I got it, I got it!! I've officially gone to the "Arc Side" (not to be confused with the DARK side...LOL)

Wow...what a monster...
Flew it static most of the day (under 5 mph)....need double line-set to test SUPER light days like today...

Once I got used to the slower turning (and the little tugs on the oh crap loops to get this beast around the window) it was awesome....can't wait for a little more wind....



Thanks to those who worked so hard to get it here in time for the Sunset meetup!! You guys are my heroes!! ROCK ON!!

More images at:
http://herbertson.net/24M/

Man that's a big beautiful kite Steve- congratulations

I felt so insignificant with just an 11meter Vapor!

Good to see you again

Chris C1

Congrads Herb

That is a giant!

Curious if you find the same handling on the double line set, and wind range as Feyd did?

Quote:

On the ice the 24m Phantom 2 will have me, at 200 lbs, moving in about 3mph of wind at about 12mph. And fully depowered I've had it up to 24mph wind but I won't lie its a lot of work. Still, it's a pretty broad windrange if you don't want to get stranded. But by and large on water I imagine the bottom end would be a bit higher. Like Phree say's a lot of what you get out of an Arcs lower end will depend a lot on piloting more that just raw low wind ability. Head to head comparisons we found the 24m was close to the 19m Speed 3 and Psycho 4 SA 19m on snow. What the 24m lacks in low end you can make up with turn rate and do pretty well on some seriously light wind days. She builds apparent really well. We expirimented with line extensions and found that 40-45m lines get you a little bit more low end but at the loss of handling. 30-35m seemed to be the sweet spot. 60m pretty much sucked because of too much steering lag and extra drag from the lines seemed to nulify an gain from the extra length.

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=23588

Do you have a leaf blower for those low wind days? Once you get that thing going I imagine it would be amazing. How hard is it to inflate in low winds?

Thanks guys..

Pete...I missed that info in Feyd's post...
Looks like I'll probably just get a 10M line set to extend this into the "Sweet Spot"..

Stetson - Next purchase at Home Depot, on the list...battery powered leaf blower...LOL

One thing I found, even with light wind, the Phanny held air great. I did several "soft" launches after it had been sitting for 15-20 minutes...the leading edge valves quickly got the kite up to form in just a couple sweeps across the window.

Flea - Hey...you were rocking vapor...You were up at times I could barely manage to launch....LOL... I'll chock it up to my limited experience with ARCs..

Can't wait for a solid 10mph...

Thanks guys!! This forum is an INVALUABLE RESOURCE!!

Next time....Kite Drags at Sunset....we gotta work this out...

HA!!!! Cnngrats on the new wing, You're gonna love it.

I just wanted to add to what was qouted from the other thread. Extending the lines to 60m (and beyond) does have some merit in situations where the wind gradient requires the kite be higher than usual to get to wind up high. The steering and the lag still suck as well as parisitic drag from the lines BUT it can still make the difference between moving and not moving.

And at those lengths she looks more like a 10m. :wee:

Have fun with her in a solid 10mph. 15-17mph shes a riot.

Molly on the 24m w/40m while we were testing line lengths last winter. Squat for wind that day.

Almost called you today, we had wind. Would have been a sweet ride for about 20 minutes. Wind increased to 40mph by the time I left. :frog:
Nice air mattress, it has to be 2 feet thick in the middle.
By the way, have you read the instruction on how to put it together yet?

Nice!

Re: cordless leaf blowers. Lowe's has a decent B&D 20v Lithium weedeater & blower combo for ~$65 right now. Not sure if it's everywhere or just my area, but might be worth checking out. When I grabbed mine I even bought the 2 display models for cheap so I could get 4 batteries. Not the greatest charge time (8 hrs!) with the included charger, but they do make a high rate quick charger.

-Mike

I paid $99 shipped for the 18v Nicad blower and weedeater! Damn. Oh well I got the 2 single source batteries which work in a few of my other tools and a back-up blower.

Would like to move to a lighter Lithium battery. I didn't even see the lithium model here.

I used a 6" computer fan and 2 - 6 volt lantern batteries, would have taken 3 minutes to fill the 24m until Sandflea came over and blew me away with his leaf blower.:P which by the way would have taken about 9 seconds to fill the kite.

Seems like my Ryobi took several minutes to fill the 24. It blows lots of air but the volume inside that kite is incredible.

+1 for lithium batteries. They have a crazy long shelf life. Charge them today and be sure they'll still have juice months from now. My inflator in a 5" PC fan is powered by three 18650 lithium cells. I can do a lot of inflations with those three cells before recharging.

As to P2 volume--yes, it is HUGE. My P2 15m takes forever to inflate with or without the inflator. The ribs are soooo tall.

I could be wrong with what I think I wittnesed but ...

It looks like the 24 will fly with almost no wind. Earlier without a doubt than my 18m Phanny. Thing is it wasn't exactly producing usable power. I expect that with practice you can spank the big beast and work power out of it early but that will be an aquired skill. Longer lines will no doubt also help.

I think I actually felt sad seeing the graphics . Now the phantom looks like everyman's kite . The original stood out and feels good to fly with that great graphic. I know , I know, you don't fly graphics but it was part of what makes me so fond of the original. I fly it at our kite festivals static just 'cause it looks so kool up there ! ?

If the Phantom II was built out of the peoples requests then why didn't they stick with the graphics? I know many said it was one thing the wanted to see ?

Nice to meet up and to see the beast ! I think you'll really enjoy it !

The 24 can be producing power when an 18 is just able to fly. Flying static I was nervous flying through the power zone if the flag was moving. Long lines really increase your power stroke and let you generate some apparent wind to run on. I feel like I'll have to have one of these. Maybe not while living in the desert, but for those low wind beach days.

Blade...I'm sure what you saw was my limited experience with ARCs... (2nd session ever personally and first flight with this kite) Mostly, I just wanted to get it tuned, and learn some of the low-wind habits of ARCs... Hence, the couple of semi-intentional bow-ties and re-launches....

I'm sure, in capable hands, and another 10M worth of line...I would have been all over the beach..LOL...

Once I get it dialed in, I'll strap on the GoPro to share with all.

Thanks again for everyone's feedback...this forum is like extra credit to any instruction manual out there!!

You guys ROCK!
Steve

I think you are right about being able to work a ride out of it once you get the hang of them + 10m extensions.

You won't regret the purchase , I'm sure.