14 replies to this topic

[Thirdcoast Kiteman]

The Tango by HQ is a very good light-wind kite. Rated 1-18mph, you need a bit more wind than 1mph without bridle adjustments. In winds above 10mph, the Tango generates more speed than pull, and is very quick and responsive. The frame is very light and sturdy with carbon construction, and though I've never crashed it (hard), I think it would withstand a fair bit of abuse from a beginner pilot. As such, I think it would make a good beginner kite, allowing for flying in lighter wind - reducing frustration. The Tango is a Ready-to-Fly kite that comes with 2x65ft (55lb.) Dyneema lines and straps. It is available in 2 colors - Fire and Ice. It's a fun kite to fly in light to moderate winds and is a good value for entry-level pilots and above.

[Hedgewarden]

I agree, the Tango can deliver some great fun when the wind is too low for the other (standard) kites in your bag. It is low priced, and very good value.

[John Barresi]

Would someone like to add the Tango to our dual line kite archives?

[Johan]

 Hedgewarden, on 14 July 2009 - 08:41 PM, said:

I agree, the Tango can deliver some great fun when the wind is too low for the other (standard) kites in your bag. It is low priced, and very good value.

tangofirefull.jpg tango_icefull.jpg

Hi, just joined this forum and am totally new to the sport. Bought my first kite last month and it was a Tango from HQ. I mainly bought it for its light wind capabilities and did not have any thoughts of being a trick pilot. After having looked at some videos i got more interested in tricks and i have tried to do some with the Tango, so far without any luck. What tricks should i be able to perform with this kite if any?

Ive been looking for a second kite already and i have thought of the Prism E3. I live in sweden and there are not that many shops and they only have Prism and HQ kites so i will have to go look for shops in other countries to find other brands. Ive read about Level one, Benson, Premier and Newtech but its a real djungle out there. Any suggestions for a Kite that i can both perform tricks with and still use for some precision flying. Is the E3 a good choice?
Best regards
Johan

[windofchange]

If your local shop carries HQ and Prism you have some very nice kites at your disposal. The E3 from Prism is a great tricking kite, a huge improvement over the E2. We have been flying the E3 for quite a while now and really love it.

If you want to step it up a little in quality and performance, take a look at the new Infinity from HQ. This kite is incredible!!! I am totally impressed with this kite. It tricks exceptionally well and can do pretty much anything that I can throw at it and it does it with excellent precision. It also has a ton of adjust ability built into the kite and the quality and materials are wonderful. Full Icarex sail, wrapped tapered carbon frame, Yo-Yo stoppers installed, adjustable tail weight, adjustable leach line.....as good as many of the high end kites on the market. Available in standard and vented models.

Talk to your local retailer and see if they have either the E3 or the Infinity for you to demo. I think you will be more than surprised at just how good those kites are.


Infinity standard and vented.

Hope that helps.

[Johan]

Thank you for your suggestions, i found the infinity and it really seems to be a wonderful kite to trick with (according to the manufacturers texts). Have not found similar promotional text for the E3. If you compare the two kites from your experience, do you have any pros and cons regarding different trickabilities and precision between the two or are they likeworthy in all aspects?

Looking at wind tolerance the E3 states 5-40km/h compared to then Infinity's 8-28 km/h so, 1-0 for the E3 on that point. What is your experience of wind tolerance?( The numbers might lie to you )

Best regards
Johan

[windofchange]

Just from experience, I have never been able to fully rely on manufacturers claims of rated wind ranges for their kites.

The thing I try to tell people is that there are actually two ways to fly - one way is blissful and a ton of fun, the other way is what has been referred to as "Survival Mode" where 'yes' the kite is actually flying but are you really having any fun at it?? There's a video floating around of someone flying a Thor's Hammer indoors (Thors Hammer - 14 ft. wingspan, weighs about 4 pounds), does that mean that the Thors Hammer is a good SUL or even Indoor kite? Hardly not! That just means that the pilot is either extremely talented at indoor flying or is seriously working his butt off ... or both!!! But a Manufacturer could honestly say that a Thors Hammer CAN fly in winds from 0 mph to 22 mph - making it one of the largest wind ranges of any kite out.

Manufacturers work from sales - sales and marketing tries to put the minimum and maximum possible to help market he products. The stated wind ranges are exactly that - stated. If the kite went up in the air in 20 mph winds and didn't explode the second it went up...well - it will fly in 20 mph winds. If you can work the kite hard, do a little running and get it to barely float for at least a second in 3 mph then thats what it is stated at.....so you get a wind range of 3 mph to 20 mph. I have a ton of kites that are listed as being able to fly in 15 - 18 mph winds but would never dream of taking them out in winds over 12. I also have a lot of kites that state 2-3 mph for the bottom end but will put them away and pull out a UL or SUL when the winds drop to around 5ish.

So I always recommend taking stated wind ranges with a huge grain of salt. Usually (for a standard model kite) if you take about 4-5 mph off of the top end and add 2-3 mph on the bottom end you will be pretty close.

That being said, the E3 starts flying pretty decent for me around 5-6 mph and max about 15 mph. Tricks and fun start to dwindle around 10-12 mph. The Infinity standard starts to fly nicely around 3-4 mph range with tricks and max about 15 mph. Tricks can be perfromed from appx. 4 mph to 12 without to much work.

Between the two, I would definately favor the Infinity over the E3. IMO, the Infinity is nicer to trick with and does more tricks easier. It is also a 100% Icarex sail with wrapped tapered rods, has massive amounts of adjustability in it, nicer tail weight system, leach line and comes in both a Standard and Vented model. The Infinity Standard also flies in a lighter wind than the E3 (but this is more dependant on pilots ability than the actual kite) You will pay a little more for the Infinity than the E3 though and you would need to purchase a lineset with the Infinity.

The perks for the E3 is it is a little less money than the Infinity, comes with lines & handles and comes with the Freestyle Pilot DVD.

MSRP on both kites
Infinity Standard $218.00
Infinity Vented $238.00
Prism E3 $179.00

Hope that helps.

[Johan]

Thank you, that was exactly what i needed to hear. Based on your experience Infinity is the clear winner and the one I probably go with. But the size is a bit frightening. Is there any alternative kite with a wingspan around 2.0 meters, performing alike or near the infinity, or is there a severe tradeoff in performance going down almost half a meter.

Maybee HQ Jive is an alternative. What im really after is a kite that performs tricks with ease and style/precision and still possible to have fun with when not performing tricks.
I think Im more into axels and variations of that than im into YoYos but if a kite does it all it okay with me:-)



Best regards
Johan

[windofchange]

I wouldn't get to intimidated by the size. Personally I find the larger kites are easier to fly than the smaller ones. The smaller wings usually take more wind to fly and are much less forgiving when trying to learn new tricks. We have taught tons of new pilots on these size kites and find they are easiest for them to learn on. The larger kites rotate a tad bit slower and seem to be much easier to recover from than the smaller more radical kites.

The dual line kites are not usually designed for a lot of pull, so unless you are going to be flying in winds above the 18 mph mark, even the larger sized kites will feel quite light on the lines to fly.

With your hesitation on purchasing a full sail kite in the 6 to 7 foot mark (2.3 and 2.5 range), I would still recommend the larger over the smaller. It may seem intimidating but in the end I think you will be glad that is the size you purchased....plus that Infinity is such an awesome kite.

[Johan]

Thanks!
I looked at the Jive and found that they state, 2-5 Bft. (6-38 km/h, 4-24 mph) and for Infinity 2-4 Bft. (8-28 km/h l 5-18 mph) but as we have been on to previously, thats just numbers. Normal winds where i live is between 1-8m/s, at least the last month, so it would be in range. And the important thing is which one is the most fun to fly. I hope the tricks are just around the corner. What tricks, top 5, is best to start with for me as a beginner?
By the way is there any videos of the infinity in flight on the internet. Have just found a 16 second long one saying me nothing about its abilities. Nice to see how it should look with this particular kite when i get it right:-)

Best regards
Johan