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Flysurfer Titan 12.5
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A Flysurfer Titan 12.5 review by Nick Beyer:
I bought the Flysurfer Titan 12.5 as my "low wind" kite. I had the ideal wind range covered by my Peter Lynn GII 13 (14 mph - ~25mph), but arcs just don't seem to work that well in low wind. For me low wind is about 7mph -14mph. After this the GII comes alive.
I'd been doing a bit of research and was seriously considering getting a large Blade, either 9m BII or 8.5 or 10.5 BIII, but I really don't enjoy boarding without depower any more.
So, finally the offer of a decently priced Titan came along so I went for it. The kite came complete, as do all Flysurfers, so I was happy not to have to do any bar swapping (or buying).
I suppose I should move on to the most important aspect of any review - performance and flying characteristics.
Setup
Having flown arcs for most of the recent past, I was really pleased to have a kite that I could just hook into and launch. All I need to do is unwind the lines, stake the safety and pre inflate the kite, which takes seconds. Then I hook in and up it goes.
I have recently found that in a bit more wind its better to lay the kite tip to tip in a downwind direction, weigh down the upwind dip and launch from the edge of the wind window (a la arc). The reasons for this are that i) its safer and ii) the kite pulls quite a bit even on safety and in a bit more of a blow it can pull stakes out of the ground.
Flying
I first took the kite out in pretty dodgy wind that, I think were somewhere between 8 and 13mph. My first impression was that it pulled like a train but also turned like a truck. The bar pressure was also really quite heavy and it took quite some effort to get the kite to turn. I could get going really easily on my landboard, but when it came to jumping the kite was too slow to turn to throw it back and then too slow to redirect, so I wasn't completely happy with this.
I also took a bit of time to get used to the fact that on occasion the kite would overfly and luff, but this has been eliminated now I am more used to the kite. A bit of pumping on the bar while the kite is at zenith and also constantly keeping it moving helps loads.
My second go with the Titan was in even less wind, possibly between 7 and 10 mph. There was a Blade III 8.5 and a Blade II 9.0 out at the same time and my performance was similar to the 8.5 I think. The guy on the 9.0 was still going when we couldn't. I was still having issues with the kite's slow turning speed, and all I could really do was park and ride. It wasn't very possible to sine the kite to increase apparent wind.
After this second go, I felt a bit disappointed with my purchase and wondered whether it was worth it. I decided to sell the Titan and forget about really low wind kiting. Then, I had one more go cos I left my Guerilla at home and I decided to keep it. Here's why:
The wind wasn't very strong, again probably somewhere around 8 or 9 mph. The Titan was getting me going as it had before and Kitefan was just getting going on his Venom 16. I think we agreed that I just had the edge.
During lulls, when the wind probably fell below 8mph, my Titan would back stall quite often, so I landed it. I remembered that someone had mentioned that moving the V lines onto a different knot on the centre flying line changes the flying characteristics. I had previously moved them further away from the bar onto the last knot and it had made the kite worse. There were no more knots available so I decided to make one about 3cm further down the centre line. After I attached the V lines to this the kite was a completely different beast. Bar pressure was lighter and turning rate was definitely faster. The handling of the kite felt more like the GII and I could get going fairly easily in the light stuff. I even managed some small jumps and a couple of low transitions (which is something I've never mastered on the GII). The hang time on these small jumps is amazing.
As the evening drew on the wind dropped and I got to the point where I had very little traction for boarding, but I could still keep the Titan in the air. Nesbitt's Blade II 9m was still getting us moving but as I said, I just don't like handles any more.
I've since found information on the internet that states that moving the V lines closer to the bar increases turning speed, decreases bar pressure, decreases backstall (hence increasing low wind ability) and decreases stability. I'd agree with all of those statements, although I noticed no instability issues after I'd made the adjustment.
All in all, I'm really happy with the Titan now. I think there are still a few things that I have to iron out and I need to get some more flying time with it, but I'm looking forward to doing that!
Nick Beyer, 18/05/2005
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