Hi All:

I have a quick question about the Ozone Turbo bar.
How compatible is it with non-ozone kites?

I am looking to get a new ozone kite (flow-method) with turbo bar.

I wanted to first check if I would be able to use the turbo bar with my Prism Tensor.
How about the Compatibility with a Flexifoil Rage? an HQ Beamer? a Peter Lynn Twister or Reactor?
Anybody has any experience with a turbo bar on any kite other than ozones?

Thanks,
Martin

As long as the kite's steering is front line biased it will fly fine on the Turbo Bar regardless of manufacturer. I have flown some Flexifoil kites on the Turbo Bar and they are fine. Some have reported that they PL Twister isn't so happy on it.

Most retailers will be able to tell you if a kite is front line biased or not with regards to its steering characteristics.

You can also make some power line extensions which will help "dial in" your kites.

ATB,
Sam

You might be better off just getting a depower kite, mate. It would cost about the same, perhaps slightly more, depending on what you get. Keep that in mind.

if a kite is 2 line biased it won't like it. If it is 4 line biased it will. Kites that don't like brake input will do horrible!

I've flown a 4m beamer and 5.6m pl twister with the turbo bar. The beamer loved the turbo bar, but the twister not so much. The twister flew ok but liked handles much better IMO.

I agree - although I'm not sure about the 'front line biased' kites doing well. The turbo bar steers with about 70/30 rear/front steering input (a rough observation). Kites that are happy to be steered mainly on the rear lines will be great. That includes the Beamers. Reactors/Century prefer more front line input and as a result are very easy to stall and luff when using the Turbo Bar. (technical term for 'fly like crap') Haven't flown a Rage on the bar but I have had the Blade V on the bar and it was surprisingly good.

I suspect the Twister will not be suited that much to the bar - my Hornet gets away with being on the bar......just. You can tell it want's more front line input when turning as its often on the verge of stalling unless I'm gentle with my turns.

Never flown a Tensor - but if you can steer it mainly from the brake lines (like the Ozone Imp/Flow/Method & Beamer) then it will be fine.

If you find that your brake lines are hanging slack and no amount of adjustment seems to tighten them up (as happened in my case with my old and new bars) you can easily add a small extension 'pigtail' to the power lines. I do this on the kite end to avoid any interference at the bar end (like knots catching on lines). I like my brake lines to just have a tiny bit of tension with the bar out.

Also, when launching from an upside down position, I put a hand either side of the brake loop to give me maximum effect - sometimes one hand in the middle isn't quite enough.

One other thing to be aware of is that if you put too many twists in the lines, it can actually 'lock out' your control. I keep my twists down to 2 or 3 and get them out at the first opportunity as it also puts a fair bit of wear on the lines. I think this is because the power lines are much closer together when using the bar as opposed to handles.

Cool thanks for all the info. I may go for the bar after all.
I do like bf's and think it would be nice to be able to use them with the turbo bar.
I like the ability to fly them on handles and introduce some depower when needed.

My Beamers fly great on the turbo bar. I have tried a Pansh FIRST race kite, did not turn out so well.

Flexifoil Rage flies great on it too!

Since you also asked how it works on PL Reactor: bad. Reactors barely want frontline steering, just brakes, so handles ftw. A bar type that pulls mainly on break lines would work better, but won't beat handles.

I've flown it on a Twister II once and i liked it better then the regular front-line-only bar that normally comes with it when ordering a Twister on a bar. In any case, the Twister is just like the Reactor: nothing will beat handles.

Hi all just back from a test session am selling my 3M Hornet with a turbo bar.
This was first time to use a turbo bar, nice feel.
Was very impressed Hornet flew well no issues, no over flying, didnt fly to the edge and collapse,
up looped good down looped even better very responsive to bar changes reverse launched well
wind was ok to give me a few runs in mates bug no dramas there.

+1 for the Turbo Bar and Beamer (V 4M).
It's an amazing combination. A friend of mine just spent 2h hooked with it, scudding all over the beach where we go and was like a kid with a new toy, just wouldn't let go :D


@Pulsar
Curious how you've set the Turbo Bar with the Twister. I've tried it with my IIR 5.6M and it was a disaster. It didn't like to be turned on the brakes.
Can you explain how you did it?
ThanS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s in advance...