U-Turn Oxygen and Helium

I'm in the market for either of these kites, so went to the PKSA race at Hoylake July 10/11th to have a go on the UK distributors kites.

I'm looking at either the 5.5m Helium or the 6.2m Oxygen but, due to the high winds, was only able to fly the 2.8m Helium and 3.2m Oxygen.

The Helium is U-Turn's low aspect ration 'beginner' kite. Note beginner in quotes as I think it's a belter! It's similar to the Little Devil or Buster in shape and aspect ratio.

Build quality is absolutely outstanding. As good as the best i.e. Ozone, Mac and Gin (U-Turn are a paraglider manufacturer after-all) [and used to be Airea :racekites.].

The kite comes fitted with power rings that join the power and brake bridles near the line connection points. The kite is reinforced at all the stress points and has internal webs and straps across the rib cross-vents and the across the innermost bridle points too.

The bridle is all sewn similar to Ozone and newer Flexifoil kites. I said it was really well built! The Oxygen is a sort of mid-aspect kite, part way between the low aspect Buster/Little Devil style and the higher aspect Blade/Racekite style. It has all the features I listed for the Helium plus it has the windtip brake bridles similar to the Mac Bego, where the brakes actually hook the trailing edge end of the wingtip over when turning to increase turn rate.

Both kites have a fabulous wave design on the rear of the kite and white undersides printed with the U-turn logo.

How do they fly?

Well it was blowing about 18-20mph constant with some small gusts. The Helium rocketed upwards with little effort. I skudded about 15m and the kite simply sat at the apex of the window. No movement, no overflying, no hammering on the lines. Superb.

Turning speed was incredible even given the strong winds. Power was constant through the turns. When landing in reverse no problem with tendency to spin and fight in the last few feet to the ground. The Oxygen took a bit more effort to get off the ground. It is less agressive on initial takeoff and can be held back easier on the brakes. Power was higher than the 2.8m Helium but then the kite was slightly larger at 3.2m.

Turning speed was good but not as fast as the Helium due to the higher aspect ratio. Power was smoother through the turns but seemed to drop slightly although this may have been due to the slower turning speed. Straight line speed was slightly slower than the Helium. The kite again sat still at the extremes of the window and again no hammering on the lines.

When reverse landing it tended to want to fight and twist a little near the ground but this is a normal with higher aspect kites in my opinion and it was pretty windy. I had to fly the 2 kites several times back-to-back to try and decide which I liked best.

It was usually the one I was flying at the time! They were both some of the best kites I have flown. I personally prefer the Helium. It may just be me as I fly Busters a lot and seem to like kites that turn really quickly even if they are not the fastest in a straight line.

This means the kites are easier to work to get power. The Helium really surprised me as it was the more aggressive of the 2 which is surprising for the lower aspect ratio. From what I have heard about the Ozone Samurai (another low aspect kite) this also is pretty agressive.

I think the Oxygen may be better in a buggy than on a board as it seemed to pull more lower down than the Helium,but again it's hard to say as I was just static flying.

To sum up, both were great and for the money/quality absolutely unbeatable.

By : Graham Smith