Last December I contacted Lam Hoac and said that I wanted to order one of his kites. The email exchange with Lam was very pleasant, he responded quickly and shared this thoughts on which model I should choose. After plumping for the Transformer TL SUL he also picked the colors, I only chose the base colour, light grey.

Lam said that I’d be wanting a Vented Light to accompany the SUL and suggested I order them together to save on international shipping costs ;-) I told him that I wanted to try the SUL first, but I’m afraid he was right .. The price including shipping was just over €400. Now that’s a lot of money for sure, but rest assured, you’re getting something special.

Construction

In many kite reviews these days you’ll find a phrase such as  “The build quality is really Benson” or “It’s a Kitehouse kite, so the quality is great”. Well, such a statement applies here also. I checked the kite thoroughly, but everything really is perfect. The “eyes” of the kite are finished with a strip of black spinnaker and sewn with a small stitch. Nowhere a bend to be seen.

There is a weight in the tail (I guess it’s 15 grams), and its held in place by a small string at the back (check picture). The leechline does not run from tip to tip, but from the inner standoffs to the tail. The leading edges are made from dacron, which is remarkable in a SUL. At the nose Lam used an ingenious trick to make a snag-free nose. Overall, the kite doesn’t feel particularly light.

The sleeve of the kite is just a sleeve. There is no drawstring or flap cover and the sleeve is 40 cm too long, not so useful. The turbo bridle is made from dyneema and includes keeper and leader lines, which is a nice touch.

Skyclaws

Framing

The leading edges and lower spreader’s are Skyshark 2PT. And that is rigid enough for this kite of nearly 2.20m. The spine is a Skyshark P200 !, the standoffs are 3mm. This makes for a light kite, but the P200 with the dacron at the leading edges makes it feel a little weird.

I was advised to make some Skyshark 3PT spreaders as well for use in stronger winds. I’m informed this narrows the gap to the Vented Light, such that no standard or UL is required. I’ve not had an opportunity to test this out as yet.

Flight

So, the kite does not feel like a super-ultra-light, and yet it fields in surprisingly little wind ! I don’t quite understand why :-) Maybe it’s the fat ass of the kite, more surface and thus perhaps more lift ?

I’ve flown the Transformer on 20m, 25m and 30m-lines. With more wind, the longest lines were the nicest, but at the bottom of the wind range, I found the shorter lines to be much more pleasant.

Straight lines are excellent, right-angled corners also, quite special for such a small kite. For the corners you have to use caution: small inputs, preferably a pull with one hand and a push with the other. For a SUL, it’s nice that you can pump the kite into the air, the Transformer does this very well: flying up quite fast and not falling in to a Backflip when you push your hand forward.

As for the windrange, some say the Transformer TL SUL isn’t a real SUL, but I diagree. A little technique is required, but this kite is a real SUL, although I must admit that there are moments I prefer my TNT Zero.

The Transformer can be flown right up to almost standard winds, so a UL is certainly unnecessary. You’d probably want to use those 3PT’s as spreaders. In more wind stronger inputs are needed for some tricks, but the kite will stay in shape. The precision improves as the wind increases.

Tricks

Time for some tricks then. Once you get used to the small inputs, but you will certainly be rewarded for your efforts. And how ! I’ll go through most of the tricks, I think that gives a good picture. I’ll start with the more simple tricks.

Old School Tricks

The TL might 360, but perhaps its just not SUL enough. Shorter lines, 10m say, would help but I’ve not yet tried that. The Fade is reasonable, but some tending is needed as the nose wobbles up and down a bit. The flic-flac is solid, a little loss of height but it returns to the fade easily with no deadspot. The axel however is not so clever, its not particularly flat and will only make the full rotation with much guidance. The 540 is a little better than the axel, but usually you seem them flatter. Perversely the slot machine can be really flat. With some practice, you can make the Transformer pop the fast or pull them slow and floaty. Multislots are beautiful. You can keep the kite very well in place, just do not give too much slack. Half axels and cascades are solid provided that you keep an reign on the slack otherwise the kite will fall out of them.

At first, the Backspins didn’t look nice, but I discovered the reason quickly: smaller inputs ! With small tugs, the Backspins are pretty flat. Bigger inputs provide some instability and the nose pops up. Backspincascades are doable, but it requires some work: you have to slow down the kite after the first rotation with the other hand, and then gently pull to rotate the other way.

Twopoint landing is very good. The Transformer gets with ease on his back and you can put it down hard on his tips. Even in little wind this is doable, especially when you take some steps back the last few meters: BAM!

Pitch Tricks

The Kombo is nice. You can enter the trick quite high, because during the Susan-rotation you can lose a lot of altitude and you can time the landing exactly. Again: do not give too much slack, because otherwise it will turn backwards in a Yoyo! The Rolling Susan is the same, but you can limit the lost of altitude. It´s nice to do three of four in a row during a horizontal flight.

If you give a lot of slack with the other hand Multilazies are easy to do, though they do not look very nice. The Transformer gets out of the Backflip pretty good. Lewis and Yoyo Multilazy aren’t much harder to do.

Jacobs Ladder is easy. Most SUL’s need some time to get on their back, but the Transformer tricks as a standard model. You can get slow and fast Jacobs Ladders out of the kite, the latter is the easiest and best: no sideways movement.

The Rolling Cascade is not so simple: the kite loses some altitude during the rotations, so it’s hard to get three in a row. For the second input of the Tazmachine you need good timing. But once you’ve found that timing, they go well. The Tazmachines remain beautiful on the spot, but they don’t float as nice as some bigger kites. If you want to do a Wapdoowap, you must act quickly: the Lazy-like input has to be exactly on time. I have done a few, but it is not really a constant trick.

The Transformer is too light for Crazy Copters and Yofades. I know more UL’s and SUL’s with this “problem”. A Cynique is a typical SUL-trick, but not for the Transformer TL SUL. You just can’t get the kite in the opposite direction: I just falle out of the Backflip.

As for the comete ? Well sorry, but I can’t do that … but, of course, in movies they look good.

Now I´m going to discuss the specialty of the Transformer TL SUL: the Yoyo ! This trick is really amazing, especially since it is a SUL. I’ve owned quite a few Yoyo-kites (Organic, Deepspace, Talon), but the Transformer does this trick easier, despite being a SUL. Even with the nose down, from a Fade, the kite rolls up easily, just give some slack and there it goes. The Transformer flies good once wrapped.

The Yoyo is so dead simple that a Multi Yoyo is not far away. After a Yoyo just get some pressure on the lines and give slack: there is your next Yoyo. Three in a row is easy to do, I didn’t dare to make more, because of the bending in the Leading Edge. The Skyclaws are doing excellent work here: I’ve never missed them! Sometimes the line is catched a little lower on the Leading Edge, but the kite will still fly easily.

Conclusion

After my first session with the Transformer TL SUL I was really a bit confused: how can such a light kite trick like this ? I immediately looked forward to the next time flying this machine. The Transformer TL SUL is a great kite, a few little flaws, but many more big plusses. Quick tricks, but controllable and it flies just as a standard kite.

And I’m afraid Lam was right: the Vented Light is on the top of my wish list right now !

“Autobots, roll out !”

-Krijn

According to the manufacturer, the NSE15 is the result of R-Sky having boiled down fifteen years of experience, requests, and reflection into this one kite.  That sounds like a tall order to fill – the Nirvana and R-Sky itself are highly thought of for their designs and kites flight characteristics. How did they do? Read on.

Build:

I had heard many negative things about R-Skys construction, so I was fully expecting to find issues with the quality of the kite.  After closely examining it, however, I can report that it is indeed very well made, although I did identify a few nits.  It has reinforcements in all the right places (around the standoffs, yoyo stoppers, spine, etc), straight well-sewn seams, a clean nose, and is made with industry standard high-quality materials.  All in all, I would put it more on par with a boutique kite (although not quite there) than a high-volume manufacturer who may skimp on cheaper and less durable components.   I expect the kite to last many years – it seems well made.

The issues that I found were finishing details, not problems with the kite per se.  The stitching is even and well done, but I found several loose threads that I needed to nip – one was about 10 inches long.  A second issue I found was with the c-clips – 2 of the 4 were very loose and had to be re-glued.  So, a few thread nips and a bit of CA and the kite was ready to fly – not a big deal, but these could easily have been caught and fixed during assembly.

Here are the details from R-Sky:

• Size: 214cm x 86cm
• Sail: Icarex + mylar
• Frame: Skyshark + 5mm pultruded carbon
• Wind range: 4 to 30 km/h  (~2.5 to 18.6 mph for those of you in the US)

The most interesting thing to me about this kite is its framing.  It’s a standard, but has framing elements of both a light and a standard (or light vent) – it initially appears to be a very odd frame setup (more on this later).   The 15 also has no ballast. The frame has an ULE of 3PT, a LLE of P400, a spine of P90 and 6mm full carbon from above the the centerT down, and 5PT LS.  So, overall the framing appears to be a UL up top and heavy standard down below – I’ve never seen a kite framed this way before.  A plus with this framing for US owners is that you can easily find these spars aside from the 6mm carbon which you are not likely to break (I hope).

The bridle is a standard 3pt with no keeper line (I’ve never seen an R-Sky kite that had them), but it doesn’t really need one. In all the time I’ve been flying the kite I have not once caught the tail on the bridle.  It is theoretically possible for it to catch, but highly unlikely. What the bridle does need, however, are leaders.  The trailing edge is well reinforced with both an extra layer of dacron as well as Icarex, but as often the lines come in contact with this area on a modern kite while tricking, I much prefer some bridle line there rather than much more abrasive flying line.

The last thing I would mention about construction concerns the bag.  In short, you really don’t get one.  It’s a half-bag, so you must break the kite down in order to (rather snugly) fit the kite inside of it.  Now, as a half-bag, I would say that it’s passable, but I think that the target buyer for this kite will want a full-length bag for it.  For now, I am storing the kite full-length in an extra bag that I had lying around. A real bag (perhaps one like the NFX ships with) would be a welcome change to the package.

Appearance:

I’ve heard this kite described anywhere from. ‘wow, I love it’ to  ‘it looks like a mankini!’.  I’ve always liked the strong clean lines of the original Nirvana, but as they say, time moves on.  Personally, I like the layout, but I do wish it came in more color options beyond the flo yellow, orange, and green. I do think that it fits in very well with look of the current NSE as well as the newer Nirvana line (NFX, NSE, NSE 15) – they all share a common sense of style which I think is not as striking as the original, but still compares very well to other kites on the market.

The kite does look great in the sky and also while performing tricks – it has a smoothness to it that would make you think it is larger than it actually is.

Flight:

Now that we have the construction details out of the way, how does the kite actually fly?  To sum it up, the kite does it all and readily – JLs, backspins, cometes, yoyos, 540s, slots, taz machines – it’s all approachable and reliable.  It’s pretty clear that this kite was designed from the ground up for balance and tricks.   Aside from a few minor issues that were solved by spending a bit more time becoming accustomed to the kite, I find it very sweet.

It has solid general flight characteristics, decent precision (nice sharp corners with no wobble), and excellent tricks (both pitch and rotational ones).  The published wind range is close enough to accurate.  You can fly it with some movement in low wind, but it’s really fun at 4 mph and up.  I’ve flown it into the mid teens and its solid there as well.   I was concerned about the higher end considering its 3pt upper LE frame and P90 spine, but even in strong gusts, the kite showed no signs of concern and remained well behaved and stable.

I must admit that it initially took me a little time to warm up to the NSE 15, although other flyers took to it right away.  For me, I found that I was over-doing the inputs with too much strength.  That combined with the added mass in the lower LEs and heavy spine of the kite was leading to some initial disappointment.  My first 20 minutes of flight were a complete turn-off.  Once I backed off a little and toned it down, however, everything just fell into place.  It’s hard to describe, but dialing into this kite took me longer than it does with others.

I think it has to do with the unique weighting of the kite – the heavy LEs and weighted spine seem to give it a momentum that a tail weight (even a BIG one) does not.  In any case, once I experimented enough to dial into a strong half-axel (the move that was giving me the most trouble), I was off the races with the kite and a BIG smile.  A key point with this kite is that you can’t always bang on it like you might it’s full sized brother because it won’t like it (and you also don’t need to).

The kite is well balanced and has a nicely-paced trick speed to it.  You can go fast or slow its up to you, very reliable either way.  The weighting on it is about perfect.  I tried adding an additional 5g of weight to the tail like I do on the NFX and it still worked great that way (super-fast yoyos), but this kite just doesn’t need it. As an overall comparison, I’d say that the kite falls between the NSE and the NFX – it is much more agile than the NSE and a bit more tamed than the NFX Sport.

But don’t take my word for it, checkout some of these videos of the kite in action:

Strengths:

Trick-wise, the kite definitely has a few strengths to mention -  namely the taz machine, comete, and yoyo.  This kite flat out Tazes more easily than any other kite that I have flown – its just that simple.  It rotates so easily and with such momentum that you can easily get smooth flat taz rotations with very little slack or forward movement.  What this also means is that, with a little bit of forward movement, you can even reliably taz in fairly high wind.  The nose pops up easily on the half axel which, again, helps with this trick.  And when I say smooth and flat, I do mean smooth and flat – they are gorgeous!  I did find that the nose-up tendency caused me to have to adjust my cascade a bit since I like to have them very sharp and angular – not a huge issue, it’s still easy to do, but worth mentioning.

I think the LE weight greatly contributes to the kites ability to taz – with just a small input you can easily generate the required momentum to complete the rotation.  There is a similar affect for the comete – even in low wind, there is plenty of rotational momentum to easily do sharp text book cometes.  The momentum tends to keep the kite rotating which makes the trick a bit smoother in my opinion.  In higher wind, all the better – the kite nearly rotates on its own and you are simply bringing the nose forward and then away again.  Again, it took a little to adjust to this technique, but once I did, I really liked the results (it looks and feels great).  When you go back to a more tail-weighted kite, you will notice the lack of this additional rotational momentum right away (and you may well miss it!).

The kite also easily pitches – all varieties of yoyo are easily done and solid – one pop, two pop, multiples, all easy.  The kite does yoyo related combo tricks like the wap do wap and yofade well – the point being that the yoyo is reliable enough to allow you to reliably maintain control and be ready for the next step.  It also flys very well when wrapped.  The yoyo stoppers on this kite appear much lower to me than on other Nirvanas which helps to catch them, but the control when wrapped is still excellent.

Finally, the last item to mention is the fun factor!  I’ve always appreciated the Nirvana (and NSE), but they are kites that I never kept for very long.  Sure, it did everything well, but I just never flew it because I have so many others that are just more fun to fly.  Well, the NSE 15 has fun factor and soul!  It is an extremely fun kite to fly and will keep you grinning and laughing out loud with the fun you can have with it.  Even better, you get all this right out of the box – no need to add weight or adjust the bridle as I’ve done with my other Nirvanas, just hook up the lines and fly.

Weaknesses:

So, what did I not like about the kite aside from the lack of a decent bag?  Well, as I mentioned before, it feels a bit different due to its atypical weighting which requires some amount of adjustment in order to completely click with the kite or at least it did for me.  It does not take a huge investment of time, but I flew it for an afternoon before I started to get those aha moments and began to fully appreciate and enjoy the kite.  It’s hard to criticize on this however, since to a large extent it is what makes this kite different and so much fun to fly.  Those flat taz machines are very addictive, and you will be doing them all over the window, I promise you.

I also had a little trouble with multi-lazys on this kite, although I’ve talked to others that do not so perhaps it’s my technique.  It does them fine (although not nearly as locked in as the NFX or other kites that I fly), but I have to think about it a little more than I would like to.

That’s about it – certainly no show-stoppers.

Conclusion:

So, there you have it!  This kite has some unique qualities that I think make it worthy of consideration.  It’s unique weighting, in particular, offers something that is worth exploring. I certainly like it.  I can’t promise that you will, but I think you will agree that R-Sky has done something a bit different here that gives the kite some unique and fun abilities.

If you are having difficulty with the Taz (or other flatspins moves for that matter),  add one to your bag in order to work on those tricks.  If you like your Nirvana but want something a bit more lively, just get one. Or, if you just want to fly a freestyle kite with no limits, then go for it.

In short, aside from the bag, I’ve got mostly positives to report on this kite – it carries on and adds its own contributions to the NIrvana legacy which is some feat after 15 years.  I have no problem recommending this kite to anyone looking for a full-on freestyle kite, its the real deal.

-Tom

Mmmm… a new Talon, it’s been a while!

There are fans of what Jest of Eve does all over the world after the success of the Talon group of kites. Understandable, ‘cos they are sublime at the whirly, whizzy, wrappy stuff that makes freestyle kiting what it is.

OK, so this here is a new one. There’s already a STandarD weight version, an Ultra Light and a VenTeD to play with to cover most wind ranges. This new Super Ultra Light should let us carry on playing in the very calmest of conditions. There’s a whole load of really light kites around that will ‘fly’ in next to no wind, or even indoors with just a bit of footwork required to put some pressure on the sail and float around a bit. Some will even, with a bit of coaxing, spin and whirl and ‘freestyle’ generally. Sooo, let’s have a closer look at the SUL Talon and see what it can do.

Construction

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

“Normal sail panels, construction and stitching, normal nose and normal Dacron bit at the tail along with normal velcro part. The spine stitching protective Mylar has been replaced with white Icarex. The
trailing edge tapes are made from Icarex. The leading edges are also Icarex, but with normal UL-type wingtip construction (reinforcing plastic, dacron then ripstop tape all spliced onto the Icarex). Takes 2 hours to make a pair of them ! Joy.

The standoff reinforcement mylar has been greatly reduced. A small strip of ripstop tape where the standoffs are replaces the dacron. There are dacron squares inside the trailing edge to help with standoff hole beefing-up.

The leech line is also lightened (I question its relevance at all at these windspeeds), with a 5g velcro (removable) tail weight. After a lot of testing, the tail was deemed to be the best location for the weight. Yoyo stoppers replace the roll bars, and small cables ties are used.”

Framing

Leading Edge : P90 2-piece
Upper Spreader : 3mm carbon
Lower Spreader : 3PT
Standoffs : 2mm carbon
All ferrules : hollow
Fittings : T-APA small sockets

Bridle : 150lb flying line with normal bridle line tow points

OK, Mark makes an awesome kite. The construction is just about as good as it gets, the materials used and attention to detail is right up there, and the styling is sweet. There is always an option for custom colours throughout, which can lead to some ermmm… individual designs (just plain fugly in some instances;-) ) but for the most part, a Talon is a thing of beauty – this new model is no exception. Gorgeous.

Flight

Enough… let’s go play.

Really light wind flying has a style and technique of its own. Stuff doesn’t happen in a blinding flash of whirling icarex. By its nature, there is a slow and controlled grace to enjoy, and by the nature of the materials used to make the kites, smooth and patient inputs are required. The application of violence and aggression doesn’t work.

The Talon SUL has a really pleasing presence on the lines, there’s the most gentle of pull with a bit of wind, whilst the slightest of movement forward stalls the kite and allows some moves. Axels are slow and flat, 540’s and slots are tight and smooth with very little loss of height, and Taz’s are to die for. The fade is stable and solid and backspins are pretty flat with plenty of slack thrown – there’s a learning curve here though, ‘cos they’re a bit different in initiation to the other Talons in the series. The turtle is different too, it’s much deeper and more set than other talons, giving away some sweet lazies, multies and slow, clean cyniques. One more big difference comes in the form of the pitch. There are 1 pop yo-yo’s to get with a touch and release, and 2 pop wraps there from the turtle, but it’s not such a give away as the other Talons. This is more than made up for with the sweet spin moves though, so never a biggy.

OK, light wind flying is my favourite, and damn but this thing works. Slow, smooth and capable – nowt missing particularly and continued flow in calm conditions. I’m off with the faeries somewhere for a while. ;-) Sweet.

More details here: http://www.jestofevekites.com/talon_sul.htm

-Bryan

Republished from original form flyingblog.de.

Many thanks to Juergen Denzinger for his translation.

Bernd Schucht and Thorsten Axmann of DiamondKites have developed the “Veyron” in the last 12 months. I was allowed to test their kite at about 7 km/h wind speed, which put a big smile on my face. After a week flying Veyron I know now what I really like about this kite.

With a massive sail area of 240 cm wingspan and 95 cm height, precise manufacturing , coupled with uncompromising trick skills, these are the main qualities of the Veyron from the “goldsmiths” at DiamondKites.

The perfect synergy of precision and trick combined with an extensive wind range and an unique presence in the sky. Innovative solutions in every detail.  I couldn’t give a sausage [sic], as long as this kite performs as good as it does.

Finest materials selected:

Icarex PC31, Airx, Mylar, laminated Dacron, tarpaulin and Moonie tape for perfect sail pressure, minimum weight and maximum abrasion resistance at the crucial points. Gold Aero Stuff (optionally Skyshark Nitro) as lower spreader, Avia top spreader, Skyshark PX3 spine as well as 5PT leading edges make the frame stiff enough. This spar combination is a perfect match. Adjustable trailing edge, R-Sky yo-yo stops and covered leading edge cut outs, FSD nocks and APA connectors give the finishing touches.

Manufacturing quality

The two kite-makers play in the top league. The sail is stiched flawless. Sailmaker seams down to the millimeter. A stitched Edelrid bridle. Leading edge assembly for fetishists. Sensible reinforcements and a super-stylish design. Well worth seeing with your own eyes.

What can the Veyron do?

Everything! The Veyron is just as much a freestyler as a precision monster. In both disciplines, it will continue to play at the very top, it may even set new standards.

If you launch this kite for the first time, you will recognise a very generous sail area. A big air ship [sic] for one who likes kites with small wings. If you like lush pressure build-up, a huge wind window, snappy corners and perfect performance in the lower wind range, you will love this machine!

Comfortable with basic pressure in the entire window, you can also fly at the edge of the wind window and perform corners and precise maneuvers there. The Veyron also delivers in strong winds. Pull and noisiness are the result of good speed control and a clean straight line.

Tricks:

Many things have surprised me, little took me wonders, nothing annoyed me …

The Veyron is flying easily all major new and old school tricks. Particularly noteworthy is the ease which this vulture [sic] performs the Taz – because it’s fun to conjure up cascades. Rising Taz Machines are so easy with this kite you have to be careful not over-do it. For the fade the two designers have built in an Anti-Wobble-Defuser^TM, this boy rests in the fade so quickly – madness!

Due to the stretched design the kite is not willing easily to axel 360 degrees, but it does it. The pancake has a dead spot at low wind, but this is very small and comes only with a wind close to zero. If there’s too little tension on the lines in a Flic Flac it still remains manageable.

Rotations around the horizontal ( YoYo ) are just right, not too pervasive, not too slow nor too fast. From the fade to a front wrap needs a bit more input and slack. Negative rotations like the Crazy Copter and YoFade are also possible. The Turtle position was invented for Lazy Suzans. The Veyron is stable but not like a brick on its back, it always conveys a feeling of safety. Insane , the Cascades and Rolling Cascade come out clean and beautifully accented. Back spins are very fast for such a large kite. Try not too hard and with patience. Backspin Cascades are child’s play.

All Flat spins are fast rotating and willingly executed. Combinations of mutex to Slot Cascade to Taz Machine and multi slots can be celebrated forever.
. 
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Contact details:

The No. 1 in series serves as a model and test kites. Anyone who would like to test this ingenious device should watch this space. Let me know and I will have the Veyron in my kite bag. (info@flying-colors.de) In addition to direct sales via DiamondKites is Flying Colors the only shop that offers this exclusive high-end kite in limited quantities. The Veyron is exclusively made to order. Lead time at present is 3 to 4 weeks.

Specification:

• Wingspan: 240 cm
• Height: 96 cm
• Bridle: 3 points
• Sail Material: Icarex / AirX / Mylar

Veyron STD Skyshark: 300 €

• Leading edge: Skyshark PT5
• Spine: Skyshark P3X
• Lower spreader: Skyshark Black Diamond NITRO
• Upper spreader: Carbon 6mm
• Wind range: 8-30 km / h

Veyron STD Aerostuff: 330 € (extended wind range and a more direct response than Skyshark version)

• Leading edge: Skyshark PT5
• Spine: Skyshark P3X
• Lower spreader: Gold Aero Stuff
• Upper spreader: Carbon 6mm
• Wind range: 8-35 km / h

Veyron UL Aero Stuff: 335 € (+15 € with black stripes)

• Leading edge: Skyshark PT3
• Spine: Skyshark P2X
• Lower spreader: Aero Blue S Stuff
• Upper spreader: Carbon 5mm
• Wind range: 3-20 km / h

Available colors:

• Dark gray / black
• Light gray / dark gray
• Medium blue / dark blue
• Pale green / green
• (UL only) White with black stripes

Once I have tested the UL extensively, I will report here!

Diamonds are forever!

-Grischa

How it started for me

A few years ago when I just rediscovered kite flying and was still getting familiar with modern trick kites my friend Bram Bijlhout showed me a video he downloaded from the web. The video showed a black and white kite flown on the beach which appeared to be flying in slow-motion. At first we thought the speed of the video was changed in edit but there where people walking and cars moving in the background as a reference. It couldn’t be a slo-mo effect! The pilot was flying beautiful straight lines and snappy corners and he did great slow tricks in between. Very impressive. This kite turned out to be the Vendetta SUL.

Two years ago I received a private message on Fractured Axel from Jay Coeuy who informed about a demo Vendetta STD which was being sent to europe for people to try it. The kite arrived at my place a few weeks later. Conditions were not great when i first flew the kite in offshore wind on the beach of Julanadorp during a winter meeting. I was sold right then and there. Luckily, the owner was willing to part with the kite for a more then reasonable price so the Vendetta was never sent on.

Who is Viper Sport Kites ?

Shawn Tinkham is the person running Viper Sportkites and the designer of a few great trick competition kites. He used to compete in the American Tricksparty league and did quite well. His designs consist off the older Viper (hence the name Viper Sportkites), Vendetta’s bigger brother Venom and the smaller, more radical version: Tantrum. The Vendetta came in 4 flavors: SUL, UL, STD and Vented. There’s a note on Shawn’s website informing us about the fact that due to a unforeseen personal situation he is not taking any orders at the moment. Let’s hope everything is well and Shawn will be producing some more of his wonderful kites soon.

Construction quality and used materials

When unfolding the Vendetta for the first time you’ll notice Shawn’s no-nonsense yet very accurate building style immediately. There are no gimmicks or over the top design elements in his kites. The kites are all build from Nylon sailcloth instead of the much more frequently used Icarex polyester material. It seems like the properties of nylon give the Vendetta it’s flying behavior.

Mylar reinforcements are absent at the spine or sail grabbers for instance. The trailing edge is completely covered in dacron and a double layer was used at the standoffs. There’s no leech line fitted. The leading edges are ‘covered’ in the most common way but holes were used instead of cuts which results in a very smooth LE.

The yoyo-stoppers are fitted in a rather large cut out. This is done to make the stoppers adjustable to improve rolled up flight. The nose consists off webbing and some self adhesive dacron was sewn on to get rid of the notorious snag points.

Skyshark rods are mostly used for the frames. Only the upper spreaders and standoffs are pultruded carbon rods. The frame specs for the STD are: LE p200/300, spine p200 and Black Diamond 5pt LS. APA, EXEL and R-SKY connecters are used. A 3-point bridle is fitted which is shortened for the lighter versions.

Straight Leading Edges and a fairly long spine (89 cm) give the Vendetta it’s shape. The standoffs are quite long at 28cm which makes the sail deep. Wingspan is 236 cm. Loads of sail area is the result. The leech line-less dacron Trailing Edge generates some noise in higher wind speeds.

Flying characteristics

I had the urge to start pumping the lines when I first pulled up the kite because it seems the kite has no drive at all. The drive is there all right but this kite is just that SLOW. I had to get used to it at first but after a while I noticed this is one of the hallmark characteristics. The other thing you”l notice right away is the polyvalent feel to the kite. Quite french actually. I personally have no doubt Shawn was inspired by the Nirvana when designing the Vendetta. There is not that much wind needed to get the STD started but the fun starts at 2 bft. At these conditions there’s already  some feedback on the lines and the handling is really precise. Above 4 bft it gets a bit racey so then is probably time for a Vented version (never had the pleasure to try one though).

The inputs required to let the Vendetta do it’s moves are rather big. When executing a stall you’ll notice the pressure is easily taken out of the sail. Two point landing are a blast and can be done nice and hard. Same goes for spikes. It’s really stable on one tip.

I’ll start off with my favorite trick on the Vendetta: the Slotmachine. The nose of the kite seems to snap back in a certain way without moving forwards. This results in a  nice rotation which stays in one place and the center of rotation is a bit low in the kite so the nose tends to point upwards slightly. Multislots can be done until your lines won’t move anymore. 540′s are flat and floaty. Half Axels and Cascades can be done aggressively and gentle. Full Axels are a bit more difficult. Tazmachines are easier with the lighter versions. The timing for a Taz is crucial to be performed correctly but if you hit it right it looks fantastic.

Backflip tricks are easily accessible but the Vendetta doesn’t really have a deep, locking backflip. Rolling Suzans, Lazies and Inverses are quite easy but require some slack. Rolling cascades are slow but controllable. Multilazies need to be guided trough their rotations but can be executed with an input comparable to a backspin and are nice and flat. The kite rolls up faster then one might expect. It pitches forwards easily and requires a small input on both lines to roll up at once. Rolled up flight feels stable and performing tricks in rolled up position is possible without losing grip on the stopper. The Comete requires rather large inputs but it looks amazing.

Jacobs Ladders need to be guided but this is mainly caused by the wide bridle when the kite is in a fade position. The fade isn’t really stable because of that and tends to be a little “nose high”. Backspins are not it’s nicest trick. The first rotation is just plain difficult and looks like a barrel roll. The following rotations are easier and look way better. I wouldn’t choose a Backspin Cascade in my TP ballet list… The Frontflip is not too difficult so Crazy Copters are accessible. Yofades can be done but are hard to maintain due to the unstable fade position.

Conclusion

You can say I fell in love with the Vendetta and the distinctive panel layout grew on me. I reckon these kites have a big advantage in competion since the readability of the performed ballet/tricks is so good. Apart from that it’s just so nice to fly and trick these kites in a nice evening sea breeze. Too bad it’s so hard to get one these days…

-Carlo (http://www.kareloh.com/?page_id=87)

Construction

The first impression on taking the Black Pearl out of it’s kite sleeve is that this is a solid, well built kite from Level One.  All the fine touches are evident: snag-free nose, locking larks-head knots on the upper and lower bridle attachment points, a nice, thick wear patch for the upper spreader, and an extra layer of reinforcement on the trailing edge where the standoffs attach to the sail.  This last detail is the first glimpse we get that the Black Pearl is a very pitch-happy freestyle kite.

Speaking of the standoffs, as was mentioned in the Black Pearl UL review, the standoffs come together in a somewhat unique arrangement, starting 7.5cm apart on the sail, but converging right together on the lower spreader.  I’m not a kite builder myself, so I can’t speak to the positive or negative effects of putting the standoff cups together on the lower spreader; as an end user, I did find that it makes disassembling the kite a little harder, the fit between the cup & the rubber tip on the standoff is very tight, especially when the rubber is brand new.

The Black Pearl is an impressive mix of SkyShark (3PT, P300 and Black Diamond Nitro) and Matrix CFK rods; strong without being overly stiff.  One note, the kite I was flying had a SkyShark P300 spine in place of the SkyShark P3X indicated on the website.  I’m not certain if that change was necessitated by the recent troubles in sourcing P3X rods or if this was just an oversight.

The sail has a very striking angular design, there’s not a curve to be seen anywhere on the layout.  The demo kite I flew was done in a monochrome layout, which inspired very bipolar reactions; some who saw it loved it for it’s simplicity, others felt that it needed a splash of color to better stand out in the sky.  Level One does offer this kite in either Orange or Blue as stock colors, and a colorized version is  available for a premium price.

Flight

The Black Pearl is surprisingly nimble and agile for a kite with an 8 foot (2.4 meter) wingspan.  To be honest, my first impressions in flight were that it was a smaller kite, because it has a similar feel to other .85 size kites I’ve flown.  For a standard kite, it has a very versatile wind range, I’ve personally flown it in winds as low as 3-4mph, where it feels very floaty and soft, but still performs well, and as high as 20mph, with gusts pushing closer to 25mph.  Granted, there’s not much tricking to be done at those higher speeds, but the feel was still balanced, and I didn’t find that I was being pulled around by the kite, which again came as a surprise considering the wingspan and size.

My own flying style is a mix of precision & freestyle, as a sport kite competitor one of my primary considerations when evaluating a kite is how well those two are balanced, particularly for use in ballet competition.  The Black Pearl did not disappoint, and while it would be well suited to a freestyle, tricks party or hot tricks style competition, it can still hold a nice straight line across any part of the wind window, gives nice, square corners, and can stall pretty much any place in the air I chose to stall it.  I’m not sure that I’d use it to fly precision figures in competition, because overall it’s speed is a bit faster than what I’d prefer, but I’d use it for choreographed flight without a second’s hesitation.

In freestyle tricking, the Black Pearl really shines.  This kite loves to trick, and loves to make the pilot look good while tricking.  There were a number of tricks I still struggle with on other kites which came very easily on the Black Pearl.  I found that I could perform a nice series of cometes, particularly in lower winds.  Basically, any pitch based trick is right at home on this kite.  I was consistently rolling up and unrolling this kite, and I was especially enjoying rolling the kite up, then pulling a half axel, following into an unroll.  Ceiling to floor cascades are very straightforward on this kite, even allowing for a little bit of sloppiness in the timing without the kite going all out of whack.  The wide wingspan meant that I could perform some very nice side slides, bringing the kite all the way across the wind window, then axel down into a tip-stab landing.

Stringing tricks together on the Black Pearl was incredibly easy.  I could probably stand in one spot and Jacob’s Ladder continuously for the better part of the afternoon.  Flic-flacs were smooth and could be done with a minimum of body movement.  The kite was equally easy to roll up either from a barrel roll or an over-rotated flic-flac.  Backspins were also a tremendous amount of fun, leading to more than one time when I would put too many twists in my line simply because I didn’t want to stop the spinning motion.

There are a few areas that I might suggest for improvement though, and it almost all comes down to snags.  The harder you push the Black Pearl, the more likely you are to encounter a line snag.  This wasn’t as evident at the beach, where the winds were smooth and even the whole time I was flying, but once I brought the kite inland and had to deal with variable wind speed and direction, I found that I was spending a lot of time untangling the line from one of two places: the yo-yo stoppers and the tail.  The yo-yo stoppers are “over the leading edge” style clips, zip-tied into place, which means that there’s plenty of gap around the top of each one, and it’s easy (perhaps too easy) to get the flying line wedged under the clip, with no recourse but to walk out to the kite and manually untangle it.  I’m not certain if adding thicker leaders to the bridle would help to mitigate this, or if a different yo-yo stopper needs to be investigated.  I suppose I’ve been spoiled by the likes of the Saber, Hydra and Jinx, which all integrate the yo-yo stopper into the leading edge dacron, and don’t present any snag points.  So, when flying in less than ideal conditions, the Black Pearl will make you conscious of your slack line handling.  The other thing I noticed was that due to the amount of time the kite spends rolled up, and the relatively thin line used for the bridle, there seems to be a large amount of wear on the Nitro lower spreaders.

Admittedly, I’m still an intermediate flyer, so one of the things I did was put the Black Pearl into the hands of a couple of Master level kite flyers here on the East Coast of the US.  Firstly, Ron Graziano spent some time with the kite at Wildwood:

“Basically the Black Pearl was fun, and to me seemed quite a bit more precise than Frazer had described initially.  Not a precision kite per se, but not a flying squirrel either.  The tricks were very good, though I found a few ‘gotchas’ in the kite, mainly around half-axel based stuff.  There seemed to be quite a bit of wingtip out there, just looking to grab a line when I least expected it.  That could be my personal flying style and limited time on the kite more than something innately wrong with it though.  Everything lazy-susan based was especially good, the kite is well-balanced on its back.”

Given the style of kite, I was also impressed that I could pull back from a flare well enough to do flic-flacs – I was expecting a kite that turned-turtle rather than come back to fade.  Overall I would say that I got on with it much, much better than any Level One kite I’ve flown since the BlackJack”

Secondly, Will Sturdy took it out to fly between events at a competition in Richmond, VA.  While I don’t have a direct quote from Will, his impression was also that the Black Pearl was fun to fly, but moreso as a kite to take out for pleasure instead of competition.  Will’s concern was that the kite was too quick to roll up, and seemed to be balanced a bit to far to support pitch tricks, at the expense of a more well-rounded flying experience.

The Verdict

What does it all add up to?  Well, I’d take the Black Pearl out when I just wanted to have a good time, to fly and to look good for my spectators.  This is just the sort of kite I love to fly at the beach in the summer, when I’m not looking to fine-tune my inputs or focus intently on competitive maneuvers.  The Black Pearl is just fun to fly.

-Jared

Ramlal hopes the kite will be in stores by the end of the summer, when the new Atelier website will be unveiled. However, it can ordered now by emailed Ramlal directly. The price is 370 euros.

Available now from Cerfvolantservice.com here.

This Slash video is something special, like all Atelier videos. In the hands of Mathieu not only are the tricks exemplary, but for good measure there’s dramatic scenery and spectacular new camera angles, from on the kite itself and along side it in the air.

Specifications:

• Dimensions: 237 cm / Height: 102.5 cm / Weight: 331 grs / Max Depth: 25 cm
• Framing: full Skyshark Nitro (STD + strong for upper leading edge)
• Standoffs: 2 x 3mm carbon rod + 2 x 2mm Gytech
• Bridle: 3 points “Y”
• Tailweight: 15gr
• Features: Adjustable centre T, Gytech wind absorbers, auto-breaking winglets
• Wind Range: 8-25 km/h
• Recommended Lines: 40-90 kg Length: 30m- 38m

I’m looking forward to seeing more of this kite in action. Its been far too long since the last design from Atelier, the excellent “V Masque”.

Construction

The one in my bag is the 10th Anniversary edition, #11. It is framed in Icone White, both the leading edges and the lower spreaders which makes for re-assuredly stiff, shudder free, frameset. The only concern with Icone is its availability and sourcing a replacement spar in the event of breakage. I’m not sure what the framing plans are for Icone kites looking forward given that Icone might soon be discontinued but some Sky Shark Nitro’s would surely make for an ample substitute. The sail layout is arguably the best ever produced, most everybody is a fan of the design irrespective of what they make think of the kite itself. Thankfully, R-Sky appear to have abandoned the awful button style sail clips, responsible for many a lost standoff, much cussing and Yosemite Sam style tantrums. New kites ship with screw in style fittings which are going to be there for the life of the kite and represent a most welcome upgrade.

Pretty soon it becomes clear that the inner bridle leg catches over the spine enough for it become very irritating. You can shake it off by cartwheeling the kite or some such but it remains a PITA. The simple solution is to tie a short keeper line between the inner and upper bridle legs such that the bridle can’t catch the spine. And this is something you are going to want to do, else you’ll be cursing the kite and your sloth, each time out.

Tricks

As for the tricks, its textbook clean. The old school stuff, flatspins, cascades, backspins, flic-flacs are all effortless. As for the newer stuff, its all pretty easy on this kite too. Point in case, Taz Machines. This kite will put out the prettiest Taz Machines you might ever pull. You’ll read all about these newer German designs which excel at the Taz, and its true they do, but they don’t look any better than on the Nirvana and that’s a fact.

The kite is great in anything turtle based, Multi-lazies are flat and stable and the kite doesn’t fall out of them backwards like some others can tend to.

One area of weakness though, at least with the stock Icone version is rolling the kite up, I’m afraid it’s a bit of pig in that regard. I tried hitting it harder and adding more tailweight but to no avail. Then I remembered, most owners shorten the upper spreader a tad. The stock spreader is 50cm and I’m assured by respected R-Sky fliers that when shortened to 49.5cm or 49cm the ‘Vana rolls up much, much better.

Precision

Precision must be best close to best class for a design which tricks so well. Snappy corners and constant speed across the window make this a great precision machine and its competition heritage proves this. Not that this should come as any great surprise of course, the ‘Vana has been the gold standard for a number of years now. As an all around freestyle/competition kite its yet to be bettered, even by R-Sky themselves.

Myths

Time to dispel a few myths then. First up, the “pull”. You often hear people on the forums complaining about the excessive pull the kite generates. Well, I flew it up to 15mph and I’m here to tell you thats stuff and nonsense. I’m not fond of strong pulling kites, but the Nirvana gave me no reason for complaint. I didn’t notice any excessive or unpleasant pull.

Next up, “the large inputs required”. Well, I’m happy to report thats more poppycock. The Nirvana responds very nicely to light and small inputs. I know it can be flown aggressively too and in the right hands that this might yield even better results, but there is no need to manhandle this kite.

Some Negatives ?

Well, it really needs a couple tweaks as mentioned, a shortened the upper spreader and the bridle keeper line. For a design of this maturity you might have expected these mods to have been incorporated into the stock design.

For all its qualities and undeniable greatness, it feels a little soulless. A little too clinical, it lacks personality and grin factor. Perhaps this is because the kite is just so damn good, its almost as if its flying you, rather than you at the controls. And if there are no struggles, then there’s little sense of achievement and it feels less rewarding to fly. The Nirvana has no vices, and that should be a good thing, but we do so love our little vices don’t we ?

Finally, theres the price. The Nirvana is an expensive kite, in Sky Shark and very expensive in Icone. Now much of this can be attributed to the exchange rate and the relative strength of the Euro. This is a problem with any European kite, so what you going to do ? Pass up all these killer Euro chic designs or suck it up and pray for a return to the days of the more favorable exchange rates ? I suggest the later, in the words of the great satirist Craig Hibbert “lifes to short to fly crappy kites”.

Conclusion

So, the aging Nirvana no longer represents the bleeding edge, there are more radical designs available, designs which can out perform the ‘Vana in one area or another. But there can’t be many designs which are better all around performers, at least I’ve not flown any. This is a truly awe inspiring kite, definitely a kite everybody should at least experience, if not own. A few minutes with this will show you just what is lacking in your other kites and just how good a pilot you will be, one day, when you can fly those others well as you fly this.

Oh yes, the Nirvana is really the flatterer, it makes most everybody look better than they really are

Introduction

I’ll always have a soft spot for Level One Kites. Back in the day, my first proper kite was a Level One Easy Light on which I learned to Axel and avoid those frequent walks of shame which plague the novice pilot. There was a pocket of Level One devotees there in Dallas, TX and between us we had most designs from the Easy Light all the way up to the mighty Thor’s Hammer. We loved ‘em for their good value, solid construction (lots of heavy landings in those days) and forgiving flight.

So, I was keen to try out the new(ish) design from Level One Kites, The Black Pearl, designed by Thorsten Mikus. Its a whole lot more kite that those first L1′s of mine, but retains those beloved traits on of the kites, it even has the “Made In Heaven” logo on the kite bag

Construction

When I first put the kite together it felt more like a SUL, such is the flex in the frame and the light weight. It is framed with SkyShark 2PT (hence the flex) & SkyShark 3PT leading edges and SkyShark 3PT spreaders. With a SkyShark P1X spine this adds up to 230g which is not a lot for 2.4m kite.

The most interesting feature of the kite is the position of the standoffs. They are positioned such that the connectors on the lower spreaders lie adjacent to one another, literally touching. It does look a little odd at first, the only design I’ve seen with anything resembling it would be the Aerostar Sport Kites “Sano” which achieves a similar configuration with its ShapeShifter™ standoffs.

The sail is Icarex and the leading edge tunnels are of some light weight material which gave me some concerns initially about wear and how long it might last. I’ve been assured by Thorsten though that the leading edges hold up just fine and Kitehouse designs feature similar materials and I’ve had no issue with them, despite flying regularly on shell strewn beaches. The sewing and finishing perhaps isn’t on par with the very best boutique manufacturers but its appears perfectly acceptable/adequate and I found no mistakes or areas of concern. The sail reinforcements at the trailing edge, the upper spreader rub spot and around the centre T are well done and look like they offer plenty of protection.

First Impressions

As stated, this is a large kite and it moves slowly and deliberately but it doesn’t feel that big on the end of the lines. The pull is pleasantly light even as the wind picks up and it doesn’t require large or firm inputs. In fact, the Black Pearl is very tolerant of sloppy inputs and delivers pleasing results despite the technique limitations of the pilot. Now, of course, this is a good thing because it makes the kite easy to pick up and trick but on the other hand it does nothing to improve the slop in your technique.

Tricks

Tricks wise the Black Pearl turns out to be a very rounded design, equally capable of graceful old skool tricks or modern pitch based freestyle moves. Lets cover the old skool first. This kite excels are flatspins, 540′s are quite amazing for a design of this French shape/pedigree lovely and flat. Slot Machines likewise and multi-slots are really stoopid easy to pull off. Flic flacs are textbook with none of the dreaded deadspot which blights some other, overly pitchy, modern designs. Backspins are proper Backspins and not barrel rolls. In smooth winds they remain flat and don’t drift across the window. Whats more, cascading them is pretty straightforward and given the Black Pearl’s solid Flic Flacs the Duplex should be very attainable too. I’ll be sure to try this trick next time out.

The new skool, pitched based stuff, you’ll be pleased to hear that’s all there too. It rolls up and unwraps very gracefully, not blindingly quickly but smoothly and naturally such that I found myself pulling Lewis after Lewis just to watch it again and again. You can see what I mean in this video, to my eyes at least, this kite moves and transitions much more pleasingly that many a newer design.

Jacob’s Ladders are really very easy, the size/speed of the kite allow for slower rungs and in the good winds I had I could keep them going until I tired of them. Wap Do Waps are nice on this kite too, slower again due to the size and UL framing but slow Waps turn out to be more pleasing than the blindingly fast ones I haphazardly hit on smaller design. Multi-lazies had a tendancy to fall out so some care is needed there, and chaining tricks together into combinations is effortless and the BP transitions from one trick into the next very cleanly.

Precision ? Well that really isn’t a strong point of my flying, along with cometes and all manner of other stuff, but the Black Pearl cuts more that acceptable corners and figures with clean lines and pretty constant speed across the window. I’m informed that in much better hands the precisions is really rather good, which reinforces my belief that the Black Pearl would make a very capable competition platform. Wether it be Tricks Party or ballet, the tricks, clean lines and size/presence/speed you’d have no excuses, it wouldn’t be the kite letting you down.

Conclusion

In conclusion then, well, despite having made a promise to myself I’d be buying no more new kites this year I rather think I’ll be making some room in my bag for a couple more. Its just that compelling. It’d be the perfect kite for a novice, being so neutral and forgiving which makes it very easy to achieve good results. That statement does the kite a disservice though, because its much more that an entry/novice level platform, its worthy of serious consideration for all levels of fliers.

The only really fault I can find with the kite is the printed graphic on the wingtip. I realize this is a feature common to many Level One kites, but I’m not a fan of it. The sail layout, though simple is very effective but the graphic does detract a little from the aesthetic.

Nobody in the US currently stocks this design, which is a pity because its simply too good to ignore. It Europe though it is carried by a number of stores including Kite Ireland (duh), Cerf Volante Service (France), Volango (Germany) and Giochi Volanti (Italy)

Thanks

I’d like to thank the people who have made this review possible by providing the demo kite. First of all, a big thank you to Thorsten Mikus, the designer, who has provided three different kites for US demo. Thanks also to Paul Debakker of Goodwinds & Focus Kites who brought the kites back with him from a trip to Europe and who mailed them out to me. Finally to Jürgen Denzinger of Kites Ireland who put me in touch with Thorsten and got the ball rolling.

My experience with the Mohawk dates back to 2006 when I bought an original Air Oeuvre Mohawk and flew it exclusively for about six months.  Many people probably still remember the build and consistency issues of those early Mohawks, in addition to criticism the design received for some quirky performance aspects.  In response, Air Oeuvre released the Mohawk XS (MXS), a new kite designed to retain the trick-trainer goals of the original kite whilst correcting the quirks for which the original was criticized.

Unfortunately, Air Oeuvre disappeared before many MXS’s found homes, leaving behind only some promo videos (here and here) and a spattering of positive forum posts from the few owners out there.  That outcome always struck me as a shame; a solid kite design never gained the recognition it deserved – firstly because buyers of the original Mohawk were burned by the inconsistent build that seemed to plague Air Oeuvre, but also because the company disappeared and the kites simply weren’t available anymore.  Happily though, Sportkitedesign has licensed the MXS design and is now building the kites from original templates.  I’ve been flying one of the new MXS’s exclusively for several months now, so let’s get on with the review.

Features And Construction

The MXS sail is a 16-panel construction with a colour scheme comprising neutral white/gray/black tones with a single feature colour.  Sportkitedesign now employs a unified set of build features across its designs, so all of the details found on a current Seven are also present on the MXS and vice-versa.  This includes fine sewing detail, black striping to highlight each straight seams, leading edge covers, a leech line, and a tough, snag-free nose.  The sail is also reinforced well with Mylar reinforcement along the spine seam and upper spread rub patch, and double Mylar in the standoff area.

Generally, framing is fairly typical for a standard kite: P200 upper and lower leading edges, 5PT spreaders, 5mm upper spreader, and 3mm standoffs; less typical is the heavier P300 spine and single standoff arrangement.  The MXS also comes fitted with wrapped fiberglass rollbars, 10 grams of removable tail weight, and a simple three-point bridle with an angle-of-attack adjustment pigtail at the upper outhaul.  There are a few nice touches worth noting: Black Diamond spreaders are standard now, and plastic logos are also sewn onto the tail velcro and sleeve, so there’s no more doubt about the brand of kite you’ve bought.

Assembled, the shape of the MXS is unusual; the kite has a very fat tail section which almost seems over sized compared to the relatively small sail areas extending outwards from the standoffs.  The leading edges are also very straight indeed, to the extent that the wingtips are barely raised off the ground when the kite is laid belly-down.  Standing the kite up, you get the impression that you’re looking at a 2.22 metre triangle with a high-cut trailing edge.

In flight

First up, the MXS is absolutely fine with flic flacs.  In fact, there doesn’t seem to be a dead spot in the fade to flare at all, which makes sharp, snappy flic flacs a strong point.  Another of the kite’s strong points is a reliable front flip, meaning that the kite excels at flip flops (“upside down” flic flacs that alternate between a deep backflip and a front flip).  I’ve found that the front flip is really useful in general flying; it means that you can throw in a flip flop or two in between Jacob’s ladder combination’s, or fly a series of alternating lewis’ (unwrap to front flip, then wrap again) from the window top to bottom.

Flying the MXS, you soon notice that there’s plenty of pitch available, though not so much that it feels like a liability.  With the stock tailweight, I think that the right balance is achieved.  The MXS will still flare in high winds, and the way that 540s whip around reminds me of the Deepspace.  The Deepspace flavour is there in many ways, though it’s hard to provide specific examples apart from the 540.  I guess it’s more a feeling of freestyle flow more than anything.  The rollbars are a real boon because the kite is readily yoyo’d, and it locks into a wrap for forward flight nicely.  Wrapped 540s are very reliable, along with wrapped half axels, etc.

The MXS’s backflip reminds of a stock Nirvana – it’s fairly quick to pitch back, and it will clear the lines for a lazy if you wait a moment for the kite to settle, but it’s not a locked-in deep turtle like the original Mohawk, or say, a Transfer.  The backflip, combined with the shape of the kite and its trailing edge, mean that most lazy susan moves are easily accessible.  Snap multilazies are very easy, but even more impressive is the success rate of inverses, and inverses with mutlilazy rotations.  For example: horizontal pass, inverse multilazy, comete out, short opposite horizontal pass, inverse multilazy, comete out.

Forward pitch, well, it’s there in abundance.  The MXS is just the ticket if you’re looking to learn the yofade.  In light-to-medium winds, building pressure in the sail and snapping your wrists will have the kite pitching around quickly, and most often, locking into a wrapped fade position.  The forward pitch also means that the setup for crazy copters is quite easy, though the spin input takes a bit more care.  A relatively light pop is needed for the spin, and the MXS is most suited to a single spin ending in a nose-up position.

At a high level, one of my favourite aspects of the MXS is the “squareness” of its rotations.  Given the triangular shape of the kite and it’s backflip traits, Jacob’s ladders are very clean, even, and geometrical looking.  Similarly, the MXS makes it easy to keep cometes square.  Fly straight up, complete a few comete iterations, and power straight down for a two-point landing or multilazy kombo.  Half axels are much improved over the original Mohawk, this time around feeling more or less “normal”, and there’s also a nice and reliable wapdoowap, unlike the original Mohawk which stubbornly resisted that trick.  Backspins definitely prefer an uneven fade setup to get started, and plenty of forward movement and slack is needed in anything more than light winds.

Now, no kite is without quirks and weaknesses, so what do you need to keep in mind with the MXS?  Whilst there’s no dead spot in the flare to fade in a flic flac sense, there is a dead spot in the half-axel to fade from a horizontal pass.  Inputs must be kept tight for the move to succeed, otherwise the kite will stall in a nose-away position and back up towards the flier.  Perhaps related to this, inputs for a regular descending cascade must also be kept tight, and the kite really demands the two-pop approach for the cascade to look any good.  Having said that, a nice cascade isn’t too hard, and it’s certainly miles ahead of the original Mohawk which made descending cascades pretty painful.  Some smaller kites (e.g. Nirvana FX, Frenezy Evo) make the backspin cascade a giveaway, but this is not the case with the MXS.  The kite is similar to a Nirvana in that it prefers a very well defined “stop” input before the pull for the counter-rotation is given.  Lastly, taz machines require fairly strict timing and light inputs, and cascading tazes is not a trivial affair.

On the precision and tracking front, the MXS performs better than you might expect for a small kite.  Speed control is quite good, facilitated by a trailing edge that buzzes away in even moderate winds.  That’s fine by me – noise is okay so long as it’s functional, and in the case of the MXS, noise brings speed control.

Finally, wind range.  Compared to many modern standard kites, the MXS needs a bit more wind to get moving, perhaps an extra two or three miles per hour.  Having said that, the kite’s workable upper wind range is higher than most, so it’s as if the standard wind range has been translated upwards.  Generally, the kite’s pull is lighter than most but it doesn’t suffer the original Mohawk’s problems of feeling “invisibile” (no feedback) in all but strong winds.  Once 12mph and above hits, you’ll be dealing with a good amount of pull and noise.  As always, I’ve put the kite through some torture tests and the frame performed admirably up to about 15mph, past which the wingtips started to shudder.

Conclusion

Build wise, Sportkitedesign kites are made with the greatest attention to detail that I’ve seen in any commercial kite.  Detail that extends to the millimetre-spacing of stitching within seam limits, tiny single stitches used to hold down reinforcement corners that might otherwise curl up, and the evenness of stitching patterns between left and right sides of the sail.  Really amazing.

Performance wise, the kite has heaps of character.  Its sharp, square rotations make Jacob’s ladders and cometes great fun to fly, and there’s a great blend of freestyle fun and competition-style reliability to the tricks.  There’s some Deepspace feel at times, but it’s coupled with a less manic pace and some surprisingly decent tracking and speed control.

Try one out, you might like it.

-Adrian

Coming soon from SKD: MX, a budget version of the MXS, and MXS Pro, an upgraded version of the MXS reviewed here.