I have tracking on my new CF II 5m that says I should have it tomorrow. I can't wait to unfurl this thing the first time. I will give a full review as soon as I can match up some wind with opportunity. Of course I'll take pictures so you can be there too.

I have the same kite coming also. It should be here friday and I'm headed for the beach right after it gets here. I hope to have some good wind to give a decent review
After the crossfire I'm wanting to get a montana III and give it a try.

We have a 7m Montana III demo right now but I haven't gotten a proper harness yet. I will have to pick one up soon though. Wexler has flown it twice and handles the kite very well.

One of the many reasons I am big on harnesses is that when you are given an opportunity to try ( move up ? ) to Depower you will :
Expand your actual fly time . Shortening the learning curve.
Be comfortable wih the pull and being hooked in.
Have a harness to use.

i'm very curious about the CF II as a future low-wind good value high performance fixed foil kite in the larger sizes...

looking forwards to the reviews...

furbo

Well, i hung around long enough to catch the UPS driver coming in the back door with a pleasantly kite shaped box. I headed her off at the pass and was out the door with the kite. Finally late last night I had a chance to open it up.

The bag: No it doesn't have lift or pull but it is really the outside face of the kite. This is nicer than HQ bags in the past. It has a large zipped panel that is big enough to put long or flat things like kite stakes in. This bag is better thought out than many other bags I've seen. We'll have to wait and see about durability, but it looks robust. Oh, the big zip is gone.

I haven't seen any pictures of this kite that gave an indication of how beautiful it really is. I have been worried about the colors and graphics but it is all very tasteful and well coordinated. Then you have the colored bridles that jump out at you in stark contrast to the kite fabric. They would be handy if you got a tangle. Each bridle, A, B, C, has it's own color so it is quickly obvious if something is out of place. Most importantly, they just look cool.

The handles are the same as they have been for the last year as far as I can see, but they have been fine anyway. Never hear of one of these breaking. The padding could be a little more cushy but I always wear gloves no matter what handles I'm using.

The kite killers are improved over the ones that came with my Beamer which were an improvement over the ones from about 18-24 months ago. Can you say continuous improvement? The old ones on my Beamer had a metal thing that created the loops in the bungee cord. These new ones have like a sewn bridle loop that will be much more robust than the ones from even a year ago. They look better and should take the heat better. Flexi KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s don't have anything on these whatsoever.

This was in the living room at 11 last night so I don't even have the lines attached yet. I might get to fly mine today. I imagine some others got theirs yesterday and we will have some flight reports today or tomorrow. See my flickr link in my sig for some pics of it laying in the living room floor. More pics to follow in some sunlight so you can really see how nice this kite looks.

thats a sweet looking sail...................look forward to you flying review. Are you and Angus the only 2 flying these?

dlish is supposed to get one Friday. That's all I've heard about. I'm sure all the dealers across the country have orders on the way too. I imagine there are some that aren't on PKF. :duh: But all the good ones are on here.

Ohhhh DUUUDE!!!!! That looks BEAUTIFUL!!! awesome looking kite man, congrats and have fun flying, i can't wait to hear how it goes! (i little bummer about the Big zip on the bag gone... I kinda thought it had some style to it :cool2: ). Awesome!

Yeah the bag is nice. I do not miss the big zip; several on my demo kites have broken just being tossed aroudnd in the car and demo bag. One think I like about HQ bags is the generous cut in size. It allows you to para-pack or wad the kite into the bag in if you ever have to leave the beach in a hurry (storm, cops, wife, etc,).

I have not flown it yet, but one thing that I have noticed and am pleased about is that, probably due to the new fabric, the sail seems lighter. I recall that my Crossfire I 7.7m sail was heavier on the scales than my 8.3m Peter Lynn Reactor. I felt it hurt the light air performance, even for such a big kite. I just compared the sail only of the Crossfire II 5m to my PL Reactor 4.9 and they are the same wieght, which is really encouraging.
With that in mind I am anxious to try the 10m size when they come in (they are not here yet) and explore its usable wind range.
I have the new Blurr in too in 5m and am looking forward to a comparative fly-off with the CF II 5m, the Blurr 5m and the trusty Reactor 4.9m

Oh, dear, just sounds better and better the more i hear...

I'm really thinking hard about the 10m as a quality fixed foil for low winds...

The news about the light fabric is excellent!

with the weekend coming up surely its a matter of days if not hours before somebody flies and posts a review!

please please please!

furbo...

I get to fly on Saturday and rest assured you'll all know my opinion. I'll be off line till sometime Monday. Lots of family coming into town with a kite day planned for Saturday. All the guys will get to fly. We have about 8mph winds forecast so noone will get hurt flying anything. Not the best to test a kite in but maybe it will be enough. Angus will have flown in coastal winds by then as well. This is a much anticipated kite and if the bag and kite killers are any indication of where things are going, I'm excited for sure. I'm also interested in the big ones since light wind is an issue here much of the time.

so will there by enough family there to account for a full set of teeth?:o Hey have a great weekend and Saturday looks good for winds in our part of the southeast. Dont forget pics................

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Originally posted by tridude so will there by enough family there to account for a full set of teeth?:o Hey have a great weekend and Saturday looks good for winds in our part of the southeast. Dont forget pics................

Oh yeah. full sets of teeth abound. And non of the cousins are married to each other either.

Ok, I've had some flight time with the new CF. The major difference between this kite and its predecessor is the adjustable bridle. The 2 bridle settings are lifty/beginner/KGB and non-lifty/expert/buggy. When I set it to lifty, the kite flies much like my prior model CF flies. It is stable, with kick your pants pull. It turns well, spinning on a bridle line. I have tasted the lift somewhat, but haven't had winds over about 11-12. I needed about 14 mph to get good lift from the original CF and things seem the same here. I flew both kites one after another on Saturday and honestly on the lifty setting, the two kites seemed to be non-identical twins. They look different but don't seem to fly with much difference at all. To me this is a good thing because I heap a lot of praise on the original 5m CF.

When I change the bridle to the expert setting, things really change. The kite is faster through the window and the lift could be reduced. I guess I"m no expert but if I flew this kite close to the edge of the window, it would fold up on me instantly. The literature says this setting is good for the buggy because it boosts upwind performance by allowing the kite to fly further into the edge of the wind window. I would not be able to buggy with it in the buggy setting because it seems to require a great deal of attention near the edge. I got some diagrams to check my bridle settings and apparently have the lifty setting dialed in. I want to check further to make sure the buggy setting is as it was designed. I will update as I get more flying time and fly in different wind conditions.

I wish my review was more full of praise, but I have to be honest with my experience. I have a special affection for HQ kites and want this kite and the company to be a successful market leader. I'm anxious to hear reports from others that have had some flight time to see if their experiences were like mine.

hi beamerbob

good to hear more about the CF II. Sounds like it is a bit too depowered at the edge of the window, a shame it likes to fold up like a pansh, but doesn't mean it's unflyable, eh?

how did it behave turning on powers as opposed to turning on brakes?

And how does the second adjustment work? Is it a turning speed adjustment on crossover lines on powers like the blade?

The first adjustment sounds like a simple AoA adjustment, but I'm still unsure what the second adjustment does.

Sounds like it could still be a good low wind kite in the larger sizes...

cheers,

furbo

There is only 1 adjustment system. No cross bridles. It has two settings to choose from. You just loosen a larkshead and slip that bridle up 10mm to the other knot and do the same on the other power bridle and you are done. I want to fiddle with the knot location for the buggy setting and see if I can get the benefits without the leading edge tuck.

Yep, upwind performance is great and rivals the Blurr, but snaps shut like a moustrap if you get too close to the edge. The reduced lift is apparent and I never felt like I was going to be tea-bagged when bring ing the kite up to the top in 15-20 mph winds. But had I swooped it up fast it would be different story. Turning is fast and easy

To be fair to HQ, both Bobby and I got some of the first kites that snuck through with incorrect bridle settings and we were given instructions on how to correct them. Perhaps some more tweaking is needed, and clearly some more time with the kite. HQ makes it clear that the low lift setting is for experienced kiters.

Fortuanetely/ unfortunately, I have to close up at the end of the week for 2 weeks while I go overseas on vacation, so It may be bit before I have a go.

Hey BB,

Thanks for the quick write-up.

I know they're two different sizes but if you factor that in, what are your thoughts on how it compares to your blade as it relates to turning speed, upwind performance, lift and most of all, stability.

Thanks.

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Yep, upwind performance is great and rivals the Blurr, but snaps shut like a moustrap if you get too close to the edge.

That was the one thing I was really hoping for...that they would enhance the stability at the edge!

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HQ makes it clear that the low lift setting is for experienced kiters.

When I first read BB's write up I thought this might be a typo. I thought for sure the high lift setting would be for experts. But I guess more attention is to be paid when the low lift settting is chosen due to decreased 'stability'?

OK, only one setting and only two choices?

That's actually disappointing, it sounded actually like two diff adjustments with three settings on each, oh well...

It did sound during the build-up over the past month that it was going to be a well dialled-in kite...

But when I had my 5m Ace depowered for a while I had to watch it pretty carefully at the edge of the windzone, this sounds about the same. It only took a degree or so of adjustment (towards power) to get much more stability at the edge with a little loss in kite speed, maybe something the same for the CF II?

Ok, since Angus mentioned the bridle issue, I'll expand. I notified Tim Baxmeyer at HQ-USA when I discovered there was an issue with flight characteristics. Overnight, I received emails back from Tim and Jan-Hendrik Junker at HQ Powerkites in Germany. They said that a few had slipped out of mfg with bridle adjustment knots that were about a quarter inch from where they were supposed to be. This bridle is VERY sensitive to the position of the holding knots. Just a few millimeters makes a huge difference per Alex Hess. Jan-Hendrik sent me an extensive diagram from Alex, showing the way the bridle should appear when adjusted correctly. I feel like I have the lifty setting dialed in. I want to put a caliper on the bridle to double check the distance between the two knots. More to follow.

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Originally posted by lunchbox Hey BB, Thanks for the quick write-up. I know they're two different sizes but if you factor that in, what are your thoughts on how it compares to your blade as it relates to turning speed, upwind performance, lift and most of all, stability. Thanks.

The 5m CF II obviously turns faster than a 6.5 Blade. Stability on the lifty setting is fine, no issues at all. I could really crank the brakes in a tight turn and force it to tuck a corner, but I consider that an issue with me just pushing too hard with not enough wind. I would be remiss if I gave the CF a bad comparison with a Blade when I'm not 100% certain I have the bridle perfectly adjusted as Alex (HQ head designer) intended it to be. We can go into that when all is verified on the bridles.

so possibly a couple minor tweeks or learning the sail, easy stuff. Sounds good in the powered up/KGB, jumping mode. So its a 8m CF2 or 9m Riot, I hate choices sometimes!

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Originally posted by tridude So its a 8m CF2 or 9m Riot, I hate choices sometimes!

Split the difference and go with an 8.5 Blade:wink2:

I will double check my bridle knots. I was pulling pretty hard on my upwind runs and there is a chance they could have slipped. As bobby notes, the tolerances are small. I am still convinced this a winner and am not disappointed. As usual, HQ's support has been teriffic, both here and in Germany.

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Originally posted by B-Roc Quote: Originally posted by tridude So its a 8m CF2 or 9m Riot, I hate choices sometimes! Split the difference and go with an 8.5 Blade:wink2:

Zloty's 8.5 or 9.0?

I wonder if he's willing to sell the 8.5?

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Originally posted by acampbell I will double check my bridle knots. I was pulling pretty hard on my upwind runs and there is a chance they could have slipped. As bobby notes, the tolerances are small. I am still convinced this a winner and am not disappointed. As usual, HQ's support has been teriffic, both here and in Germany.

I would like to find a way to make 1mm adjustments in a manner other than retying those knots. Since the tolerance seems to be so small, I'd like to be able to make very tiny adjustments to get it perfect and to accommodate my apparent less than expert flying attention or abilities. Maybe for me, something less than the designers low lift setting would be more appropriate. I do want to get my hands on an 8-9m version someday. I will contiinue to work with this one per the instructions.

Also to give HQ their due, this bridle setting is covered in detail in the manual, and Angus is right, support was thorough and fast.

1mm adjustments?

could try some kind of ultralite turnbuckle?

or maybe a munter hitch tied around a power ring?

or a couple of opposed double fisherman's knots, with loops between the knots adding tension at about a mm per loop?

can't think of anything easier than retying the knots a mm at a time that wouldn't involve rebuilding parts of the bridle...

trial and error, part of flying kite!:frog:

My report is exactly the same as above. I was in 8-12mph (beach breezes) and on the beginner setting the kite was super stable and tons of power. Not enough wind to tell how much lift it had. On the advanced knot was a complete different story. I will be doing some tweeking also and I want to give it a try in the gusty inland conditions in the buggy, before I give my thoughts.