Re: Ram Air Inferiority - Updated + Hyperlinks
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 5:43 am
I used to have several flysurfers.
great kites.
I was especially fond of the Speed 2 12m and the Psycho 4 15m even though the P4 didn't come from the factory tuned correctly.
I had a 17m Speed 1.5, Psycho 3 13m, Pulse 2 12m, Warrior 7m modded
I also had a 12m and 15m pair of Peter Lynn Phantoms for awhile.
I found I didn't enjoy flying those kites above 25kts. It was just too much power and too unstable.
I have friends around here that fly foils. they don't go out when its nuking. The winds get really gusty and shifty here in the northwest and the stronger the wind the worse it seems to get.
There are a lot of inflatable kites that even have trouble in our gusty conditions.
for the nuking days. most people around here have been switching to lower aspect designs with delta influence so that they sit deeper in the window and are less prone to overflying.
this isn't really a foil vs SLE issue. its a high aspect vs low aspect issue. low aspect kites are generally more stable then high aspect kites. it is more complicated then that but the aspect ratio of the kite seems to play a more significant role in my experience in stability then the canopy rigidity does.
Cheers,
great kites.
I was especially fond of the Speed 2 12m and the Psycho 4 15m even though the P4 didn't come from the factory tuned correctly.
I had a 17m Speed 1.5, Psycho 3 13m, Pulse 2 12m, Warrior 7m modded
I also had a 12m and 15m pair of Peter Lynn Phantoms for awhile.
I found I didn't enjoy flying those kites above 25kts. It was just too much power and too unstable.
I have friends around here that fly foils. they don't go out when its nuking. The winds get really gusty and shifty here in the northwest and the stronger the wind the worse it seems to get.
There are a lot of inflatable kites that even have trouble in our gusty conditions.
for the nuking days. most people around here have been switching to lower aspect designs with delta influence so that they sit deeper in the window and are less prone to overflying.
this isn't really a foil vs SLE issue. its a high aspect vs low aspect issue. low aspect kites are generally more stable then high aspect kites. it is more complicated then that but the aspect ratio of the kite seems to play a more significant role in my experience in stability then the canopy rigidity does.
Cheers,