NPWfever - 28-10-2007 at 07:46 PM
So I have been looking at the pansh ace's and I am getting the 8 meter but I am also looking to replace my NPW 5.5 with a 5 meter foil. Now the 8
meter = $210 but the 5 meter is $180. I can't justify spending $30 less for a 5 meter. The 4 meter is $100 would a 4 meter be enough of a difference
from my 3? I was planing on a 3 meter for high a 5 for medium and an 8 for low and snowkiting. Should i bite the bullet and get the 5 or go with a 4?
AAHHHHHHAAHHHH!!!! help!!
Edit: K so i just looked and the legend 5.5 meter is only $130 what kinda review does the legend get?
K 1 more edit: What about getting the ace 6 meter? it is the same $ as the 5, but 6 meters seems, idk cooler cuz its bigger i guess? Ahh human nature,
ooh look a cool kite! wow whats that you say it will pick me up? Cool! i want a really big one! lol!
art_lessing - 28-10-2007 at 09:42 PM
I have a 5.5 and its ok...very slow turning...like a bus...but it definitely pulls hard..I am considering getting the ace 4m....I have flown a four
meter blade and that thing was cool...this ace..is being compared to the blade...plus the new 4m ace is on for 99 bucks...very worth the price...
DQ
andya - 29-10-2007 at 03:35 AM
Be aware that Pansh have used very aggressive pricing in the past (I got the first Ace 5 at $99). The Ace 2.5 and 4m (and possibly 3.5m) WILL rocket
up in price VERY soon. You snooze, you lose!
If I we're you I'd buy the 2.5 and 4m now, a great winter quiver for $190. Don't know your 3m, but the Ace 4m (and probably the 2.5m) will way out
perform it.
Then look out for a nice second hand 5-6 m to replace the 5.5m Nasa latter.
PS - nowt wrong with Nasa - I've got nine of the beasts in the range 0.6m to 15m. love em!
NPWfever - 29-10-2007 at 02:18 PM
Yeah i like the nasas but foils are soooo much faster and you can loop them for power
Pablo - 29-10-2007 at 04:35 PM
3, 5.5m and a 7-9m kite is a very common setup for your kite quiver. You'll rarely go smaller than 3m exept for the really crazy days. I think a jump
from a 3m to a 6m, or a 4m to a 8m would be too big and leave you with a huge dead spot in the middle of your quiver.
NPWfever - 29-10-2007 at 07:54 PM
yeah ill prob get the 5.5
Bladerunner - 30-10-2007 at 09:39 AM
It is a general rule that jumping with a kite smaller than 5m is not a good idea. You can jump O.K. but there isn't enough canopy to float you . I
agree that the 3, 5 (5.5 ) and 8 will make a pretty good quiver.
Time is on your side. Don't rush things and you'll find a good deal on a 5 or 5.5 !
NPWfever - 30-10-2007 at 06:15 PM
Im getting the 8 today cuz i have no high wind kite but i do have a mid range (NPW 5.5) even though it kinda sucks, it works for now. And my gflak 3
meter tore on one of the profiles so i have to send that back to replace it, but the company is picking up shipping and everything YAY!!
Yeah i would love an 8 meter for snowkiting! Can i get good 15 foot
jumps in like 12mph? That would be intense!! Oh yeah i weigh 130 lbs, What is the whole stone thing???? IM so confused! It would be cool to go up a
hill and then glide back down like 15 feet up LOL! its like......uhhh parakiting? Oh is towing behind a snowmobile a really bad idea? Yeha in case you
cant tell i wanna fly REAALYY bad!!!
BeamerBob - 31-10-2007 at 03:00 AM
How would you hold the handles if you were going forward down a hill trying to get lift from your kite? A paraglider's cells face the same direction
you do. A kites cells face toward you. I guess you could just switch the handles from hand to hand. I'd have to sort that out in my head first.
NPWfever - 31-10-2007 at 02:44 PM
Well i am going to use a bar so i can go 1 handed and harness in (easier). And going down hill i would start (on skis) with the bar infront of me like
normal but with the lines twisted. So u r ontop of the hill "ground handling" facing away from the hill then you turn around but leave the kite the
same way. Also with a bar you could spin it and the lines would untwist. then start going for it.
DAKITEZ - 1-11-2007 at 08:54 AM
1 stone = 14 lbs
NPWfever - 1-11-2007 at 03:28 PM
K so 130lbs=about 12 stone?
DAKITEZ - 1-11-2007 at 03:45 PM
130 / 14 = 9.28 stone
anything over a 3m and you should fly away like a bird.
NPWfever - 1-11-2007 at 04:06 PM
what my calculator is busted then...oh no wait i hit/11. Nvr mind. No way about the 3 meter i was out in 30mph wind with it and i could hardly jump?!
DAKITEZ - 1-11-2007 at 04:32 PM
Ah, I was just messing with you ...
NPWfever - 3-11-2007 at 06:47 PM
YAY!! Kite shipped today!! (8 meter ace) And i now have enough $ to get the legend 5.5 but i want to get and fly my 8 meter first to make sure I am
happy with pansh. Anyone had any issues with the legend other than lines stretching? I intend to get a good set for all of them. I find it easier, and
cheaper, to get one set of lines and a bar for all my kites. And pack the kites up and the lines separate. That way when i show up i evaluate the wind
take out the kite I need and hook it up. Then if the wind changes, instead of winding it all up I can just pack the kite and get the new one out.
(with the exception of my 3 meter which is a 2 line on handles with its own lines) I had my 3 on a bar and there was a huge gust of wind which flipped
my buggy over pulled me out and dragged me a good ten feet on my stomach before i could let go, and when I did it flew a good 500 feet (it happened to
me twice in one day, the other time i was going to hit a tree) But i put it on handles so if that happens again i can just let go of one. How much is
a second hand bar and a set of new spectra lines going to run me, About? Also anyone here in colorado? More specifically Highlands Ranch/Littleton? I
need someone to kite with. Would it be cheaper to buy a reel and cut my own lines or to buy a set? And can you use a climbing harness for land based
kiting?
DAKITEZ - 4-11-2007 at 12:32 AM
a lineset is going to cost anywhere from $70 - $110 I was just looking. I don't know how much bars are, but handles were anywhere from $15 - $90.
Ozone was always the highest, but I hear they are the best.
NPWfever - 4-11-2007 at 05:46 AM
Yeah but for a set of lines i can trust in a jump for like $70 is worth it. I would never buy used lines nor will i use the pansh ones for very long.
And i can make a bar fairly easily but again for like another $100 i have a bar i can trust and is built correctly. Not like my current one which is a
wind chime with PVC pipe inside and a bic pen tube as the sleeve for the brake line and some parachute cord as leaders. LOL! :D
NPWfever - 4-11-2007 at 06:51 AM
Oh also I was wondering, I have heard this sport be called both powerkiting and traction kiting. Which is correct? Or are both and they are synonomys?
(cant spell) Like is it a power kite and its traction kiting or is it a traction kite and it is power kiting or power kite and power kiting or
traction kite and traction kiting? AHHHHHHHHHHH!! I am so confused?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??
krumly - 4-11-2007 at 07:26 AM
NPWfever -
powerkiting, traction kiting, whatever - it's the same.
Airrush makes nice bars, and you can get a sweet new '06 bar with QR chickenloop, front line swivel, depower strap, leaders, handle floats, and QR
safety leash for $59.95 + shipping direct from them:
http://store.airushkiteboarding.com/product-653.html
If you pop for just one bar, I recommend a 55 cm with the 5.9 m leaders (you can make up a short set of leaders to give you a shorter line set). You
won't regret having a good bar, and that price rocks.
krumly
NPWfever - 4-11-2007 at 08:05 AM
Yeah i see that bar alot. Or maybe I'm thinking of the blue/red one.... Unless thats it and its a bad pic. I dont see a 55 with 5.9 meter leaders. I
do see a 65 with 5.7 meter leaders would that suit me okay? A longer bar will give you better/faster turning correct?
Bladerunner - 4-11-2007 at 08:36 AM
I bought a couple of used 4-line bars complete with lines. Both were under $100. About the same as a new set of lines.
Carefull jumping and flying in big winds with home mades stuff. Those folks you see doing the big jumps don't trust their lives to PVC and Bic pens
lunchbox - 4-11-2007 at 08:48 AM
Hey Krumly,
Great price on that airush bar...but I'm a little confused on how to use a depower bar on a fixed bridle kite???
archkiter - 4-11-2007 at 08:58 AM
You are probably better off looking for a bar designed for fixed bridle foils vs. depower. The loading on the bar is different as with a fixed bridle
the power lines attach to the ends of the bar and this is where most of the load is placed. With a depower, the main lines attach to the depower rope
that runs through to the chicken loop while the rear lines take much less of the loading- mostly when the rider pulls the bar in and powers up or when
turning. There have been a few cases of depower bars splitting when used on a fixed bridle. I think you are better off getting a bar designed for
the job. Ozone and Flexi both make bars for fixed bridles.
Bladerunner - 4-11-2007 at 09:32 AM
Good point Archkiter !
All my bars are x-4line :o. I think I'll stick with them for now.
They HAVE to be a bit safer than PVC and bic pens ?
In trying to justify the choice to myself I'll note the following. When hooked in I'm using the D-loop strop that is designed to work on a bar, when
unhooked my hands are very near the end of the bar reducing ( torque ) force :?: I'm only about 140lbs ( 10 stone :wink2: ) and think that if enough
force was being applied to my name brand bar that it snapped I'ld be glad it did before that force was applied to my body :duh:
If a person can afford one, A proper bar from Flexi or Ozone would be best. NPW and others are working on a strict budget and need to find a safe
affordable minimum budget option. I still think picking up used 4-line bars complete with lines is super cheap and a pretty safe way to go.
Lunch Box,
To put a 4line bar on a fixed bridle you put the ( front ) fly line to the outside of the bar. You join the brakes together and bring them through
the center. With pulleys you can either have very minimal brake when flying but full safety or 2/1 brake action as you turn + full safety.
NPWfever - 4-11-2007 at 12:18 PM
I want a bar i just have a homemade bar to get the feel and to buggy, no jumping with an NPW anyways. I will fly my Ace on handles till I get a good
bar. So i am lost... what is the difference between fixed and depower bridles? Is a depower kite the same as a sheetable kite? I thought depower=a
kite with brakes
ie a 4 line.
Pablo - 4-11-2007 at 04:55 PM
nope, 4 line = quad line, you can get a 4 line fixed bridal that'll fly just off the front lines with no brake line tension.
Depowerable, instead of the power going through the main only, all 4 lines are used, the front stays fixed and you control the back edge of the kite,
you can steer and adjust the sheeting on the kite via the bar and sheeting adjustment,
sheetable kite = depowerable kite
krumly - 4-11-2007 at 04:58 PM
Archkiter -
Good to be cautious aboiut overloading bar ends and possibly collapsing bar. But what particular depower bars are you talking about that failed on a
fixed bridlal kite?
Most water kites use 450 -700 lb test lines both front and rear, so you figure manufacturers would have safety factors on top of that, but maybe not.
Do you know of published specs that show higher bending strength for Flexi's or Ozones fixed bridal bars vs. their depower bars?
krumly
archkiter - 4-11-2007 at 08:28 PM
I know someone here in Portland who used a Best bar on a slingshot B-series kite and it snapped.
I too would have thought that strength with a depower bar wouldn't be an issue. And maybe many times its not, but I know of one incident and have
read about others. Makes you think that its pretty important to use gear for what it was designed for.
NPWfever - 6-11-2007 at 01:29 PM
I got it in the mail today!!!! And OMG!! that thing is huge. I couldnt even open it in my house, i had to step out back. The bridles were actually not
tangled and the handles didn't have the PANSH name on them but the padding seems OK. But i will still wrap in hockey tape. The lines are the new ones,
i have yet to unwind them but thats later today, i just wanted to post this. YYYYYYYAAAYYAYYYYAAYYYYYY!! i am soooo happy. I might even try a glide
down the hill with the handles on the kite today. Even though everyone on the PG forum told me not to. LOL! Hey anyone here in colorado? Also the
lines on the Ace, most people say shorten the brakes to make it fly right, what should i do?
B-Roc - 6-11-2007 at 01:39 PM
Go out with all lines equal at first and launch the kite. If it won't climb, the brakes are too short. If it over shoots the window, they are too
long. If they are way saggy, they are too long. If you can't kill it while flying by applying the brakes, they are too long. If it won't reverse
launch, they are too long. If the kite is dramatically creased and sluggish they are too short. If you launch and get yanked and dragged down the
field and the winds are OK for the kite, the brakes may be too short.
For most kites, you want the brake lines loose but not droopy - just a gentle, taught slag if that makes sense leaving the trailing edge creased but
not pulled in to a fold.
Fly it and look for any of the symptoms above to determine if the kite needs brake line adjustment.
NPWfever - 6-11-2007 at 04:19 PM
Just to make sure red is power? Or does it matter? I've heard Red=power Green=brakes and vice versa. But i have heard the anti latter more. So thats
what i did. The sun started to set so i had to come home but it wouldn't launch at all. I had to hold the lines at the larks head, about a foot up the
lines. I am going to try tying a 1 foot piece of paracord on my power lines an see if that fixes it. But it was sick!!! like 3mph wind and i jogged
backwards towards a hill and i got a good 5 second backwards glide. YAY! I have free flown for the first time in my life. Cool! Lots of power though could have gone buggying if i wanted to.
NPWfever - 6-11-2007 at 05:23 PM
Ok i looked at my "instructions" and i guess i hooked up my lines backwards. Hey they are simple but they helped out alot! LOL! SO red goes to brakes
and green goes to power, makes sense. I will try that way tomorrow.
BeamerBob - 6-11-2007 at 07:08 PM
Hook all 4 lines to an immovable object and see what the relative lengths are just so you know what you are starting with. Linesets are usually all
the same lengths with the heavy lines for power and lighter ones for the brakes. I've never had anything green on any of my lines. The only colors
I've had are red and blue. That really doesn't matter though. If your new 8 is like both Panshs I've flown, they need just enough brakes to get them
to land but no more than that. Brakes are like an anchor on the Blaze and Ace. You can use one to help turn with in a good wind or both to land but
that's it.
NPWfever - 6-11-2007 at 07:21 PM
Yeah I am going to stake them out tomorrow when I fly. But i did have them backwards so Pansh may have listened and cut the brakes shorter. I will try
the knots in the power leaders trick. The sleeves on the lines are red and green. Cant wait as there is a hill/cliff thing at my school so i am gonna
bring it in and fly after school (We actually have a kite club) *that i started* LOL! but i will let my buds give it a whirl and hopefully i can get
the balls to do a hill jump on the cliff.
BeamerBob - 6-11-2007 at 08:08 PM
If they listened, and were going to change something, they would make the brakes leaders longer and make all 4 lines the same length. My Pansh lines
were within an inch of each other. Pretty good considering how everyone dissed them. I unrolled them out of curiosity to check and then rolled them
back up without ever hooking them to a kite.
NPWfever - 6-11-2007 at 08:32 PM
Yeah i am actually pretty happy with my lines. Better than the ones on my NPW anyways. (Dacron, its like a rubber band)
Bladerunner - 6-11-2007 at 08:56 PM
NPW,
If you have been paying attention most people choose not to even use there lines or skinny handles from Pansh. I don't think ANYONE would be
suggesting that you should be out flying off hills with them 
Or lending an 8m
kite to your school mates to do the same
Folks think kites are dangerous and scarry. All it takes is one person getting hurt and NO ONE in the whole town / County can kite because they have
to make rules. We can't kite in our local Bay or it's parks and no one has ever been hurt.
Please think about safety or a LOT of people may have to pay for the outcome ! Sorry to sound like an O.G. but you seem to be pushing the limit before
you know your limit and you aren't playing after school games now !
:duh:
NPWfever - 6-11-2007 at 09:05 PM
My friends have flown both my 3 meter and 5.5 NPW in all wind, and have gotten some good jumps, they are capable of flying my 8 meter. And i wasnt
sugesting them to fly off a hill, as they are not ready to do that, i would just let them static fly and buggy. I do know that most people dont use
the pansh lines, and i plan to replace them. I would trust them 5 feet off the ground. I have watched all my friends and know what they are capable of
and i wouldn't let them do anything they cant handle. I will probable switch my Pansh lines over to my NPW when i get new ones, because at least they
don't stretch as much, and there are knots up and down my lines, yeah and i hill jumped with that. LOL!
Pablo - 6-11-2007 at 09:22 PM
All I'm going to add to this one is that I think everyone should try and make it out to a major event, or at least one of the minor ones or demo days
as soon as they can in their kiting career.
I was pushing like crazy, thought I was good, then I headed down to seaside, went to pull out my 3m in the strong clean wind and saw everyone else
pulling out 6-8m kites. By the end of the weekend I'd figured out how to handle a kite way bigger than I'd ever imagined and I've had way less
injuries since because now I have a good idea where the limit is and how to kite when near it. I now know what not to ever do as well. Most of my real
injuries came from before that.
I learned so much about kite setup, buggy prep, differences between buggies etc. It'll take forever to figure out on your own, when it can happen in
an hour by kiting with someone who's been doing it well for years. If you can't make an event, drive for a couple hours to kite with someone fairly
close to you that's got some serious time in. Most of the old timers will gladly spend a day to help someone who's willing to travel to learn.
NPWfever - 7-11-2007 at 04:19 PM
I think pansh did change their lines, in all the pictures I have seen they are all within an inch or so of eachother, not the brakes being so long. I
hooked them up backwards and thats why it wouldn't fly, No wind today so I will try the other way tomorrow.
BeamerBob - 7-11-2007 at 07:35 PM
yeah, they have made a change in line mfg. Mine are sleeved and knotted, no sewn loops for me. You might have better usable lines. That looks like
about how much I had to shorten my power lines to make my Blaze work.
NPWfever - 7-11-2007 at 07:48 PM
The lines are pretty nice overall, a couple spots that it "pilled" but seems fairly usable for the time being. I think I will stick with their handles
unless i can get a good deal on a kite line bar set on ebay or craigslist. I got a PM from someone that pointed out a brand new 6 meter LEI with lines
and a bar for $75.
NPWfever - 10-11-2007 at 10:32 PM
Ok so question, converting my Pansh to a bar. The brakes go where? And the power go where. Just to clear it up it is a fixed bridle kite. I know
depowers have the brakes on the outside and the powers to the harness. But wouldn't pulling on the bar depower it? Unless the brakes were longer and
pulling on them increased the AOA.... But to fixed bridles run the other way? Brakes inside powers outside? This would make sense as to why a fixed
bridle kite will snap a depower bar. So I want to make a bar for my pansh to get used to the bar style. What relative lengths should I make the
leaders. Note I had to make my powers about a foot shorter and it just overflies the window. So should the power leaders just be a foot shorter? That
would seem to make sense. Also what is a good lenght bar for the pansh? A kite that requires almost an entire arms length to get any practical turns.
Like 60cm? Oh and one more thing when I replace my lines should I get a 100foot set to replace the 85 footers on it now? So it stays in the power zone
longer for jumps.
Thanks,
Nick
Bladerunner - 11-11-2007 at 09:48 AM
With a big kite like that you will need to use the Crossover bar tha Pablo introduced in previous threads. Please try and search for it.
I find that we refer to this and the pendulam jump link a lot. Maybe when you find it you can put it in the links for future reference ??
NPWfever - 11-11-2007 at 12:24 PM
Yeah sure i'll put up a link
NPWfever - 11-11-2007 at 12:29 PM
Is this it?
http://www.radsails.com/noticias/ver_noticia.asp?v=n=crossov...
man that thing is fancy lookin ummm...is it for a fiexed bridle kite?
Bladerunner - 11-11-2007 at 02:10 PM
That is the basic idea ! Pablo's design is just a little less complicated though. I know it was posted on PKD a while ago. Maybe search Pablo's past
posts ?
NPWfever - 11-11-2007 at 03:10 PM
If I'm not mistaken you had a bar you converted up there. Do you still have that? If so could you post the lengths of each line?
Thanks
NPWfever - 11-11-2007 at 07:33 PM
Are these correct assumptions? And I am assuming the point of a crossover bar is so when you turn it puts pressure on both the brake and power lines
that way it doesn't turn like a tank. I'm pretty sure I can come close to the line lengths by finding a picture of one that gives the bar length and
finding the scale size of a centimeter. So the power lines have a pulley tied on and the brakes can freely move through the pulley but the powers
don't go through a pulley.
Bladerunner - 11-11-2007 at 08:55 PM
Here is a link to a previous thread. It has a photo of my Naish bar converted to a crossover
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=3107#pid158...
Pablo shows a link to his drawing here
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=3107#pid129...
NPWfever - 11-11-2007 at 09:36 PM
Here is a pic of what I think you did to your Naish bar as far as line designation is that correct? And which do you hook into? Is that a chicken
loop? If you hook into the chicken loop how do you depower? Or do you hook into the brake line coming out of the handle and depower by sliding the bar
up and down?
NPWfever - 11-11-2007 at 09:40 PM
K it broke...trying the pic again.
Pablo - 12-11-2007 at 12:13 PM
Looks right, green is power, hook into the big D-loop on the bar, the line through the bar centre is your safety line, you want that on your harness
or to a KK type of thing. Where you have that "Solid Attachment" would be a pulley, when you start turning the kite that line will move side to side a
lot, if you have a solid knot you'll end up pulling on one brake in a hard turn, I put a pulley there to keep the safety nice and snug while still
allowing it to walk side to side on that line when the kite's turning. When it goes to safety it'll still pull on both sides no problem.
NPWfever - 12-11-2007 at 08:43 PM
But if you hook into the loop, how do you brake....? Couldn't you harness into the center line and slide the bar up and down?
Pablo - 12-11-2007 at 08:59 PM
You're not talking a depowerable setup, sliding in and out on the centre will just be playing with the kite going to safety.
With the cross over setup, ideally you have a couple inches slack in the brake cross over lines, you can move the bar ends a couple inches without the
brakes being affected, when you turn more you end up feeding in 2" of brake travel for every one inch of flying line travel.
You'll get full brake turns if you set it up, but it's not easy to apply both brakes to shape the kite for max power.
NPWfever - 12-11-2007 at 10:44 PM
Gotcha, So to harness in then you would need one of those spreader bar hook doodads, right? So to kill it you push it down out of the hook? But then
you don't get a swivel set up, unless you rigged it like one.... Alright so I printed off a pic of snowbird's crossover bar and measured the bar at
50cm (the length of mine) This way it is scaled to my kite, it came out to a nice easy 1cm=5cm so I measured the lines and ran them through eye hooks
for now, (don't have any pulleys, and it's temporary, untill I order mine) It looks alot like the pic, will give it a go on wednesday. So why exactly
do I need a crossover bar for a large kite? Couldn't I rig it like a depower? Or like a regular bar? :puzzled: I would love to stick with handles, but
it just isn't practical for what I want to do. Also....will it make a huge difference if I tie a leader onto the brakes? (about 6 inches long) as it
is the only way my Ace will fly. Notherwords will the crossover bar still function?
Pablo - 13-11-2007 at 12:42 AM
Depower and fixed bridal kite setups are not interchangeable without considerable mods to the bridal. They have completely different control setups.
How can I say this politely, you really need some experience before getting too far into the modding and tweaking part of the sport. Any large kite
will need brake input to really get it turning, so no a standard bar with just the power lines being moved for turning will barely be able to control
a huge kite, you'll have a bus to fly. With the cross over bar you get the same turning speed you'd get with handles, but on a bar. Most decent kites
will turn on a wingtip.
But you're touching on another interesting point I've been noticing has been getting a lot of attention lately. One of the big differences between a
noobie kite and a intermediate/advanced kite is how they respond to control inputs. Most beginner kites fly great off just the flying lines for
steering, brakes can be totally slack. In fact, any tension on the brakes will usually hurt the performance. This is because they're designed to be
easy to kill. Light brake application will in most cases collapse the kite making it beginner safe/friendly.
Now take the average intermediate/advanced kite. The brakes have 3-4 different uses. Light to med brake application on just one side will turn the
kite on a wingtip, the noob kite will lose power and collapse, the intermediate kite will stay somewhat powered and turn. You can use the brakes to
drop the kite back in the window 5-10ft giving you more power, but more downwind to pick up some speed, then cut cross wind on the increased apparent
winds. If you get it down you can carefully shape the rear end of the kite with brakes to cup it just a hare and drastically increase the power output
of the kite with it right at the edge of the window giving you a big increase in speed/power, or you can kill the kite with a hard application of
brake. Of course if you're good with the brake you can kill the power for a spit second to get out of a bad situation and the kite should stay put
making it easy to recover.
I've seen a lot of talk about kite speed and aspect ratios, but I'd like to hear how some of these new kites on the market respond at the hands of an
experienced pilot. By the sounds of it, some kites are being pushed as higher end high aspect kites but they've simply made a high aspect beginner
kite.
When I started flying I had a chance to fly some race kites, I hated them with a passion, too quirky, lots of little things to make flying difficult,
luffed all the time. I loved the Busters, Took a little getting used to the Brooza, at first it didn't seem to want to turn, then I started learning
to use the brakes properly. Needless to say, after a year I finally got myself back into proper race kites. What was a pain is now a joy. So much
control, so easy to get exactly what you want out of the kite. my 10.3m will easily turn on a wingtip. I've noticed the same amazing performance from
the RM+ and Yakuza. But give any one of those kites to a beginner and they'll crash and burn.
Noobies love a kite that will turn on flying lines only, but for me, I've got no use for a kite that won't respond well to brake input, well except
maybe to train noobies.
Sorry, *rant mode off*
NPWfever - 13-11-2007 at 01:37 AM
LOL! Even though I am still a noobie I do far prefer a high AR kite that responds well to brakes, a race kite. Some one I ran into had a race and I
had some isues with it but I miss the control. I don't know if my Ace would be considered a race kite, but it is a rip of other races, is high AR, and
low drag.... IDK? I think someone should make what has been named (in my head) lol the "noodle foil" A kite with an AR of 50.
LOL!
Bladerunner - 13-11-2007 at 09:13 AM
NPW,
You have things highlit and named almost right ! As Pab's mentioned it is a pulley on the line from brake to brake. I found a swivel pulley was
best + reducing the weieght of that pulley if you can.
The brake that runs through the bar can also go to your wrist with a kite killer strap. Some bars come that way. I put a carabiner on the piece that
would normaly be on your spreader bar so at least a person can hook into their belt.
Tugging on that line is how you reverse launch + land. Just like applying both brakes with handles. If you let go of the bar that swivel pulley should
be far enough up thatwhen it hit the bar the kite is at FULL BRAKE and backs down on it's own SAFELY !
Below the bar is a thing comonly called a D-loop. That is what you hook in and out of when riding. The other line with the carabiner is your safety
and as discussed can attach to you many other ways but MUST attach to you.
At the top 4 lines head off. The green lines to the front and red to back. Note... This is opposite a depower.