So ive been using a 13 and 16 scorpion for the last few weeks, and i realized that a review was over due. First i'll start off with the asthetics and make...

Out of the Bag- The 13 is the sea blue and the 16 is the dark blue colors. Both bags seem to fit the kites with not a lot of room to spare. the bags have great build, and can expand to hold kite with the spars left in them. The kites have the vpc which i have set to the lightest setting. I have set the internal straps for both kites for the most power/tightest turning.

Launching-- Traig Trumbo gave me a tip for launching these kites which is quite beneficial. Make sure that the kite is pre-inflated as much as possible or this kite will bowtie!!!! The intake vents have lots of static cling to them when the kite is new so make sure to pinch them open before you launch.

Once you are ready to launch follow the correct procedure that is in the dvd. Ok now heres the special advice that I got from Traig. When the kite inflates the vents will be sticky, so pull the bar all of the way in so the kite stalls for a second. The reason for doing this is so that the kite doesn't collapse together and then pull the infamous bowtie. Now once it stalls out, keep the bar sheeted in (powered up) and then reach about the bar with one hand and grab the entire strap setup and give it a couple tugs and you walk backwards. this jolts power into the kite popping open the vents. once the kite fills up it will stop stalling out, and will shoot to the zenith. When you see it starting to open and move you can sheet out so the kite is no longer powered up and stalling.

This will really help the first few times out because the scorpion is probably the hardnest kite to launch out of all of the peter lynn line up.

Flying/Jumping-- This is my favorite part. I was only able to use the 13 in winds inland from 13 gusting to 18. This kite with the vpc is so FAST. It turns on its pivot and is really fun. Once you get moving (on land) you just redirect the kite and sheet in and up you go. This kite has a very strait upward lift. In high winds, or if you use the larger kite in stronger winds the lift can be quite violent. The first time I took out the 16m it was in winds 17-23. And let me tell you that was a really dumb idea. The lift was so quick that i was very violently lifted and carried downfield. Without even sheeting in (powering up), I was being lifted 10-12 feet high and being carried about a third of a football field downwind.

The 16 is also very fast. I can't imagine how fast you could go in the snow or on the water.

My favorite part about this kite is the depower that is available. The vpc combined with the internal straps is amazing. I sat on the ground for awhile and drank some water when i was tired.

Something that is different about this kite compared to the venom is the fast moving power. When the scorpion is moving really fast across the window, it sometimes needs more bar input to turn it. In then however, turns and creates tons of lift and float.

Safety--I was using the zero7 control bar and leash. I attached the front lines as close as possible to the depower strap because i heard that the scorpion likes to stall if the front lines aren't slightly shorter. Since I have done this, i have not needed to use the pigtail extensions that some people have talked about although I only fly on land.

When flying this kite on land, make sure you have tons of space. If you experience strong gusts, you can be lofted really high without expecting it. But then again, when that happens and you don't get hurt, you'll have a huge smile on your face.

Relaunch-- Since the autozenith is really good with this kite, i havn't crashed it besides once or twice when the wind was low. This kite is long, especially the 16 so it sometimes takes some skill to relaunch.

Overall-- I absolutly love this kite. I wouldn't set up a beginner with it, but if you are used to depower it is a blast. I mainly love the lift and sharp turning capabilities. Its even fun to fly static in a soccer field and practice jumps and tricks. The scorpion is an extremely fast kite, especially the 13m. It feels like the phantom and venom kite had a baby and a scorpion popped out.

love my 16 M Scorpion as well, very fast as you say and also the hardest to launch.

3rd 16m scorp owner that LOVES it. I have finally gotten down the launching thing. I did experience the launch bowtie because I didn't give it back line pressure. It's just so fast that it goes fast when it's not fully inflated which causes it to "throw-up" and bowtie.

LOVE IT! Scorpion owners... UNITE! :P

Good to hear, good review.
Use em right and they´ll kick #ss.
Still use my 13m and love it to bits, its just too bad that the "out of the box" experience is often a lot of hassle, and that they are difficult to manage the first couple times.

Had a wild day on my Scorpion 16m. 18-24Mph winds and hauling a**. Had one of the wildest rides to date, on a simple downwind turn I hit big air unexpectedly. Hit about thirty feet up and about 140' across the field and landed sweetly. Hard to get that grin off your face after one of those...lol

Good to read thanks

Quote:

Originally posted by WolfWolfee Had a wild day on my Scorpion 16m. 18-24Mph winds and hauling a**. Had one of the wildest rides to date, on a simple downwind turn I hit big air unexpectedly. Hit about thirty feet up and about 140' across the field and landed sweetly. Hard to get that grin off your face after one of those...lol

WOoooOOOOooooo!!!! Now that'll get your heart pumpin'!! Good thing you had that much downwind room :D . I had a few scares with my scorp when I DIDN'T have enough downwind room. It ended in the kite flagging out on top of a handicap parking sign O.O

what are your low-wind experiences with a scorpion 16m ? is it possible to launch it in arount 6-8 knots (if prefilled to the max - i have a coleman quickpump 600 liter/sec) ?? is it possible to start gliding on an ATB or kiteboard in 8-10 knots ? does it drop / invert / does other bad stuff if the wind goes down to lets say 4-6 knots?

i already own a 7 sqm scorpion (some pics: http://picasaweb.google.de/andre.krause/WarnemundePeterLynnS... ), and its fantastic, but imho needs at least 12 knots to launch and stay stable with autozenit.

i have a cheap offer to buy a 16 sqm scorpion, but am a bit afraight its too big, even in low , but gusty inland winds (8, gusting to 18 knots). my weight is 62 kg.

Eek, well for 63kg it might actually be too big. A good quote I heard once is the larger arcs are for big people not for low winds. ... I'm 83kg and it was still a beast in 12 knots. And yes, it still needs about the same to fly well(12 knots minimum in my experience). Sadly the bad news is arcs just aren't low wind kites... I hope that answered your question.

I got mine :cool2:

@f0rgiv3n: thanks alot for clarifying this. though P lynns windrange tables suggest the 16qm will work starting at 5 knots.. but after my experience with the 7 sqm scorpion i rather believe you, in that one needs at least stable 9 knots or better 10-12 knots to get up in the air.

so.. lets have good hopes for the charger, in that it has really improved the low end / low wind launching capabilities. because - i still like the lynn arc concept very much!

@Kamikuza: what size did you have? did you already tested your scorpion?

16m ... just arrived last night be a few months before I get to test it

why wait?? just test it! i would love to hear your review!! be warned: you must prefill it to the max possible, otherwise it wont launch...

Quote:

Originally posted by herc why wait?? just test it! i would love to hear your review!! be warned: you must prefill it to the max possible, otherwise it wont launch...

He's got a recently broken wrist. That's the only possible reason why he'd be waiting.

Champing at the bit trying to figure out just how bad it would be if the wife caught me :D
Had issues with the Phantom on the first flight, under-inflated and then trying to fly ... now it's easy. Was easy

Do the wind ranges overlap a lot on the 16/13? Looking back, would you rather have a 16 and a 10, or stick to this combo? Thanks

i, as a lightweight guy (62kg) would take the combo 7 sqm and 13 sqm. because i do not want to be lifted that badly as described in the review above ;-)
and the 7 sqm should work up to 30 knots, so more or less open end...

Ive had the 16 for probably 8-10 months or so. My favorite kite yet, pretty much been a 1 kite quiver since then...but yes, as stated before, the big 'uns aren't for low wind, just heavier guys i guess. I doesn't get fun for me until at least 13 kts with the 16. I do have a 10m synergy, but haven't had a good time with it yet. I feel like the 13 would be great.

I know a couple guys that fly venom 13s, and those days the 16 is to big and the 10 syn is still to small, the 13 looks perfect. I sure would like to get my hands on one...

@redtailin: what was the lowest wind you were able to launch your 16m scorpion ? i am asking because i also just like just to fly kites in low wind, i do not necessarily need to be on a board. and -- we have low winds frequently :barf:

I've used my 16m scorpion in mph before but I wasn't on a board. The only hard part about that us making sure you can fill up the kite before launch

@flyjump: you forgot the number before mph ;-)
filling - for me - is not an issue anymore, i have got that coleman pump:
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/detail.asp?Categor...



its a bit heavy, but it fills up the kite with amazing speed.

Ha 8 mph. Sorry about that, I'm using my phone and if I don't put a space in their it corrects it and removes the number. The 16 is my favorite kite. Powerful, lifty, floaty, and way more reliable and not twitchy like the smaller scorpion models

Yep I think i got mine up in like 9-10mph. I haven't really tried anything less. And like the others said, you just have to make sure she is completely filled.
In the next few days Im probably going to pick up
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00911592000P?keywor...
considering I already have the lithium batteries for a drill, hopefully it speeds up the launching process a bit.

The Scorps are thinner (and longer) than the other ARCs that's why it takes longer to inflate them.. in light wind I inflate the first half, then close the zipper, roll over the kite to move the air to the downwind tip and open the zipper again to finish.. It helps..


@tobytobsen: I am 80kg and the only time I REALLY need the 16 is when the wind is dead on shore and the surf heavy.. Otherwise what I do with the 16 I do better with the 13 (except maybe for hanging time).

good info guys. I've been thinking about a 13m Scorp for my next adventure.

Lynx68 you live in Springfield! So do I. Wait is this Aaron?

I'm just waiting to see this months credit card (Paypal) bill before I buy a 13m I got a line on :D

some fun with my 7sqm scorpion:

fill it with quickpump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG4Hf6WNpTc

some loops:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=977-xeCmf7o

autozenit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KebALd0l20

Oh is THAT how you use the Launch Assistant tabs? I was putting the LHS lines through the LHS tab ...
God I love arcs!

ahh ok - seems more plausible now that you mention it :embarrased: