dick dastardly

this was the first "power" kite I made about 8 years ago and I am now in the process of making another but larger I love them! there really is something nice about flying a kite you have made yourself. NPW's are easy to make difficult to bridle properly and just plain cussed to fly. NPWs need to be flown using the brake lines to keep the air in the nose of the kite otherwise you get catastrophic collapses and impressions of a bin bag in a breeze. However with practice they can be flown with a high degree of precision and very accurately placed in the wind envelope. So much so that on buying my first 4 liner I was disapointed how clumsy it was and little effect the brakelines had. They pull well and consistently and I have found them useful as buggy engines although not as easy to relaunch as foils. On the whole they are an interesting relic and oddity but for price and size they are powerful and fun also being single skinned pack down to next to nothing if making one for yourself the lines and handles will cost more than the sail and bridling. Go on try one you might be suprised. By : dick dastardly

Just bought this at a good price as the typhoon 11,s are now out. This buggy looks the biz it is how I would make one if I could it looks "engineered" even down to the motorcycle style front headstock. It is well made and very well finished and as a bonus comes in its own bag to pack it away in. The buggy rides well and feels solid even though it is only light 11Kgs apparently. The seat is very comfortable and grips just right with a really nice back rest but is bloody complicated to fit the first time. My three main niggles:- The wheels also have a bag but as my typhoon has wide wheels only two of the fit in the bag not all three (bit annoying) and the seat has to be fitted at the front before bolting up the four side rails this I forget to do so I may be modifying that bit of the seat fitting. The instruction supplied are PANTS thanks to The Kitestore in london who put me on to Five-forty kite sports website instructions excellent. Overall a good buggy and at the right price a good value for money bit of kit By : dick dastardly