PKD Buster II

I have only flown stunt kites before and spent some time playing with a small powerkite several years ago.

I've fancied getting a powerkite for a while now, it happens when you hit your forties, mid life crisis and all that. Another motorbike was out of the question and too expensive so the idea of a kite seemed reasonable.

I did a lot of research (mostly on this site). I considered one of the Radsail pro's or a Beamer, but then thought a Crossfire would be fun as the idea of a bit of lift appealed to me. I hadn't even heard of PKD until I saw one on ebay, so I checked out the reviews and it sounded like it might be what I'm looking for.

The reviews didn't seem to think it was that lifty but may have potential in stronger wind.

I managed to get it for £90 including postage and it arrived the next day.

I unwrapped it like a maniac and seeing as I'm self employed, phoned my customer up to say I was feeling under the weather and wouldn't be coming in today.

Everything was fresh and crisp and nothing was showing any signs of wear, quality seemed fine.

I prayed that my customer wouldn't be walking her dog near the beach as yes...you guessed it, that's were I was heading.

I did some speed reading on this site regarding set up etc and off I sped to the beach.

On arrival I had to spend a fair bit of time sorting out tangles which I found a little tricky and more annoyingly so because the handles have a strop keeping them together and make sorting them out a bit complicated, but seeing as I was going to para pack it later the worste was out of the way.

The wind was a steady breeze so I grabbed the handles and checked the kite killers, gave a tug and up she went. The kite sat at the top very comfortably and within seconds I was moving across the window left to right, up down, all over the place.

The wind picked up a little and I managed a few 8ft ish skids here and there. I had great fun but after about an hour or so I thought "yes great, but is that it....what now?,should I have got a bigger kite?," I Para packed it ready for it's next flight.

Ok.... let's fast forward three days. It's blowing a bit and the trees are moving and my friend phones me and asks whether I fancy showing off my new kite...Err it's a bit blowy out there, I say. Ten minutes later we are on a local field as I refuse to make an idiot of myself on a public beach.
At this point I cut the strop in the middle because it was confusing the hell out of me trying to get the lines sorted and I tied a knot in the loose ends so I at least have the option in the future. I later sealed the ends with a lighter

Ready for lift off.....Sh*t........where has my kite gone, no worse, where has my upper torso gone, are my legs still connected to me, let go, no keep hold, brake..brake...brake...bloody brake....why don't the brakes work? Kite killers, that's it ..kite killers...let go ...let go...Agh! thats better, the kite hits the ground and I look behind me and my friend is about 100 yards away pissing himself laughing with a video camera in his hands.
Do I need a bigger kite? No.

Do I need to be a little wiser about flying in strong gales? Yes

I tried again and managed to get the kite to the top this time and managed to hover and travel a few feet in the air but as soon as I lowered the kite I was off like a missile. The wind was getting even stronger now and I actually lost the bottle to try anymore.
The kite killers were a God send in these conditions and saved me running for miles.
I think this is a great kite for begginers as it's easy to control in light winds but you need to bear in mind that it can be a beast if you don't respect the weather conditions.

I can't comment on line quality etc as I've not really looked closely at any others but i'm almost 13 stone and they held me in the air ok.

Even if you pay top whack for this kite I think it offers good value for money and if you ever think you've outgrown it then try it in a strong wind.

I think I'll keep hold of this kite, but i'll get a smaller kite for the gales

 

By : anton6