Pansh Ace 6.0

disclaimer : I am not a very experienced kite-flyer, so this review is not going to be coming from a very scholarly perspective but if you are a fellow intermediate flyer, then maybe this can help you.

Shipping:
mine took over a week to arrive, and then I had to drive 50 miles to the nearest DHL to get it but for free shipping I can't complain. box was smashed flat, but kite was unharmed.

First Impressions:
out of the box, I was impressed with the stitching and the material. not as stiff as my Prism, but very silky feeling, almost slippery. extremely lightweight compared to the Prism. I got extremely lucky with the bridle, mine was not tangled at all. I took the lines out the the front lawn, clipped the ends to a fireplug with a carabiner, and unwound 'em for the first time. as expected, a tangled mess, but pretty easy to sort out. the lines (these are Pansh lines v2.0) are very smooth and slick and untangle easily. upon arriving at the end, I clip them to a second carabiner and proceed to heave on them as hard as I can for 5 minutes. I might add I weigh 235# or so. after stretching, the longest string and the shortest string are about 4.5mm different, so I was very satisfied with consistency. the brake lines are marginally thinner than power. the handles are ok, very average, not much to say. they are a tad on the thin side for my hands, but others may like them. the padding is adequate and the leaders are very sturdy. power leads have long tails for a strop, and good brake loops are in place. kite killers are not included, PLEASE GET SOME BEFORE YOU TRY AND FLY THIS KITE. the stuff sack the kite comes in is unremarkable, I use it to parapack, then put the sack, the stake, my gloves and a hammer (for the stake) in a nice Crux climbing backpack when I am carrying it around.

Setup and liftoff:
setup is a breeze, moreso now that I parapack, but the first time wasn't bad. my first flight actually went rather badly due to improperly attached killers, so we will skip right over that and discuss subsequent flights :-P when you stake this kite out, the first thing you will notice is that it tends to not really inflate very well, possibly due to the very small inlet. I was worried at first, but it turned out not to be a big deal, the kite fills up quickly once in the air. after some fiddling about with brake vs. power line length (more on this in the updates), I was up and running easily. I will take this opportunity to add that this kite reverses off the ground very well, in fact you have to be careful, as it will generate a lot of pull even in reverse.

Handling once in the air:
as expected, a kite of this size is not super nimble, but once you get the brakes dialed in where they need to be, it will turn very nearly on the wingtip if you brake-turn. feels like you are tied to the hitch of an angry semi when climbing thru the window, even in lighter winds. I have not yet implemented the EPAT, but as it is, the kite moves across the window reasonably fast but is still quite floaty at the zenith. as is, the window is a bit narrower than I thought, well less than a full 180 degrees. this kite definitely work better when flown on power alone, any brakes at all will cut the speed very quickly. could probably be flown on a bar if not for the ridiculous amount of pull. in lighter winds this kite needs a lot of active input to stay up. will easily overfly both above and to the sides if you don't pay attention. will not stay parked at the zenith in any wind but the very lightest. as expected for a kite with ar=4.5 or so, it luffs easily if you don't keep it powered up and in the window.

Jumping:
after sorting the killers and brake length out (more on this later), I sent the kite to the top of the window and started running diagonally for a pendulum jump. the kite needs very little input to do this well, it damn near did it automatically. VERY floaty jump, smooth powerup and nice landing. (was moving sideways very quickly, but vertically very slowly) a few more 1m jumps later, I decide I'm hooked on this thing. (wind was not strong that day) fantastic jumper.

Wind range:
as mentioned earlier, I am a pretty big guy, and weigh enough to hold this monster down in stronger winds. that said, I have also been unintentionally lofted during gusts a few times, and even dragged on my face for 30m following a spectacular (and surprising) superman. (strongly advise wearing at least knee pads when flying this kite, maybe a helmet if your situation warrants it. I also wear kevlar shooting gloves for better grip when my hands are sweaty.) I have taken the kite up in winds ranging from 8mph gusting to 12, to 17mph gusting to 20. at the slow end of things, the kite needs a lot of work to stay up, although it still generates surprising pull and a hint of lift. at the fast end of things, this is an unholy monster that will spank you badly if you don't respect it. on the 17mph day I was lofted twice and pulled around quite a bit. one particularly strong gust felt about like being hit by an angry linebacker (in reverse). I haven't tried it yet, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this could pull my truck around on a windy day if I tied it to the hitch.

Value and conclusion:
phenomenal kite for the money. shipped from China, this set me back under 200 bucks American, which is a fraction of what a similar kite from another maker would run. quality of kite is superb, quality of lines is very decent, the only thing that lacks is the mediocre handles and the crappy stuff sack. (also, lack of badly needed kite killers) while it can be challenging to fly, it is also very rewarding, especially the jumping.

UPDATES:
this thing does NOT like brakes. I had to shorten my power leaders quite a bit to make it fly right, and I might add some pigtails to the brake leaders on top of that later on. even the smallest amount of braking on both sides will quickly bring the kite down, even in rough winds. you really do have to fly it on power alone.

GREAT REVIEW

Wow that was detailed ... excellent job !!

The aces do like the brakes to be slack. a few knots higher up the power leaders solve that problem .. as you have done. when you use the brakes to turn make it a quick movement and it will spin right away , if you ride the brakes for too long it will stall it.

Fly safe !!