Hit the lake beach this afternoon to try to get the Synergy to bow-tie and film a recovery and test out the Ozone Access SB harness and finally fly the Flysurfer Outlaw 10m I've had for AGES but have yet to take out of the bag.
Partial success with the Synergy bow-tie thing - try as I might, it wouldn't bow tie or even misbehave too much, despite the iffy wind ... gusty norwester and turbulent near the trees but the Synergy was stable. Got one bow-tie, but as it propellered down, it bounced of the ground and straight back into the air :D
Set a jump and sent the kite across much faster than I intended and went soaring - thoughts of the tragedy in NZ recently flashed through my mind and as I hovered over the safety release, I started going down and relaxed - foot slide to bum landing ...
Had a nightmare with a line tangle as I packed up, dunno WTF that was about. Set up the Outlaw and had a play with that ...
What I learned today ...
• The Ozone harness is nice, feel the pull fairly equally between waist and leg straps unlike the Fusion - the leg straps only seem to be there on the Dakine to stop the harness riding up ... ha!
• One size fits all only just fits :( over ski-pants it'll be tight. Back on the diet!
• The Outlaw feels like a fixed bridle flying on the Ozone Turbo bar - not so much depower effect through the bar.
• Not as lifty as I thought it would be, but it is a small kite. Will be good for landboarding.
• Likes to collapse like a F.B. as I guess it has much less internal pressure when it's not flying.
• I'm a chronic mouth breather :( you can hear "huh-huh-huh" on the video and it's not like I can even blame having a cold ...!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Quickee - The Movie!
A short blast with the Synergy 19 in over-powered conditions :D
I went to the lake with the intention of filming my de-bowtie technique (should I have managed to pull it off again) but the wind was just too full on. I also didn't have the right shoes on for scudding so I just played around a bit ...
Didn't get the camera angle right either :(
I went to the lake with the intention of filming my de-bowtie technique (should I have managed to pull it off again) but the wind was just too full on. I also didn't have the right shoes on for scudding so I just played around a bit ...
Didn't get the camera angle right either :(
Thursday, December 23, 2010
I am the Bow-tie freakin' Master!
Toddled off to the lake today to have a play with the Psycho3 13 ... why not, it's holidays and I've got nothing better to do! Didn't take board or togs cos I figured it was too cold, but it was actually quite nice down there and no colder than the last time I was on the lake. Oh well.
Wind was supposed to be good but was shifty as hell, going all the from east to west at one stage! Gusty too.
Checked out the Psycho and put it up. Bridle had a little tangle so I had to put it down. Sorted that out and up she goes - much easier in the very light wind than the S2 19 (or even what I remember of the S1 17) but that's to be expected with a smaller kite. Got a good feel for it in light to moderate wind and it certainly will be a fun tractor! Need to tidy up the bar ... packed up, started to head back to the car but then stood around for a while shooting the breeze with Miyachi. The wind picked up so I thought, "Why not haul out the Synergy 19?" which I did.
At first the wind was good but then it dropped off, and I thought the wind would be too light to even fill let alone launch. Picked up again and I got a good fill. As I tried to launch the wind shifted so I struggled to get the kite in the air - was running around from north to west and back again to stay upwind of the kite.
Note this well - got it into the air despite not being 100% inflated on the ground AS ALWAYS and managed to get it filled on the way up to the zenith but then the wind dropped and I lost control.
Bow-tie. Managed to untangle it from the bar though - can't remember exactly what I did, but noticed that I might be able to get it LE down so pulled a rear line to do that, that just relaunched by the standard method. That worked the other 2 times I bow-tied :D who says you can't bow-tie a Synergy?
Wind came back with a vengeance - HOLY FUCK what a difference pulling the straps up and shifting the VPC makes! Had everything set at 1/2 for so long ... all tight and it's a mighty beast! Had to watch the jumps cos they were getting silly high and the landings were rattling my teeth! Massive long scuds took me from one end of the beach to the other until I hit a bank thing and got lobbed over it!
Wind died off, but by working the kite I kept it in the air while the guys out on the water with the LEIs were swimming in.
Excellent CarlTB stall landing and after switching the VPC lines to the opposite position (don't like it) a painless relaunch was enjoyed.
Great afternoon, now worn out and have sand in mysterious places ... and am thinking about Chargers now!
Wind was supposed to be good but was shifty as hell, going all the from east to west at one stage! Gusty too.
Checked out the Psycho and put it up. Bridle had a little tangle so I had to put it down. Sorted that out and up she goes - much easier in the very light wind than the S2 19 (or even what I remember of the S1 17) but that's to be expected with a smaller kite. Got a good feel for it in light to moderate wind and it certainly will be a fun tractor! Need to tidy up the bar ... packed up, started to head back to the car but then stood around for a while shooting the breeze with Miyachi. The wind picked up so I thought, "Why not haul out the Synergy 19?" which I did.
At first the wind was good but then it dropped off, and I thought the wind would be too light to even fill let alone launch. Picked up again and I got a good fill. As I tried to launch the wind shifted so I struggled to get the kite in the air - was running around from north to west and back again to stay upwind of the kite.
Note this well - got it into the air despite not being 100% inflated on the ground AS ALWAYS and managed to get it filled on the way up to the zenith but then the wind dropped and I lost control.
Bow-tie. Managed to untangle it from the bar though - can't remember exactly what I did, but noticed that I might be able to get it LE down so pulled a rear line to do that, that just relaunched by the standard method. That worked the other 2 times I bow-tied :D who says you can't bow-tie a Synergy?
Wind came back with a vengeance - HOLY FUCK what a difference pulling the straps up and shifting the VPC makes! Had everything set at 1/2 for so long ... all tight and it's a mighty beast! Had to watch the jumps cos they were getting silly high and the landings were rattling my teeth! Massive long scuds took me from one end of the beach to the other until I hit a bank thing and got lobbed over it!
Wind died off, but by working the kite I kept it in the air while the guys out on the water with the LEIs were swimming in.
Excellent CarlTB stall landing and after switching the VPC lines to the opposite position (don't like it) a painless relaunch was enjoyed.
Great afternoon, now worn out and have sand in mysterious places ... and am thinking about Chargers now!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
There's a Psycho in my closet!
The Flysurfer Psycho3 13 I bought used from an Italian in the navy arrived yesterday ... unrolled it today to pack it up nice. Bar needs a bit of attention but for the price, the kite is in great condition! Enjoy the pics :)
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