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Well here it is, my first kite review, and its for the Radsail Pro 3m Bought as a joint xmas 2008 pressy to myself and my wife. The previous xmas 2007 i had bought my wife a HQ Symphony 1.4, we both enjoyed flying it, especially in strong winds, and this is what gave us the urge to get somethng a bit bigger. After much deliberating we settled on a Radsail, which we bought online from Skyhigh Kites. The price was good (£125) and the delivery was very quick, After sales service was spot on as well, due to the fact that i managed to snap the accompanying dvd in half while trying to extract it from the case, Skyhigh Kites replaced the dvd ASAP no questions asked. First impressions... The bag the kite comes in is very good and seems to be pretty sturdy in construction, holding the kite and handles etc, with some space left for a few other things if need be. I was really impressed with our purchase, the attention to detail was very good, the material of the kite did scare our dog though, its very noisy when you unwrap it, the bridles look to be made from quality line, with the control lines themselves being of good quality and, i think may be coated (not sure). I must point out at this stage that i knew nothing about checking line lengths etc, i have checked them since, (last week 10/5/08) and the brake lines are around 4cm shorter than the powerlines, wether this is down to stretch on the powerlines or they have always been this length, i do not know, BUT, this has not affected the handling of the kite at all, so my guess is that they could possibly have been like this when i received them. We had never used a 4 line kite before so the DVD was essential for us, more reason to panic when i broke the damn thing in half. Once viewed though, we felt more confident, and in all honesty, once you get the kite and lines out it is pretty well obvious how things connect up, we had the lines connected in no time at all. Now we just had to wait for some decent wind. First flight... It was nearly 2 weeks before we got some decent weather and enough wind to try our new baby. Setting up on this occasion took 10 or 15 minutes, mainly because of our previous experience only being with a 2 line kite. There was a reasonable wind, tops of trees moving, not sure of actual wind speed though. Once everything was laid out, i pulled back on the handles and the kite went straight up, no problems at all, the power was instant and the smile on my face massive. I gave it a few minutes flying, and pretty soon picked up the idea of controlling/turning the kite. Next up, i handed the handles to my wife, she launched the kite perfectly, but the power scared her and after only 30 seconds or so she passed the handles to me. Ive been trying to get her to fly it since in lower wind conditions, but she still preffers to watch for now. (Have since bought a Big Buzz to try and entice her up towards the Rad). Since that first flight i have been out many times, the second flight was almost a disaster due to my inexperience and lack of respect for the wind, i was pulled through the air around 3m, not sure at what height, hurriedly packed up, and my next purchase was a wind meter to give me a better idea of what i am dealing with. The kite is great for scudding or just a good workout, im sure if i ever decide to go further and maybe try landboarding this kite will certainly pull me along. The handles/line winder that come with the Radsail are great, why cant the other manufacturers take note, packing/setup is a breeze with the caps at each side of the winder. I can be unpacked and in the air in 3 to 5 minutes, and packed up around the same. I did notice a few times early on that the powerlines and breaklines can get tangled on take off due to the huge knots, so laying them well apart before hand is very important to avoid coming straight back down to earth, something you learn with experience. Overall i think this is a great kite, just the right size for starting out on the bigger kites, and i would recommend it to anyone. By : gorf

This is my review of my Radsail Pro 2006 6m kite. I'm writing this not only as a review of the kite but also the observations I have made in the transition from my Beamer2 3.6 metre kite up to this mid aspect monster! This is to aid other people in the upgrade process. Background I'll review the VFM for this kite based on the cost of a new one, but I bought my example off the dreaded Ebay. I paid less than £100 for this kite, which came with Flexifoil handles & Kite Killers. The Kite is the 2006 version and is still crispy. I know these kites take a lot of 'flying in', and I think the previous owner did this for me as the kite flies very sweetly. This has actually taken a lot of the pain of buying this kite new as I have not got to fly it in, or buy decent handles etc. My only worries were the kite came to me quite dirty (dirtier than my year old Beamer), but this has disappered a bit as the wind has blown the dust off. Secondly and more worryingly, I found a 4 inch rip in the back skin of the kite which I did not notice when I inspected the kite (it was a pick-up only auction). The rip was easily repaired with flexifoil clear tape, and considering I flew the quite about 4 hours without noticing it I don't think it is serious. I'll be keeping an eye on it though... The Kite OK so I did the respectful thing and unpacked it in my flat as soon as I got home. This kite is HUGE compared to the Beamer. The colours (red white and black) and the general design are very imposing. The bridals are in luminous colours and somehow look less complicated than the ones on the Beamer. The bag, as always on budget kites is cheap and crap, but frankly this doesn't matter at all to me. It works. The kite came with it's original handles and the aforementioned Flexifoil items. We all know how good Flexifoil control gear is and they are very comfortable with good padding and nice and thick. Nuff said really. The Radsail ones looked EXACTLY the same as my Beamer ones to be honest, I would say they are the same items. The end winders probably work well but I've never used them, I always parapack. The lines are acceptable but are already showing signs of wear. They are the original items but they don't stretch and feel solid. The vendor had lost the manual and sticker etc so I didn't get these, but he gave me the CD and that's quite good. I've watched it once through, and has not taught me anything new. The package I personally got was outstanding because of the FF merchandise, and the handles have made a massive difference to my flying experience. I think considering that these kites are circa £200 new and don't come with a ground stake, I'm not entirely sure the new package is very brilliant, but that's nitpicking. Flying, first impressions Even in light winds there is a sense of trepidation when you get this out. It looks pretty big to my eyes. Anyway, grab the handles give it a tug and WHOOSH up it goes. The power in the wind window is huge, this is a serious kite. It absolutely domintes the window and everything about it, the shape, colour and size is intimidating. I've had a quick fly on a 6m Samurai and was expecting an absolute Barge, but this kite is fast, smooth and turns on a six pence. It is appreciably slower than the beamer but much quicker than I was expecting. The kite luffs a lot less than the Beamer and when it does it does not Bang open in the power zone in the same way. It has very smooth power delivery, it's not snatchy and the kite lets you know when the serious power is coming. The best thing is the turning. I fly with pretty tight brakes and the kite loves to brake steer. I would say that by watching the wing tip you can see it spin on the tip, but it can actually spin around the flying lines, thats how tight it can turn. It's an absolute joy to fly statically. Flying, light wind Ok this is the real test for any kite larger than 5m, and the main reason why I bought it, more power in summer! The thing you have to concentrate on is keeping the kite flying forwrd. It will just fall out of the sky if you let it stop moving, it needs the momentum of the wind over the wing. In fact it's in these winds that the main drawback of the kite comes to the fore. The kite material is very heavy. You can feel the weight on the lines. having said that I have had it flying (and pulling and lifting) in a gnats fart of wind as long as you can keep it moving. Another thing is this kite likes to crab. It can fly sideways if you fly it to the edge of the window and then don't concentrate on getting the forward momentum agin. It will fall back into the window sideways and sit there until you tip it on its wingtip and get it moving. Flying, medium wind This is the ideal windspeed I found, obviously. The kite has power but it's controllable as long as you have reasonably strong. I find the lift very predictable, you can feel when it's coming and when it does it's considerable. It also has a decent amount of float, meaning that this kite is very nice to jump with, although you don't find yourself in the air as much as with say a blade 4.9. The pull is huge and any sort of foray into the power and you're off downwind at a rate of knots. I found that the kite is tolerent of gusty winds, although it doesn't like them much all the same. It sits at the edge obediently and doesn't luff anywhere as much as the Beamer I also have. My other half prefers to fly this as even though it's a far more physical fly it is actually much easier to fly. It turns well, not snatchy, doesn't luff and is not too slow. Flying, Heavy wind Never taken it out in anything over 20mph. I have the Beamer for this. I like an adrenalin rush but I doubt I could land it in this wind. I also like my limbs and skin and minor stuff like that and I don't bounce. So it stays in the bag. One for the Brave(er than me). Boarding. OK now we're talking. THIS KITE IS AWESOME ON A LANDBOARD. It has lift once you get it moving. It get's you going seriously fast. I think the key is the lift. You can really lean back on this because of the large canopy above you. Keep the kite high and you can go where you want, the upwind ability is incredible. In anything over a knats fart you can park the kite very nicely and it yanks you upwind brilliantly. Have I mentioned the speed? I think the only problem is that if you let the kite kite get low and you don't brake turn it is very easy to dump the kite on the ground due to it's size. Conclusion. You may have guessed that I'm finiding it hard to fault this kite. Remember that I got mine at an incredible price for this kite (even if slightly used) so I'm still buzzing off the back of the bargain I suppose. I also wanted something that I can fly in very little wind, but not kill me (Blade). It ticks all the right boxes for me I suppose. Some may want even more lift, buy a Blade or Riot. THis is a great half-way house for me until I get a Blade myself. Some might want more speed, buy a race kite. Some may may want a high-end brand, buy a Flexi or Ozone or similar. The kite looks great, is easy to fly and has loads of power. It lacks in build quality, some stitches arn't straight and the handles are cheap and nasty, like a Beamer's. They are the main bad points. It handles brilliantly and is a Blast on my Landboard. It's easy to get it up (stop sniggering at the back). It does everything I want it to, and the other half likes my new muscle bound arms! By : panthro

i had baught the radsail 6m pro due to budget. i had previously flown a freinds 4.5m bullet and wanted a big kite without the price tag. i had read a few reviews about aspect ratios and came to the assumption that the radsail would be less powerfull than a bullet so i would need a bigger one. package the bag looks good in red and grey with lots of space and pockets to put your marsbars in. it also has a natty mesh base that i thought was naff to start with but as i fly on the beach i can see the use now. the zips arn't up to much though. lines are great and come wrapped on seperate winders also colour coded. the handles are complete crap just bin them and get some flexifoil ones. they are cheap aluminium ones with plastic end cups that pop off the first time you fly and have really bad foam bike like grips that come unstuck in one weekend. on my later model kite they were replaced with long foam pads and even had stake loops but quality is still poor. and that is the last bad thing ill say. the kite is fantastick i'd herd all the horror stories about build quality but the kite is fine it is a budget kite and not on a par with a flexifoil but you still get your moneys worth. bridles are coloured dyneema. kite material is strong and light. dead simple to put together and looks great. people on the beach commenting. flying flys streight from the bag with no adjustment. its a very powerfull kite in strong winds 18+ the pull is akin to being tied to a runaway horse. could be scary to the amatuer dangerous to the novice. the forward traction is imense and the vertical lift is well.. get used to seeing your armpits. for a big kite it turns very quickly with a bit of brake. to begin with you teeter around the power a bit intimidated but as confidence grows you hunt the power down and enjoy 30-40m scuds at running pace and jumps of 6-10 feet. the wind range is top notch there has been dozens of times when my freinds bullet 4.5 was in a pile on the beach 4mph and im flying away. ever so gracefull in low winds my 17 year old daughter flys it in 7mph. kite starts to pull at 5mph and is back in the bag by 25mph but there has only been two occations when wind was too strong in the last 4 months, overal i've had more days flying than my bullet freind so im sold on the big radsail. ive just started boarding and its good at 15mph under 7mph forget it. it will pull you off very fast but turning in low wind is slower and so youve lost momentum by the next power stroke but over this you can fix the kite at 45 degrees and bomb along the beach at 15+mph conclusion a good buy, great value great kite. stable, can overfly if not held back. dominates the window a bit of a handfull in really strong wind like a boisterous dog. will do wonders for your biceps, easier with harness, somthing different to all the flexifoils takes a bit more effort in light winds but garenteed to give you more air time than most other kites. crap handles though. By : DNash

watch this space as i will be recieving my new radsail pro series 2 soon expect a full review but for now here is a quote from an email the dealer sent me The new Radsails have not only been modified from an esthetic point of veiw but important improvements as regards to structure have also been made: Renforced seams, lighter and more resistant bridles, and reinforced handles. also they come with a new pack containing an instructional dvd. sounds like eolo might get them right this time find out soon.... By : dnash

I chose this kite after getting some quality advice from the forum at Racekites.com. I took it out at the weekend for my first ever flight of my first ever power kite. There were scant instructions provided with the kite but i found them to be sufficient. The kite power and brake lines are colour coded and impossible to confuse. I attached the flying lines to the kite and handles, took about 20 minutes to set up in total. The wind was very light on the day, probably less than 10mph. I did struggle a bit at first to launch the kite but once up it quickly soared to the top of the window. This kite is very easy to control and is suited to beginners like me. The kite is very willing to fly across the power band and even in the light winds i was scudding across the snow a bit. It responds well when the brakes are applied to stop you & the kite getting out of control. The brake lines were a bit long but considering that the kite flew straight out of the bag without checking them, i can hardly complain. The kite is well constructed and strong. I crash it head on into the ground (only once though) and it was perfectly ok. Overall, I would recommend this kite to other beginners and am confident to take the kite out in stronger winds as it is easy to keep under control. It generates plently of power and i think it would be suitable for jumping and buggying. It was great value for money - got £100 off at marionville models. It was certainly an excellent buy and saved me from an elementary mistake of power kiting: - buying a two line flexifoil super 10 as a first kite. By : Bowlandflyer