I had a chance to fly the neo last sunday at Ocean Beach. I have nothing but praise for this kite!!

First off I pull it out of the bag to find out it is truly ready to fly. All the lines are already connected. I simply unrolled the lines from the bar, opened the kite and was ready to go that fast. That was a welcome site, because I hate the time it takes setting up new kites.

I hook in the chicken loop and I'm ready to go. I give a good tug on the center lines and off she goes (I'm all excited), but then boom she comes crashing back down on the trailing edge. I give a couple more yanks and nothing. Then I realize I must have hit the top hat safety on my first yank, because it was released. I got that back together (thanks Flexiblade) and we were off. She flew straight to the zenith and just hovered. I made a pass high in the power zone and I took off across the sand like a bullet.

Next I figured I would see how the lift factor was. I sat it at about 10 o-clock and slowly brought it across at 12 o-clock I pulled in the bar and up I went. I'm not much of a jumper, but this was just too much fun. I jumped more this day than I have probably in the last 6 months put together.

Ok,Ok I will get to the details. I have absolutely no complaints. I thought I would dislike the cleat, but I got used to it quickly. The kite is just so, so stable you can't shake it out of the sky. It has a good amount of lift and very predictable. The de-power is great and the overall quality is excellent. It did take me a few times to learn how to reverse launch it, because it did respond different than ram air foils. With a normal ram air I can give it a real good yank and it will reverse launch, but it will loose some of its volume and make it easy to get to flip over without a lot of power. The neo would not loose its volume and stayed completely inflated (like it is suppose to do). So I had to be quick. I gave a tug on one side of the brake strap and when the kite was half way around ... yank the kite up with the bar and steer it towards the edge of the window. After a few times practicing I had it down fairly good.

I did have a few OBE's in the buggy, but this was due to my lack of skill riding on a fast surface, not the kite. I am use to riding on grass and it provides alot of drag. On the compact sand there was no drag and I had to learn how to scrub off speed. I never did get it that day, but I have a better idea what to do next time. I would over run the kite on a turn and my lines would be really slack. The kite would float back in the power zone and as soon as the lines got tight BOOM! I was flying. Like I said not the kites fault, but the pilots.

I will give this more updates as i have more time on the kite, but for now I fell HQ did a great job with this kite

Did I mention is was very stable

I did forget to mention that it would hover very well at the zenith and with basically no pull. I could let it sit at the zenith and it required a light tap on the bar every now and then to keep it there. It wouldn't self zenith like a PL, but it was about as close as you can get I think.

Same here DaKitez - I really liked the 8m Neo

What other sizes did you get?

bump, Neos are sweet...........................

Quote:

Originally posted by SecondWind Same here DaKitez - I really liked the 8m Neo What other sizes did you get?

8m / 11m camo / 14m

Wow! Did you just order the "box set" of NEO's?:D

Nice kites. I am pondering rounding out my quiver with the 14m for the mostly light winds that we seem to have here.

Accidently pulling the release has been a common problem for me and others who have used the kite. It is common to pull on the center line to launch and to "pump" the kite on lite wind days. The release seems to be right where you would typically grab to do this. I, for one, would prefer to see the release located closer to the bar.

One important thing to watch for: There is an eye-bolt attached to the lower end of the cam cleat that the center line runs through. This keeps the cleat parallel with the lines. The nut on the cam cleat has fallen off both of my kites.
The nut is a metric size and has a unique shape that allows it to fit into the eye-bolt hole in the cleat. So, finding a replacement nut is problematic. ACampbell checked with HQ and they apparently do not carry the replacement nuts.

In order to fix mine, I had to use a metric nylock nut and grind the bottom edge into a funnel shape so that it would engage the threads on the eye-bolt.
Best course of action (obviously) is to ensure that you do not lose the original nut. I would suggest removing the nut on each kite and re-installing it with a judicious amount of lock-tight.

Let us know when you get the 14m up, how you like it, and what the wind speed was when you flew.

Mel

Glad you had a good time with a new Neo bro. It's been awhile. Hey, make sure to bring one with ya on feb 7th Demo day! Nice review also now I got a little idea of whats up when I do get to try er.

Quote:

Originally posted by mgatc One important thing to watch for: There is an eye-bolt attached to the lower end of the cam cleat that the center line runs through. This keeps the cleat parallel with the lines. The nut on the cam cleat has fallen off both of my kites. The nut is a metric size and has a unique shape that allows it to fit into the eye-bolt hole in the cleat. So, finding a replacement nut is problematic. ACampbell checked with HQ and they apparently do not carry the replacement nuts. In order to fix mine, I had to use a metric nylock nut and grind the bottom edge into a funnel shape so that it would engage the threads on the eye-bolt. Best course of action (obviously) is to ensure that you do not lose the original nut. I would suggest removing the nut on each kite and re-installing it with a judicious amount of lock-tight. Let us know when you get the 14m up, how you like it, and what the wind speed was when you flew. Mel

Thanks for that tip. I will certainly check mine.

I flew this with Dakitez on sunday I was impressed with this kite as well, it is very stable in the sky and delivered good power. It would not luff even if I tried to make it.

Had an epic session on Sunday with the Neos. Wind was 8 to 10 with frequent periods of 15 to 17.
8m was smokin the bug. I was amazed at the upwind ability on the grass. Forgot to put the GPS on the bug but estimate 25 to 30 mph at times. Course reversals were wicked slide and ride. Only got sucked out once.:bouncy:

The 11m was just as good on the landboard. Power was predictable and smooth. Got the most air ever flying static with this kite.

Did have some issues with both kites overflying the zenith. They won't do it on the edges of the window but really like to keep flying at the top of the window. I tried all of the power settings and this continued even when fully powered. My neck is sore today from watching the kites go over the top. The only way I have found to mitigate this is when it starts to happen, I turn the kite down to the edges. This works but requires a lot of attention on the kite.

Any other NEO users having this problem?

HQ has been nice enough to send an 11m up north for us to try

So far I have had the pleasure of flying it in too much wind and too little wind Hopefully next weekend I get it up to Whistler and the wind will be just right !

Too much wind was a real trip! It was a night fly. To get air you didn't exactly have to fly the kite , just pull in on the bar and hold on.:wee:. To travel left or right on the ATB it seemed like I just had to think it. Moving the kite just a bit either way sent me off with ever increasing speed ! :wow:

Saturday there was mostly just enough wind to keep it flying. Rarely enough wind to even allow it to sit still. In this ultra low wind state I found the 11 felt like a 13 ? Loops were large and slow. Doing a double almost impossible. When I moved to a Friends 10m Alasca It felt like I could spank it around like an 8m or about 3 sizes less. The ability to create speed in the smaller kite meant I could get a ride on the Alasca when the 11m was falling short.

The kites well made and the bag is well designed! I think that's common knowledge now. I bigger zipper on the kite would be nice at pack up time ? I guess it would add weight ?

I hope to get some good wind for this demo ! I can see that it has some good lift and float. I only hope the turning speed increases once the canopy gets stiff like it was on Friday night !

I am interested in hearing from others about their opinion on the turning speed ?
Was the kite cells being filled tight like bladders because it was so windy or are the valves THAT GOOD on other peoples Neo's ? WAY stiffer than my Flysurfers have ever been?

So far I think this kite is great bang for buck $ Well enough made to last you a good long time! I can't wait to try an 8m !

Mgatc, If you have winds down around 5 - 8 mph or less you may want to invest in a large open cell fixed bridle. Depower kites big weakness is extra low wind. Closed cell even a bit more .

Try pulling in the bar just a bit to slow the kite before it over shoots!

Quote:

Originally posted by Bladerunner Try pulling in the bar just a bit to slow the kite before it over shoots!

Done all that. Still overshoots.

I agree on the turning speed being slow in low winds. The kite tends to sink when looping making a double difficult to accomplish.

The sail does retain air quite well. The stiffness minimizes tip-tuck and allows for easy re-launches - normal and reverse. Air retention is almost to a fault when it comes time to pack up . I use 2, 6 inch pieces of 1.5 inch diameter plastic tubing inserted into each of the dirt outs to facilitate deflating the kite. I'll post some pictures of this one day.

I'm going to invest in more square meters this spring for a low wind engine. Just haven't yet decided what its going to be.

mel

with this being said though I (josh) have had some decent sesh's with the 11 on the atb in about 6kts of wind... pulled some decent static pops out of it to... these really are great kites though!!!!

I did not experience the overfly. There was a few times I was just standing around for 5 - 10 minutes with the kite just floating over head. I was in nice clean coastal winds, so this may of helped. Were the winds gusty when your kite was overflying?

Not gusty in the literal sense but rather a steady increase of 4 to 5 kts lasting a minute or two and then dropping back to the average. Steady, coastal type winds are not the norm here.
Neither kite was anywhere close to what I would call a "hover". They required constant attention.

Quote:

Originally posted by mgatc Not gusty in the literal sense but rather a steady increase of 4 to 5 kts lasting a minute or two and then dropping back to the average. Steady, coastal type winds are not the norm here. Neither kite was anywhere close to what I would call a "hover". They required constant attention.

Interesting mine hovered very well. It wouldn't self zenith like a PL but very little attention was needed to keep it there.

Quote:

Originally posted by mgatc Not gusty in the literal sense but rather a steady increase of 4 to 5 kts lasting a minute or two and then dropping back to the average. Steady, coastal type winds are not the norm here. Neither kite was anywhere close to what I would call a "hover". They required constant attention.

Mel, check you lines.....................if youre overshooting your rear lines may be a bit slack...........tie a knot about 4 inches down on the rear leaders, set you lines at the new knots, and see if that helps....................

Quote:

The sail does retain air quite well. The stiffness minimizes tip-tuck and allows for easy re-launches - normal and reverse. Air retention is almost to a fault when it comes time to pack up . I use 2, 6 inch pieces of 1.5 inch diameter plastic tubing inserted into each of the dirt outs to facilitate deflating the kite. I'll post some pictures of this one day. mel

Mel, your tubes with velcro are crazy clever, but how are you packing the kite? I put the tips together with the bridles inside and roll around the bar from wingtips to center towards the open deflate zipper no problem. Just make sure the deflate zipper does not get pressed into the ground and that just about how you line up the tips before you start to roll.

Just like an ARC

Don,
Are you referring to the leaders on the bridle end or the handle end?

Hi Angus, good to hear from you.
My typical pack-up is to unzip; insert the tubes into the dirt-outs; wrap the lines while the kite gets soft; gather the kite into a large beach ball and carefully squeeze out the remaining air, making sure the zip and dirt-outs are un-obstructed; lay out with bridle on top; fold ends to middle and repeat until folded to the width of the bar; tri-fold from top to bottom and add strap.
Folding this way allows me to easily carry the 11m, 8m, 2 helmets, and kite stakes all in the 11m backpack.
However, your way sounds easier! I'll give it a try.
mg

Here is a link to the Flysurfer way of packing up video.
http://www.flysurfer.com/Gallery/v/videos/manual/packing.avi...

I have never had a tangle using this method.

Quote:

Originally posted by mgatc Don, Are you referring to the leaders on the bridle end or the handle end? Hi Angus, good to hear from you. My typical pack-up is to unzip; insert the tubes into the dirt-outs; wrap the lines while the kite gets soft; gather the kite into a large beach ball and carefully squeeze out the remaining air, making sure the zip and dirt-outs are un-obstructed; lay out with bridle on top; fold ends to middle and repeat until folded to the width of the bar; tri-fold from top to bottom and add strap. Folding this way allows me to easily carry the 11m, 8m, 2 helmets, and kite stakes all in the 11m backpack. However, your way sounds easier! I'll give it a try. mg

leaders on the bar end..................