graham1963 Posted March 12, 2003 Report Posted March 12, 2003 A lot of people seem to be considering these so hopefully people will find this useful. Warning this is based in a couple of days use only !! I have only been flying 4 line Blades for about 6 months so please bear this in mind as well Initial Impressions: Very good, rucksack looks cool, has a useful vent for airing the kite and you can see the colour inside. Package is complete ie with lines, exudes quality. Handles look good, flexi branded with neprene tops which look nice and probably reduce chaffing between your fingers. High quality kite killers are attached the the brake lines already ( I took these off) Set up. Very easy, the lines unwound with no tangles ( a first for flexi in my experience) and the connections are simple and colour coded. There is a usful card attached to the lines to help with this. However the lines are difficult to tell apart except for the slieving, ( on the 2.5 at least). Finally the which side is red debate is solved, the diagram is very clear, left bridle, line and handle should be RED (for Port) though I suppose you could change this of you felt strongly Manual is not as good as a Blade being entirely made up of diagrams. These are well done and clear particulaly for the line set up but I find the "any language" style irrirating. Surrounding this is a cover full of dire warning as to what could go wrong. First impressions in flight: Very fast with lots of power in the middle of the window. Very low loft compared with a Blade, stable, predictable and turns fast. Easy to fly and less scary because of low loft. Does not seem to luff easily though this might be something to do with the size. Landing in a strong wind needs care, too much brake and it will spin and you can lose control. It will also self launch in reverse pretty fast as well. It is not the biggest kite in the world so that should not be too drastic but I suspect in a strong wind with the kite killers deployed it could spin and flap about a bit in the power window Summary, very good in a high wind, excellent for buggying and skudding. My guess is power wise about the same as 3 Super 10s stacked. However, I would not recommend it for mountain boarding if that will be its main use, the pull is too horizontal and you won't get many jumps with one, (bigger sizes may be different but I suspect even the 4.5 won't have anything like the loft of a Blade 4.0. One final tip from John at http://www.powerkiteshop.com. If it starts jumping or juddering as it crosses the window, shorten the brake lines by about one inch, this will smooth it out and prevent the kite partially luffing at high speed Quote
fox 2 Posted March 12, 2003 Report Posted March 12, 2003 Originally posted by graham1963 Landing in a strong wind needs care, too much brake and it will spin and you can lose control. It will also self launch in reverse pretty fast as well. It is not the biggest kite in the world so that should not be too drastic but I suspect in a strong wind with the kite killers deployed it could spin and flap about a bit in the power window Summary, very good in a high wind, excellent for buggying and skudding. My guess is power wise about the same as 3 Super 10s stacked Nice but a couple of points. I've had no problems landing it in high winds anywhere in the window. With the kite killers deployed in high winds the kite just flaps about but doesnt seem to spin (ask penance he had to use em ) 3 super 10's stacked??? no way much more! winds were strong but it pulls hard again ask penance after his 20m knee/ass/belly skud! LMFAO:D Quote
bigrob Posted March 13, 2003 Report Posted March 13, 2003 The kite killers were a really bonus to me when I had an OBE on my 4.5. My son also used the killers on his 2.5 - again worked really well. Handles are great. My brakes did need shortening on the 4.5. Quote
Judge G Posted March 13, 2003 Report Posted March 13, 2003 Check out http://www.airbossworld.co.uk for our eager test pilots review on the 3.5 bullet! Cheers Quote
Kurtis Blow Posted March 13, 2003 Report Posted March 13, 2003 Has anyone flown the Bullet on its bar yet? Is there much point in getting one on a 2.5 that's mainly going to be used for static flying? Come to think of it, is the bar even available yet on the 2.5+? Thanks Quote
Judge G Posted March 13, 2003 Report Posted March 13, 2003 Go for the handles and buy just the bar later on. Just take the handles off and put the bar on. Cheers Quote
graham1963 Posted March 13, 2003 Author Report Posted March 13, 2003 I must admit I was guessing about being equivalent to 3x Super 10s stacked, I have never flown them and have not tested against the two I have got. Re kite kitters, not tried them so will bow to other's experience. I may attach them to my 12 year old when he uses it! Re Bar, it is not available on the 2.5 yet but will be at some point. Cannot see the point myself, a bar cannot be used in a buggy and I cannot see a 2.5 being much use for jumping with a board. Quote
psychotic_eddy Posted March 14, 2003 Report Posted March 14, 2003 Some bars can be used in a buggy! Can't say about the bullet but have tried the frenzy in a buggy (well several buggies actually) and it worked fine in all of them. Buggies tried... Flexi 2002, PL Comp, Libre (not sure which one), Chameleon??(thats what the guy said it was.) When making really savage turns just had to push the bar away a fraction to give clearance to knees but only an inch or so. Quote
penance Posted March 15, 2003 Report Posted March 15, 2003 20m knee scuds rox! amazed at the power this little kite puts out, and yes the kite killers are handy;) Quote
graham1963 Posted March 17, 2003 Author Report Posted March 17, 2003 Having had some more goes on Saturday and Sunday some more comments; Overall excellent kite with lots of pull in the middle of the window, brilliant for scudding and Buggying but little use for jumping and I would not chose one for boarding as it has little loft. Suitable for beginner but fast and needs watching. If dumped in sea ( by beginner) flys heavily for a while but dried out in about 20 minutes. I have taken the killers off Landing, still find it twitchy with tendency to spin. Difficult to land in a specific spot ie a gap in the line of kites parked at Stopsley on Saturday. More practice may well sort that one out 12 year old son flew very well in moderate breeze and he is a beginner. Father in law, complete beginner but felt he could do anything a 12 year old could dumped it straight in the sea. Quote
Kenoby Posted March 17, 2003 Report Posted March 17, 2003 Hi All, I took my Bullet 2.5 out for its virgin flight today having graduate from a Super 10 and must admit I was well impressed. It was a dream to fly. Having gotten used to the short, sharp pull of the S10 it was great to feel a consistent pull and I was able to get nice long controlled scuds. It was my first time flying a four line kite and handily enough there was a guy buggying on the beach who set it up for me and gave me a few tips on flying it. Gave my brother a go (he had only flown the S10 once) and he was scudding along after about a minute of getting his bearings. All in all I would say a great little kite, the guy who gave me a hand with the set-up was flying a Predator and after flying the Bullet for a while was sold. I'll be back down at the beach again next Saturday if the weather is any good, I think I'm hooked Now if I can only get a day light enough to give the Blade an airing.... Quote
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