Action Pact Airblaster Stealth 3.6M

My first impression of the Stealth was that it fills a nice hole between the Flexifoil Bullet and the Blade. The kite has lift and power, both are in good moderation. It's well constructed from almost identical materials to its Flexifoil rivals. And has a price that will almost certainly make the smaller sizes very popular.

Let's start the review with first impressions. Getting the kite out of the bag I was dubious, the bag was nice looking. And I thought that this might be an effort to make the kite seem of a higher quality than it actually was. I was wrong. The kite is nice, well sewn together made from the same materials as other well known brands.

The bridle seemed simple, yet intimidating because of the lack of colour coding between the brake and power bridles. It all looked like one big mess, but a few seconds playing with the bridle and you soon see exactly where everything goes. Flying lines attach with larks head knots as is standard on most traction kites. All in all it has the same look and feel as any of the professionally made traction kites you can buy. No corners seem to have been cut with the construction at least.

Getting the kite up in the air you can feel that the kite is neither a Bullet nor a Blade replica. You get the stability of a Bullet, but with lift as well. The kite is fast in the sky, and maneuvers with positive control. I felt that it had a good sized wind window, and would fly at around 85 degrees from 12 o clock. The brakes are responsive and the kite will fly backwards with great ease and very little brake pressure.

Too much brake pressure will result in the bottom of the kite folding upwards and make the kite more unstable. This isn't a great problem though it just means the pilot has to be a little more careful when landing and braking the kite. This kite does not come with and handles or lines. A good line and handle set is offered with the kite for a little more money I believe, and is probably worth the extra.

Buggying with this kite was great fun. You can use the position of the kite in the sky to change the lift and pull of the kite. Flying the kite in the lower ¾ of the wind window gets you moving with little or no lift. Then using the speed of the kite and the top ¼ of the window you can generate solid controllable lift. The extra lift is great for popping the back wheel up. At no point whilst in the buggy did I feel that the kite was getting the better of me, or attempting to lift me out. And the lift was good enough for me to be able to keep the back wheel in the air with little effort other that balance control. A big thumbs up IMHO.

For general movement the kite was solid. Not as powerful as a bullet I felt, but there is a significant range of sizes with the stealth to make getting a bigger kite cheaper. The kite was difficult to overfly, fast at turning and gave the power coming out of turns that you need. Using the kite as a wind brake was quite difficult, the kite has to be forced beyond the zenith in the opposite direction and its flat profile means it doesn't grab the air and slow you down. I think there will be a technique for making this style of braking more efficient. I will have to play with the kite more to learn the secret. It's not a race winner, but it'll have you grinning like a naughty school boy. And you'll be safe as houses when that back wheel lifts.

Upwind I felt the kite was O.K. It wasn't special but with effort you could get yourself back upwind. The larger kites in the stealth range are probably lots better, but the 3.6 in 10Mph winds just didn't have the legs. Don't be fooled into thinking this kite won't get you upwind, it just won't do it as fast as some of the other kites you can buy. If you're not racing, you're not going to care in the slightest about a little upwind speed though.

My roundup

I like this kite a lot. If I didn't already have a 2.5m bullet I would have one of these. The 3.6 is fun, and will have you impressing yourself and friends with very little effort. The bridle could do with been coloured to make it less intimidating. All in all though it's a great little piece of kit. And an absolutely wonderful kite to get learning buggy with. Especially when the 3.6 is cheaper than the 2.5 bullet.

Author : nesbitt_bub1