HQ Crossfire

The initial purchase

I ordered this kite along with my BladeIII 4.9 so that I would have a kite for every wind and my days of spending would be over in one fell swoop(HA!!!). After shopping around on the internet, I managed to pick this kite up for £129.95 from Kiteworld with the usual HQ package......kite,handles,lines,kitekillers,stake and backpack. Basically your "ready to fly" package.

First impressions

On opening the package you are greeted with the Crossfire backpack,this seems to be standard throughout the range with only the area of the kite stamped onto the front of the pack being the only difference. The pack is of sufficient quality but has been known to fall apart after a few months use, so it may be wise to invest in a new pack.

The lines I received with this kite are a tad on the thick side if I'm being honest. This doesn't bother me too much personally but I've had a couple of beginners fly this kite and when the kite is spun too many times steering proves nigh on impossible,but if you are an experienced flyer who is in control of his kite at all times then it really shouldn't make a difference.

The handles,once again, fit into that "sufficient" category. They are OK and they do the job they are designed to do but once you've tried Flexifoil handles nothing else will do. They are far more comfortable and do not hurt your hands as much in the long run.

Finally to the kite itself,Your immediate reactions are going to range from anywhere between "ooooohhh!! It's sooooo cute!!!!" to "This is going to be a lovely little kite to fly" ..........it's just so small!! It's tiny!!!! It comes in one colour,yellow, and it truly is a very striking kite. It has Velcro tabs for attaching your bridles when storing away and Velcro dirt-outs for getting rid of any sand/dirt/grass which may find its way into the kite(not that you're going to be ditching this little lamb)Build quality is of the usual high standard you expect from HQ kites and it's clear to see where most of your money has gone.

Setting up

As with every HQ kite, you get an in-depth insruction manual which,as a beginner, is invaluable. It gives tips on wind range,connecting the kite to the lines and handles/control bar, how to steer,launching/reverse launching and most of the basics. However, as much information as you get from the booklet, there's nothing like actually flying the kite to learn all you can from it and it is imperative that you use these early flights to make your adjustments to the brake/power lines so as tog et the best out of your kite.

Performance

So, you've unpacked the kite,read the instructions,attached the kite to the lines and handles and it's sitting there, waiting for you to play with it. So, you pick up the handles,let out a bored sigh and............BANG!!!!!!!!!

This is where you forget all the cutesie little adjectives you've been using. THIS KITE IS EVIL!!!!!!! END OF!!!!!!!! It's the Bart Simpson of the kiting world,a cute little yellow being on the outside with a mischievious/malicious soul on the inside! That red line you see that you thought was the HQ swoop?? fly the kite upside down(if you can), look again, It's a big red smile, It's laughing at you and it wants to keep laughing for as long as it can!!!

Imagine this, It's just dragged you the length of two football pitches......easily!!,you need a rest,what do you do? that's right, put it at the Zenith......HA!!!! this kite has the power to lift you. I weigh 13 stone and it has managed to lift me with no input whatsoever. I bought this kite as my high wind kite, and as such, I've flown it in winds of 6 Bft. It made a fool of me, no questions.......and the best bit is, as you look to the end of your lines expecting to see your Blade and all you see is this little yellow imp( which does look ridiculously small after flying bigger kites), your ego takes an absolute hammering!!!!

I gave a female friend of mine a shot of this kite( I know, this makes me just as evil as the kite!!!).She managed to launch it easily and took it to the Zenith as I instructed, it is here that little Bart decided it didn't like being flown by this 8 1/2 stone blonde and started to make life very diffic.......ok, it dragged her onto her front with no warning and dragged her a full 30 yards,face first and screaming(fair play to her though, she kept the kite in the air) leaving my friend battered and bruised for her troubles!! It seems the Sprinfield yellow one has a twisted sense of humour.

A slight quality issue arose during one of these early flights in that one of the bridles snapped rendering the kite useless, but after contact with Racekites.coms very own Jerry, it was explained that this was a problem with some of the early editions of the kite and that HQ have identified and fixed the problem throughout the whole range, so you can definitely buy a Crossfire with confidence. He then sorted me out with a new bridle part and the kite is now back to making a mockery of all who fly him/it

Conclusion

I'll start with the bad points first......

The Bridle problem-Easily fixed! HQ(and oor Jerry!) are making sure that if you do encounter this problem,a more than satisfactory conclusion will be reached.

This is not a beginners kite- If there was ever proof needed that you couldn't rely on first impressions then this kite is it!!!

and that is it for the bad points

so onto the good points...........

This is not a beginners kite- this kite is F.....U....N!!!!!!!(with a very evil accent!!!!!) you will "eat it's shorts" time and time again

It's quick- cat-like reflexes are required to keep this in the air and a whole lot of pro-active flying

The power- The power generated by this...................thing.........this little yellow speck in the sky, is bewildering do not underestimate it!!!

you're gonna want to grow arms 30m long so you can wring its neck and scream WHY YOU LITTLE.............

By : DawsonCreaks