cjay

Interested to hear how kite flying style, tricks, designs and kite capabilities have changed compared to the kites you use. Prism kites is still open in Seattle. Stopped in there and had them repair a kite for me. I think their kites are mostly mass produced now at factories in China or something. Doesn't look like they are in the custom high end competition kite market. Please do tell what you end up getting and how you like it.

I don't see much info out there about this kite so I thought I would post some observations. I used the 85' x 100# skybond line. Had a steady wind of about 12 mph. The kite is smooth, quiet, doesn't pull hard, and is fairly precise or predictable, and takes a beating pretty good. I was just carving turns, and this kite is good for that type of flying. I like the kite and think it is fun to fly. I do think my Widow NG, and Prism E2 are both more fun to fly than the thunderstruck, and seem more razor sharp on response and better for patterns and figures. Both me and my woman liked the thunderstruck, and thought it was a fun and smooth kite to fly. I wanted more precision, and switched to my E2 after about an hour. Curious how the HQ Ion, and Limbo 2 compare to the thunderstruck for precision.

Yes because it does that cause it is basically stalled out there for a second or a little more. I am still getting used to it.

I think SZOBELDA has it right about the handling of the E2 vs. the Widow NG. A modern trick kite person might not like the E3, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy one for carving turns. The E2 winglets with the support whiskers might have something to do with it keeping pull in turn transitions at the edge of the window. The E2 is said to have a better build quality than the E3, but I don't know if that is true or not. The E2 was made in the US factory, and the E3 production was overseas. Prism said the differences are that the E3 has a pultruded spine. They did that because beginners kept breaking the P200 spine. The pultruded spine is thinner so the T has a smaller hole. And also that: ... "we’ve redesigned the E3 wing geometry with a new profile and higher aspect ratio to add precision and tracking." A person could just put a skyshark P200 spine in and drill the T out a little bigger to fit and you have a E2 frame, but the wing would still be different. I actually went the other way and put an E3 spine and T in my relatives E2 because people kept breaking the P200. I have a spare E3 spine, T, and weight for mine also, but haven't used it yet. I have heard that there are some overseas factories with the capability of fully computer cutting and sewing kites with virtually no defects, with more precision than can by achieved by a person.

Got some solid time in on the Widow NG and E2 today. Thankful to be able to fly again, for awhile there it looked like it might not be possible. Flew the Widow NG without the weight and on the 3rd knot. The lag or hesitation between turns is still there, and is very annoying. The pull was lighter on the 3rd vs 2nd knot. I did not like the way It flew without the weight, and on the 3rd knot. I haven't compared all of the measurements to the blueprint yet, but the top spreader position looks pretty close. After the Widow NG was getting on my nerves, and the wind was getting too strong for it, I switched to the E2 and had a good session. That thing is so smooth and quiet, and pulls through turn transitions like it has a motor, zero hesitation or delay, just consistent, and with much lighter pull than the Widow NG. I need to fly some other various kites now, I am really curious to see if they have a delay at turn transitions outside of the power zone of the window.

Manual: "For faster climb in lighter winds, connect the upper bridle to the knots closer to the kite frame. For faster turning in higher winds connect the upper bridle to the knots farther from the kite frame. " So that means light wind setting nose is more toward you, and high wind setting nose would be more away from you ?

That is awesome info. Thanks ! I will have to try the 3rd knot. Mine came set on the 2nd and I have never moved it. I wonder if top of donut stop means top of connector or top of glued on stop.

That is interesting. In specific conditions mine is fun for carving turns in the sky. Wouldn't know about the tricks though. The upper connector stops that were glued on came loose and had to be re glued. I might not have gotten the stops in the correct spot, and the front spreader might be forward or back of the correct location. I mean they are pretty even with each other, just maybe forward or back of the correct position. I don't have any way to tell. Apparently there is a tow point loop adjustments also, in addition to the front bridle knots.

I have read that about them as well. It is certainly a kite that I am keeping my eye open for if one comes up for sale. I don't know if the Mamba is similar in that aspect or not. I was looking at them. I read a review about them but can't seem to find it now.

Bridle is adjustable. It has 4 knots. Setting is at 2nd knot from frame. Bridles look pretty close to each other.

My Widow NG has a trait that I don't understand. If I fly across the window and make a 180 turn at the edge to go back the other direction, it has a hesitation, which is more pronounced the lower the wind speed gets. And if the wind drops off much, or if you make any sort of wrong move at that moment, the kite will fall out of the sky. I can't really fly it at all under a solid 5mph. And at 8 or 9 mph it pulls too hard for my back when flying in the power section of the window. The kite seems to me like a 5-8 mph kite, that has a weird delay in turn changes at the edge of the window. I see people flying it and doing tricks in what looks like SUL wind range, but it acts like a brick to me. Using the skybond lines helped the kite feel quite a bit over the factory lines. I removed the tail weight on the NG but the delay in turn initiation is still there at the edge of the window. My E2 doesn't have this delay at all. I am thinking it is because of the winglets, and it holds a turn solid and smooth at the edge of the window.

It is time for me to buy a true SUL kite that can handle some gusts. My Widow NG was pissing me off today in sul-gust-sul-gust wind. I was considering the PDSUL. I am good with the old school directional flying stuff. But I get the impression that it requires a lot of work / running to keep flying under 3 mph. Also, if it can't handle the gusts or much wind range that probably wont work for me. Either way I want to try one first before I buy one. I am thinking about the Lam's new I-T-M SUL kite. You can see the videos of him flying it on youtube. He says it has a good wind range, will fly as good down as low as the other SULs out there, also that it doesn't have as much turtle tendencies as the AC. I would like to fly one first also, because I don't know enough about kites to know what type of kite it is by looking. I was thinking maybe a Blue Moon UL or SUL. Heard the Exile UL was really good. Maybe a Mamba UL. I don't really know what else I should be considering. Heard the Seven, shadow, benson were probably too tricky for my style of flying, and skill level. I don't know much about the Nirvana but I think it is in this same category.

I was able to use these lines for a few minutes today before the wind died. The wind was sul then gusty then back to sul. I don't have a kite that can fly in those conditions. I checked the lengths first. They were both the same length. My first impression was that I like the feel of my skybond slightly better. I think the skybond might have a more wire connection feel to them. But I will need more time to tell how the stretch and wind drag of the matrix feels. I can't say yet for sure whether the lines are more visible than white ones. It will be interesting to see if they contrast better when it is cloudy or grey skies, and also lying on the ground.

Not yet. I will post up about them when I get a chance to fly. I really want to go flying too. I have had a little time here and there to fly locally, but with the light wind we have had I would need a SUL for that. I was going to buy a PDSUL, but decided that I want to fly one first before I buy one.

I will be sure to post updates as I use them.