3shot - 10-3-2013 at 08:21 AM
Was wondering the difference in flight characteristics of an Ozone Flow to a Flexifoil Rage?
Also, what about build quality comparison?
Thanks,
Bladerunner - 10-3-2013 at 09:01 AM
Both are very well made.
If I am right the Rage has an adjustable bridle. The Flow does not.
The Flow is a slightly newer modlel.
indigo_wolf - 10-3-2013 at 09:52 AM
I don't believe the Rage has an adjustable bridle out of the box. You can add the Flexifoil (Angel Of Attack Adjustment/ Triple A Kit) to give it an
adjustable bridle.
Both are medium aspect ratio, stable, user friendly kites and will provide yeoman like service for static/board/or buggy flying.
The intake mesh on the Flow is a bit finer so it will pick up a bit less debris (sand, if you are beach flying).
As BR stated, the Flow is a newer design and benefits from some additional features. On the Flow (from the outside), cells 1,
2, and 5 are closed cells (except from the cross vents on the interior ribs). This is meant to reduce deflation when the there is a lull in the wind.
On the Rage, I believe only Cell #1 is closed to prevent tip-tuck during cornering/turns.
On the Flow, the intake vents are set back from the leading edge to reduce turbulence and allow to reduce the likelihood of damage in a nose
first crash. Because the inlets are set back, they actually face more directly into the wind, when the kite is in launch position, so it inflates
marginally faster and there's more inner cell pressure right at the moment of lift off.
The bridle on the Flow is unsleeved, so it produces less drag and aids in flight at the lower end of the wind range. You wouldn't think it
would make a lot of difference, but it does. I've had the Flow 3M flying when another flyer was having trouble keeping a Twister 5.6M aloft. The
only down side is that an unsleeved bridle is more likely to get cut by an errant single link kite. I've had a Sting totally wrapped up in the lines
of a large SLK at a festival and flew it out unscathed.
Both kites have dirtouts at the tips of the trailing edge, but the Flow also has a dedicated "sand channel" running along the trailing edge
between the cells to make it easier to get sand/debris to the dirst outs. On the Rage, you have to move the debris through the cross cell vents to to
get it to the dirtouts.
Seat of the pants impression is that a Rage might produce a smidge more power per meter², but that's a hard apples to apples comparison to make,
since the sizes don't quite match up:
Flow: 2M, 3M, 4M, 5M (Ozone has replaced the Flow with the Octane).
Rage: 1.8M, 2.5M, 3.5M, 4.7M, 6.0M (although Flexifoil lists the 6.0M on their website, I was pretty sure it was discontinued)
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
ATB,
Sam
3shot - 10-3-2013 at 05:04 PM
Thanks br! Thanks wolf for the breakdown!
It was more a question on flight characteristics and general, and kite construction. I'm pretty sure Flexifoil are made top notch as well. Was just
curious what I could expect from a Rage say 2.8 vs a Flow 3m handling wise. Speed, grunt, turns, etc.
Thanks :wee: