Pansh Ace 3.5M

SUMMARY

Released on 3rd July 2007, I'm lucky to have perhaps the first Ace 3.5m in the country

The Pansh Ace 3.5m is a well built kite intermediate kite. There are more suitable beginner kites out there, as the Ace 3.5m needs some pilot input to get the best from it. But it is very rewarding when it is flown actively.

The kite has strong pull and some lift, but not much float. Whereas the Ace5 has been compared to the Blade, IMHO the Ace3.5 is most similar to the U-Turn Oxygen.

DELIVERY AND PACKING

Delivery was an efficient 4 (!) days from China, with the kite arriving in a simple DHL bag rather than a box.

The kite comes packed in a simple stuff sac, made of the same white material as the kite. It is a bit on the big side. The 3.5 comes with the improved Pansh handles and lines, I'll do a separate review of these, but the lines are still not right IMHO.

The Ace's do not come with a kite killers or ground stake (or Rucksack), hence you need to add at least £15+ onto the price to cover these.

CONSTRUCTION

Having had the first Ace 5m, I was expecting the 3.5m to be similar, but perhaps have some slight differences. Not so. As far as I can tell the Ace 3.5 in identical to the 5m - just shrunk in the wash ...

* Ace 3.5m - Wingspan Size = 418cm - Aspect Ratio = 4.53(open) - Cells: 24

* Ace 5.0m - Wingspan Size = 487cm - Aspect Ratio = 4.53(open) - Cells: 24

The kite is well made, I've been over every seam and can't find a fault. The material is a nice Ripstop with a noticeable checker pattern. It feels kind of "silky" to the touch, just like a higher price kite.

It has all same features as the Ace 5m so forgive me if you have read this before ...

* All edges are reinforced with grey soft nylon tape. Its not Mylar that Ozone use, but it looks serviceable.

* White diagonal internal braces just inside the Leading edge (LE) act as supports for the A bridle.

* The Air intakes are set back slightly from the LE, and are quite narrow. Means the front profile of the kite is aerodynamically rounded

* The orange strips at 30% chord are also diagonal bracing from mid rib to front surface. And act as reinforcement points for the B bridle.

* The tip dirt outs are very small - 4cm long Velcro, but its good to see them.

* The bridle is FULLY STICHED,. The bridles are a little thick with coloured flecks and "rough", but look serviceable.

* No line retaining loops or Velcro in the middle of the kite

* Bridle attachment points are taken into the kite and stitched back onto the rib in a diagonal v shape. Very nice and strong detailing

* The ribs have the same large back to back D cutouts as the 5m Ace. However Pansh appear to have listened to the criticism of the 5m Ace, which used right angle corner cuts. On the 3.5m the D corners are rounder, however there is still evidence of overcutting, and the remaining "I" rib is VERY narrow. This is still a weak area.

One final nice feature is that the "warnings" printed into the kite are not in Pigeon English any more, and actually make some sense. Its a shame these are the ONLY instructions that come with the kite

SETUP

This time I decided to be brave and use the improved Pansh lines and handles from day one.

Unwinding the lines resulted in the usual complete tangle. I've tried unwinding round and round the winder, and rotating the winder round and round now. Neither worked! Perhaps the Pansh-line-winder-upper is a "southpaw"? lol.

The Kite bridle leader came larks headed to the tip bridle. I undid these and started to carefully inspect the resulting spaghetti. I've never seen a new bridle arrive so badly messed up before. I spent 15mins just carefully looking and trying a few unloopings, before I gave in and undid the bridle. WHY ON EARTH SHOULD A BRIDLE COME SO TANGLED? Poor Pansh, VERY poor.

Took me a frustrating half an hour to sort the lines and bridle. I hate to think what a newbie would make of it. To avoid frustration, its best to reserve so "quiet" time to sort this before heading for the flying field.

Anyway, lines out, handles staked, the kite sits up nicely ready for flight.

FLYING

I've spent a few hours flying this kite now, over several days in 5-18mph winds and can report the following.

* The kite is slow to inflate off the ground, slower than the Ace5. It rises very slowly initially and may need several steps back in light wind. If it doesn't inflate it may sink back to the ground.

* One inflated the kite is fast and has good solid strong pull across the window.

* It does have some lift, I've got a few good pendulums on it. But unlike the 5m it doesn't have "raw" loft when parked at the zenith.

* The kite will easily overfly or luff at the edge of the window, it need flyer input to avoid this

* Once airborne the kite has limited float, despite redirection, your coming down fairly fast. This is common of kites this size.

* Unlike the Ace5 i couldn't fly in no wind, it needs a few MPH to keep it inflated and flying.

* The kite flies best with slack brakes, even slight braking can cause the kite to de inflate and lose pull. Due to this, it turns on a wingtip on the brakes.

* The brakes are very sensitive, it needs little input to stall the kite. It is quite stable when stalled in a hover.

* Its best to keep the kite moving, if its moving slowly it can lose a bit of inflation

* If you use to much brake I've noticed the very wingtip can fold in, and easily become tangled in the bridle. I think a tweak may be needed here, the outer 3 brake lines need to be slightly longer.

* It REALLY rewards aggressive input, pulling and turning hard, its at its best then, flying fast and really pulling

COMPARISON

When you compare the price of the whole Ace 3.5m package needed to fly the kite (approx £85), it is not that much cheaper that other often recommended beginners kites:

* Beamer II 3.6m

* Buster 3m

* Ozone Imp Quatro 3.5m

However having flown all these I can safely say the Ace is a far more rewarding and dynamic kite to fly, than the above, its great fun. HOWEVER any of the three above would make a better buy than the Ace as a first kite, as without the active pilot input, the Ace would quickly before tiresome. Its not the stable kite people new to this sport need, and it has too many flaws (lines, bridle, no instructions) to enable it to be recommended as a safe first kite.

IMHO the Ace 3.5 most resembles is the U-Turn Oxygen - it has the same, slow to inflate, fast when inflated characteristics of a intermediate kite. Like the Oxy the Ace 3.5 makes a SUPERB static kite, a good buggy kite and I think it would make a OK boarding kite.

Ever since selling my original 3m FireBee, I've been kinda hankering after a fast grunty 3m kite to fly static. I think I've just found my replacement "Bee"

VALUE FOR MONEY?

Its an interesting one this as today (10/7/07) the Pansh Ace pricing is absolutely crazy ...

* Ace 3.5m = £67.73

* Ace 5.0m = £104.48 (discounted down to £72.98 if you've previously bought a LOT of Pansh)

* Ace 6.0m = £67.73

* Ace 7.0m = £67.73 (no handles)

* Ace 8.0m = £78.23 (no handles)

If Pansh reduced the price of the 3.5, or improved the quality of the lines, or included killers, I would strongly recommend it as Excellent value.

As it stands, the price of the whole Ace 3.5 package (inc killers/stake) is only approx £25 cheaper than the HQ/PKD kites, and as such the ace 3.5m only represents GOOD value for money.

CONCLUSION

Pansh's first Ace kite, the 5m, proved a runaway success with hundreds sold in a few weeks. Fueled by a cheap £52 price tag. The 6m+ Aces still look fantastic value, but the lowly 3.5m is looking expensive in comparison.

Overall its a great intermediate kite, let down by poor packing and lines, and not suited as a first kite.

However for intermediate or experienced kiters, it represent a great cheap way to expand the quiver, or a great kite to loan/teach on.

PS - Flight/dad photos taken by my daughter ... I think she did very well!

I did think of handing her the kite, but gave her the camera instead!

By : andya