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AirBlaster Stealth 3.6
This is a new kite to hit the UK kiting scene in 2004. Designed and produced by Harrogate firm 'Action Pact' who are (to date) the sole distributors. The kite seems to have a hybrid style somewhere between the Flexifoil Blade and Bullet - but at a fraction of the price.
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Reviews
A AirBlaster Stealth 3.6 review by Nesbitt Bub:
My first impression of the Stealth was that it fills a nice hole between the Flexifoil Bullet and the Blade. The kite has lift and power,
both are in good moderation. It's well constructed from almost identical materials to its Flexifoil rivals. And has a price that will almost
certainly make the smaller sizes very popular.
Let's start the review with first impressions. Getting the kite out of the bag I was dubious, the bag was nice looking. And I thought
that this might be an effort to make the kite seem of a higher quality than it actually was. I was wrong. The kite is nice, well sewn
together made from the same materials as other well known brands. The bridle seemed simple, yet intimidating because of the lack
of colour coding between the brake and power bridles. It all looked like one big mess, but a few seconds playing with the bridle and
you soon see exactly where everything goes. Flying lines attach with larks head knots as is standard on most traction kites. All in all
it has the same look and feel as any of the professionally made traction kites you can buy. No corners seem to have been cut with
the construction at least.
Getting the kite up in the air you can feel that the kite is neither a Bullet nor a Blade replica. You get the stability of a Bullet, but with
lift as well. The kite is fast in the sky, and maneuvers with positive control. I felt that it had a good sized wind window, and would fly
at around 85 degrees from 12 o clock. The brakes are responsive and the kite will fly backwards with great ease and very little brake
pressure. Too much brake pressure will result in the bottom of the kite folding upwards and make the kite more unstable. This isn't a
great problem though it just means the pilot has to be a little more careful when landing and braking the kite. This kite does not come
with and handles or lines. A good line and handle set is offered with the kite for a little more money I believe, and is probably worth the extra.
Buggying with this kite was great fun. You can use the position of the kite in the sky to change the lift and pull of the kite. Flying the kite in the
lower ¾ of the wind window gets you moving with little or no lift. Then using the speed of the kite and the top ¼ of the window you can generate
solid controllable lift. The extra lift is great for popping the back wheel up. At no point whilst in the buggy did I feel that the kite was getting the
better of me, or attempting to lift me out. And the lift was good enough for me to be able to keep the back wheel in the air with little effort other
that balance control. A big thumbs up IMHO.
For general movement the kite was solid. Not as powerful as a bullet I felt, but there is a significant range of sizes with the stealth to make getting
a bigger kite cheaper. The kite was difficult to overfly, fast at turning and gave the power coming out of turns that you need. Using the kite as a
wind brake was quite difficult, the kite has to be forced beyond the zenith in the opposite direction and its flat profile means it doesn't grab the air
and slow you down. I think there will be a technique for making this style of braking more efficient. I will have to play with the kite more to learn the
secret. It's not a race winner, but it'll have you grinning like a naughty school boy. And you'll be safe as houses when that back wheel lifts.
Upwind I felt the kite was O.K. It wasn't special but with effort you could get yourself back upwind. The larger kites in the stealth range are probably
lots better, but the 3.6 in 10Mph winds just didn't have the legs. Don't be fooled into thinking this kite won't get you upwind, it just won't do it as fast
as some of the other kites you can buy. If you're not racing, you're not going to care in the slightest about a little upwind speed though.
My roundup.
I like this kite a lot. If I didn't already have a 2.5m bullet I would have one of these. The 3.6 is fun, and will have you impressing yourself and friends
with very little effort. The bridle could do with been coloured to make it less intimidating. All in all though it's a great little piece of kit. And an absolutely
wonderful kite to get learning buggy with. Especially when the 3.6 is cheaper than the 2.5 bullet.
Nesbitt Bub, 14/07/2004
A AirBlaster Stealth 3.6 review by Kitefan:
I was going to write a complete review of this kite myself - but Nesbitt has pretty much covered my thoughts on the whole. In summary I'm very
impressed, especially considering the price tag. If you're thinking of getting a Flexi Bullet or Blade then this is definitely worth considering. It seems
to be a quite high performance, well put together piece of kit - and can be used to get little jumps with on a land board (in 20mph winds) :D
A couple of additional things I've noted (sorry if I repeat Nesbitt):
The rucksack the kite comes with is a nice bit of kit - very similar in quality to the Blade and Bullet rucksacks. I recently used it
while doing a 26 mile walk across the North Yorkshire moors and it was great! Not that this affects the kite in any way of course!
The bridles, when supplied new, require some new knots adding in order for the brake lines to be the optimum length. Perhaps the next
batch will have correct knots in them already... anyway, this really isn't much of a worry for anyone who's ever flown a 4-line kite before.
Unpacking often leaves you with a few bridle tangles - nothing major, just loops through loops if you know what I mean. The Bullet has sleeved
dyneema for a bridle which may assist in resolving this problem... but perhaps it also adds a little more bridle drag. It might be advisable to
tie the bridles down when you pack the kite up, in order to avoid this. My Flysurfer Psycho2 does this also, so I don't think this is a major worry really.
One last point, and probably just my crap flying technique; but when I go for a static jump with the kite pointing straight upwind (behind me), the kite
does sometimes over fly and then do a nose first forward roll - resulting in a flapping mess of cloth which can at times hit the ground before it's
unravelled itself... same as any open foil though really, and as I say, probably just my technique.
As I said at the start of this little review, good kite, especially for the money. Probably best as a recreationl kite or buggy engine.
Kitefan, 14/07/2004
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