Postby derek440 » Tue May 12, 2020 2:55 am
Very interesting about the lack of diagonal bracing in the kite structure, for me this is actually a big deal, as is excessive bridles. I owned an Ozone R1 version 1 and it was a great kite when it was flying along, but it had some serious problems that were mostly solved by the new R1V2 which looks the same in terms of airfoil, but as Ozone said the only thing that changed is everything, as in everything inside. Ozone made a big change to implement diagonal bracing on the R1v2 and in doing that they were also able to update the bridle and use different cloth as the cloth becomes less load bearing due to the bracing. This makes the kite, lighter, stiffer and more stable and difference is night and day when you fly the kites. High AR kites are already inherently frisky and take some taming, even the good ones, but to add issues like being a bit wobbly, or a big heavy or draggy are total deal breakers and there are heaps of race kites that everyone knows not to buy for reasons like this. Another big issue is that race kites are often in the water, especially for people learning racing. When they do hit the water, your chances of successful water relaunch is largely a factor or how much the kite wants to return to its proper shape and wing stiffness is the key to that. Its one of the things that makes the FS Soul so good at water relaunch, you can fold it and tie it up but it wants to pop back out because of its internal structure and stiffness. I thought the new Aeoleus was looking promising, but at a time when other brands are moving another step ahead, increasing again the internal stiffness of the wing and lowering drag by removing even more bridles, Pansh seem to be at least a decade behind, and in terms of high AR foil kites that could mean bad things for this kite, but someone has to try it to confirm.
More info on the next generation is just coming to light as the Olympic IKA quad equipment box has just closed, so FS are bringing out VMG2 which is rumoured to have loads of new internal structure for the purpose of a massive reduction in bridles and drag, more than ever seen before. Also Ozone's new R1 ver4 is about to come out and also has massive stiffness increase and bridle reduction, same for F-One Diablo ver 5. In terms of competitive racers considering buying Pansh kites, I have asked around at my local race club and nobody is considering them, at that level they all want to ride tried and proven fast and reliable gear.