Rhombus Thunderbird

This was my 2nd foil purchase. The first was really tiny and I though I wanted something with some pull that would give me a workout.

I'm light, only about 60kg so I thought I'd better not overdo it. I was impressed by the price (£45).

Construction and Bag
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The construction seems ok, not that I have much to compare with. I've crashed it a few times and it is fine.

The bag is a small 'bumbag' with a waist strap. This is handy because it stops it from getting lost in a grassy field.

Lines and Winder
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The (2) lines are quite short, I haven't measured them but I'd guess 20m. Certainly I wouldn't want any shorter. There are no handles, just big plastic circular winders. The lines are tied to the winders so I've been using them as handles. They make your hands ache after a while from the gripping, although that goes away after a few sessions. One line was a little longer than the other, so I made one loop on the winder to correct and reversed the line, so it was holding itself. Unfortunately that has chafed the line which is now showing signs of fraying. So I had to shorten the lines further.

Flying
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The kite is easy to launch on my own, I just place a drinks bottle sideways on the bottom edge which rolls off as I tug the handles and launch. No stakes are supplied.

The kite launches in very low winds, quoted is 4mph. As long as the wind is stable it stays up well, but if there's any holes in the wind it very quickly falls from the sky, often with one line wound round the back so it can't recover. Once on the ground, it's impossible to relaunch without manually setting it up again and using the 'drinks bottle' trick.

The power window is good in medium winds but much smaller in light winds. This creates problems if you are near the edge of the window and the wind drops off - the kite deflates and is sometimes hard to recover. The kite moves around easily and moderately fast, and doesn't show much tendancy to fly outside the window. At the zenith (directly overhead) or at the edge of the window (say at 45degrees) there's no power, and I have some fun trying to keep it completely motionless.

Power
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I just stand in a grassy field, no boards, no skis etc. The power - I have to say it's low. I took it out once in 20mph+ gusting to 30 or so. That was fun, I was getting pulled along little (certainly not enough for jumps though) but the lines did break several times at the kite end, seems I was using the wrong kind of knot (since fixed). At anything less than say 18mph (guessing) it's fun and manoevrable, but leaves me wishing I had a (much) bigger kite. It's the kind of kite that would be suitable for a kid (<14 even) as long as you restricted it to light winds.

Conclusion
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This should have been my first foil to learn how to use them, not my 2nd, an upgrade from an every tinier specimen. At £45, it would be a great way to start kiting and you could keep it around for really windy days. But if you enjoy it, you'll soon want something bigger.

By : willsmith