Sonic3 9m unstable in low wind

[dontstoplearning]

Good morning everyone.
I bought a 9m Sonic 3 for low wind conditions + hydrofoil, but coming from the Soul, I find it extremely unstable.
I understand it tries to fly further in the front of the wind window, but it never stays put. It tries to exit the window at 12 o'clock, hindenburg until it catches line tension and back again to the front. Is this how it should be?
I tested short mixer and adjusted A-B-C to the same level.
I changed PMAs to the slowest position: shortened upper PMAs to the first knot, leaving the lower PMAs to the standard position (3rd knot).
It didn't make a noticeable change.
Can I try anything else in order to make it more docile, or am I just not the Sonic-type rider?

Thank you for the responses.

[Janus]

First I would set the PMA's back to the standard setting.
Second check your bar and lines, make sure you can backstall the kite, pull for example 1/4 of your depower strap and then set all lines equal. so when you release your strap you can backstall the kite when you pull the bar full in.
This helps to prevent it from overflying, keep the kite where you want it.
If this is still to much of an effort, perhaps set mixer C-1cm (B will follow) and see if this feels better, if not repeat.

[Adventure Logs]

Sounds like you need to do a bar line check and the front lines are too short. The bar lines should all 4 be equal when trimmed for full power and bar sheeted in.

The Sonic3 is going to be more unstable of a kite compared to the Souls, especially in the smaller size. The 9m is a beauty though if you can tame it. Check the bar first and report back what you find.

[evan]

How low? If it flies stable in stronger winds, depowered, it comes down to your ability to fly the kite to keep it stable. You need to have some backstall available to keep the kite deeper into the wind at 12 otherwise it would indeed want to shoot over. The lower the wind, the more skill you need to keep it up. Bigger sizes are also easier as they have a better weight to surface area ratio and react more slowly and shooting less far forward.

[PugetSoundKiter]

What Evan says
High AR kites in smaller sizes are really not low wind kites, but they are powerful and quick in their wind ranges. I’ve found 11m and larger race kites are big/slow enough for lighter wind handling but much smaller and they really need a lot of attention in lighter winds to keep them flying but not past the window.

[Peter_Frank]

True, small race kites are not real for low wind, and require a lot of attention for use in low wind

Peter

[dontstoplearning]

First of all, thank you guys very much for the replies.

First I would set the PMA's back to the standard setting.
Second check your bar and lines, make sure you can backstall the kite, pull for example 1/4 of your depower strap and then set all lines equal. so when you release your strap you can backstall the kite when you pull the bar full in.
This helps to prevent it from overflying, keep the kite where you want it.
If this is still to much of an effort, perhaps set mixer C-1cm (B will follow) and see if this feels better, if not repeat.

Sounds like you need to do a bar line check and the front lines are too short. The bar lines should all 4 be equal when trimmed for full power and bar sheeted in.

The Sonic3 is going to be more unstable of a kite compared to the Souls, especially in the smaller size. The 9m is a beauty though if you can tame it. Check the bar first and report back what you find.

These two answers may definitely be the cause: coming from the soul, I adjusted the bar to have the 4 lines equal, when bar sheeted in, and depower strap fully extended. Then I added 10cm pigtails in the bar lines, to ride confortably with the bar closer to the body. I never needed to backstall the soul...
I got to try it yesterday with higher winds and it is definitely a charm to fly. It is a challenge, though!

How low? If it flies stable in stronger winds, depowered, it comes down to your ability to fly the kite to keep it stable. You need to have some backstall available to keep the kite deeper into the wind at 12 otherwise it would indeed want to shoot over. The lower the wind, the more skill you need to keep it up. Bigger sizes are also easier as they have a better weight to surface area ratio and react more slowly and shooting less far forward.

Lower than 10 knots is a problem. Above that, I loved it!

What Evan says
High AR kites in smaller sizes are really not low wind kites, but they are powerful and quick in their wind ranges. I’ve found 11m and larger race kites are big/slow enough for lighter wind handling but much smaller and they really need a lot of attention in lighter winds to keep them flying but not past the window.

The first day I used it I had the chance to test a Soul2 in 15m size and I struggled to manage the sonic in the air, constantly moving it to keep it deeper, while the Soul just stood there, up in the sky, like a balloon! Even I have to get used to the sonic, I thought the comparison was really revealing.
With my weight (65kg) I might get a 12m soul2 to accompany the sonic3 9m. That is all the quiver I need.

Ah, I almost forgot. On my first sessions with the Sonic, I set up 18m lines. I tried 25m yesterday and it was the way to go!

Again, thanks for your replies!

[dontstoplearning]

Hi guys. I am slowly getting used to it and the need to keep it in constant motion.
With help from a friend, we changed the A-B-C trim to make it less reactive, but then again, didn't make a noticeable change.
I guess it is never going to be a Soul, but once you start, the performance is "out of this world"!

[evan]

That's the reason they make different kite models, it's always a trade off as you can't put every desirable trait in one kite. More performance means a wing will be more sensitive to fly.

And the soul is already comparable to the highest performance tube kites

[kitexpert]

And the soul is already comparable to the highest performance tube kites

In some respects it beats any tube kite with wide margin, in some respects it is much worse than any tube kite.

If you want a fast kite which is pleasure to fly and has precise feel tube kite is the winner. If you mostly park and ride and want to go effortlessly and especially fast upwind foil kite like Soul is better. If you want to make small tricks and loops etc. tube is better, if you just do old school foil kite may be better.

If you want to boost high more important thing than kite is your techinique, how much pull you can generate and are able to handle. Foil kite has more hang time but it doesn't mean you go higher with foil. If you want to jump really high you need quite a lot wind and then effective small foil kites are not anywhere as easy to handle as comparable size LEI kites. For example 7m Soul in high wind is not a kite for all, it needs some experience because power varies so much, from very small to huge power spikes which come with delay