew at www.powerlinesports.com
Angus at www.coastalwindsports.com
Chad at www.eastcoastkitesports.com
Corey at www.windpowersports.com
Dino at www.dakitez.com
Don at www.kiteplace.com
Jeff at www.pkdkitesusa.com
John at www.powerzonekitesports.com
Kent at www.awindofchange.com
Mike at www.bigmikeskites.com
Paul at www.pbkiteboarding.com
Ricardo at www.ripsessionkiteboarding.com / www.ripsessionkites.com
Before you go that route, it might be worth doing some troubleshooting though.
All 4 lines should be the sames length.
The curvature in the handles is what removes tension from the brake lines until you employ the the brakes.
You attach the flying lines to the handles by larks heading them to the leaders. The leaders are generally all the same length and come from the
factory with x number of adjustment knots. You can always ad your own adjustment knots.
Although not as convenient there can also be adjustment knots on the bridle leaders at the kite end.
As far as an instruction manual, the instructions for most quadline fixed bridle foils are very similar.
The instructions in the HQ Quadline Powerkite Manual will for the most part apply to your Pro Foil.
Depending on where you are located, you might want to post a meetup request. If there are other PKF members in your area, that would be the quickest
way to get things sorted out.
ATB,
Sam
sfvanman - 14-5-2012 at 02:42 PM
Hey thanks for the replies guys.
The handles are bent and i get the reasoning. The leaders from the handles are shorter on one side than the other, and there are 3-4 adjustment knots
in them already. The problem is, there is no knot location for the power lines, that will put slack in the brake lines.
As it stands now, even if i flip both the handles (like if they are upside down), the brake lines are taught, and the power lines are slack.
Ill have to pull the lines out again and make sure they are the exact same length.
I am in San Francisco, ive heard that people power kite down by shoreline, so ill try and get down there, meeting up is a great idea. Im sure someone
who has a better idea of what they are doing would be able to take a look at it and see whats wrong pretty quickly.
thanson2001ok - 14-5-2012 at 02:57 PM
Definitely recheck your line length and the attachment point of your brake lines to the kite. I have had a few kites where an extension was used at
the bridle for brake lines.
Uploading a photo here of your handles is sure to get a proper diagnosis of your handles. A photo of bridle would help as well.
Let's get you flying!
Bladerunner - 14-5-2012 at 07:53 PM
Can you make up the needed amount by adding knots to the front lines shortening them at the kite and handle leaders ? Add extensions to your front
line leaders?
The handles that came with my 2.5 profoil were about the worst I have ever seen. Not even a decent way to attach a strop line. They almost devalued
the kite IMHO.
My 2.5 profoil is the kite I go to when it's too windy to feel safe under anything else!