Today was a beautiful day and winds varried between 12-18 mph. It was fairly steady considering my location. I hadn't been out in awhile and decided to put some buggy time in.

I put up the 9 meter first. Just didn't seem to fly right and seemed to spook me on the occasional gusts. The reason it was spooking me is no matter where I had the bar positioned, it just didn't want to fly right. It was either surging ahead or wanting to stall. It would stall with bar all the way in which is not too uncommon for normal depowers but Peak 1's usually fly well with bar in and powered up. If I let the bar out, it would flutter, fly like crap, and stall again (yeah I know the peak is suppose to do this but not to this extreme) I found myself constantly searching for the sweet spot which I didn't find. Also, it seemed like it just didn't want to fly forward. Kind set deep in the pocket and pulled hard but wasn't flying with any speed.

I thought to myself that I hadn't been out for awhile and I hadn't used the 9m for quite some time so I thought maybe it was just timid flying or pilot error. I decided to pull out the 6m which theoretically would not move me as well in the same winds without working the kite like crazy. However, it was just the opposite and I was able to go much faster, much smoother, and was able to trust what the kite was doing.

Could I have a problem with the 9m and what should I check first?

by the way, I did check the simplest thing first which was the bridle and mixer. I didn't see anything snagged, hung up, or out of the ordinary.

Also, for the record, I've owned the 6m longer than the 9m and flown the 6m the most. I probably only have a half a dozen sessions on the 9m but have found it only buys me a mph or 2 of range on the low end. Is that normal?

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

by the way, I did check the simplest thing first which was the bridle and mixer. I didn't see anything snagged, hung up, or out of the ordinary.

I would have thought something has snagged somewhere, from the symptoms you describe. If you did not see anything out of symmetry (uneven left/right), quite possibly not in the mixer/bridles, which would have been on one side only ?? You might have to throw the kite up to look closely for anything uneven left side / right side.

Then maybe examine the bar & trim setup for anything unusual. And take the twist out of the center lines & safetyline, that can sometimes help for bad characteristics. You haven't changed anything on the bar & lines side lately?

I did add some 3m line extensions a couple sessions ago. Maybe I'll try removing those. I didn't have any twists in the safety or center line.

I don't remember any bad characteristics the first couple of times I flew it so maybe it has something to do with the line extensions.

Thanks for the input.

I also remember now, from my Peak 1 6m, that the trim system gave the kite quite different characteristics on the different settings. At which setting do you fly / did you try a different one?

edit; *quite different is an exaggeration, it was sh*** at one end of the settings, haha

I had it on the full power setting. I can't remember what flysurfer calls it. In other words it wasn't trimmed.

I did make an extra knot on that trim line, for an intermediate setting between those already there. Be aware that this shortens the whole setup by a few cm's. But it will give you a 3rd intermediate setting of your choice. Maybe what you need, if you're willing to experiment. It's free and damage free, take the knot away if it doesn't help.

I recently experienced almost the exact same symptoms last week with one of my LEI's but I was testing it out on a home made bar setup. If I fully depowered the bar it would flutter and become unstable. If I pulled the bar in all the way it would stall. The problem with mine was too much throw on the bar. Switched out to my PL Navigator SL bar and the problem went away. Switched back to the homemade bar shortened the back lines and I can still stall it but I don't get the unstable flutter any more. I just adjust the trim accordingly to minimize stall. I don't know if this helps you or not. I know nothing about peaks. Hell...I've never even seen one.

As the extensions equal length? Also, check for jammed pulleys.

My 9m is far and away the most finicky of my four P2 sizes. I flew it today in comparable winds as you described. One thing you might fiddle with is the length of the brake lines that can be adjusted under the foam rolls by the bar ends. My 9m has the worst tip tuck to boot. One small thing to do as well is to move the brake lines to the wide outside position on the bar ends. This will make the kite more responsive.

Hate to tell you this but the 12m is the best kite of the bunch IMHO, followed by 6m, then 4m, then 9m last.

Good luck!

thanks guys, I plan on taking a much closer look tonight checking line lengths and mixer pulleys and see if I can do a mixer test of some sort. Hopefully no big deal. I leaning towards selling this one to save for a 12m but I will make sure it is right before I do.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

thanks guys, I plan on taking a much closer look tonight checking line lengths and mixer pulleys and see if I can do a mixer test of some sort. Hopefully no big deal. I leaning towards selling this one to save for a 12m but I will make sure it is right before I do.

Good call on all fronts. With an eye towards owning the bare minimum number of Peaks I'd lean towards a 6m and 12m. If the 6m is a P2 then you can trim it up to almost a 4m without sacrificing too much performance or handling. Same with a trimmed 12m; it's almost a 9m.

Here's a video I know you are just dying to watch again where I fly the 6m and 12m P2s on the same day back to back. Talk about overlap!