PKD Brooza 2M 3M & 4M

PKD 2m/3m/4m Brooza.

For those that need to know, conditions were.

* NW 17 mph gusting to 22.

* stoke on trent.

* 60% cloud cover with thermals.

* dry short grass

* and three grinning people.

On seeing the kites we, Zotty,stig and myself (scud) were well impressed with the build quality of the kites, the stuff sacks are spacious and colour coded to the kites.

The bridles are neatly packed and lanyard knotted for easy separation.

The bridles are sleeved dyneema and are of very good quality,(dont know the material but its not the cheapest stuff in the box). On lining up,we used the 3 mtr first, we found that using a spare set of lines we had laying around fitted ferfectly and the kite sat on the short grass and couldnt be more well behaved.

We took up the power on the mains and the 3 mtr sat up in anticipation awaiting the tug to launch.It then took off smoothly and went straight to the zenith showing off its progressive power,.We then went daft and being hooked in dropped it straight into the power window....

we were well suprised by the power it produced and how smoothly it excellerated into the wind, there was no hint of a luff or tuck during the sweep through the window and when we parked the kite at the edge it still sat there patiently and was able to maintain a modicum of control( they are new crispy kites and not at their aero efficient best). We had jumps off the 3 mtr all beit very snappy ones but the kite didnt show signs off luiffing at the zenith after the power was gone. They DO require a touchy feely amount of brakes. But not enough to make a difference to the canopy,just enough to make all 4 lines do the Work.

We were using Zotty's buggy as a platform to get some traction,. I'll let him type the buggying bits....

first off i was surprised with how smooth and steady the kite supplied me with power as i dropped it into the window to get underway in the bug.before i know it i was doing maybe 20mph with the kite just parked there, not wanting to push things to far (scuds new babys n all) i made an normal up turn turn and headed back up the hill and again was surprised with the steady amount of power delivered, cutting up wind was also impressive for this type of sail (huge huge improvment over the busters)

on my run down the hill again and feeling a tad more confident i sent the kite behind me to see how it lifted and up i went. prob gained about 20 inchs or so (again remeber these are scuds new babys lol) the landing wasnt a sudden slam. on the whole i'm impressed. it did what i asked and did it without question!.

The Stig arrived,Phil Quinn, and being the youngest of all of us and the only one to enjoy throwing Raptor "'s around like they are chicken feed,promptly jumped into Zotty's buggy and being without a harness used his pie eating weight to keep himself into zotty's buggy,.He knows the hill and how the wind works and was ,within seconds,asking for the 4mtr to be lined up and given airtime.

The 4 in all its blue glory was out of the bag and lined up.It proved to be the best of the bunch so far, ( the 2 mtr came out but was underpowered), both zotty and Stig commented on how the 4 produced copious amounts of grunt all through the window and was willing to be thrown around like a rag doll and still maintain its shape. The use of 4 cell entries makes a massive amount of difference, compaired to the likes of the busters that have cell entries over 80% of the leading edge.

Sadly the wind was too strong to allow the 5.5 to get an airing,we were twitching with the idea but decided against it.

All in all ,, first impressions are .. Good kite,, great build quality, excellent handling. Predictable but it does have a possibility of biting.They are lifty, i (scud) couldnt hold down the 4 mtr after the stig gave it to me)and couldnt physically get into zotty's buggy.

They do feel more like race kites but without the instability and "im gonna kill ya" notion the higher aspect kites produce.

They are NOT a beginners kite and they are not a race kite,, they are,, the best of both worlds. The kite than can be used inland for blattin around with ya mates , and can be used as a kite to get into racing.They have only been tested so far on a turbulent hill,, .Next airing will be at Hoylake... They will be put through their paces draggin my buggy around and i will not be as lenient as zotty is. I will get as much out of them as i can and hope to get footage of it too.. We have pictures of todays few hours and will put them up later,. Oh btw,, its the most stunning design..

Day Two.

The wind was low enough to get the 5.5 out and after a quick pre-flight inspection it was lined up and ready to go,(please note,,, lines and handles do not come suppied with this kite)The kite was lined up on 30 odd mtr lines and set to fly.

As with its smaller sizes the 5.5 sat on the ground and didnt jump around whilst staked. The cells didnt fill up and make the kite jumpy/bouncy on the ground like other kites with more cell entires,( the 4 cell entries on the brooza really do make a difference in more ways than one)

Once the handles were looped into the harness and a progressive tug was applied the kite launched to about 10ft above the ground and by looking at the cells you could tell it wanted to be turned and flown,like race kites, we threw the kite into the wind and watched as the cells progressively filled. This one aspect makes the brooza very user friendly because the power isnt a snatch face plant on/off switch.The cells filled as the kite gained momentum and the more it sped up the more it filled and the more it pulled,a bit like one of those perpetual engines that dont exsist, it just got better and better.

After a few minutes of static testing the buggy was next on the list, .This point in the test flight produced the most stunning result. We parked the kite at the zenith..As in directly above the flier. The kite duly went up to its sitting position, then carried on... and on... and on... Now you'll have to believe me on this.. the kite will fly about 6-10 ft above and beyond the zenith.(another perk of 4 cell entries).It just kept on flying and then found its favoured place and just sat there... no luffs... no drop back and run forward,,it just sat there,long enough for me to turn around and fly facing backwards. The kite does produce lift, loads of it when the cells are full inflated and its moved in the right way and asked to give. I have been airborne in my monster bug (50+ kgs) under the 5.5 in a wind speed just under its designated wind area.

Day Three.

Off to Winsford to hook up with PKD pilot Simon Bailey. Simon had flown the proto Brooza and was eager to get his hands on the production model so as to compare the difference and his first comment was on the cell entries being so small .We laid the 2 mtr Brooza ontop of a 2 mtr Buster and the difference in shape was eye opening. The aspect ratio(something that is as knowlegable to me as brain surgery) suddenly became apparent. The Brooza is the best part of a foot longer and 4 inches thinner in depth. We then laid a 2.5 century ontop of then pair of them and saw how close the Brooza is to the race kite and how far it is from the Buster.

Simons local field is totally different to my hill so the winds were different and gave us a chance to test the kite in a more turbulent condition.

first out was the 4 mtr simon gladly took the reigns and was pleasantly suprised by its feel and stability.

Then the 5.5 was out and Si ,using his increased weight and skill hooked in and got her in the air... first comment was... damn this is fast and it goes upwind as good if not better than a race kite( there's the stability of just having 4 cell entries again) after a good half hour we got together to run a 4 Brooza against Simons 4.5 Century.

Simons Century would launch shed load faster than the Brooza,which takes its time to get itself ready and gives the pilot more reaction time to unforseen incidents.But once both were in the air(on same length lines) they were almost uncomparable, both went to the edge and would sit in the same place give or take 3 ft and both had comparable power throught he window. At the zenith the Century would,as is expected from a race kite, sit there just at the edge with brake input, the brooza sort of ran at the zenith like a kid at a sweet shop that had free sweets for sale,,, but still didnt luff.. It did the same,, flew over n amazed the pair of us. then cos of it being more turbulent, dropped backinto the same area as the Century.

We then decided to have a kite fight.......

Brooza versus Century....... Sorry ,,, the Brooza won almost all the time,, it doesnt suffer from having the wind took out of its lungs as much as foils that have 80% of the leading edge with open cells like the century did.

Hoylake.

Sadly the weather wasnt on our side so the kites didnt get much of an airing.

In between storms the kites performed wonderfully on the clean winds that we all cherish on beaches.

They still overfly at the zenith and stay inflated,which proved to be good because the upwind in a buggy was almost as good as the race kites.

After a niggling problem of lines,(i had a set sent from pkd that were set for the new Kombat) i got the brakes set ok and went off on a shake down run. The 2 and 3 were the kites i decided to get up, the wind was between 20-35.

The 2 was underpowered but got me used to flyin a fast kite.It sat great at any position in the window with no hint of wanting to drop back during the gusty moments.

The 3 got lined up and sat still on the blowing sand.On launch it gently filled and produced power from about 15 ft off of the ground. It does launch slower than other kites with more open cells but isnt as snappy,which in high winds is nice but as soon as it was full it rocketed to the edge and i was off sideways. Once settled it only required minimal work to keep it parked . It pulled like a train.

It stayed where it was asked and not once did it luff. It was so stable. Turns were no trouble, just nudge the brakes to get rid of the apparent wind and then gently turn the kite whichever way you want and itll lose cell pressure enough so as not to launch you out of the buggy.

I cant praise this kite enough,, its far far more than a buster but its not something that will be comparable to a race kite,that is unless its in turbulent wind. In turbulent wind i think this kite,given its stability, will be far better than the race kites.

The kite can only be described as an inter to expert kite.Its not a beginner to inter kite because its profile leans more towards the race element than it does the recreational side.That said my first kite was a 6.5 viper,which isnt a beginners kite.

Treat this kite with more respect than the Buster,dont be worried about it like would would with a race kite.

Just go fly it, enjoy it and relish at the graphics when you manage to plonk it square at the sun and the "pheonix" glows through the lower skin.

It is a work of art. Go fly one and you'll be as impressed as me

By : scud4984