so,
I know that not too many guys own RPMs on here, but maybe a few more have tested them and can fill me in.

I got the chance to test an rpm for about 2 hours on the snow. i was pretty excited, but, admittedly, I have mixed opinion about the kite on snow.

What surprised me the most was how different it actually felt. Of course it sits deeper in the window, but the bar didn't do as much as I thought it would for dumping power when flying and I needed to edge a whole lot more to get it to the outside on the window in powered conditions.

No doubt its advertised as having c-like performance, but I am just wondering what's with all the talk about it being so much like an sle? Are those characteristics I am talking about due to its sitting so deep in the window or is it just less like an SLE than I originally was thinking?

I recently acquired 2 RPMS: a 2009 10m, and a 2010 8m. To me, they felt like what I'd expect out of a typical SLE. I was VERY impressed with their light bar pressure, VERY responsive steering, and they way they kept delivering power through a kiteloop. My only gripe was that they didn't have the amt of lift and float that my 2008 10m Nemi HP does, but top looping on the way down makes up for the float (and looks more stylish ). It took a little experimentation to dial them in to my liking at first, but once I found the sweet spot configuration, I was all set. I'm thinking your experience may have been due to your demo's bridle configuration and/or leader-line knot configuration.

Bridle config:
Do you know which bridle attachment points were used on the leading edge of your demo kite? There are two attachment points you can set: Freestyle (typical SLE performance, kite sits further towards the edge of the window), and Wakestyle (kite sits deeper in the window like a C would and steering input is slightly decreased to keep kite more stable when unhooked).

Leader-line knots:
Another configuration option would have been what knots were used on the leading and trailing edge leaders. This is one thing about Slingshot kites that can be confusing at first; they give you several different knot options to choose from which can alter the flight and control characteristics of the kite. I have met a LOT of local slingshot owners and nearly all of them complained about how their kite flew (or didn't) and I ended up having to tune their kites for them. The common symptoms were:
Backstalling
Frontstalling
Lack of steering input.
Kite not backstalling, but sitting too far back in the window to allow them to go upwind effectively.

If you have the chance to demo the RPM again, pay attention to its configuration and make sure it's set to Freestyle, and that the leaders are using a knot configuration that gets you the best balance of stability, steering input, and depower throw.

Slingshot RPM? I rode a 2011 14 yesterday, how about that for timing...

I kept thinking "This is just like an arc but without the power in the turns!"
Bar pressure was similar feeling, with more on the rear lines (but less than arcs) probably cos of the direct connection to the kite...
Kite made nice power while working it, which was easy enough, but I found it needed a lot of wind to park and ride... and didn't really make a lot of power when looped and sent back across the window...

Only complaint I have is that with the bar completely sheeted out, I lost control of the steering - it wouldn't respond to input unless the bar was in some... otherwise, it was a fun kite to ride.

Basically, when I was having fun with the kite it was near the upper end of its design limits and was beginning to misbehave and be twitchy. You skinny fellows will have more luck than me I'm better off with 5 or more strut kites that I can ride way out their top end...!

ya, Kami, I saw that post 'feels like an arc' on the zephyr thread, but really didn't know what to make of it.

BB, "To me, they felt like what I'd expect out of a typical SLE"...the RPM must have a pretty wide range of feeling! I am thinking it was on wakestyle on the leading edge, but don't know the rest. It was sitting pretty deep in the window.

YA, on the plus side, turning was *really* responsive, I liked the way it powered in the turns (powered fairly well on the settings it was on). It got me going upwind pretty well, but took quite a bit more legwork to get there though. Never did dial in the jump that great. Seems to like a LOT of loading on the lines. When I got it 1/2 right though, lifts pretty fast!

I'll definitely have to give it a shot again sometime.

The feeling of how it made power - with the much flatter Crossbows, you feel it build as you sheet it... there's not really so much of that with the RPM I used; rather, it made more power from being worked... bar pressure and feedback - and even the way it jelly-fished at time - made it feel just like an arc
But it was light enough to work happily and not kill my elbows...

I only got a few hours on the RPM but I didn't reckon it made any more power in turns than any other LEI kite I've used - much less than the Charger (EEEK!) and the Flysurfers for sure :dunno:

The guy who owned it said the RPMs reward good edging with good jumps... again, it didn't feel like anything special to me, although it was nice and fast around the sky (but not too fast) which made life easier. Even on the 27m lines...

Still prefer the S3 15 or the Xbow 13 :D

Forgot to add...

I love the look of the RPMs, I think they're stylish :D and they're bloody light weight too! Even the Turbine feels lighter than my 13m Xbow :o

interesting, thanks Kami.
yup, really nice looking kites!

BB, could you recommend settings for the front and back flying line connections for the most SLE feeling? or, is it pretty much the front bridle settings that does that?

There's knots on both front and rear lines at the kite (can't remember if they're on the pigtails or the actual lines) with a maximum of 2 inches or so difference between them - I rode with both on the center setting and as I said (I think) no front/backstalling or anything nasty like that, even when under-powered.
On the kite itself, there's a range of "bar pressure" settings and wake/free-style on the front... start at one end and fiddle I'd guess that lightest & freestyle would be more SLE feeling... simply cos it'd be lighter.
So it's easy to fiddle with

thanks, I'll hopefully give it another go in the near future and see what I think.

great kite, lotta knots for tuning. the unhooked setting really makes it "stupid" so no matter what obscene input you apply, it still cruises thru the top without being disturbed alot of those setting feel terrible trying to fly around hooked in.

has super light bar pressure on" medium" setting, but it can be beefed up if you like that. i have time on '12 rpm 9m and 12m. seriously nice looper if thats your style.

for tubes kinda pricey

Phree, have you had a chance to ride the kite with more 'sle feel' settings? What's your thoughts on the kite with these settings?

ya, slingshot is not cheap new, but was thinking about the used market if I really like it on the freestyle (ie, sle feel) settings.

i think the bar is soft and seeming more direct than hadlow imho.

quick ! unit is slippery quick hooked, very stable esp. 9m compared to my exa 9m prolly a little more power.

SS really took the twitch out the smaller kites for sure

ya, lol, it sounds very good, why can't I like this darn thing?

maybe next time on some different settings. Probably doesn't help that I am just getting into unhooked stuff and can't make the best use of the kite yet.

The debate is whether to go for something like this, or something like a switchblade that would have a feel I am more used to. I have tried a 9m switchblade and that thing was *easy* to jump, so intuitive. I am wanting a forgiving kite to learn things beyond a backroll and then also some easy unhooked stuff.

I flew a 13m XbowLW and a 14m SB 2012 on the same demo day - I reckon the SB had more bar pressure than my 2010 16m XB does :o I hated it and couldn't understand how all the guys I've ever seen with Cabrinha's fly SB :dunno:
... the XB's jump better :D for me, anyway...

Buzz on here might be selling his 2012 16m SB soon... it'll be a good price I bet. Ask him about other size prices too... he's a bit slow replying to emails when he's busy but it's worth it :D

ya, the 9m 2011 switchblade on the lightest setting was pretty good. Not sure I would want to try the heavy setting.

I don't doubt xbow are better jumpers, but I'm also wanting to start unhooking stuff (not tons, but definitely a bit) which I know is not what the xbow is about. The 9m switchblade was actually a better jumper with more float than I expected. But, it's still a bow after all, so shouldn't surprise me too much.

ya, still in the early stages, not quite looking to acquire just yet. thanks though!

Good? I thought the SB was horrid :o Maybe it WAS on a 'heavy' setting...

Can't remember if I said... one thing that impressed me about the RPM was it's "stay-in-the-air-ability" - let go the bar and it slowly dropped. Well, slowly compared with the XB that just goes down like a Messerschmidt in flames