Flexifoil Bullet 4.5M

I was introduced into the amazing world of power kiting last december with a mate's Flexifoil Super 10. I absolutley loved it and realised just how much i needed to get my own kite.

I did a huge amount of research and ended up settling for a Flexifoil Bullet 4.5. I think i got quite a good deal. It was complete, ready to fly with lines and handles, for just under £200 brand new.

RUCKSACK

It all comes in a really smart rucksack, looks great, and has enough room in it for any accessories you might have. The quality, i think is really good.

HANDLES

I chose the handles option, and again, the quality is, i believe the best there is. They are brilliant. Colour coded, one's got blue cords and one's got red cords. They have padded parts where your hands go which really makes a difference to the comfort of flying, and of course will keep you flying for longer! Coming out of the handles, are the power cords, where the flying lines are attached using the larks head knot. The knot in the cord is already there, and its very well made. Then the same with the brake line cords. There is a loop on the back of each handle, continuing from the brake line through the handles. These are very handy to put a stake through if you want to take a break or when setting up etc. A very thoughtful extra. And at the top, there are knots on the other side again, for what is an attachment, i believe for use if a harness is worn. Again, very clever and well made.
The overall quality i think is amazing, they look brilliant, they feel brilliant, they are even coloured to maximise user-friendliness.

FLYING LINES

Came sealed in a plastic wrap. Wrapped neatly around a winder (around 20cm long) which had an elastic band to keep the lines tight to the winder. I will add that even the winder that Flexifoil have provided is beyond anything else i've seen. I have since ordered more winders for more lines, but they dont even compare to the one that Flexifoil gave me with the kite. The feel of quality and design, and the elastic, it all adds up.
The power lines are 25m (82ft) and will take up to 500lb (225kg). One line is Blue, and the other is red. This makes it very easy to understand and complete the set up. The brake lines are the same length, but will take 220lb (100kg). These are coloured grey, but do have coloured ends, to help with set up, (Grey with either a blue or red end)

The lines, although only lines at the end of the day, again reflect the quality of the product. The stitching at the end of the lines is all complete and ready for use, and you can see how well it has been made.

KITE

Now moving onto the highlight of the show! Mine is 4.5 m and coloured mostly red, with a blue leading edge and a bit of white in there somewhere. I think it looks very good when in the air, and other colours are available.

The kite is so well built, i cant think of anything else that shows such impressive build quality. It was crispy when i first took it out, and still is, a month or more later, after hours of flying. The bridle is top quality, and although complex, Flexifoil have included these clever velcro straps to secure each of the brake and power lines on the kite, to at least minimise the mess of the lines. I personally have used these very well i think, i cant imagine how much of a mess i'd be in without them! The leading edge has a gauze type material over it, which i think actually looks good.
Extremely good quality anyway.

FLYING

I first took my bullet out on boxing day 2006. I was in Weston-Super-Mare so i dragged the family down to the beach. Whilst they were walking along, me and my cousin's fiance began the set up.

We took out the handles, and joined the lines easily. Its so easy as Flexifoil have coloured it all. Blue line to blue handle. Blue brake line to blue brake handle... Red line to red handle... etc. then i unwrapped the lines until the end. I pulled the kite out the bag and stretched it out. Now i noticed, the same on the kite end. Blue to blue... red to red... etc. 10/10 for the easy set up Flexifoil!

We spent a minute or so straightening the lines, as i suppose with 25m of line, and 4 of them, it wont be perfect to start off with!

Now this was my first flight, and as a beginner, please understand that i was a little unsure of what to expect. So i put the kite killers on. Similar to attaching lines, its just a case of doing a larks head knot around the brake line, and again, colour coded to make sure even a monkey could do it.

So here i was... Kite attached to the lines... handles in my hands.... a perfectly flat beach of hard packed sand. And no wind.

There was such little wind, that even before we started to set it up, we were a little unsure if it would fly. But i kept saying 'the bigger the kite, the less wind needed'

I dont have a wind meter but to try to make you understand what i mean, it took us a minute or so to agree on what way the wind was blowing! we couldn't even really feel what way it was blowing! I might add we did this before setting up.

My friend held the kite up to try and inflate it and it began to inflate, but not really take off. So we agreed that after 3, i would run back fast and tug sharp on the lines... And the kite took off!!!

In practically no wind atall, i was on the beach flying my new kite. I had only flown my friends super 10 in quite windy conditions relative to this, so this was all i had to compare it to at the time. The Bullet 4.5 in very little wind, compared to the Super 10 in high wind, was much slower turning. But this was fine with me as i was just getting to know what my new kite was like. I took the kite killers off as they were not needed atall

Looking back i remeber i did have to work quite hard to keep it in the air. I ran so far that day i had a real work out! I ran along the beach, sprinting. It flew fine high in the sky, but sometimes near the edge of the window, it would feel like it was about to drop out, so this was when i would start running! But... i was impressed by the amount of power it had in these 'no wind' conditons. I was flyng it right down through the window and right into the maximum power area, and i was leaning back to balance it.
I started gettin more confident and was enjoying myself doing loops and more agrssive turns. I gave my dad a go, and he couldn't get it up in the air, i seemed to be the only person who could fly it that day. Anyway i packed it away when the light went, and was delighted with it.

The second flight i had was back at university at Portsmouth. You may know the sea front down here can get very windy indeed. So these conditons were nothing like my first flight. I had spent about an hour or so the night before untangling my lines, as i had got in a mess.

Now i realised how versatile this kite really is! It was much windier, i mean i could clearly feel the wind blowing me around. This time is was much more powerful, and as a result, i dont think i took the kite even close to the maximum power area of the window. I was getting dragged around perfectly without maximum power. If i had a smaller kite, say a 3m or possibly even a 2.5, then mayb this would have been a better choice for this day, but anyway, i had my 4.5.
In these winds, the kite was very stable indeed. Whereas before i said it occasionally felt like it might drop, this was not the case here. It would always maintain its shape, even right at the end of the window. Its turning was much faster now aswell. A full loop could be done quite fast, but there would be a lot of power and me skidding around with it! It was tiring me out very fast though, and after probably just mins, i was landing it over to the edge of the window just for a breather.

I took it out again the other day, which i thought was just the same as the above flight i have just told you about. I thought the winds were the same, but i was wrong.
I took my girlfriend with me this time, as i was desperate to show her what i had been going on about for all these months. I always wear the kite killers in portsmouth as i feel it is definetly windy enough to perhaps get into trouble if a mistake is made.

I made a mistake on this day of launching right in the middle of the wind window. I always had done before and i didn't think. When setting up, the kite was already taking off, so i asked my GF to just sit on the kite and when i tell her, to roll off the back. When she did, i was dragged (mentally unprepared) right up next to her pretty much. She thought it was amusing but i wasn't expecting it, but i still laughed. So now the kite is right above my head, and its starting to pick me up in the odd gust of wind, and its just blowing around everywhere. I weigh 11stone and im 6ft 2 or so. The bullet, although designed for 'reduced lift' was picking me up, which i loved! But this was when the kite was right above my head, and whenever i moved it the power was just too much. The kite killers came into use when i didn't mean them too, but at least i now know that they do work! and they do a great job aswell, should anything go wrong when your flying. I must admit, i think i'm glad to know that, although i wouldn't try to fly in dangerous conditions, i did this day and the kite killers helped me out very well. I packed up the kite then and went home amazed at the sheer power it produced. I mean, i didn't even think it was that much windier then the other day, when i had had so much fun getiin dragged around.

CONCLUSION

My conclusion is that the Flexifoil Bullet is a great kite. Outstanding quality for build and customer service etc. They really are the best out there. But the 4.5 m Bullet is as quiet as a mouse in very low winds, although still good fun. In high winds, it actually became quite scary if i'm honest and i should be grateful that i didn't get hurt. At least i can say i had the intelligence to pack up when i did.

I love my bullet very much, but i think that considering i will be doing most of my flying on Portsmouth common, i might need to consider gettin a smaller sized kite. I'm not going to sell my bullet, but i know i dont need anything bigger then it for long while, unless i move somewhere with different conditons. I think i could do with some kites around the 2 or 3 metre mark to make sure i can be out there flying whatever the winds are like.

I recommend this kite fully, it is superb and you will have so much fun! Definetly enough pull for boarding etc, which i am thinking of trying very soon.

Take care and fly safe

By : planetbutler