Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 How does the Super Blast hold up buggying? Well, I can't tell you what anyone else thinks, cause when I was done... I was done! and I packed it away! The wind range on the Superblast is like 2 -13 mph in my mind. Much over the 13 mph and it was to much wind for me to hold it without being on a buggy so I could roll forward and diminish some of the pull. I didn't have a harness, and all the pull was on my forearms. My back was fine, so I'm now dieing of curiosity. Will a harness work with it? What fun buggying with it was! Of Course being a Revolution and a flat kite at that, it responds much quicker then foils with their width. So response on breaks and reverse were magnificent! I could even buggy with the kite in reverse. Throw in some ballet moves and you pretty much have complete control of the kite. There is still a tendacy for me to ride the brakes to much.. that's ok.. I'm a powder puffer not a hot dog. I wasn't looking for speed, but rather the controllability. That's exactly what I got with the SuperBlast! Tacking back was a piece of cake till I ran out of beach.. then it was work.. and when the wind kicked up to high. I could still buggy, but the power of the kite had me deciding to roll forward so I had trouble gaining some ground! Finally after playing with a little speed, tacking, skidding out, rolling the dunes, bouncing over the ruts I got to a point of to tired to flare as they say for parachutist. For buggy's, it's to tired to brake left! I was just give out! But what a way to go! I sent my buggy back with Anita & Stu and assured them I'd just fly my kite back to music and be happy as a clam. OOOOOPS! Wasn't thinking about that Super Blast in high wind and no buggy underneath me! It pulled out of my hands with not a chance of holding on to it. (that' and I've done my face plant in the past.. don't have to do that again!) Realizing there was to much wind for me to hold on to it, let alone fly it back.. I started my walk back to camp. Woo Hoo.. Kurt... always a hero.. Anderson.... came riding down the beach! It's nice to belong to the brother hood of buggiers! thanks for the lift bud! I can't wait to do it all over again! That SuperBlast has doubled in value in my eyes! Ballet and buggy woo hooo.. best of two worlds! Saw kite surfing, boarding, land sailing.... they've got it all down there! Go give it a try! BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvkmike Posted September 7, 2004 Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 Buggying with a superblast?What kind of winds are we talking here? As for using a harness.....I'm sure it could be adapted.You would have to add a link line between the handles.With foils the linkline attatches at the top of the handles....right about where the powerline attaches.You may want to move it down abit..like a c-quad,so you have an easier time applying brake. The harness will keep you from getting arms like popeye & let you fly longer. I'm just chuckling here thinking you otta get together with a friend of mine who i saw buggying with a bol kite.haha.....the two of you in one picture would be priceless! Good Winds Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2004 hahah It sounds funny, but the controllability of a superblast on a buggy is hardly a laughing matter! I loved the control.. and yeah... I ate my spinich! If your gonna play with the big dogs, you can't pee like a puppy! Can he quad the bol? BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 Winds were 8-12 mph perfect for the Superblast as long as there was beach! Much more wind then that and it was to much for me w/no harness. Now I'm lusting after the harness. I wanna go back and play with the Bison, Watch the youngsters catching air, and the bystanders laugh. See ya! That's what Brian said as he buggied by the van and out of site. BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvkmike Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 He could only do down wind runs with the Bol at about 45 degrees to the wind.He claimed to be too over powered to get across or upwind.lol As for controlability while buggying.....hmmm...since the wind window travels with you...I fail to see the advantage other than being different.....or unique.My smaller high performance foils are pleanty fast enough & VERY controlable....I doubt I'll switch to a rev type kite to buggy any time soon.lol I'm into buggy jumping nowadays & I tend to go big rather than small when it comes to kites. To each their own.........so long as you're doin it! Good Winds Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 OH no, I don't expect people to change, but for a Rev. flyer. the Super Blast is more then usable. More importantly, I'm a powder puffer.. not into speed, flying out of the buggy or tricking.... yet. I'll leave that to the hot doggers. I have a small skytiger and have flown all sorts of power quads since I started. Because the kite is something I'm so use to.... and it's response is faster then a cellular's can be, I feel safer. That's what's important to me at this time. I lost it several times... only several times after hours and hours of buggying. I came down hard and the rods held. I still can't wait to try a harness and linnk line with it. BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windofchange Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 Penny, Been buggying with the Superblast (Powerblast 2-4 now days) for quite a while now. For heavier winds throw up a regular Blast and for the light winds, eat your wheaties and get yourself the Powerblast 4-8. I know exactly what you mean about controlability, these kites really do rock! The hardest part with them is getting your buggy up to the speed of the kite as they tend to fly so darn fast. Once there just tweak the handles a bit until you lock into that sweet spot and HANG ON!!! Earlier this year I had the opportunity to fly along side Joe Hadziki out here on the lake bed, he was on the Superblast, I was flying a Razor 2.5. I had a heck of a time keeping up with him both in speed and upwind. Had to be the weight factor...yea, that was it. Joe only drags around about 150lbs totally wet. Best thing about the Rev's is that when you get too much power, drop the bottom handles out and poof! power is gone. Really awesome kites and when the wind is light you can do some amazing stunt flying with them. They really are the best of both worlds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windofchange Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 To harness your rev's, you will probably want to get something similar to the Quadrafoil harness as it will give you more maneuveribility while in the buggy, most of the riders here use that type of harness. Most handles for foil kites have the link line attach right to the back of the main flying line, with the rev you will probably want to drop the link line attachment down about an inch to give you a little better leverage and make it easier on your wrists. This is the same as the c-quad handles mentioned above. I usually unhook when I fly agressivly because the harness does restrict your control a little bit and then hook in when I am ready to kick back and cruise (giving my arms a break as well). I would suggest a little longer link line than normal as well. It tends to put the handles out in front of me a little more and makes it easier to crank one or the other for turns...not really necessary for foils but helps with the Rev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 I'm really having toruble imagining what a rev. would do with my hands not on the handles? How does that SuperBlast handle with harness, links and letting go? BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windofchange Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Let go? um...... Can't really let go of it at all. Once you let go the kite will either pull a reverse or flatten out, dropping all your power depending on the position of the tension on the handles at the time (or worse, do a death dive to the surface ). The link line does make it so that all you have to do is control the bottom lines to either dump the power or power the kite up. Very minimal amount of pressure to keep the kite powered, saving your arms and shoulders over those 6 mile plus trecks across the lake bed. I started using a harness and link when I first started flying my C-Quads, a half mile run on the 6.3 and I had to stop and let my arms recoil back to their original length. With the harness, just hook in, lean back, and let it rip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvkmike Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 I have to ask also.......why would you let go? Good Winds Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Well, I can't figure out in my mind how I'm going to hold two handles and pull a link line? No questions are stupid questions. right? right? BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Mike, I've used the harness and link on foils. Not much and it's been a while, so I can't say I got comfortable with it. I never felt I needed the link at that time. But those are foils, so yeah, the flatness of the superblast leaves me wondering will it reverse and actually overcontrol me more if I release to go pull the link? I'd like to think drag and drop is something you do in computers only. I mean the link isn't just to keep your handles close together right.. You actually pull it as a brake when needed? I suppose it depends on where we are at. Where the kite is in the sky and in conjunction to where the buggy and I are. The advice I took most seriously is don't let the kite get behind you. I still ride my brakes pretty heavy, too. Most of my turns at this point are pretty high up in the sky. I like the long lines and turning up. It seemed to be where I got the most pull last weekend, compared to the lower flying of the foils. This is probably just my amateur buggy pilot status, but it worked for me and I felt safe. I wasn't willing to experiment to see what would happen if I lost it. Fear of pain and all. <_< Well, at least I have a few phone #'s in my cell so if I want to go buggy I can see if someone will be around. Maybe I'll get more buggying in this winter. It sure was a Superblast! I loved riding across the car ruts! More fun then big waves in a small boat! Buggy on! BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windofchange Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 The link line is used to connect from one handle to the next and hooks into your harness. When the kite pulls, the handles do tend to pull together. With foils you can hook into your harness and let go of the handles and the kite will continue to fly. You obviously don't have any control of the kite at the time (left or right) but by holding the upper lines by your harness, the kite will stay in the air just fine. The harness just allows you to relax your arms/hands and let your mid section/body weight take the pull of the kite. Once you launch the kite, simply run the link line up your body until it hooks into your harness. To release, pull the handles towards you and it will come unhooked (link line drops out of the harness hook by gravity). //qouote// I mean the link isn't just to keep your handles close together right.. You actually pull it as a brake when needed? //end quote// The link line is a fixed line that connects to the handles. It isn't like a kite killer that attaches to the brake lines. You still fly the kite with both handles the same as if the line was not connected at all. Rev's and foils fly differently, especially when hooked into a harness. Foils usually fly off of the front lines only, the brakes are only used for landing the kite (generally speaking only). With foils you can attach the link line directly to the same point as the flying line. Rev's require tension on all four lines during most flight, even more so on the Powerblast series kites. By attaching the link line barely below the flying line you get a small amount of help in pulling the brake lines in (fulcrum point is lower directing some of the kite pull to the lower lines as well as the upper lines) but the majority of the pull is still on the flying lines but steering is a little easier because of the assisted pull on the brake lines. I will attempt to show you a visual. You want the link line to take 90% to 100% of the power of the kite, this will allow you to relax your arms during flight. You can still tweak the brake lines for steering or even pull the handle left or right by sliding the link line through the harness. The majority of the power is held by the harness/link line. This means your arms are only used for the kite control. Hope this helps..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windofchange Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Here you go Peggy, for your next outing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Progcraft Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 I've found the harness and link line to be invaluable on a buggy. But, when standing on a board (be it mountain or snow), I don't really like to hook in. It might be because I use NPW9b kites, but I need to be able to react with my arms to make sure I don't do either a face or butt plant. P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvkmike Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 You are absolutely right Penny...there are no stupid questions. Looks like theres alot of sound advise here. Although i do like my rev's....I prefer to use a proper buggy engine to buggy. Foils rule in my opinion. Later Good Winds Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windofchange Posted September 11, 2004 Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 shhhhh awwwwww shhhhh awwwww shhhhhh awwwww (heavy breathing noises) Young apprentice...never underestimate the power of the Rev.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 lol Oh yeah! Vader is scarey! OK, so all this time I've been looking at link lines as being more then they actually are. They are not used as brakes, simply assistance. ok. Now I've got to get back out there, but it's weekends of other kite stuff! No complaints... cept boy oh boy does my gear need cleaning! Good rainy day job. Well, I'm on a mission, so I better move on. Thanks for all the buggy help. Oh, that picture, doesn't look like much power from where the arms are and it's not a Superblast. What's the story? Thanks again for the help. ** Note... I am not batting my eyelashes... that's something in my eye! BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windofchange Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 The picture was from quite a few years ago and I am straining my memory to remember the details of it. I know it was well before the Blast was introduced and the Superblast was not even an idea. Going from memory.....I believe the picture was the winner of a bet between two locals that stunt kites were fun but you could never use them for a buggy engine. Little did they know back then. The stack not only had some power but had some pretty impressive speed as well. Gets me thinking....how bout a stack of 2 Powerblast's?? Hmmm...... Had the Powerblast 4-8 out last friday while others were out on a 4.9 blade, 5.0 JoJo, a Hi60 Skytiger, and a few others. It was fun running circles around them all. (well, maybe not circles but they were sure working it a lot more just to keep up with me.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 I could learn to do that! hehe Only time will tell. What I'm really impressed (and thankful for) is I'm not real sore at all. No heat or ice, just scooted next to my sweetie and he rubbed my arms for me. Now that's worth batting my eyelashes for! BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvkmike Posted September 13, 2004 Report Share Posted September 13, 2004 I'm not surprised you passed a skytiger.lol.....but the Jojo & blade? I dare say you must be an experienced pilot.A good buggyer can beat a rookie or recreational flyer with a fraction of the power. Maybe we should have a race.....hehe....Superblast vs Jojo/Libre. You say where & when....just send me the tickets & I'm there! HAhahahahhaha Good Winds Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mousie Posted September 13, 2004 Report Share Posted September 13, 2004 Ok.. now thattttttttt looks like too much fun.. looks at penny.. you have sand in your eyes too?? maybe we should get some cool dark glasses.. in the meantime.. looks at the picture.. thatsssssssss flyin!!! great shot... hugs mousie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvkmike Posted September 13, 2004 Report Share Posted September 13, 2004 Try that with the superblast!haha I was wanting to go higher,but the ground crew wouldn't do it.I think they were scared.lol Did manage to drag them half way across the field when I dived the kite through the zone. Too much fun! Later Good Winds Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Lingenfelter Posted September 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2004 to the tune of Mama don't let your baby's gorw up to be cowboys. *Momma don't let your babies grow up to be kite jumpers.. Don't want to. <_< I've been next to the man lift team when they spent all day setting up. One maypole.. connected to a circle of maypoles buried in the ground. A harness to the pole, a harness to the spotter. A stack of flexifoils and up up and away, down and up, swoop down and up. Believe someone died before they quit. John, do you know? Kinda like the parachutist that didn't have a plane up here in WA. We had two youngsters die within a week of each other at two different drop zones. The unexpected jerk of loose line to taught pretty much ripped ones' insides apart. The second one I think just came down wrong. It's just wrong. That much height should be over water. Then you can teabag all you want. Splat, dunk, yank up, splat dunk, yank up. You be careful out there! Nope.. don't need that much speed, don't need that much height... nope, nope, nope I have picked up many kites, but never looked to puck one up that will overpower me. I wouldn't even pick up a little ozone (?) last weekend. I knew I was just to worn out to control it for my own safety. Do the naked buggy thing Mike, much safer and it's sure to make us smile! Girls, can I hear an aman? BB Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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