roscopecotrain - 15-4-2012 at 10:05 AM
Hi everybody,
Need as much info as i can on the German made Elliot Ekko power kites.
I can't find much info online about them except they require some patience on setting them up.
Looking at a 2.8m and 4.8m.
Thanks
indigo_wolf - 15-4-2012 at 10:48 AM
Current Elliots are the
Magma (Starter FB)
Lava (Intermediate FB)
Plasma (Depower)
Elliots are more prevlanet in the UK and Europe, closer to the company's German base of operations.
The Ekkos are early/mid 2000s kites in terms of vintage. Handles were a bit more simple construction of aluminum tubing. Sleeving was knotted rather
than stitched.
One are of concern was that the vertical internal bracing had a triangular profile so there wasn't a lot of fabric attaching it to the top skin.
Pretty good construction with neat stitching and not much in the way of loose threads. I believe Danny and Paul from the Nahant crew have had and
possibly still have Ekkos and were happy with them.
ATB,
Sam
acampbell - 15-4-2012 at 10:58 AM
I started power kiting on an Elliot Sigma Fun 2-line foil that I picked up at a Baltic coastal kite shop in eastern Germany while on a Baltic cruise.
Great little kite and I still have it.
ripsessionkites - 15-4-2012 at 11:59 AM
what are you trying to know?
its been more than a decade since i flew these.
buggydanny - 15-4-2012 at 10:17 PM
The ekko's are an older kite and I am sure that they are starting to show their age by now. I regularly flew a 2.8 and 3.8 and was quite happy with
them. I have also flown the other sizes (they came in 1.7, 2.2, 2.8, 3.8, 4.8, 6.3) in the series. They were the most prevalent kite on our beach
for many years and I saw a 3.8 flying today and doing well. I believe that they were one of the first kites to be made of chikara and were well built.
They were developed with the help of Ute Nissen who used the to become the German woman's kite buggy champion.
They are a medium aspect ratio ram air foil kite. They only have a few open cells and relies heavily on cross venting for internal pressure. They
like a lot of slack in the brakes and will require some pigtails on the brakes to get them to fly well.
I feel that the 2.8 was by far the best of the series; it was my favorite kite for a while. The 1.7 and 2.2 were built on lower aspect ratios. They
were more stable, but did not preform as well. As the kites got larger than 2.8 they become less desirable. The 3.8 was an OK kite, but turned slower
and because of the limited open cells was a little tricky to keep inflated while tacking. I really didn't like the 4.8 much, it turned very slowly and
was quite tricky to keep inflated while tacking. I heard many pilots cursing it after it stalled and trying to re-inflate it before hitting the
ground. It was a kite that you had to manage carefully to keep in the air, but allowed you kite in lower winds. The 6.3 was a kite that I would stay
away from; turned like a truck and was always hard to keep inflated and in the air. Never really saw one do well.
If you can find a 2.8 that is in good shape it will serve you well. I misplaced/lost mine a few years ago and miss it. I was using it as a training
kite and would occasionally buggy with it.
Personally I would stay away from the 4.8, would not get one larger than 3.8
doublespeed360 - 16-4-2012 at 05:35 PM
i still fly the 2.8 3.8 1.7.i don't know about patience on setting them up but they have dirt-outs on every cell and re -inflate fast for me love to
have ziggy make one for me.