Pansh Aurora III vs A15

[Iridian]

Thinking about getting an Aurora 3 or an A15 in Ultralight. Sized to 15m for light wind foiling. Seems like the Aurora is on sale, not sure which one would be better for me though.

I have a really shitty launch spot with constant gusts and lulls. Looking to get out in lower wind than my NV 13.5 will do. The NV has plenty of power but I can't keep it in the air. Front stalls or backstalls constantly thanks to the gustiness.

Which kite between the two would you recommend for gusty river use considering the price differential?

[Matteo V]

The conditions you are describing may not be conducive to either.

I think the A15 is a good value in a kite and it is fairly stable, but there are better options. Its main drawback is its reactiveness, or lack thereof.

Inherent stability of a kite is pretty self explanatory. Basically if you do nothing, or dont really give the kite any corrective or preventive inputs, the kite just resists catastrophic failure such as front stall.

Reactive stability of a kite is the ability of a kite to be quickly corrected by a skilled rider to prevent catastrophic failure.

The best kite for the reactive property I have ever flown is the Chrono v2. The best kite for just plain inherent stability would be the Naish Ride.

And I think you will find that for gustiness, an inflatable will always have more inherent stability, while a foil will always be more capable as far as reactive capabilities. Thus if you are having a hard time with an inflatable, you may have to fine tune your flying skills even more with a foil.

[Windigo1]

I have a Aurora 3 15m but I haven't tried the A15 I think the A15 should be more stable because it's lower aspect but the Genesis would be even more stable for foiling. Normally and inflatable kite should be more stable than a foil kite in super gusty wind however Liquid Force kites are very heavy so this might be the problem in very light wind.

[Jyoder]

If the 13.5m lei has “plenty of power” but falls in lulls then a 15m foil kite will be way too much in the gusts, it will surge and loft you, overshoot and collapse. 11 or 12m foil kite is more likely to work for you in those conditions and also will turn faster and not overshoot the window as much so you can work the kite to keep it in the air in unstable wind. The difference between a 10-12m foil kite and a 15m is huge in terms of handling and ease of use, especially in bad wind!

A 12m light weight single strut or strutless LEI might be a better bet though. I make my 11m Diablo work in those winds you describe but only with expert kite control and it’s so much more stressful than an Lei.

[Jyoder]

Pansh genesis is a joke. I bought into the jakomixer hype after watching some YouTube and got two 10m Genesis rigged up with jackomixer for friends and demo a couple times. It’s a good intro to foil kites for someone scared and inexperienced but is a pig of a kite to fly. Huge bar pressure, horrendous low end, turns slow, and power delivery curve is very different than other foils and Lei.

[Bille]

...

I think the A15 is a good value in a kite and it is fairly stable, but there are better options. Its main drawback is its reactiveness, or lack thereof.

...

I put the Jackomixer, on my A15 ultralight , and it's Still stable, and i
can turn it with one hand, rather Easily ; so i'm not completely certain,
what your talking about ?

I use that kite a Lot, with my buggy, on the dry-lake, and the grassy
park at night. It's by-Far ; my favorite kite , in light wind !!

Pansh genesis is a joke. I bought into the jakomixer hype after watching some YouTube and got two 10m Genesis rigged up with jackomixer for friends and demo a couple times. It’s a good intro to foil kites for someone scared and inexperienced but is a pig of a kite to fly. Huge bar pressure, horrendous low end, turns slow, and power delivery curve is very different than other foils and Lei.

The jackomixer works just Fine ; it was your choice of kites to
utilize on that Sucks !!



Bille

[Jyoder]

You may be right, Bille. I should not equate bad kite with bad mixer. A15 might be a different story with Jacko mod.

[Matteo V]

...

I think the A15 is a good value in a kite and it is fairly stable, but there are better options. Its main drawback is its reactiveness, or lack thereof.

...

I put the Jackomixer, on my A15 ultralight , and it's Still stable, and i
can turn it with one hand, rather Easily ; so i'm not completely certain,
what your talking about ?

I use that kite a Lot, with my buggy, on the dry-lake, and the grassy
park at night. It's by-Far ; my favorite kite , in light wind !!

Yea, it's a good kite, but it's on par with the Flysurfer speed series. Reguardless of bar pressure, it turns slow like the older Flysurfer kites. It also has unreactive stall turn capability. It is a good and stable "park and ride" kite.

The Chrono V2 is much more reactive. Its stall turning capabilities are not exceeded by any kite with smooth power curve (though old school foils that are junk can beat it at that). And its turning speed is good even when stall is not accessed.

Bottom line is that it takes a lot longer to get the A15 from one spot to another, than it takes the Chrono V2.

And if you have a good feel for foil kites, the speed at which you can move the kite, will definetly allow you to keep it up in the air through worse turbulence.

[Foil]

be very careful when Pansh Aurora v3 kites are tempting you to buy, this last 8 months I have spent a fair bit of time trying to get a brand new one, fresh out of the bag one to fly in lightish airs,
not mine but bought by a non foil kite user for 250 US dollars, who asked me to show him how the set it up and fly it, I failed, just made myself look a fool on the beach, it was a pig, in every way, did its own thing in the air, just no power, crazy steering behaviour, and just kept falling out of the sky, luckily I did not take it to the water, unlike the owner who did, he crashed it continuously without ever getting a good run in, he ripped it when he hit the beach with it, and it was away at the repair shop for 3 days, came back and asked me again to look at it but I told him it was not a kite I could relate to, it was either very badly designed or the kite was a rare bad one,
it did look great from a distance though, in striking red and white colours, and at a distance I kept from it,
that day he had to be rescued as it would not relaunch, he packed up and never returned, then just a few months back i got a message from a local guy who was super excited about his latest bargain purchase, and he asked me to have a look at it next day at the beach, he said it was a foil kite, like new, and he only paid £50 for it, he did not know what make or model it was, but £50 ?? it could not be another Aurora v3, could it?
next day he pulled the kite from the bag and it was red and white and looked new, I pulled it open to reveal big lettering, "made in china" and just let it go and tried not to be too harsh, he wanted me to try fly it but I declined the offer, steve though who is one of the best foil kite flyers around was excited to give this new kite a try, and even try it on his foil board, he had quite a few problems keeping it in the air on the beach, but I kept my distance as I would just be so negative and make the owner even more unhappy, eventually i watched steve take it to the water for a try out on his foil, mmmmm, he never got going and he only weighs 72kg, after many attempts he came ashore and let the owner know the kite was maybe a good buggy kite in strong stable winds, but for light airs foiling then maybe not the best, I have never seen that kite return to the beach.
and the previous owner took £50 for it, so what did he make of it I wonder?
by the way it was not the same kite as I tried to fly a few months earlier, the graphics were different, but again the graphics were simply superb.
shame about the kite design.

[Matteo V]

So where do these vids of these kites looking good, come from?

And why do you hear so many users praise these kites?

And how about my own personal experience with the Blaze II being as bad as can be, but the A15 being a great kite where I have flown at least 3 different A15 kites, and they all were fine?

Is there some severe targeted bias? Intentional misinformation supported by higher markup brands? Or is there actual inconsistency in construction?