They got to do something about the high winds. I can't fly my Blade IVs in high winds as they are just too powerful. The smallest size is 4.0 m and even that can be too big in 17 mph winds for some.

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell Yes, thank you. Edit made. But now that you mention it, Will seemed to think that the next Blade realease would be dialed up with more power (or at least he hopes). He explained that the current production Blade was tamed a bit fom the prototypes first flown in order to broaden their market. He reasoned that, now that they have the Blurr filling in the intermediate market, they could safely turn up the heat on the next Blade and still have all market segement covered. This was more musing out loud than official Flexi dogma, but good food for thought. Can you imagine a more dialed-up Blade? sheesh.

Angus- Did your Blurr come in yet?

No, not yet.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

I want my Blurr.

Waaaaaaaaaah!!!

Oh yeah, and where is my Crossfire II?

Waaaaaaah!

I've been watching for the brown truck myself. I wonder if the CF II's are on the warehouse floor yet.

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob I wonder if the CF II's are on the warehouse floor yet.

They arrived Savannah last Thursday and are clearing customs now.

Angus,

Are you going to have a CF2 demo available? Im thinking about an 8m but would like a little more time on the 2. It flew nice last Sept but as you know I spent most of my time on the M3...............

I have a 5m CF II arriving tomorow. Still waiting on the Blurr. Flexi had lost my previous order.

Blurr shipped and arrives tomorrow, wednesday

Wow, that's some good karma. Two new kites in two days. I'm hanging around work as late as I can to wait for the big brown truck.

Lucky You!

I flew the new 5.0m Flexi Blurr and the new 5.0m HQ Crossfire II this aftenoon in 15-20 mph.

My arms are tired and 3" longer.

The Blurr was awesome. Wind was 15-20 mph and about 35 degrees off of straight on, so it was a good test. Upwind acceleration was amazing. I did not have my harness so I probably did not get the full upwind performance out of it due to my arms giving out. I normally do not hook in to a new kite untill I complely understand it, but after two passes with this kite, I felt I knew it well. I should have gone back to the car for the harness.

Downwind deep broad reaches were incredible. It was easy to keep the kite flying while racing downwind without a nip or a tuck. Theyare right about the super stability. I would be comfortable putting this kite in the hands of a rank beginner but an experinenced kiter will yank a lot of performance out of it.

I could depower the kite by taking it to the top but I never felt I was going to be tea-bagged. I flew on the base setting of the ground adjustable bridle.

The Crossfire II was great as well. With the wind being what it was, I went to the low-lift buggy setting onthe ground-adjustable bridle riight away. It was more aggressive than the Blurr and a few times I still felt that an OBE was immenent but it never happend. It was more sensitive to nip and tuck at the edge of the window and requires more attention in that department, especially with a sloppy jibe in a deep broad reach. The Blurr was more forgiving in that area.
If I had the CF II in its default higher lift setting, it would have been more stable but the lift would have been scary in these winds. On a KGB or on skis it would have been most welcome.

It seems like the CF II is a more versatile kite covereing more disciplines, but is more demanding on skill. The Blurr is a flat-out awesome buggy engine as advertised and is stupid, stupid stable and easy to fly.

This was a busy holiday weekend at the beach and very crowded even for Jekyll Island standards, so I had only a couple of hours after 5 pm when the crowds went away to fully light up on the beach, I 'll need more time to really put them through their paces and I still want to compare to my trusty PL Reactor 4.9m. I'm going away this next weekend for a couple of weeks overseas on vacation so will have to close the shop, but will be sure to pick up and continue evaluation when I get back.

It is about time flexi made a race kite.

How would you rate this kite for landboarding?

How well does it handle gusts?

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell I flew the new 5.0m Flexi Blurr and the new 5.0m HQ Crossfire II this aftenoon in 15-20 mph. My arms are tired and 3" longer. The Blurr was awesome. Wind was 15-20 mph and about 35 degrees off of straight on, so it was a good test. Upwind acceleration was amazing. I did not have my harness so I probably did not get the full upwind performance out of it due to my arms giving out. I normally do not hook in to a new kite untill I complely understand it, but after two passes with this kite, I felt I knew it well. I should have gone back to the car for the harness. Downwind deep broad reaches were incredible. It was easy to keep the kite flying while racing downwind without a nip or a tuck. Theyare right about the super stability. I would be comfortable putting this kite in the hands of a rank beginner but an experinenced kiter will yank a lot of performance out of it. I could depower the kite by taking it to the top but I never felt I was going to be tea-bagged. I flew on the base setting of the ground adjustable bridle. The Crossfire II was great as well. With the wind being what it was, I went to the low-lift buggy setting onthe ground-adjustable bridle riight away. It was more aggressive than the Blurr and a few times I still felt that an OBE was immenent but it never happend. It was more sensitive to nip and tuck at the edge of the window and requires more attention in that department, especially with a sloppy jibe in a deep broad reach. The Blurr was more forgiving in that area. If I had the CF II in its default higher lift setting, it would have been more stable but the lift would have been scary in these winds. On a KGB or on skis it would have been most welcome. It seems like the CF II is a more versatile kite covereing more disciplines, but is more demanding on skill. The Blurr is a flat-out awesome buggy engine as advertised and is stupid, stupid stable and easy to fly. This was a busy holiday weekend at the beach and very crowded even for Jekyll Island standards, so I had only a couple of hours after 5 pm when the crowds went away to fully light up on the beach, I 'll need more time to really put them through their paces and I still want to compare to my trusty PL Reactor 4.9m. I'm going away this next weekend for a couple of weeks overseas on vacation so will have to close the shop, but will be sure to pick up and continue evaluation when I get back.

The Blurr would be fine for landboarding if you understand that it is purposely designed as a low-lift kite. With the ground adjustable bridle you could dial some grunt into it I suppose but I have note tried that yet.
I flew it once in smooth winds 15 variable to 20 (not gusting). I think it would be better in gusts that a lot of other high perforamance kites since it seemed to power up smoothly. Its A/R is about 4.2 which is not super high, so that should help.

Have you flown Blade IVs? I wonder how it compares to Blade IV (set on low lift).

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell The Blurr would be fine for landboarding if you understand that it is purposely designed as a low-lift kite. With the ground adjustable bridle you could dial some grunt into it I suppose but I have note tried that yet. I flew it once in smooth winds 15 variable to 20 (not gusting). I think it would be better in gusts that a lot of other high perforamance kites since it seemed to power up smoothly. Its A/R is about 4.2 which is not super high, so that should help.

Yes and nothing like it. Blade is violent and the Blurr is smooth. Not sure I would call it a race kite yet (Dagon), maybe because it is easy to fly ;-). It is bridled every cell with no D ribs, which surprised me but maybe that is what contributes to the stable canopy (?).

no D ribs? I'm not sure what you mean...

ribs define the edges of cells and hold the wing profile in shape, with holes for air flow from cell to cell....

is my understanding anyways...

thought maybe you meant cross-bracing across the cells, at 90 degree to the ribs, usually installed in a row across the kite where the bridle attaches to the canopy?

Putting a power bridle leader on every cell on all 4 rows (ABCD rows) does sound like over kill to me, especially near the tips.

????

furbo

Sorry, meant "D ribs" as Daigonal ribs, sometimes called "V-ribs". Normally installed to help hold the shape of the cells and sail in absence of a bridle point. Fewer bridle points mean less drag. But at least the bridles are un-sheathed and skinny.

Yeah, what i mean by cross-bracing you mean by diagonal ribs...

just that with most diagonal rib set-ups I've seen the canopy ties seem to be at every other cell, I get the skinny unsheathed lines, but still seems to be a lot of extra drag.

How many rows of D-ribs on the blurr?

hope you don't mind all the Q's

furbo

No D-ribs on the Blurr, as it is bridled every cell and therefore not needed
Different than, say, the Crossfire II that is bridled in a two-cell, then skip-a-cell pattern.
But at the end of the day, the Blurr remains a fast kite that is easy to fly.

sorry, didn't put two and two together...

No D-ribs would make for a lighter kite with more airflow inside the canopy, then?

are the cross-vent holes larger than normal in the ribs?

Sounds like it might be quite good in low winds...

one last Q, eh?

furbo

The weight of the diagonal ribs, if present, I think would offset any wieght savings from losing a bridle segment. The conventional wisdom is that the advantage gained (with D-ribs) is less drag in the bridle.
I have to imagine that they bridled every cell in order to preserve precise canopy shape. I will say that even with a luff resulting from a mis-timed gybe, it would pretty much stay in place without a tendency to bow-tie before it reinflated. The kite was still fast, even accelerating upwind at points of sail where other kites would top out.

Slawek out there? Any comments? (Slawek is one of the Flexi Tream Riders out at NABX with the Blurrs)