Had a good session with the Pansh Ace 5m (from the Pass the Pansh program - thanks for letting us try it out Davinch!)

I set it up on my spare Pansh line and handles that I got with my Pansh Blaze since I wanted to leave my regular Ozone line and FLexi handles on one of my other kites as I was expecting Dagon to come by to try it out (Dagon where were you?)

Anyway, turned out that even with the power lines on a knot as close to the handles and the brake lines on the furthest out knot the brake lines were still a little tight. I didn't have time to add a couple of extra pigtails off of my handles to lengthen the brakes a bit more, but I'll do this next time I fly it.

As it was, even though it was a bit tempramental from the brakes being a tad too tight, it flies well and has good power. It's pretty stable in flight as well. Wind was about 8-12mph, so enough to get moving in the buggy, but needed a bit more wind to get the most from it in the buggy. Occasionally there was a gust above 12mph (not sure how strong it was) and you could feel the power kicking in.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel the lift, nothing like what I was expecting. I think I was expecting Blade kind of scary "pull you up in the air and pull your arms off" type lift, but didn;t feel it. Which is find for me cause I was interested in how this would be for a buggy kite. I like to stay on the ground :-) I didn't try to jump with it either.

Build quality seemed pretty good. A lot tougher looking seams than the Pansh Blaze that I already have, although made from the same light material (some saying this is polyester instead of nylon? not sure how you can tell. I can tell you it's not like the Icarex Polyester my Hi60 is made of, which is a good thing because that stuff is like tissue paper).

I would definitely get one of these kites, I'd definitely recommend one to anyone whose looking for a good traction kite on the cheap, although since these don't come with instructions I'm not sure I'd recommend one to a beginner with no prior experience, because it would be hard to work out how to setup your lines etc. You could guess I suppose, but that would probably lead to more frustration than it;s worth, plus could be dangerous. When the wind picked up this kite did have some serious pull. Nothing like the accelerating pull of the Century for example - when it came on it came on and stayed pretty constant. Definitely add one to the shopping list. I have too much overlap with 5m though with my other kites, so a 7m looks pretty attractive, and good price also...

Good to hear it got your buggy going for you in 8-12 mph winds. Do you think a 6m or 7m would be more appropriate for that wind range now that you've tried it? By the way, how much to you weigh, Khooke?

For those of you who have tried these Pansh ACEs out, how do you think the Ace might compare to a Bullet or Radsail of similar size as a buggy engine? Like Khooke, I prefer pull over lift at the moment.

I weigh 160 and have just a std Flexi buggy. I was bugging on soft/thick grass - on a harder surface it probably would have been just right. A 7m Ace I think would have been pretty good. For those winds though my 12.5m Blaze is a lot of fun - I can't hold onto it in more than about 12mph though.... :wow:

I didnt get the lift I was expecting either! Is it us?:D Agree on the sail quality and true it is probably not a beginners kite (no instructions/grunt/size) but for the price its a nice kite. Nice bug vid! Thats a huge sail!

I'm finding that at about 10 + kts this kite is a joy to fly. Nice constant pull and enough lift for my experience. My main problem with it is if the wind drops it is a real pain to keep flying. It will do the deflate and twist thing way too easy. The ability to create power also seems to shut right off.
I don't think it and my 4.5 Bullet compare. The bullet will fly far better underpowered and produces far less lift when powered.
I like the Bullet for the Bug' but the Ace for blades and board. Poor 4.5 has not been getting much air since the Ace came into the quiver.

sorry I missed you kevin, I looked up and thought there was no wind. I still want to try this kite. maybe I will see you at SOBB,

Khooke,

I didn't get a chance to fly Treble's Ace 5m this weekend afterall, so I guess go ahead and send it my way when you're finished up. Thanks!

Scott

I must have a different kite than you guys flew, or my perspective/expectations were different. I am contrasting this kite with a Crossfire 5.0 that I have only flown once in good winds and a Pansh Blaze 5.0 that I have extensive flying time with. The power is less explosive than the CF but more than the Blaze. It has a higher AR than the Blaze but probably similar to the CF. My wind was blowing around 8 mph I guess but picked up enough to make the lines sing several times. Without really knowing what I'm doing on the jumping thing, I got 6-8 genuine jumps where the kite lifted me and floated me
down. It didn't carry me downwind when it would pick me like I expected. I couldn't tell how high I got on my second best one but my 12 year old son said my feet were over his head without picking up my feet, so I guess between 5-6 feet. I weigh around 235 right now and these weren't strong winds so I don't understand how you guys that weigh 50-75 pounds less than me didn't get lift? It took me about 4 tries to get the brakes right. At first too much brakes, then absolutely none at all. Then after some in betweens I got it so they just barely caught enough to back it down. That's when it started picking me up and my son said "I've gotta try that!" I guess my jumping technique was sort of some pendulum with some depower-power thrown in. I look forward to Tridude getting me dialed in with some jumping on his 6.5 blade next weekend. This kite was bad about overflying the zenith (I'm sure it needed more brake input up there when I wasn't paying attention). When it would it would fold up with the top looping underneath. Many times I could hold one handle back and it would unfold without an explosion of power when it caught. Many other times it would just settle down and have to be sorted out by hand before another flight. I imagine this smooth power up would be nice in the buggy or board while I'm learning but I have no idea how it would compare with other kites on the move. I liked this kite and am tempted to get a larger one than this till I can swing a blade. I had a blast today. This is the first time I got a kite to lift me and that is even more addictive than the continuous sine wave scuds the CF will pull off. See the link below. There are two pictures with my scud marks. One with Tim Baxmeyer flying the CF2 and another with Tridude flying the Montana3.

http://www.coastalwindsports.com/HQDemoDayJekyll07.html

I look forward to flying this in some beach wind next weekend and then I will give my additional perspective. I also look forward to some answers and comments from more experienced folks about my experiences.

Edit: The AR is not quite what I thought it was The CF is not as close to the Ace as I expected. It just seems that way.
Ace - 4.53
CF - 3.9
Blaze-3.2

obviously that crash into my van seated everything causing it to fly better! I cant explain it either Bob but it didnt get 5 or 6 footers. I have a you tube vid and at best 3 feet on my end. So you are doing something right, congrats!

You know, that was a real blow it took on your hood! You must've settled in those sloppy bridle knots and tuned it to jump. I wish I knew what it was I did right so I could do it every time. I'm the analytical type, so I like to know I can do step A,B,C, and it jumps this high. This makes me wonder what the CF will do if I do it "right" in a good wind. After comparing AR's I wonder if the Ace really should be more lifty that the CF? I'll take a lesson on Sunday if we can squeeze it in.

I think everyones wind is a little different.Also places we fly could be the difference.

I flew it when I was at the Beach (NJ) and the jumps were fantastic.

However, It did want to overfly and collasp if I didnt redirect enough.