12m Airush flow FT first flight

Finally got my Ozone bar last week, after a month of owning it, I finally got a first flight of my kite. I don't have many options in town, so I played at local school yard. Winds were about E25km/h with all the usual gusts and lulls we get. First thing I must say is that pumping is a bit more work than I expected. I've pumped it before, but not when I'm actually trying to get set to ride. After it was full I was out of breath, a true sign that I'm out of shape. I took a while to setup the bar as I had to switch out the pigtails on the kite to match the bar config, one nice thing was that even without weight on the kite it just sat there with the wind rolling over it....very nice I must say. As I hooked in and walked around to upwind position, the kite behaved nicely and followed me till it was downwind leading edge down waiting for my command. I depowered all the way pulled a rear line, the kite caught some wind and began to roll over. Then a lull came, causing it to sit back down on its nose. Tried again, and before I knew it the kite was sitting nicely at zenith. Take a try at letting out the trim, but the line seemed jammed in the clamcleat. One real hard tug and it came loose, but all the way out. Gonna take a bit to get use to using one. Another lull hit and the kite flipped and fell out of the sky. On the ground I tugged on a rear line and the kite slid into its position and relaunched. Swinging the kite around in the sky I'm not to sure I like the light bar pressure. Seems to have no feel where the kite is. The park is really small, but I decide to try a ride on the board. Wow!!!! This thing has a super smooth pull. I only dropped the kite a little bit and it started to pull me, a little more, and it was park n ride. But like I said the park is small so I had to quickly stop and switch directions. All in all I'm getting a good vibe from this kite, it feels really grunty, and fast through the window. I won't get to ride the water this year, but I can't wait to try it in some open snow filled fields this winter.

Quote:

Originally posted by shaggs2riches First thing I must say is that pumping is a bit more work than I expected. I've pumped it before, but not when I'm actually trying to get set to ride. After it was full I was out of breath, a true sign that I'm out of shape.

http://www.pumpkiteup.com/



Caveat: Not particularly cheap.

Look forward to your review on larger fields and in the snow.

ATB,
Sam

Damn! I pump up flat out like a maniac (like eating peas - the faster you do it without puking, the sooner it's done) and I'm not out of breath at the end of it :o I must be fit or something

They're not bad are they, those LEI things ... if you can put up with their quirks, they'll treat you fine

I was pumping like a mad man at first, half way through I was thinking it would never end. I'm very impressed with the grunt it has. I've reversed launched my 12m speed2 in more winds, and didn't scud like I did when this thing first took off. The second relaunch I caught some morning dew and fell on my ass and got butt scudded for 40ish feet:wee: I've always seen my buddy fly the kite down low & pull the safety to land his LEI, but I found it quite simple to land this way....

... now imagine a 16m kite with 7 struts and a big fat leading edge

Depends on the wind of course ... and how you're handling it! "Hot launches" tend to scare the LEI-only boys though

I can land my Cab's like that but it's not easy and NOT do-able in big wind - you need to be able to grab the upper front line to drop it over on the wing-tip ... I do it by a combination of zooming the kite forward in the window, depowering it and then grabbing the front lines and pulling until I get to the front line I want.
Not fun if the wind is up ... keep one hand on the safety!