Ozone site now has them for 114 Euros - that's about $155 (not including shipping)

Probably like a lot of people, I heard about the turbo bar, googled it and ended up here. A very informative thread that answered most of my questions - thanks to all. I made a pretty agricultural version of the turbo bar and flew it with a 2m beamer and 2.5m quattro and I must say I'll be doing most of my flying with it from now on. The pulleys on the brake lines reduce the amount of effort needed to steer. I've got mine setup so that when the bar is closest to the kite there is no pressure on the brake lines - the kites fly faster and tend not to stall in lighter winds, with the bar pulled back a third there becomes noticable pressure on the brake lines which in turn slows the kite slightly but provided more power and it turns quicker too. Pull the bar all the way back and down she comes. I think the word 'depower' probably shouldn't be used with the turbo bar, but having said that, it does give superb control of the brake lines and nearly all the control of handles with the advantages of flying with a bar. I think it would be a darn good investment. There's a video of me using it on 'Vimeo' - just search for 'John Holgate'. the Quattro 2.5 flies superbly on the bar. The beamer IV even better. - John Ps: if your having a look at the video, remember I said 'agricultural'!!

The Holgate video is here

Looks like a nice bit of control!

Has anyone found a place here in the states that has these? Somebody mentioned Cobra Kites in Jersey, but I don't see it on their website, or any other Ozone dealer's site for that matter.

They are on the way to the US distributor, last I heard. I'll try and get more intel.

Sweet! Thanks Angus!

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell They are on the way to the US distributor, last I heard. I'll try and get more intel.

Angus are you dealing with Ozone now? I thought they had some B&M policy or something like that. Nice pick-up by Ozone if they've got you on board.

I hope they've got a big batch of these bars on the way. Seems like there is some pent up demand.

Yes. They still have the B&M policy, but because I have a business license to conduct commerce on Jekyll Island Beach, that qualifies me based on an existing precedent they (the US distributor) have with their own kite school and Utah Parks Dept.

I have an e-mail in to them now about the bars

I heard rumor that the bars were due in at the US Distributor last week (Florida?). I ordered mine through Candy and Kites (David Love 707-875-3777) last Thu; I have not heard ETA. It is not listed on their web site, but I was able to call and order one. They are located in Bodega Bay, CA. The cost was $185 which I believe to be retail. I looked everywhere online and could not find anything with a price to compare it against.

Cannot wait to try it!!!

Windzup, the Ozone distributor in Utah, is getting just a few in maybe next week and I put my name on one if anyone wants.

I got mine from cobra kites, I emailed and requested it, it wasn't on their site. It was $189 plus a little shipping, which is a little more than buying it direct from ozone, but I like supporting a small US business, and I like the idea of domestic support in case I needed to return.

Cobra was top notch, good customer service.

Had a couple more flights on the turbo bar and still lovin it. I may be done with handles.....

Quote:

Originally posted by bigben91682 I got mine from cobra kites, I emailed and requested it, it wasn't on their site. It was $189 plus a little shipping, which is a little more than buying it direct from ozone, but I like supporting a small US business, and I like the idea of domestic support in case I needed to return. Cobra was top notch, good customer service. Had a couple more flights on the turbo bar and still lovin it. I may be done with handles.....

I think Cobra may be out of NY so its a local shop for you too. Can't beat that.

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell They are on the way to the US distributor, last I heard. I'll try and get more intel.

Anymore news on this? Just curious, especially as to price, so I can save my pennies.:roll:

They are still due to arrive in the US this week. Just a few and I will be getting two.

Hey Angus, if you get two and my order is bumped (ordered from local Bodega Bay) I am going to be sad.

Share the love, don't be greedy. :bigok:

I cannot wait to try it out. Should be arriving just in time for vacation!!!

the instructions that came with my Twister II advise applying the brakes for a tighter turn, but the turbo bar seems to be setup to use the brake lines and th primary turn initiator???? what is the advantage of using the brake lines to steer?seems backwards to me...

So I finally got a hold of one of these to satisfy my curiosity. It essentially answers the question of what would happen if you flew a fixed-bridle kite on a de-power bar (and hooked it up like a de-power with the brake lines to the outside of the bar). The big difference is the pulley system that greatly amplifies the brake inputs - seemingly more than a standard dross-over bar.

I put it to the test by rigging it to my Peter Lynn Reactor, a kite that really requires precise brake control to fly right. I launched with a tug on the center lines and immediately found myself feeling for the right bar position to get the kite to accelerate at all. I had to land and tighten up the brakes by moving them in one knot and using the little adjuster straps on the outside lines. I relaunched and the kite took off with good acceleration.

Turns are something else. Never mind turning on a wing tip; the kite would pivot on the bridle toggle and the inside wingtips would luff because they were essentially flying backwards in the fast turn. Coming out of turns I found myself groping for the right bar position to get the kite to accelerate and I luffed it a few times. Once settled on a reach in the bug, it was a delight to fly with but a few fingertips on the bar.

Another thing I noted right away was that, even withe weight of the pulleys way out from the bar, there was no sagging of the control bar bridles as can happen with some cross-over rigs, and this was in light 5-9 mph wind. The rig is lightweight, efficient and ingenious. One odd behavior however is that when you tensioned one brake, the other brake line would sag WAY out behind the kite as if it were a foot too long. It's not clear to me yet if this was an error in adjustment or a lack of practice with the bar. More time will tell.

Yesterday I had a limited time to spend in the session and a nice off shore breeze to enjoy so I quickly lost my patience and bailed back to the handles. I'll try it another time for sure and with other kites. Clearly, flying a front-line biased kite would be a no brainer with this bar and a lot of fun. It's nice to hot launch and race to the zenith and be able to pull in on the bar to tap the brakes before over-flying.

The primary safety reminds me of the HQ de-power safety and that is no surprise considering the HQ rig has Ozone lineage. When you pop the safety it will not flag the kite, but just dump the front lines enough to stall it. Ozone mentions the optional use of a safety leash to the landing handle and this is the only way to flag the kite (by popping the safety on the chicken loop), same as HQ's.

So in the end, it is indeed possible to fly a brake-line biased kite on this bar, but it takes some practice and tuning to get it right. I'll let you know how it goes on future sessions.

Angus - Great write up.

I received my Turbo bar last Thu and was able to try it out on a few kites Friday. The bar is very well built and setup was a snap. First I tried it out on a Flexifoil 7m Bullet. Had the same issues with adjusting the brakes. Switching knots and tightening the straps did fix the problem. The turns are very fast with the bar. I redirected the kite and it reacted so fast I tripped and landed on my face. Other than whiplash the only thing I hurt was my pride as I caught a few laughs from spectators. I then tried the kite on a Ozone Cult 4.5m and still had a great experience. I am looking forward to getting some more time on the bar and sitting down in the buggie. There was someone on the beach that setup right in the middle with a single liner and about 500,000 feet of line cutting the beach in half. We just scudded and jumped. Wind was just over 16 knots at the beach.

"There was someone on the beach that setup right in the middle with a single liner and about 500,000 feet of line cutting the beach in half."

Kevlar...Manjha....choose one!

Just got this bar and hooked it up to my 6m Samurai. Flys like a new kite! The quality and feel of the bar setup is awesome. I especially like the Megatron CL and the solid feel of the bar. Definately a good upgrade.

Man, this bar looks awesome!! Is it all that and a bag of chips? My guess is some kites it works great with and some not so much. Now that you guys have had one for a while - what do you think? :puzzled:

Sounds like it has quite a bit of break pull while flying which is why it turns so fast. I am trying to design a bar for my Ace 5M. It doesn't like very much break input at all. I had to let them WAY out just to get it to come off of the ground.

I wonder can it be adjusted so that it still works basically the same, but with a lighter break input? :eureka:

I am thinking it would work good for the higher wind days. Would that be a good assumpion?

Quote:

Originally posted by soccerflyer I wonder can it be adjusted so that it still works basically the same, but with a lighter break input?

Angus should be able to confirm, but I believe that is what the trim adjustment (3) is for.
http://downloads.flyozone.com/landkites/downloads/Turbo_Bar_...

ATB,
Sam

Quote:

Originally posted by soccerflyer I wonder can it be adjusted so that it still works basically the same, but with a lighter break input? :eureka:

You are still going to get the amplified brake inputs but you can slack the brake lines to reduce the impact to an extent, but things get mushy.

Quote:

I am thinking it would work good for the higher wind days. Would that be a good assumpion?

Ummm yeah, but the nice thin about the amplified brake inputs is that it will let you fly in lighter air where you would otherwise want the brake inputs from handles

So how does everyone like this bar after using for a while? Is it just another bar?

So I am extremely curious about this bar, especially since there is one for sale on the forum. All the info on this thread is great, but I have one more question. I know it is intended for fixed bridle kites, but would it also work as a depower bar on a depower kite?

First of all if this is the one you see that is for sale . . . . . http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=10834 . . . it is actually NOT for sale. The meany flagged it out there for us to salivate over and then snatched it back. :eekdrull: :moon: :P

Edit: Sorry I am retarted. I don't score very well on reading comprehension . . . . {{blushes}} But good question. I would be interested as well how it works on a depower kite.

But it still is a really cool looking bar and I want to try one!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a vid I found to wet your appetite --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn29IP_hCgQ

Wow that's so lame that he's not selling it anymore... what a tease. Also soccerflyer, you're right, it does not add any depower to a fixed bridle kite, but on a depower kite, pulling the brakes changes the AoA. What would happen if I set this up on my depower Blaze II instead of an HQ bar? Would the pulleys give me more AoA adjustment or would it just fail completely?

Quote:

Originally posted by Jovver So I am extremely curious about this bar, especially since there is one for sale on the forum. All the info on this thread is great, but I have one more question. I know it is intended for fixed bridle kites, but would it also work as a depower bar on a depower kite?

Probably. It is essentially a depower bar after all, with the Z-lines and pulleys on the rear lines to amplify the rear line inputs. Big difference is the front lines aren't fixed in the conventional way and I'm not sure what effect it would have.

Edit. Thinking more, there is no center strap length adjustment, so tuning by the outside lines would be difficult and not possible on the fly.