Flexifoil Sting 1.7M

This is a review of the new for 2006 Flexifoil Sting. The original Sting was 1.2m in size and that left a gap in the Flexifoil range as the old Bullet 1.5m had gone and the next size up was the 2.5m Bullet; this left a fairly big gap in the Flexifoil ranges, especially considering the Sting is designed for beginners. Interestingly Flexifoil have now not only released the 1.7m Sting but have also released a replacement for the Bullet in the Rage which comes in at 1.8m. The Sting also comes in bigger sizes of 2.4 and 3.3m as well so there is now considerable overlap between the Sting and Rage series.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Here's the kite in its bag

Flexifoil have gone from making the Sting's drawstring bag out of the same material as the kite to a more substantial thicker rucksack type material. They're the same smaller handles as the old 1.2m in there and kite killers plus the lines. They've also put in something else as well which I'll come to later but managed to keep the 1.7m kite in the same sort of size as the 1.2m

With a clever bit of design the drawstring that closes the top is threaded through a carry strap so when the bag is closed and tight you have enough slack to allow you to carry the bag over your shoulder if you wish. There is also a carry loop as well. The carry bag has come on a long way, however, I think for learners the internal band round the top of the pouch is a bit restrictive and could do to be a bit bigger to allow some leeway when it comes to the novice packing away their kite perhaps not as small as it came out.

Here's the Sting 1.7 in full glory with the older 1.2 Sting for comparison. Check out the bridle, not only tied to the Velcro holders but put through a nice little quick guide sheet.

Not very well laid out by me, a bit crinkled. Same small handles and short 18m lines as per the old Sting. The new handles have a warning sticker on them saying only for use with a Sting. Don't go using them with your new Blade IV 8.5 then ! Here's the back. Ain't nobody going to think you might be flying a French kite and come kick sand in your face with the size of that monogram !

The cardboard tag up close

Is that just cool for learners or what ? If you had that and the handles in your hands could you get it wrong ?

Here's my second small gripe. I had this kite for 4 hours before I realised a small pull on the side was to open a pocket and not some sort of fancy seam marker. It might be me or it might be the Velcro was well closed and I did not see the seem but it did not look like a pocket to me at all. This is quite important because in the pocket are some more goodies

Stickers, registration card and a manual featuring the long haired bloke out of the Joy of Sex book ! How they managed to get all that in the bag is pretty amazing considering it is hardly bigger than the old 1.2 bag. The manual covers everything for handles and bar you would wish to know as a starter.

Having seen all this and trying to put myself in the shoes of a first time kiter I think Flexifoil have done a fantastic job of providing the complete starter package in such a small space.

Ah but how is it likely to fly, especially compared to the old Sting ? Well I got my measuring tape out and tried to see if it had a different shape to the old Sting . Here's my measurements on the old Sting

192cm span x 65cm chorda/r is 2.9565cm chord to 26cm wingtip depth => ratio is 2.5chikara ripstop nylon

Note that Flexifoil quote 3.2 as the aspect ratio on their site.

Here's the new Sting223cm span x 81cm chorda/r is 2.981cm chord to 32cm wingtip depth => ratio is 2.53sora ripstop nylon

So the new Sting is basically the same shape. I still got an aspect ratio of 2.9 with my measurements but maybe I am doing something wrong there ? Don't take that as Gospel apart from the fact the new Sting has the same figures as the old. It does look more angular though, not quite as rounded and fat. Maybe that is an optical illusion with the new graphics. Aslo notice the new material .. Sora ripstop nylon rather than Chikara, I wonder if this is slightly cheaper heavier than Chikara?

FLYING IMPRESSIONS

I've had two flying sessions so far. The first was on a terrible day where not only did the wind die down to nothing nearly constantly but kept changing direction by as much as 120-150 degrees as the wind toppled around both sides of a nearby hill. The only thing this showed was that the Sting has lost none of it's user friendly nature with luffing being noticeable by it's absence. Three people or varying abilities flew the kite and it did stay in the air most of the time, the more adept being able to work the kite and keep it in the air until there was a sustained lull of no wind at which the kite gently floated to the ground.

The second flying session was a lot more windy but was also very gusty with gusts not only ranging to 25-30mph but also from a very low initial point, ie 5-10mph rather than say a constant of 15-20. At least it was all in one direction this time and would show how the size increase had affected how the kite flies. I also got chance to do a back to back session with the 1.2m Sting for comparison.

The first thing to notice is the extra pull, you can definitely feel the pull at 20+ mph and it no longer feels like you are flying a feather as is the case with the 1.2m. You can still work the kite through the power zone without fear so this is ideal for the learner, but now your arms will feel it. This bodes well if this kite is to be used for learning wheeled activities or in high wind conditions.

The flip side to the increased power through bigger size is loss of agility and speed in turning. The Sting 1.7m does not overfly the zenith of sides of the window in similar fashion to it's smaller brother but it has also lost some of the turn speed and 'zippy' response that the 1.2m has in abundance. Testing the two back to back I found the 1.2m more fun to fly. The 1.7m can still be turned on it's axis and do tight loops etc but everything happens more slowly and takes more space, also there was an interesting characteristic in that where the 1.2 Sting does a fast turn and generates the same pull throughout the 1.7 starts slowly and then goes quicker through the bottom of the turn and generates more power out of it and so is a lot less linear. Another interesting feature is that where the smaller Sting will sit at the zenith doing a very shallow figure of eight if no control inputs are done and gently wanders about the bigger Sting flies about all over the place and has to be kept in check with some small inputs thus suggesting it might be more sensitive to changing wind conditions ( which admittedly were really bad on the flying day ).

One place where the new Sting greatly outshines the old is the colour scheme, the new Petrol colour scheme looks fantastic in the sky. My Blade IV 4m will also be having this colour scheme when it arrives in May. The new Sting still shudders and pops like it's smaller brethren when flying in gusts, in fact I'd say it shimmers more. The leading edge looks a bit crinkly as well; this could probably be improved with taped edges a la Ozone but then you are adding weight. Certainly there is no problem taking off or landing, even with the increased size, the kite both inflating well and also landing smoothly without too much tipping on the brakes.

CONCLUSIONS

I'll try and do this from a person new to learning power kiting and also from someone maybe using this as another kite for high winds.

For the learner the contents of the package when unwrapped are excellent and provide a great introduction to kite that is about to be flown, really it is a giant leap beyond the previous Sting and Buzz and also now well ahead of the competition as well it seems. The flying experience is still in the same mould as the previous Sting with now more power but still not enough to stop the learner from being intimidated and / or hanging on rather than actually flying the kite. The kite is still very easy to fly straight off on both launch, in the window and landing with little chance of luffing and self recovery from the odd luff normally happening before the kite gets to the ground ( the power up phase from this being gentle as well of course ). With the 1.7m the learner will get their first taste of the power a traction kite can generate without any chance of mishap.

For the more advanced static flyer in my opinion the 1.2m Sting is still the one to go for if a high wind kite is needed and this is because that the sacrifice in power is more than made up for in the insanely agile behaviour of the smaller kite. However, for a person starting to learn to buggy the 1.7m obviously would be a better bet due to it's stronger pull , apparently the 1.2m can do this job but it does have to have very high winds . I am starting to learn to buggy so I shall see if the 1.7 was a good choice.

When you start to think of traction though you do have to wonder whether the Sting is as good a bet as the Rage as it now competes with this Flexifoil kite range as well. Sizes are comparable