Hey, got out to the lake today and was treated to a couple very kind veterans with pointers for us and came out of it a new flyer. A little confused over the details but super stoked and - get this - ready to hook in!

So here's the thing. I got the cahones to take the Brooza out today finally (figured I better if I think I can get the big Access without having a nervous breakdown over it ; ) The Brooza is a beautiful beast for sure but I was having troubles controlling it because the handles have a directly connected strop line so I wasn't able to offset the handles that much to wrench it around. That's when the good vet came by and taught me how to fly the brakes. Man, he had that thing dancing in the sky on wingtips! What's more, you darn near could have drilled a bolt through the tops of the handles as a pivot - the guy was BARELY moving them! Dumbfounded.

Have I been missing out all this time or is this just one way to fly? Seems better to me, that's for sure. He compared it to a depower setup where the ends of the bar are connected to the brake lines and the centre line is connected to the power lines (strangely that's not how my Flexi manual told me to hook up the bar on the Rage but I'll save that ? for another day). Back on topic....to turn these depower kites you pull on the left or right of the bar - thereby pulling the brakes to turn....Anyway - the Brooza stayed put in the power of the window a lot easier flying the brakes - no tendency to want to creep out to the edge of the window on me and my goodness did it dance! Can't wait to try the new flying style on the little Rage which I love.

Oh, and Pablo......is it just me or is apparent wind instant with these things? I was amazed and oh so happy! Thanks for a GREAT kite! Like an automatic "go" button!

Your Rage is a fixed bridle. BEST flown on handles just like your Brooza.

I think you learned the " brake turn " . This is how a depower and also paragliders turn. It is that abilaty to tweek one side just a little to turn that you lose when you go to a bar and fixed bridle.

Macboy -

Cool you got the hang of using brake inputs for turning. That's what it's all about on 4-line kites with handles. In general, the higher performance kites are even more tuned to steering with brake inputs, particularly if the kite has a higher aspect ratio with a bias toward brake input more toward the wingtips than across the whole trailing edge.

Steering off the front lines, as with a 2-line kite, seers the kite by causing a pressure shift favoring one side of the canopy or the other. Steering a good foil by pulling on the front lines, without brake input, results in sluggish steering. Adding and removing brake increases drag and lift on the side with increased brake, and lowers drag and lift on the side with decreased brake, thereby causing the kite to turn toward the side with increased brake.

Add a little brake to both handles when your kite is zooming and it will increase the pull, while slowing the kite a bit. You're essentially adding down flap to the wing, increasingit's camber. Go further with the brake, and drag increases hugely, kite backstalls, and lift drops.

Since a fixed bridle kite is bridled for one optimum angle of attack, with only the last 15-20% of the chord profile altered by the brakelines, you fly them on bars with the both brakes hooked to the center, and what is the "depower line" on a depower kite is actually a safety that pulls the brakes if you release the bar. That safety is typically attached to leash below the bar to your wris (with a QR), or better yet, to a point on your harness, still with a QR.

There are ways of getting some brake input into your steering using a bar set-up for a fixed bridle kite - search on "crossover bar" in this forum. In general, I think fixed bridle is best on handles. If you use a strop between the front lines and hook into your harness spreader bar, be sure to have a good safety release shacklle and pulley setup - do a search on this forum for "Wichard shackle" and you'll find a lot of info. You can't beat handles for subtle control input. I've even used handles ond small depower kites I've modded with a UDS-type depower system, and find they worked well there, too.

I picked up Brooza 1 2m, 3m, and 4m kites from Pablo and they are awesome. I started using them with my buggy in Minnesota this fall and have started skiing with them this winter. For a fixed bridle kite, they are the best compromise of performance vs stability I've found, and they are great for the gusty inland winds around here. I was out last weekend trying to get my 9m Peter Lynn GII going in winds that varied from maybe 5-15 mph. The GII is awesome in anything consistently over 12 mph, but I couldn't keep the kite up in the lulls - they were too long to let me keep apparent wind up and the kite moving, so it would drop.

Threw out the 4m Brooza and I was going in 5 minutes, zooming, easy reverse launching, no bowties. It rarely overflys the window - a light tap on the brakes always brings it back.


FWIW, your 7.5m Brooza is going to develop power probably on order of a 11-12m depower foil. Pablo could tell you for sure. Something to consider as you pick your first Frenzy or Access.

krumly

And if you put on brakes and pull the powerline on that side, it just turns harder. That is how I learned to fly, I can put afoil anywhere I want . Get a revolution sle 1.5 and it will teach you a thing or two ( or 20).

I flew the revolution 1 and 2 for a long time (10 years ugh!) hard to think about but finess is the easiest way to describe it. Try something, put the power lines together at the top center, now turn right (right brake) now left (left brake) I would like to slide them together the brake lines on the outside are very responsive. This does not do real well in light winds so I would take 'em apart.

Jerry

thanx, that is sweet.