Although I havent had the kite that long I have logged some hours on her in the buggy so its time for a review. Lets for go the bag but its more than adequate for the kite, sticks, and bar....................

Ive logged approx 15 to 20 buggy hours with the Phantom. What an amazing performer it has been. The winds have never peaked over 14 mph but she likes to drive forward towards the edge, and pulls, and pulls, and.................when powered up during transitions is a fast turner, with plenty of depower thru the bar..........Im not sure of the top end but plenty of power in 10/11 mph winds on hardpacked sand. Sine the kite a few times, build up speed as you point a bit downwind, throw in the approriate heel pressure on the footpeg and away you go..........bar pressure is there but not over the top. You can def feel the location of the kite.

Setup and teardown easy peasy. I bought this kite off Kami and I had I not seen his vid/pics, you'd swear this kite had never been flown. Amazing kite, easy to fly, quick turner with plenty of giddy up in the lower end of her powerband. For a beginner in the buggy or landboard the Phantom would be a nice choice keeping in mind that they can/do produce ALOT of lift.................

and of course auto-zentih...............even for such a high aspect ratio kite the autozenith is great. I walk my buggy thru waist to stomach deep water approx 200 yds and never look at the kite. Get up on the sandbar, sit in the buggy dive the kite and go..............awesome........same goes for the return trip back to the beach..................

cant say enough good about the kite and cant think of a negative at this point..........if you were to compare it vs my 12m Speed 2 in aspect ratio they both have the same characteristics of smooth and direct power/pull, and go upwind very well. The Phanny probably turns a bit faster (its basically a twinskin C kite) and the 12 S2 has better bottom end (but not by alot)........

very stoked on the kite and cant thank Kami enough for the sale......need to get some vids getting to and from the sandbar and a few runs on it..............

the 12m phanny is such a fun kite. you can take that kite out in epic high winds and it will lift you to the moon. That was the one kite I really regretted selling. It also packs down so small. The color on it is so bright and crisp as well

I've spoken for dibs on that kite, but I'm afraid it might be some time before/if I get a chance at it. I love my 15. The only time I've ever been uncomfortable with it is at Ivanpah. The surface is just too fast and that 15 just keeps pulling till the apparent wind wants to take me on into Vegas. I'd love to have a 12 and a 9 in a perfect world. I'm hoping the Phantom II will fill that need.

Try it out on the water.

Good read glad she's getting some use & love!

supreme unit, no doubt!

quick fast sky jack!

Tridude, must agree wholly in your description of the handling and abilities of the 12m phantom. Here's a short vid of the kite in action.

thanks all, great kite this one................spoke with BBob yesterday and mentioned that if I had been buggying last year I would have never sold my 15...............agree a 9m would be awesome............................Todd and AJ have 6's and I dont see those going anywhere soon either..........bottom line if you own one keep it..............................

Thanks flexiblade, that was fun!

look at that loooong , thin kite ! so beautiful !
i hope the new phantom2 will come soon and will be very high perf !

What exactly is "high performance"?

If the past history of PL is any indication, the kite will be tighter turning, more twitchy. Not good, not needed, for land use. That is the one of the aspects of the phantom that makes it such a good buggy kite, that it is so stable. No constant input from the pilot is needed.

Honestly, I don't see PL ever doing anything outside of kitesurfing kites. The market for another phantom is soooo small, comparatively. Hardly anyone flies PL for kitesurfing here in southern cal (I have only seen one other PL kite at my local kitesurfing beach in the past 3 years, and that was this past Sunday); I think I would be the only one who would even consider a phantom 2 around here.

PL kites still don't turn as tight as inflatables, so to get that market the kites have been getting even more twitchy. At the expense of the buggy flier.

And PL kites don't have as much pull compared to inflatables, per square meter. So the kites have been getting more efficient per square meter. Again, not good for the buggy pilot. We need/want larger, less efficient kites for high wind. We don't need small zippy kites for high winds; they are kinda hard to control (think of a 0.7m foil in 30mph...) The 6m charger is a great example; it sucks for the buggy in high winds.

I recently flew an 8m synergy and a 9m phantom back to back in the buggy. The phantom wins hands down for ease of flying and stability. I don't think PL will ever go back to a phantom style kite. Hope I'm wrong.

I just looked at your election reminder geokite!

have to agree with GEOKITE,

Quote:

Originally posted by tridude.bottom line if you own one keep it..............................

yeah... im pretty much keeping mine till shes worn totally out, and that will be some time.... we will never get what they are worth to us...

i use mine for surfing, a great kite... though they are said to be good buggy kites, i prefer fixed bridle for that...

The proto is alive and well. Let's hope they get it right.

BTW I really enjoy flying my 10m synergy with the buggy. My 15 phantom is easier to fly but I get along fine with the 10 syn.

hope youre right Bob................would like to add a 9m to the quiv.............

As I mentioned before, Peter told me at Ivanpah how he is a fan of the Phantom's stability, esp. for riding in his later years. But I don't how much, if any, input he has into the PII.

with "high performance" i mean a kite that can rival the flysurfer speed in terms of efficiency (how much speed can be generated out of apparent wind --> glide ratio!) to increase the glide ratio, drag has to be reduced: higher aspect ratio always helps, better profile, more cells... and for bottom end, a lighter material could help.
sure - the arc concept has the problem of the low projected area - but has the huge advantage of no bridle lines that cause excessive drag.

so my phantom2 dream would be:
* around 19 sqm phantom2
* (very) high aspect ratio,
* but with good (re-)launch handling
* improved air inlets -- look how the inlets at the flysurfer kites have evolved.. PL vliegerop need to do something to improve them asap!
* a very high number of cells (for a thin, smooth profile) look at paragliders: all those competition paragliders twice as much cells as those beginner paragliders
* lighter ripstop material to improve lightwind handling
* strong, reliable autozenit -- its the feature that makes arc kites so unique :-)
* adaptive profile: depowered: strong reflex; powered: little/no reflex for maximum performance!
* an adjustable turning speed over a wide range would be cool to satisfy the different buggy vs. landboarder vs. kiter needs