HQ Beamer 7.0M

Been flying my Beamer 7.0m for a while I thought it was time to put a report here on racekites, so here we go.

Like all the other Beamers, the kite comes with decent quality 20m lines, good quality but only average design handles and a bag with the largest zip on earth.

HQ have been criticized for the quality of the rucksack, but according to HQ they now have a new design bag that is a lot better built. The rucksack for the 7.0m seems fine and it isn't falling apart.

When I first decided to launch the kite, I was quite nervous. This is one big kite and it was quite a breeze blowing. Anyway, after initially setting up and launching, all went well but a put the kite down and went back to one of my smaller kites because the wind was a little high for my skill level. But initial reactions were the kite was very similar to the other Beamers just considerably bigger and a lot slower to move around the sky.

Now to the bit where it all goes horribly wrong. The wind speed is dropping and its looking like ideal time to fly the 7.0m. Expecting something wonderful I unpack and launch the kite. What an absolute pig to fly. The wind window is very small and the edge of the kite wants to luff and tie itself in a knot at every opportunity. I put it down to my skill with such a big kite and persevere.

Numerous attempts still leave me bitter and feeling like this kite just doesn't want to fly. The last straw was when flying with a friend. He was enjoying himself and scudding with a 4.9 Blade and I just cant get any power out of the 7.0 Beamer.

So I get the website for the HQ forum form the racekites.com forum and post a question on there.

'Why cant I get the 7.0m Beamer to fly.'

after the initial, 'keep trying, its a difficult kite to fly and you have to be an expert to fly it' type answers, at last a ray of hope appears.

It seems that one of the HQ staff (Alex, what a good guy) replies and says he has been looking at the 7.0m and there may be a problem with some of the early 7.0m kites. The C and D bridle lines need to be shortened. With that modification in place the kite should fly a lot better.

So I rush out that evening and set the kite up on the ground in the middle of the field (its just too big a kite to have out in my lounge) and start untying all the bridle lines. Now this was a little scary and the modification was hindered by the light starting to fade about half way through the modification. To cut a long story short, I complete the modification and with trepidation and fear that I have just screwed up my kite for good, I launch the 7.0 into the air in next to no wind.

The kite leapt into the sky and as the kite rose to the zenith, I was dragged down the field. Moving across the window resulted in more scuds. Remember, there really isnt enough wind for this, it shouldn't be happening but it was.

The wind window had increased, possibly almost doubled the window and the kite refused to luff in all but the most extreme edges of the window.

The modification has transformed the kite from something that really wasn't worth bothering with to a kite that I will want to use more and more frequently.

With it being such a large and slow moving kite, you have to control it much more on the brakes. Using that technique, it will turn reasonably well.

If you have heard rumours about the Beamer 7.0m kite being a bitch to fly and refuse to consider it as an option, think again. Buy one of these kites. If they don't fly out of the bag, shorten the C and D bridle lines by about 15 to 25mm and you will have an excellent kite that will pull you in next to no wind, lift you easily off the ground in a bit of wind, and as for a lot of wind.......only time will tell.

For the money, this kite cant be beaten. I accept, you should not have to do this when you buy a kite, but mine may be an early production model and Im sure these kites are now available with the correct setup. HQ have a great after sales support. They have one of their staff checking their forum frequently and will be very helpfull if you have any questions.

Don't be put off and don't give up. Give HQ Beamers a try, especially the 7.0m, but be careful, its a powerful kite.

By : rainady