Power Kite Forum - struggling with ozone turbo bar and peter llyn twister 3 4m

struggling with ozone turbo bar and peter llyn twister 3 4m

Richie - 20-7-2014 at 07:40 AM

I've been out a few times now trying to fly my peter lynn twister 3 4m on my new ozone turbo bar, but but the life of me I can't seem to get it flying consistently either to much brake or not enough just can't get it right!

I've watched the videos on YouTube my brake lines are on the outside power lines on the inside

RedSky - 20-7-2014 at 08:39 AM

My first thought - Throw that thing away.
Are you wearing a harness ?

ssayre - 20-7-2014 at 08:41 AM

I don't have any experience with the turbo bar yet, but I do have the same twister. The turbo bar will require tuning the brakes correctly to make it work correctly. The twister likes to be turned on brakes so you should be able to make it work. Just remember when you pull the bar in, it wants to stall the kite so you need to start with the brakes slack and add brake as necessary until it works properly. If it is wanting to spin than one of the brakes is tighter than the other. If it doesn't want to fly or acts sluggish than both brakes are applied too much. You might even have to add pigtails to the brake or power bridles to make it work, but I'm not sure about that. When you are testing it make sure the bar is out and not in. Pulling the bar in should stall the kite if it is tuned correctly.

ssayre - 20-7-2014 at 08:42 AM

+1 for what redsky says.

soliver - 20-7-2014 at 12:21 PM

I have always heard that Twisters really don't fly well on a bar at all.

Kiteflyer933 - 20-7-2014 at 12:34 PM

I have successful experience with Ozone turbo but with Pansh Adam 5.5m.....hope this would help, you have the option of either extending the 2 front lines or shortening the 2 back/brake line....both in equal length of course.....I choose to shorten the brake lines (of the kite, not the accessory lines).....about 5" or more inches.......calculated from the travel distance of the bar in/out movement.....as shown in my pics.......when I totally pulled-in the bar towards my chest, the kite starts to descend slowly......because the brake line tension increases to the max......when I pull out the bar towards the kite, the brake line slacks to the max yet there is enough left and right input, and the trailing edge of the kite has no more drag....so the kite soar to apex.....the Turbo bar works like a depower bar in the opposite way.....yet, I turn my Adam into a stunt kite like movement, very agile, because of the turbo bar :thumbup:

John Holgate - 20-7-2014 at 03:26 PM

The turbo bar is great.....providing you've got it on the right kite. I have not tried the Twister, but I did put it on a Reactor II. Everytime I went to turn the Reactor with the turbo bar, I squashed half the air out of the kite causing it to stall and spin - there was simply too much brake input for that particular kite - even with the brake lines pretty slack. Sure, you can adjust the tension by adding knots/pigtails to the respective lines, but you cannot alter the ratio the turbo bar imparts to the control/brake lines.

If your lines are just a little slack with the bar out, and kite stalling with the bar in, then I'd say you have the bar setup correctly and the Twister just isn't suited.

ssayre - 21-7-2014 at 07:15 AM

Richie, standby on this. I have a turbo bar that I'm borrowing and I have the same kite. The next chance I get I'll try to hook it up and see if I have success.

RedSky - 21-7-2014 at 07:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

Richie, standby on this. I have a turbo bar that I'm borrowing and I have the same kite. The next chance I get I'll try to hook it up and see if I have success.

NO ssayre!! Throw that thing away. :lol:

actually in all seriousness, this sounds like a great plan. :thumbup:

Demoknight - 21-7-2014 at 02:06 PM

Hey easy redsky... I had the turbo bar on my (now ssayre's) 8m Toxic and loved it! I got it out of necessity because at the time I needed to be able to fly lightish winds one handed so I could keep one hand on the buggy so I didn't bounce out at speed. Once you get brake lines tuned to the right length it is a really awesome control method for any kite that likes brake turns.

RedSky - 21-7-2014 at 02:32 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Demoknight

Hey easy redsky... I had the turbo bar on my (now ssayre's) 8m Toxic and loved it! I got it out of necessity because at the time I needed to be able to fly lightish winds one handed so I could keep one hand on the buggy so I didn't bounce out at speed. Once you get brake lines tuned to the right length it is a really awesome control method for any kite that likes brake turns.

Agree entirely. My first post admittedly was a bit flippant. I was kinda half joking. Yes I agree, theres nothing wrong with the turbo for you and other experienced riders. I'm just not sure if its suitable for a beginner as he only bought his first kite last week, then a board and now a turbo bar!

Searching through Richies posts, there's no mention of a harness which might be the cause of his problems, not that a harness would be suitable for a beginner either. If I were Richie I'd maybe put the turbo to one side for now and go back to using handles...is what I should have said...I guess.

hiaguy - 21-7-2014 at 05:13 PM

Richie,
There is no substitute for learning the flight characteristics of a kite on handles before moving to a bar.
I have a Turbo Bar and have used it with my PL Hornets and Cores.(I've never flown a Twister, so it could be fair comment that I don't know what I'm talking about, but...)
The Hornets reacted well since they can handle quite a bit of brake input. The Cores, which seem to react much better to brake-only turning, hated the Turbo Bar and continuously stalled since I couldn't get the brakes dialled-out enough. I'd guess that the Twister is closer in response to the Cores.
But this is all academic if you're not using a harness.
One other thing: there's almost nothing better than playing with the wind, but it can be unforgiving - especially when you're attached to the kite. Protect your melon - get a helmet

Richie - 22-7-2014 at 05:21 AM

cheers for the replies guys,

and yes i am wearing a harness with spreader bar, this one to be exact

ssayre - 22-7-2014 at 06:07 AM

I have the exact same one which makes my experiment even better. I will try it out today and report back

abkayak - 22-7-2014 at 06:08 AM

fly your kite w/ handles...the kite will do what it is suppose to do and you will become a better pilot
i wanted to fly on a bar too...i was wrong now i know

hiaguy - 22-7-2014 at 06:09 AM

Nice harness. Helmet too? (If nothing else, it sets a good example for our kids.)
There are certainly other pilot in your area, but if you're having trouble finding them it might be worthwhile contacting the kite park down in Essex (http://www.essexkitepark.co.uk). I know it's a bit of a drive (about 5 hours?), but for a weekend it might be worthwhile; or they might have names of people closer to you.

If you're looking for some inspiration, look for Carl's videos (user name "carltb").
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=28786#pid27...

I blame him (and Scott "Flyguy0101" for my son wanting to catch air on his board:-) (Thanks guys!)

ssayre - 22-7-2014 at 06:32 AM

Actually, the type of harness will have no effect, but still a coincidence none the less.

I'm really hoping I don't like it, because I will end up buying it.

ssayre - 22-7-2014 at 10:03 AM

After an hour and a half of enduring 90 degree heat in my normal business casual daytime attire and the embarrassment from park on lookers, I gave up on the turbo bar and the twister. I ended up having some marginal success but nothing that resembled fun. The turbo bar needs to be tuned correctly and there is a learning curve to its operation. It would want to work at times but it just struggled to turn no matter how I tuned it or flew it. However, I think with enough tuning and flying, it might be operational, but I'm not sure it would ever be ideal with that particular kite which I must say I'm surprised at.

Hope that helps. :P

ssayre - 22-7-2014 at 03:51 PM

I gave it another try tonight and had more success. How I set it up. First off my lines came uneven lengths between the power lines and brake lines when I first got the kite which my power lines were longer so on regular handles I have knots tied 4"-5" shorter on the top leaders than my brake leaders. This is important for the turbo bar because in general, with all lines equal, the turbo bar requires the brakes 4"-5" shorter. That is all to say that basically my lines were already approximately the right length to begin with. I hooked them up tonight and did some fine tuning using the "Adjust on the fly loops" (read turbo bar manual if you don't know what those are). I was able to make it work much better but what I learned is the twister is very sensitive to any bar movement so it takes a lot of finesse piloting. Also, it's very important to keep the kite moving in a fluid motion as much as possible. To work properly (with this kite at least) the lines need to be tensioned at all times so any lulls in the wind make the kite turn on a dime during a turn then just stop and stall. So to make a short story longer, if you have good clean winds, then this combination might work for you. If not, I think you will be fighting it more than enjoying. As mentioned by others, go back to your handles for a few months and try the turbo bar later. IMO

Edit: I guess I could have just said my stock brake lines were already shorter than than my power lines. Sorry, that would have been a much easier way of explaining the first part of my post.