Power Kite Forum

HQ Crossfire I 3.2

furbowski - 19-10-2008 at 08:58 AM

hiya

I've got about ten hours on this kite now, and I've had it for three months. Bought it used off the forum, if you want to know how much I paid do a search, I forget.

I weigh around 155 lbs, and I've been flying for a year, lots of time scudding and some time jumping, just beginning to body-drag, almost all static flying so far. I mostly fly onshore winds on soft sand beaches.

I got this kite to fill a hole in my quiver.

It's a beast. Blows my 3m legend away, nearly twice the power of my DP power 2.5.

It's set for power, so it only flies a full window when powered up (10 mph plus) Not a low wind kite. Wide wind range, it's fun as soon as it flies a full window in 10 mph plus, and I've flown it in 20 mph. I could have flown it in more, but the winds were too gusty and this is a kite that pulls hard in gusts.

It produces power most of the way across the window. Turns well, but it's a 3.2 so turning speed isn't really an issue. It takes a bit of finesse to produce power while looping, too tight and it really loses power. It's a bit awkward to land, but relaunches OK, not great but OK, takes finesse. definitely lifty, pulls the arms up at the zenith, not stable but easy to keep it up top while walking back into the water.

Doesn't like lulls. (did I say it's not a low wind kite?)

I put it on a bar once when another kite freak at the beach was getting bored with his 2m BEST trainer. With the brake bridles tied up it was really hard to inflate, I had to help him launch and still he had to pump it half-way up to the zenith before it was inflated enough to begin flying properly, and it took a pass or two across the window to fully inflate. I was able to launch it off the ground, but only with lots of sand on the trailing edge and also by taking a lot of care to inflate as much as possible on the ground.

with 4 lines it still inflates slowly unless the wind is 15+. Doesn't like to sit nicely on the ground when staked by the handles.

once powered up, tho, it pulls hard. It's had me scudding well and jumping a little. It once yanked me out of the water while body-dragging so I was planing along on my legs from the knees down. So give it wind and it will give you power.

it has ABCD rows and brake bridle. cross-braced inside, good stitching and ripstop.

not a good beginner kite, great second 4-line kite.

i won't be selling it anytime soon!

Bladerunner - 19-10-2008 at 09:10 AM

Body Dragging :roll:

Does this mean you may get going on the water this year ?
Do you have a harness yet ? If not GET ONE ! You will have enough power in your Blade to learn to body drag upwind. Go to www.kitesurfingschool.org to get the technique.

Walking back upwind with your kite at Zenith is a big no no. Start getting used to walking back with the kite down on one side or the other ! This will help avoid an unexpected lofting.

OOPS! I see you have this all covered in your other post !

dylanj423 - 19-10-2008 at 09:40 AM

Its a good kite... theres a chance that it was once mine... did you get it from a guy in Florida?? It does not like flying on a bar... handles are a must for that one, at least as far as I'm concerned. Glad you are enjoying it, it was my first real power kite. Had some fun with it for sure. The 7.7 that I now own is a bit less luffy, I think just because of it's surface area. Mine also seems to fly better on ozone lines than the stock HQ set... weird.

acampbell - 19-10-2008 at 10:02 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by dylanj423
It does not like flying on a bar... handles are a must for that one, at least as far as I'm concerned.


Funny, HQ has always sad that the CF was never meant fora bar, but when I got my CF II, I noticed that there was a loop with velcro closure at the top of the bag that looked like it would be perfect for securing a bar to the outsiide of tha bag. When pressed, the HQ folks admitted that indeed that's what it was, but that it takes someone with a lot of experience with a bar to get it dialed in right with the proper tuning to get it to fly right. For that reason they publicly discourage putting the kite on a bar, lest a cusotmer be discouraged with their product.

I had a CF I 3.2m and liked it. I really like the CF II's with the adjustable bridle.

furbowski - 20-10-2008 at 01:27 AM

hiya...

thanks for the feedback!

@ BR, well yes indeedy if the wind is anywhere near strong enough to give me trouble I fly it at the side, I've had a couple small lofts at the zenith with the blade and the aces, but not yet had the winds to loft me with the 3.2. And yes I think I will be on the water soon! self-taught kitesurf on fixed bridles will def be interesting! You are right, there is plenty of power on tap there.

@ dj I got this kite from a friend of lunchbox, don't know where he got it from, as lb was kind enough to sort out the sale for me (leaned over backwards for me as well, a top guy!)

@ac the 3.2 flies fine on a bar, but it needs to be more than 10 mph of wind and kept moving to keep it inflated. The hard part is getting it off the ground with enough air inside for at least a little control, then a couple of passes and the CF inflates fully, then it's fine as long as the wind is there and it doesn't get crashed. It did take us 20 mins and a number of tries to get it up off the beach!

I wish I knew how much tuning had gone into my kite, but aside from some play in the brake line lengths it flew fine out of the bag.

I'm sure the CF II, once it is dialed in on the AAA, would be right up there with the blade! It is a shame HQ cannot figure out how to get them RTF from the bag, but I do wonder if it is harder to do that with the more advanced kites? having said that, flexi seems to have no trouble setting up their high-performance kites RTF?

Anyways, it's been a fantastic kite, and I'll be looking hard at HQ's other kites the next time I have money to buy kites...

but for now, it's time for harness, then board, and that will tie up my cash for quite a while, I believe...

cheers,

furbo

acampbell - 20-10-2008 at 04:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by furbowski
hiya...

It is a shame HQ cannot figure out how to get them RTF from the bag, but I do wonder if it is harder to do that with the more advanced kites? having said that, flexi seems to have no trouble setting up their high-performance kites RTF?

Anyways, it's been a fantastic kite, and I'll be looking hard at HQ's other kites the next time I have money to buy kites...

cheers,

furbo


Only the first handful of CF II's had troubles being RTF from the bag until the problem was caught and corrected with existing stock before being shipped to dealers. That was late May. Anything shipped to a dealer since then should be fine right out of the bag. HQ will tell you that this is not a beginner's kite.

furbowski - 20-10-2008 at 06:00 AM

right...

it's good to hear the problem got sorted and new buyers can go for the CFII with confidence... didn't mean to diss your stock!

dgkid78 - 23-11-2008 at 08:03 PM

I loved my 2.4 Crossfire it was my first real powerkite. did all my first with it. first superman, first broken bone, first set of stitches, and this was all within the first month. :singing: i wish i hadn't sold her but i needed the money. oh well