My Delayed Slingshot Turbo Diesel Review

andyandmarlys · Post by **andyandmarlys** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:19 pm

UPDATE-

A few nights ago I had dinner with Eric Due who was one of the first crossbow fliers, and mentioned that I liked the TD, but that I was concerned with inversions. He said he had experienced similar inversions with the crossbow until he pumped the kite up really hard.

Today I pumped my TD up harder than I had been, and so far, it seems to have prevented inversions from happening... Maybe I wasn't pumping the kite up hard enough which was encouraging the kite to invert while on the water... Today I had my kite in the water many times with no inversions.... it wasn't that windy today, but I had experienced inversions even in light wind before. I'll do more testing, but hopefully the inversion mystery is solved...

Today in the light winds of Alameda, the 12m proved to be ridable on the glide in 8mph on the sensor, although it took 10mph to really go upwind well

VanSimms · Post by **VanSimms** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:39 pm

I have to agree with you Andy, I was doing fine at first (forgot how to ride in lightwinds) But then later on I was having problems with keeping the kite in the air and then, I experienced my first inversion on the Xbow.

I have a feeling that I have a small leak in my leading edge, when I get the replacement bladder, I'll put it in and see if it makes a difference. I think what I'll have to do for now is pump it up really hard and then half way though my session I'll come in pump it up again. Another effect of haveing low psi in the leading edge, is back stalling and a smaller de-power range.

andyandmarlys · Post by **andyandmarlys** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:54 pm

I think you might be right about the inversion issue... but also keep in mind that it is super hard to keep the kite in the air under 8-10mph... the range of any kite will be decreased, and back stalls become common... no matter what kite you have... There were periods today that it was so light I literally could not keep my kite in the air... 7-10mph is truely the low range of any kite.... I could have pumped up a 19.5 and would have had more riding today, but I am content with what I did get today since the 19.5 moves so sluggishly compared to a 12...

Pablito · Post by **Pablito** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:57 pm

Andy,
Were you on the Glide the whole time today? I am 175 and was on a 14, struggling most of the time. It was pretty impressive to see you out there on the TD the whole time staying upwind (or almost upwind). It looks so small for a 12, yet it was pulling you along pretty nicely.

No doubt you are a far more skilled kiter than many of us, but you've also got a few pounds on some of us, too. :)

VanSimms · Post by **VanSimms** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 12:37 am

I had the same problem today too, My kite dropped a few times today and when walking back upwind on the sand, it was a bit hard to relaunch to say the least.

I have to say though, I milked it till the end, by the time I came in I couldn't even stay up on the board. :)

andyandmarlys · Post by **andyandmarlys** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 12:51 am

Today was all glide

andyandmarlys · Post by **andyandmarlys** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 1:12 am

Pablito wrote: No doubt you are a far more skilled kiter than many of us, but you've also got a few pounds on some of us, too. :)

That is 220 lbs of pure love...

Love of pastries
Love of meat
Love of pizza
Love of ......

LionKite · Post by **LionKite** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 3:01 pm

Pablito wrote :
"I bet that by July 1st, I will be able to buy a 2006 kite that was used less than 10 times for $500 or less on Ikite from a sponsored rider."

you seem to be pretty confident about your buying technique but
What kind of sponsored rider uses his kites less than 10 times???

andyandmarlys · Post by **andyandmarlys** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:11 pm

UPDATE UPDATE - Today I fully tested the safety system of the Turbo Diesel after pumping the kite up very hard, and can now stand behind this product's safety system... I found that unless the kite is very hard, it will have a tendancy to bend rather than roll as a complete unit. Today I tried the safety 10 times in various configurations and did not get any inversions.... I saw where the kite looked like it might invert, but the whole kite would roll rather than invert as I was used to... This is nice as the kite would end up in the launch position. WHen the pressure is lower, the kite will just bend inside out...

So moral of the story... pump the bows up really hard or they won't work right... I am talking 8 or more psi... Last week I tried 6psi, and found that the kite would be very inversion prone....

By the way... I really love the kite if you can't tell...

andyandmarlys · Post by **andyandmarlys** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:25 pm

UPDATE UPDATE - Today I fully tested the safety system of the Turbo Diesel after pumping the kite up very hard, and can now stand behind this product's safety system... I found that unless the kite is very hard, it will have a tendancy to bend rather than roll as a complete unit. Today I tried the safety 10 times in various configurations and did not get any inversions.... I saw where the kite looked like it might invert, but the whole kite would roll rather than invert as I was used to... This is nice as the kite would end up in the launch position. WHen the pressure is lower, the kite will just bend inside out...

So moral of the story... pump the bows up really hard or they won't work right... I am talking 8 or more psi... Last week I tried 6psi, and found that the kite would be very inversion prone....

By the way... I really love the kite if you can't tell...

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My Delayed Slingshot Turbo Diesel Review

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