furbowski - 26-3-2009 at 02:59 AM
I've had this kite for a while now, but haven't had the winds to get it out more often. But I recently started off a new guy on kites, and the 2.5
was perfect for him to get going on as a first 4-line kite. In the process, I've finally flown it enough to give it a review.
I fly static a lot, haven't gotten moving yet, so this review is limited to static.
launches easily, reverse relaunches quite nicely, down to about 8mph for reverse and 6 for normal hot launches. It doesn't like low wind very much,
it's set for fairly high AoA. It inflates poorly and likes to fold wingtips.
give it 8-12 mph though and it flies a nice full wind window and I'm leaning back against it nicely. 15 and it begins to pull hard, 20 and I'm
scudding, but the kite when doing its figure eight flight deep in power is really quick, almost as quick as my reflexes can handle. Normal for 2.5
meter, and it's actually just a little slower than the rages I've flown. faster than the legend 3 I have, almost as much power as the 3.
one thing I notice about this kite: It does powered turns really nicely, well powered through out the turn. Mix in the brakes while turning, though,
and it spills the power, and use only brake, and it will flip right around with very little power in the turn. Most 4-lines do this, but the contrast
between power and brake turns is very strong on this kite. Both ways it corners really nice, more a feeling of like its cornering on rails than any
other kite I have.
The brakes work well on this kite, I can almost fly it backwards, landings are really easy, and it's pretty easy to park it most places around the
window. I have a feeling it would be a good buggy engine, but I just fly static.
bridle: there's a lot of bridle, nearly every rib has attachment points on it. But it's very thin bridle material and very short overall, so it
works well.
lines provided are quite nice, handles barely OK.
it has a very straight leading edge in flight, a really strong curve to the trailing edge and mesh over the vents
It's a bit old school, I think, and i doubt it's on sale retail anywhere still. But I'm sure others on the forum know way more than me about the
history of this beast -- there's some relation to Ozone and the DP stands for the designer's initials who also designs for ozone? not clear on all
that.
If there's interest, I'll sort photos, count cells, and so on...
nice kite, I like it. It's staying in my quiver.