HQ Beamer II 3.6M

I have always flown kites since I was small and at the age of sixteen I have finally got bored of 2 line stunt kites. After searching the web I landed on this site and read some reviews which convinced me to get into powerkiting the beamers looked like a good beginner kite.

As a total newcomer to powerkiting the ready to fly aspect of the beamer was apealing as it comes complete with kite, Handles, Bag, Lines, a ground steak and kite killers. The manual that comes with it is very basic.

The 3.6 is BRIGHT yellow and looks very nice, the fabric is a bit "crinckly" and tends to keep creases rather then smoothing out easily. The handles are a bit hard they have foam grips but the foam is very solid and tends to rub the skin of you hands (bicycle gloves cure this) They are however a good size and easy to grip. The kite killers come preattachedand are paded strips with a velcro bit the raps through a buckle to hold them on they are comfortable but fiddly to take on and off.

The lines have the loops tied on rather then sewn, and some of my loops have stretched a bit not enough to affect the line length but they do look abit ugly and suspect. The ground steak looks indestructable and is bright orange which is good as i keep losing it. The bag has a few frayed threads but other then that is very good a large main compartment for kite and smaller ones for lines etc. side pokets are very useful for storing keys+mobile so they dont fly out of you pockets.

Setting the kite up was very easy having read "how to" on this site. And flew well with no input from the brakes as I got used to it. It was very easy to fly and I quickly learnt how to use the brakes to improve my turns. The wind wasn't very strong on my first flight but there was still some pull.

The next time i flew the kite the was a reasonable wind and occasional strong gusts, I really enjoyed myself for and hour or so doing small jumps and being pulled around but not having any trouble controling the kite awesom fun. Until The kite managed to catch me unawares in a gust on a turn. It suddenly pulled forwards and up i landed on my back being dragged along fortionately i droped the handles and the kitekillers saved my back but to late for my t-shirt.

The kite killer worked brilliantly and as soon as i let go the lines went limp and the kite folded up and dropped to the ground. Somewhat shacken i packed up and waited for a calmer day. Ive had the kite for a few months now and Ive flown it in winds stronger then that day and its been brilliant that is the one time the beamer has done anything unpredictable. It is so easy to fly that a friend of mine who has very flown only a few of my 2 line stunt kites was able to quickly get the hang of it and have some fun. The kite is easy to reverse launch as well (great function of 4 line kites saves alot of walking).

The beamer doesn't produce much pull near the very top of the wind window good for resting your arms but makes it hard to jump. Which is frustrating.

I over all find that the build on the beamer II is a bit lacking, but it has shown itself to be hard wearing if a bit heavy, for £120 you cant complain. The flying charecteristics are very dosile but with good firm pull. I am finding myself wanting some thing which will jump better. The beamer has been very good to get to grips with powerkites but now after a few months of frequent flying (summer holidays r great) I find my self wanting something more. It maybe that I learnt quickly because of my experience with 2 line kites but I find my self growing out of the beamer. Its still great fun to fly and "skud" with but...

If your looking to get into powerkiting this is a great kite to start with I have learnt quickly but maybe its better to borrow one then get something more exciting.

I will still get more use out of the beamer as I am hopeing to get a buggy so it will still come in use as a learning tool and to let mates have a go.

By : Ferretish