KiteJan

This is a design from the book Stunt Kite I that caught my eye for my third trip into kite making. The idea of 2 overlapping hexagon looks quite striking, and given (according to the authors) it flies like a Revolution, I thought this would be an ideal kite for me.

The basic construction wasn't too bad - simply 12 triangles stitched together to form the hexagons - but I found the bridle more difficut to get right.

I prefer flying it on the Synergy Deca (straight) rather than the Revolution (bent) handles, but that might be a personal preference thing.

Made: April 2003

Details

Width	Height	Depth	Weight	Spars	Sail	Windrange
150 cm	67 cm	0 cm	170 g	4 & 6mm Carbon	Ripstop Nylon	medium
Cost
Not much - used left over material from the Papillon, and spent about £15 (I think) at Decathlon for the carbon fibre & bridle lines.

Good Things

• Nice design.
• Equally fast in forward and reverse flight (like the Papillon in fact).
• Spins well and controllably.
• Flies surprising well in lowish wind (with some of the 6mm Carbon replaced by 4mm).

Bad Things

• Somewhat difficult to control in flight.
• Can fall from the sky when caught by wind gusts.
• Prone to line wraps around the spar tips.
• Relatively heavy - lots of spars.
• Quite small.
• Limited wind window - doesn't like the extreme left & right - more prone to falling due to gusts.
• Construction instructions vague regarding the bridle and occasionally downright misleading!

Final Thoughts

Difficult to say! Not as good as the Revolution, Papillon, or Synergy - but does deserve a place in my kite bag. Once the bridle had been sorted out it worked much better, and now that I have replaced one of the 6mm carbon spars from each side with 4mm it flies in less wind. 

I've flown it at a couple of festivals (most recently at Morecambe 2007) and enjoyed flying it to a point. 

Bottom line? Not brilliant but is fun to fly sometimes.

Pack up size: 87cm x 8cm