Eclipse Kites

[wytcap]

Took my 12m Nano out yesterday in the snow, (sorry pics did not turn out ) Self launch and landing was a snap! Flew great, very stable, nice power, wind was up and down and the snow cover was marginal, but all in all bar pressure was minimal.
Wytcap

[Dimitri M]

That is all you had to say about the NANO?
Let us know what you liked about the kite and what you did not like about the kite.
Thanks

[wytcap]

Ok Ok I really like the kite it is super stable, I am not the best at buckling the snow board on and flying the kite at the same time or at least that is the way it was on my old C-kites, The Nano is so stable it stays were you put it with hardly any in put, it fly’s the same way very stable and predictable. I self launched with ease, the kite launch’s sooo easy. I set it down a few times and it just stays there then a little in put and back up it goes, all in all a very stable kite and it has great power. The bar is the sweetest bar I have used, the under the bar safety is great with the mini-5th line.
wytcap

[RAL INN]

I had a session on the Nano 9m yesterday 18-20kts.
Got to test out the Kill switch line, plus relaunch plus everything else you can think of to attempt
to destroy a kite

It all started when I went to help a kiter by retrieving his board.
1st lost sight of board in breakers and ran over it.
2nd, wacked in head by his board just as I grabbed it.
dive kite to head off and his board snags the QR. oops unhooked with board and bar in hands.
let it all go to professionally check kill switch operation
pushed the errant board to its owner just before wave collects kite
spit out water, kite already waiting to relaunch. push bar out - pull red line at OS loop point - kite moves to side then rolls onto its side - let bar go totally - kite launches itself.
Unfortunately right into a 25kt+ bullet, kite fires forward, wave tackles me from behind. end result I'm about 5m downwind of kite and it falls down and gracefully through lines.
Luckily for me the lines tensioned before the kite hit water
So this is how you invert a bridled kite
But now ugly pull and out of control yank. it just landed, I swam towards it and it rolled back and relaunched yahoo I thought (for about one second) then coped a repeat performance of kite firing forward next wave hitting me, but this time I noticed the depower strap was fully pulled in. That's why it was firing forward. Seems the errant board had also snagged the depower strap.

A couple of tugs on the power strap and this time launch stayed put.

So in the space of a few seconds the Nano got crashed 3 times, 2 of them inverted, dumped on by a wave and came out unmarked and untangled.

Did I mention the too complacent self landing too close to a light pole, at the end of that session?
needless to say rock walls in conjunction with poles and cars, make for great kite catchers.

End result was a Nano packed away as good as new.

[Dimitri M]

So I see the NANO is a great kite to relaunch What about its performance? What did you like about it or what you did not like about the kite?

I think it is pure luck that your kite came out with out damage. Where were you kiting?

[Larse]

Sorry, I'm going to say anything about the Nano right now. Just wanted you guys to know, that we've a new Thruster movie to show of the kite here in Denmark.

It's taped on a cold winther day in Denmark with about 22-24 knots of wind. We where riding on a very small "lake" by the shore, so it's not the wildest action, because we didn't wanted to hit the ground. But's a cool video after all...

Tjek it out here by pushing this text

[RipItUp]

What trick was the guy with the pink Thruster attempting when he wiped out? It looks like it was an aborted kite loop, or some kind of mid air brain fart.

[Larse]

What trick was the guy in the pink Thruster attempting when he wiped out? It looks like it was an aborted kite loop, or some kind of mid air brain fart.

Haha, yep that was a good old regular brain fart

He wanted to show of in front of the cam, but he wasn't shure what to do, when he left the water. So he did nothing and wiped out. That was so funny...

[RAL INN]

So I see the NANO is a great kite to relaunch What about its performance? What did you like about it or what you did not like about the kite?

I think it is pure luck that your kite came out with out damage. Where were you kiting?

Being very Eclipse Biased my view of its performance is probably tainted.
That being said, I am having a ball with the Nano 9m.

Its ability to nicely respond to input in down the line riding is great. I just flick it up or down to produce a power stroke as I bottom and top turn, then when the wave is finished it is nice and snappy to power you out for the next ride.

everything about it is controllable and inspires a bit more confidence.
more bar pressure than Thruster,not as high jumps as Thruster,but the jumps are floaty and again the predictability of the kite inspires you to try different things.

where I was kiting was Altona in Victoria, Australia. the same beach that this was taken
http://www.kiteforum.tv/component/optio ... Itemid,30/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wytcap]

I have to agree on the Nano’s, I flew my 9m a few weeks ago in La Ventana, I only flew it for a few Hrs but it was a blast, it took little input to power up. I had a 9m SS Rev that I had flown quite a bit, the Nano is a lot more predictable and stable. I also flew my 12m Thruster a quite a bit and it was great. The Thruster wants to be flown rather than parking it like the Nano, but with the Thruster it seems like it wants to jump on its own, but it is really stable also, it turns faster. But comparing those to kites (T12m & N9m ) to the Rev 9m I would say the Rev falls somewhere in the middle of the two, hands down though I prefer the Eclipse bar over the SS bar. Both the Nano and the Thruster seemed to have less bar pressure than the Rev.
Wytcap

I am also a little biased toward the Eclipse

You really need to try one!