Fixed Bridle thoughts and reflections

It gets late at night; and my mind feels "creative". I've often observed it takes all day to get to this point mentally. At no time earlier in the day is my mind quite like this.

I once owned about 20 kites. Sold about half of them for various reasons. Now I'm back up to about 20 again. Totally worth it and I'm glad to have owned and flown them all. The personal experience from it is invaluable.

If I lived in a place that only had light wind or only had steady wind; I'd likely own fewer kites or different kites altogether. I get all types of wind here.

For gusty terrible storm front days; I have found the Flexifoil Stings to work the best when nothing else wants to work in those extreme conditions. My 2.4 and 3.3. My 1.7 is mandatory for those 30mph gusting upwards to 40mph days. I was so impressed by this kite I bought a second one to keep as a spare just in case it ever went out of production.

I also have a 3m Ozone Quattro that is really good for the gusty stuff; but the Sting is slightly better if the gusts are really bad. The Ozone is faster though. I need more time with the HQ Alpha 3.5m. First time out with it and I was impressed(see the review).

My main kites used to be the Ozone Flows. A fine set of kites. Traded up to a set of Octanes. Faster and better upwind? Yes. But the kite is slightly higher aspect ratio compared to the Flows and the kites can have some bad habits that show up from flying more forward in the window that wouldn't happen to the Flows.

The Reactors are an interesting story. I needed a kite that would handle a bit lighter wind then the 5m Octane would. I got the 5.5m Reactor and it was perfect. I had some times though when the gusts would overpower me with the Reactor; but the 5m Octane was still too little. The 4.4m fixed that. At some point; I thought about going exclusive Reactors and selling the Octanes(and I still might). The Reactors are a lot different kite though and I'm still undecided. I need more time on the 3 smallest sizes.

It will be interesting to get a really windy day and try out the 1.8 Rage and see what it's upper limit is and how it compares and fairs to the 1.7 Sting. The 2.5m is a lot of fun. This kite will propeller on it's center axis. Only kite I've had that will do that. Still on the fence though about getting the 3.5(does it handle gusty conditions well?).

The new 2m Hornet is a great kite flying wise. Reminds me a lot of my 2m Flow. Very well behaved and refined. I couldn't get more than 20mph out of it the time I buggied with it. I need to try it again.

It's good to have different kites to change it up. A different kite provides for a different experience.

3 windiest months are almost here:

Cool story bro.... I have a pblm sleeping too

Quote: Originally posted by RedSky

I think it is good to have a mix of experiences and that might involve taking a risk and trying something a little obscure. Has anyone ever tried those Russian Sky Country kites with their massively high AR ?

We have the North American Rep' for SkyCountry here in Vancouver and have been flying them for along time now. http://skycountry.ca/kites.php Even longer than it has been since they updated the website. www.skycountry.com shows the up to date depower line. They make a decent closed cell. Our Rep' is Russian but I think Skycountry is actually Ukrainian?

As far as I know they have only built one FB foil. The Reflex.

I think I would best describe the Reflex as an all round FB. It is very stable and well balanced. One of the best kites I have seen for doing stunt / Rev' style flying. It will get you going fast but does not compete with the newest of race kites. The skin and mesh over the inlets are very unique. The skin is super slick and the webbing super tight. No debris gets in through the webbing and the air doesn't go out the skin. They have proven to take a licking and still holdup.

I am kind of amazed that the Reflex never took off inland? It is one of the best FB I have found for gusty winds. If you are looking for a truly unique FB kite that isn't a race kite but does it all well, give one a try!

There is a Russian kite company called Paraavis or something. I think they are the ones who make race aspect FB?

Quote: Originally posted by Bladerunner

Quote: Originally posted by RedSky   I think it is good to have a mix of experiences and that might involve taking a risk and trying something a little obscure. Has anyone ever tried those Russian Sky Country kites with their massively high AR ? We have the North American Rep' for SkyCountry here in Vancouver and have been flying them for along time now. http://skycountry.ca/kites.php Even longer than it has been since they updated the website. www.skycountry.com shows the up to date depower line. They make a decent closed cell. Our Rep' is Russian but I think Skycountry is actually Ukrainian? As far as I know they have only built one FB foil. The Reflex. I think I would best describe the Reflex as an all round FB. It is very stable and well balanced. One of the best kites I have seen for doing stunt / Rev' style flying. It will get you going fast but does not compete with the newest of race kites. The skin and mesh over the inlets are very unique. The skin is super slick and the webbing super tight. No debris gets in through the webbing and the air doesn't go out the skin. They have proven to take a licking and still holdup. I am kind of amazed that the Reflex never took off inland? It is one of the best FB I have found for gusty winds. If you are looking for a truly unique FB kite that isn't a race kite but does it all well, give one a try! There is a Russian kite company called Paraavis or something. I think they are the ones who make race aspect FB?

Thanks BR, appreciate the info. My memory of sky-country is cloudy. The last time I gave them a look was back in 2007/8. I do remember emailing them about a prototype FB kite that they were developing which had a ridiculously high AR, 7.7 or something like that. I know it wasn't the Reflex because I saw that too on the same page. The Reflex looked very stable. Watching Dirtslide fly it in the park impressed me at the time.

Why is no one trying their latest depower kites? I've not seen any mention of them on the forums. The Oscar 2 for example. It seems like most play it safe and buy Ozone or Peter Lynn. If I was in the market for a depower foil I'd definitely try Sky-Country.

Depower for gusty conditions can't be beat (#@%$#!e Denver wind, here)

I seem to remember a little while back watching dirtslide with an Oscar (I think) and remember it being long with a red and yellow color scheme. I though it looked like a giant hotdog on a bun

Edit:...Correct... That scudley and I believe it was either a Nasca or an Oscar... Not sure

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

One of my favorite scudley videos. I would have tried that too if I had a park that cool to ride at.

I've done that hundreds of times, before and after that time. Since then I have been careful about the conditions that I do it in: steady SE wind, on NW your kite would land in the middle of the river. The video does not give you an idea of how steep those rocks my feet come to a stop on are. The river is about 12 feet below me. You don't want to go for a swim; the current can be up to 12kts when the tide is ebbing. It may not look it, but it is fairly dangerous.

On the SC kite with the 7A/R: They had problems with the kite folding in the middle when you tried to turn it hard: not enough pressure from the leading edge to keep the tips from trying to meet. What they learned from that kite went into the new depowers which have aspect ratios above 6.

No I will not be giving up my Reflexes, at least not until someone comes up with something better for where I fly and how I like to fly, see the beach dune video above. Dirtslide keeps buying new kites and then selling them off after barely flying them. At one point he even sold two of his Reflexes, I sold him a replacement for his three meter two weeks later.

Quote:

Quote: Originally posted by Scudley   Redsky, not quite Elizabethan, the music is Bach. I have used classical music in quite a few of my videos: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, taken #@%$#! for it every time. I attach a video of me flying a 2m Reflex on the beach dune at SOBB. If you hate classical music, try singing "after the wabbit, after the wabit" in your best Elmer Fudd imitation. It may help you endure. If you watch my hands you will see that I am not a park and ride flyer. I like to try suck every watt I can get out of a kite. For me PnR flying is boring. My Nasca ll is the 11m, not 14, TFG. Awesome kite, but too much for our small park on days when I have to share the park with anyone. I have flown it after my OBE, but I am careful about when. The kite certainly has lift. My OBE had me 15 feet in the air and I landed more than forty feet from my buggy. At 100kg, if I had hit anyone along the way they could have been hurt pretty badly. Anyone else ever been pulled out the front of their buggy? I love classical. Some of my most recent videos have used "Sonata Para Piano Nº 14 Op.27 "Claro De Luna" and Mozart - Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major. Park and ride is not my style either. It is very boring to me. Lots of people like going up and down the beach for hours on end and that's fine, each to their own I say but for me, no. Like you I get bored very quickly doing that. I bought a Dust Devil buggy for the purpose of going off road but I gave it to a friend who's need was greater than mine after his previous buggy accident left him struggling to load and hual his big monster bug. I have some footage somewhere of me riding in a friends Gobi buggy, the actual buggy that crossed the actual Gobi desert many years past. I'll dig it out. That thing had a monster rear end and a ton of ground clearance. Liked your lesson in humility video. Why have I not seen these vids before ? (Sub'd). You took a great risk but I would have done the exact same thing. Maybe we were separated at birth ? Please keep making those type of videos. Quote: Originally posted by Scudley   Anyone else ever been pulled out the front of their buggy? I'm not an expert on OBE's having only experienced two. The first was when I stopped a while to talk to a friend, I was lofted 2ft out of the buggy and landed on my derrière and the second was a brutal front exit in 30mph winds flying a 2.7m kite as a result of a small yappy dog blocking my path. The buggy shot off towards the sea at great speed and I went flying off in another direction. My mistake was to take my eye off the kite and it hurt. I really hope it never happens in the Dominator as it is a very snug fit and it's getting increasingly snug everyday. It would be like a cork leaving a champagne bottle. Your OBE sounds proper scary though. Kites are scary. I was out in the park on Saturday, my first time in the buggy since last summer and I was thinking, you know what, this is scary!