"Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride ..."



I've been well and truly arcumcised!
... the Phantom 15 I bought in June from Carltb (he's the newest Peter Lynn team rider, you know ... I get bonus qudos for owning his cast-offs ) finally arrived this morning! :wee: patooie on Parcel Farce!

So I rushed home from work (yes I work on a Saturday ) and rushed out to the beach ... set the Phantom up, set the lines up and tried to launch it. Ok I need to work on that some genius told me my rear lines were 30cm too short - I said "You're probably right" cos I'm such a nice guy when I was thinking the whole time I should have inflated the kite fully while it was on the ground ... anyway!

Eventually got it into the air and flying ... Oh M F G what a machine! I wasn't so much scudding as being pulled around with my feet gliding over the ground like a magic carpet ...
I was feeling pretty psyched so I thought I'd try some jumps, which I just don't do on my foils ... gentle floating lofts, skimming the ground gentle touch downs.

Why do people bother with pump ups?

It was a club day on the beach so there were hordes of people standing around in the fading light as I stood there holding open my zipper ... on the Phantom :D
Several times I just let go the bar to adjust my harness straps - in all excitement, I forgot to snug down the spreader bar :shocked2: and it was flapping around somewhere around my chin when the kite was parking itself at auto-zenith - dudes, how cool is that?!?

When it pulls, you know you're hooked up to some power but it's just so constant and manageable - none of this jerking and twitching like the inflatables I've used, like there's an epileptic draught horse on the end of the power lines.

After it got dark I released I was so jazzed-up unpacking I didn't pay attention to the landing procedure or safety release systems and had to figure out the 04 bar from memories of the pics I'd seen and touch ... I had the leash hooked to my harness leash though so when I released the red hat, there was so much gentle spring in the leash system that it didn't rip the velcro off the leash lock and flag the kite - the Phantom just sat at zenith glaring down at me I hauled in the line and gave it a good jerk, and it flapped down and sat on the ground.

Opened the deflate zipper and folded the kite in half, then went back to the bar to sort the lines. By the time the moon had risen and I looked up at the kite, it had totally deflated.

Yo, why do people bother with inflatables? man I can't wait to get back out ... can you tell I'm excited :D I kept thinking ... "If this is an old 15m - what's the VenomII 19 going to be like?!?"

the venom bears a little more power and steers faster.... not sure about the jumps, though...

once i felt what it was like on my atb under an arc, it was over, my fixed bridles hit the sale section, and my flysurfers got traded... they are just confidence inspiring kites with smooth delivery, durability, and ease of use/ maintenance

ill go back to owning some flysurfers later, cause thet are awesome kites, but the arcs are definitely my preferred ride today, esp with an atb

Kamikuza, Keep the stoke bro!!! Nice write up on your kite and experience! I am jealous.:duh:

:bigok:Way to go Kamikuza:bigok:


Great story to perfectly describe the rush of a first fly!

Quote:

Originally posted by Todd :bigok:Way to go Kamikuza:bigok: Great story to perfectly describe the rush of a first fly!

agree 100% percent, fantastic write-up. I almost jumped on a 15 from carl a couple months back, a couple u2us back and forth, but didn't go for it. same kite?

I won't complain anymore about five days from US east coast to HK any more, that is ridiculous, TWO MONTHS?????

you're getting my stoke going, glad to hear you are getting yours ON!

When I last had my Phanny out at Wildwood, I was talking to a middle-aged, Sports/Rev guy out there with his big spread of toys.

He sat behind me and watched intently the whole time I was flying. I finally turned and asked "You wanna try?" It was funny that I would ever even think to put a total depower newbie on such a machine - but the wind was gentle and it was an Arc, after all.

I let it sink and land (low wind period) and he put on the harness. I explained the safety basics to him - he was well familiar with the power zone and got traction from his stunt stacks before.

Well, he was off and going - and totally absorbed with it. I encouraged him to get his feet out and scud instead of skip and run, and he picked right up on it too.

I said he looked like he was digging it, and he sadly mentioned something about his budget allowance while glancing at his Rev flying wife nearby. When I mentioned used and eBay, he seemed a little happier.

The Hafta1Nail1 Arc Flu claims another victim...

Cheers all! still a bit fired up ...!

Might have been, furb - I got his eBay link through here IIRC ... USA to here usually takes 2 weeks on USPS - that I can handle. The "It should take 46-51 business days but it may be more and if it doesn't arrive you don't have insurance so ..." attitude of the dorks at Parcel Farce didn't put me in a good mood either!

Now I'm off to try to get some sleep ... going to wrap myself up in Carl's Phantom and have snuggle, to absorb some of his mojo

welcome to the D'arc Side!

looks just like mine! Those things are nuts! The constant power is pretty nutty, great kite tho, you'll enjoy it!

Quote:

Originally posted by lad The Hafta1Nail1 Arc Flu claims another victim...

Ha!, that's good:

Careful, all those guys that own those pumps will be glaring at ya, wondering why in the world you would stray away from them.....after all, lemmings stick together no matter what right!?!?

Although I have ridden on quite a few LEI's over the last couple years, all my personally owned surf kites are pumpless, gotta love Peter Lynn's. LOL

Yeah I have to chase them off when they try to help me launch