Well, I'm new to this whole power kiting thing but I think I'm here to stay and thought I'd share my thoughts about the kite that started it all. I'm going to post this with pictures at racekites as well to help others decide to buy or not to buy.



The Sales Pitch

(Right from the eBay listing)
These kites are a new design measuring 3m x 1m. This design has the ability to perform better than previous designs, with faster turns, loops, and ease of launch. They are brand new, and made from quality nylon/ripstop material. These twin skin "FOIL" type kites, have air inlets along the leading edge, they inflate quickly, and hold shape well. These are a great, fun, sports kite, that will give you a good workout in moderate winds. This is not an entry level Quad Line kite, but a step up for someone who wants a more challenging kite. Comes complete with flight lines, and Quad handles.

Notes in the listing:
"Lines supplied with this kite are light, and will break to prevent injury during extreme wind gusts"



The Purchase

Well, it was eBay afterall and the same thing that makes eBay dangerous made this transaction just fine. I paid just under $110 CDN for the kite delivered to my door and did not receive any import surprises from Customs. The kite itself was purchased for $75 AUD.



The Package

My first kite, I didn't know what to expect. What I got was a lightweight bag that, after looking at the kite itself was just made of the same material as the kite, drawstring closure, nothing special. The kite unfolded itself in the living room and I must say I was impressed. The design is sewn right into the construction and looks pretty good IMO. It looks quite "angular" compared to others I've seen but can't say that's a positive or a negative.

The lines were shipped on yo-yo winders, two lines per winder. Unsure, but knowing most of these kites have two different strength lines I emailed the seller to ask which was which and found out there's no difference - they're all the same. There is no sleeving at all so you're instructed to tie your own big loops to make larS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s heads with. Not difficult at all but knowing what I now know, not the best.

The handles let me down at first. They look pretty cheaply made but to be honest, they do the job. The leaders on the handles appeared to be high quality but do not have loops for staking out (brakes) or adding a strop to (mains). I've since changed these leaders. The padding is good although may not last a long time but good enough - if only it went higher up the handle.



The Kite

The kite itself looks well made. Not the most robust stitching as I've seen on other kites but nothing to really be concerned with from the standpoint of a first kite. Bridle attachment points are reinforced well so no concern there. The bridle lines themselves appear to be the same line as the flying lines, all white. All gathered up it can look like a bad case of spaghetti and it did take a little careful effort sorting it out slowly so as not to tie my own knots into the chaos. All in all it unraveled well.



The Flight - An Epic Journey of Discovery

I took my little bag o' fun out to the field after doing all the line sorting and tying in the house (don't advise it - had lines up and down stairs and then back again etc.....the lines were LONG!) With a couple buddies in tow - none of us knowing what we were getting into - we rolled everything out, untwisted what was twisted, staked out and got ready to go. The wind was light (first time out ever with anything like this).

First off, the kite didn't stand at attention like I'd seen they "should". Quite the opposite - it was limp. Unknowing, my two pals held it up, I grabbed the handles, gave them a yank and it seemed okay but never higher than 5-10 feet off the ground and only with a brisk walk backwards. I deemed the wind to be too light and packed up.

(Enter an evening or two on the powerkite and racekites forums)

The next time out I was a little better armed with info. We checked the line lengths - all good but the kite wouldn't stand, let alone fly very well. I wrapped the main lines around the tops of the handles until it stood on it's own and when it did took it up again. It flip flopped, spun, crashed, and didn't want to go very high - maybe 30 degrees tops. Wouldn't come down in reverse so I parked leading edge downward and adjusted. Seems the brakes were still too tight despite the fact that it stood well on the ground hence it not wanting to go very high. I had wrapped the mains on the handle tops with the handles at neutral, not in full brake position. Letting out some of the wrapping it flew better but not well by any means.

Dejected, I packed up and made my way home thinking "I got what I paid for" and had just thrown money away. In my dejection I decided to let money buy me out of my funk. Ordered a couple sets of good handles, kite killers, safety gear, bars etc. I also figured I better get a kite deemed to be "good" by all accounts according to the racekites reviews so I had something to compare to. I ordered a Flexifoil Rage 4.7 (knowing I'd want it one day and it was a good deal at the time) and waited.

The first of the therapy arrived, a used Airush Bar, about 40cm. And what's this? A full set of used lines - and of the proper variety - red mains and grey brakes, sleeved, stitched and 25 meters long...bonus! I didn't even know it was coming with them but I knew what I wanted to try. I checked the new used lines and they were the same length and seemed to be in good condition. Out came the SportAir and upon unwinding the supplied lines I discovered something interesting. The supplied lines were almost TWICE the length of the 25's.

With swapped lines I made my way out to the field in a good breeze, set the kite up, staked it out, made sure it was standing well at attention, grabbed the handles and.....straight as an arrow all the way up to the zenith where it settled and held like a dream. It was a different kite. The following session of turns, loops, spins, brake turns, landings, launches. reverse launches - everything was beautiful! Not much luffing out on the windows edge, nicely responsive to control.


The Conclusion (and my limited analysis of what went wrong)

All around it's not a bad kite. I've now had my Rage 4.7 on the bar out and have compared it side by side with my Pansh Ace 3m and have looked longingly at a Pansh Ace 7m waiting for me to gain the skills required to fly it and by comparison I'd say the construction is comparable to the construction of the Ace 3m although the bridle attachment points seem to be better reinforced on the SportAir.

It is a bit boxy compared to the Ace 3m but is a foil nonetheless and compared in brisk wind to the Ace 3m, is not a very grunty kite (the Ace brought me my first Superman today and there is no way the SportAir would have) which makes it a good trainer IMO. The supplied lines are WAY too long and I maintain that they stretched obscenely making for repeated adjustment and readjustment until settled. Further, with the lines so long the control response was just lethargic at best...and it would NOT climb to anywhere near the Zenith. The handles are suspect but are more comfortable than the Pansh handles which I find a touch small (diameter).

Would I buy another? No, but it's not a bad kite, and for the money I paid I figure it's not a bad idea to have around for those friends that want to try it out as it seems to handle slamming full tilt into the ground without trauma. I learned some valuable lessons with it and will continue to fly it. It's more beginner friendly than the Ace 3m and for this reason I'd use it to teach others since a big part of this seems to be developing second nature reflexes in terms of controlling these kites and this one handles all inputs very well and reverse launches just fine.