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Nasawing Npw5 Lk200 3.09m2 I have owned my Npw5 for around 3months and used it in a wide variety of wind ranges, so i now feel it is the time to review it.(note this was my first ever kite) I will split it into sections to make it easier to refer to, here it is: PACKAGING - When the kite arrived i expected it to come in a posh flexifoil type bag, but it was quite the opposite, the bag is a very simple drawstring PE kit type sac with a picture of the kite at the front and a small pocket for the instruction manual. Although its not the nicest looking bag it does its job and is very strong.(hasn't let me down yet) The Good thing about the bag is that the kite goes in with loads of free space to put your lunch/drink etc FIRST FLIGHT - My first flight was in a local field and the wind was around 8-12mph, it took me about 5mins to set it up with my friend and then i was ready to launch. I grabbed the handles with anticipation and signaled to my friend who threw it up. The kite went straight through the powerzone pulling me a few inches forward then it went straight up to the zenith with ease.I quickly started doing figure of eights and found the power very strong yet easy to control. The kite is rather slow through the air and luffs alot at the edge of the window, but with gentle use of the brakes this is soon rectified. after awhile i was scudding downwind a few meters and after having a good few hours fun i packed it away due to sheer tiredness. QUALITY - The kite is made of one sheet of ripstop nylon and has no spars making it very crashproof and water relaunchable. I have smashed it into trees and crashed it many a time, but it is still in perfect condition with no rips or scuffs etc. This kite doesnt cope very well in gusty conditions and will only keep in shape if you use the breaks. The supplied handles are Naff and give you blisters, so i advise you to wear gloves(i just bought flexi handles) also the leader lines get scuffed on the bare metal holes in the handles after a while. 25MPH Flight - I finally decided that i was confident enough to fly it in strong winds, so i took it to the beach checked my wind reader....22.5MPH Awesome, i had trouble keeping the kite on the floor but i finally unpacked and set it up, i launched it at the edge of the window and it went straight up. When i took it into the powerzone i was dragged about 20ft downwind on my face and i let go(good old kitekillers). I decided to quit before i got injured and i packed it away! Overall - I would reccommend this kite to a buggier looking for a powerful cheap kite, or someone who just wants some recreational fun. This Kite is no good for JUmping and has no lift at all(and i only weigh 55kg). Over all a great kite for the beginner and for £89.99 its a bargin!!! By : boneless360

This was my first traction kite. It is a nicely priced kite. It is one of the most simple designs that I have seen, the bridle appears to be the most complex part of the kite. The kite sorty of resembles a basic parachute. It is ripstop nylon with a heavy bridle. It does not have a rucksack like some of the more expensive kites, but it does include a drawstring bag, it folds down nicely so it is easy to store and pack. This kite is nice because it will lift off the ground in like 2mph of wind, however it will not be too exciting to fly, but atleast you can get in in the sky. I feel that this is a wonderful learning kite because it has no frame to break and the speed at which it maneuvers is a fraction of what a foil kite operates at making it very easy to predict what it will do, the down side of this is that it can be harder to keep in the air in light wind because if the wind shifts the kite is too slow to keep up with the window and it will tend to luff and fold in on itself, this kite can be shaken out in the air to re-inflate itself if it does begin to luff. This is also a good kite to learn how to invert, a common technique used to right an upside down kite, this kite can even move in reverse. So it basically has all the abilities of a foil, it's just a slow motion version. Don't let the speed of this kite fool you though, it is capable of generating good pull and a moderate lift. This would also be a good kite to learn buggy skills on since you don't need the same reaction time as a standard foil. I have done some body dragging behind this kite in the water. This kite worked better in the water than my C Quad did, (that kite is marketed as water relaunchable). This kite however is NOT a kiteboarding kite. It is ok if you can stand in the water, though it is a possible to relaunch this kite if it crashes in water, it is a real pain. I feel that overall this is a great beginners kite especially for the money, You will outgrow this kite though, as it is one of the more boring kites to fly due to it's slow nature, although in a stronger breeze it will build up some speed. It is also capable of scudding, jumping, buggying and landboarding. I feel it is a good buy overall though if you are looking to get into the sport and don't have a large budget. By : Skizzo

this was the first "power" kite I made about 8 years ago and I am now in the process of making another but larger I love them! there really is something nice about flying a kite you have made yourself. NPW's are easy to make difficult to bridle properly and just plain cussed to fly. NPWs need to be flown using the brake lines to keep the air in the nose of the kite otherwise you get catastrophic collapses and impressions of a bin bag in a breeze. However with practice they can be flown with a high degree of precision and very accurately placed in the wind envelope. So much so that on buying my first 4 liner I was disapointed how clumsy it was and little effect the brakelines had. They pull well and consistently and I have found them useful as buggy engines although not as easy to relaunch as foils. On the whole they are an interesting relic and oddity but for price and size they are powerful and fun also being single skinned pack down to next to nothing if making one for yourself the lines and handles will cost more than the sail and bridling. Go on try one you might be suprised. By : dick dastardly

I spent many hours working through the great kite resources found on the web and decided to build a NPW5 for my first large project. The information available to scratch build this kite is great and I had no trouble sorting out the building process. The NPW5 since it's a single surface kite wth a low number of parts was not so complicated to sew except for the seam construction that took some tests on scrap material to get right. It built up in about four evenings, about 16 hours to complete. The bridal is simple arrangement and worked up with not too much fuss. Use the procedures listed on some of the NPW sites and it comes out good. First flights were troublesome for me as I had the angle of attack all out of wack and it never got off the ground more than 5 feet. It pulled like heck in a 20mph wind and was tough to keep it's shape... So after plenty of adjustment of the main panel center bridal lines I adjusted the angle of attack to perform better but it was still tough to get higher than 20 feet. I began to tune the break lines and let them out, alot... The kite zoomed up to overhead and stalled and collapsed. I think I got it by this time. (7 flights later) I find that this kite works much like many of the last posts in this listing indicate. However, I struggled for quite some time to tame the kite and stop it from folding up, flying backwards, not climbing, spinning, and get control of... I have scared myself twice as the gusts came up beyond 25mph and found that it was pulling me so that I lost foot traction and was getting close to trees at the end of the field... Make sure that you fly this kite 4 line as it can pull you more than you may be prepared for and you need a way to get it on the ground. It's been a real challenge to learn with but after fighting with it I can probably work any other kite available. It's turns fast but goes slow, pulls hard and is plenty surprising when it collapses and changes shape... It's a fine first kite for the first time scratch builder if one takes a little care and attention. It will help you build up all your skills for the first season in building and flying big traction kites. I recomend it for a beginner project and suggest you make it four line or it will pull you to where you really don't want to go on the first day you dare to take it out in moderate to strong winds... Lot's of workout and lot's of laughs... Spent $130.00 and my time to build... Go for it... By : Bruce Feaver