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sprdbryj
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Request for Supernova review

Thu Jul 16, 2020 7:21 am

Any experienced fliers out there with a Supernova who can do a review of some sort?
 
sprdbryj
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Fri Aug 07, 2020 7:47 pm

Is anyone with a Supernova happy to express any sort of opinion if a more extensive review is too much?
 
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midibot
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Wed Aug 12, 2020 6:22 am

sprdbryj wrote:
Is anyone with a Supernova happy to express any sort of opinion if a more extensive review is too much?

I have a SuperNova that I flew today. The standard.
Big kite, a smidge over 8 full feet span.
Stiff(er) frame. Skyshark Nitro leading edges and whopping 7PT lower spreaders (‘though I do have the 5PT spreaders suggested for lower winds).
Solid construction, being a Benson.
Sail seems very large, cos it is. Quite a lot of area.
Very deep standoffs; I want to say a foot or so offhand.
Flies solid, and takes larger hand movements than, say, the Deep Space. Very capable. I even did some of the stuff in the video on the Benson site ;)
Was flying in 18-25 kph and was glad to have been using some 140# line in the gusts. The extra wind did not bother the kite.
Billed as a competition kite, but I don’t compete.
I fly for fun. The SuperNova is a hoot, really.

I would love to try the UL version.

Hope that helps, a little anyways.
 
sprdbryj
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:42 pm

Does it have a preference for axel or lazy based tricks?

Any dead spots eg cosmic-like that require super careful slack management?

Minimum wind speed with regular frame? With lighter ls?

Thanks.
 
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midibot
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Fri Aug 14, 2020 11:19 am

I only have under an hour on the kite, so am still learning its (and my) capabilities. But it does do wonderful axels; I could hardly believe it was me flying it ‘cept I was indeed on t’other end of the lines. Cascades were beaut. Could also hold position doing Cascades and not descend if I wished, whatever that is called.

I had seen in a video (Chris Goff) the kite do a series of connected Coin Tosses dancing across the window, and that came easily to me; brought grins. I did try a Backflip to Lazy Susan and that came off well. Two tries at a 540 and got it on one -- some work on timing needed for me.
 
Mostly I was just flying it around and impressing myself with snap stall landings, axel takeoffs from one wingtip, and straight flying -- getting an overall feel of the kite. Quite precise and no wobble coming out of turns. On rails almost -- but a lot firmer, almost heavier feel than other kites I have flown recently (Deep Space, Talon, Wolf).
 
I am by no means an accomplished flier and don’t even know what many of the movement names mean or how to do them over and above those mentioned, but that doesn’t stop me from having fun, if you get my drift. I may even have done some decent moves completely by accident and didn’t even realise what I had done. The kite is of course more limited by my ability than its capability to be honest. (In golf terms I am a bit of a hacker.)
 
On the lighter 5PT spreader: just one brief go at it when the winds were down to a variable 5-10 kph, inland, and it was too much work in the heat of that day to stick with it as I had lighter wind kites to hand, but I will try again. More accomplished pilots could no doubt coax more. In my hands I reckon the lighter LS subtracts a km or maybe two at the bottom end, but it remains a big, heavy-ish kite and is certainly no UL. The UL version with the overall lighter build does shave a fair bit off the weight (specs say 290 grams vs 325). The specs also say the UL is rated down to 2mph, rather than 4mph, so that could be worth it for extending the lower end more, if that is desired.
 
Too early to say definitively yet, but for me I think I would want at least 10-12 kph and up for the Standard to fly comfortably without having to work at it some with footwork and perhaps the odd arm pump. Did not touch the bridle.
 
Hope that fleshes it out a little. Just my views.

.
 
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RoyReed
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Sat Aug 15, 2020 1:16 pm

midibot wrote:
I only have under an hour on the kite, so am still learning its (and my) capabilities. But it does do wonderful axels; I could hardly believe it was me flying it ‘cept I was indeed on t’other end of the lines. Cascades were beaut. Could also hold position doing Cascades and not descend if I wished, whatever that is called.

If it comes down it's a Cascade. If it goes up it's a Fountain. I'm not sure if it has an official name if it stays in one spot, but I do remember from the days of rec.kites (yes I go back that far) that someone (ABW?) called it a Puddle.
Must fly
Roy
REEDDESIGN Web Design
 
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midibot
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:43 pm

RoyReed wrote:
midibot wrote:
I only have under an hour on the kite, so am still learning its (and my) capabilities. But it does do wonderful axels; I could hardly believe it was me flying it ‘cept I was indeed on t’other end of the lines. Cascades were beaut. Could also hold position doing Cascades and not descend if I wished, whatever that is called.

If it comes down it's a Cascade. If it goes up it's a Fountain. I'm not sure if it has an official name if it stays in one spot, but I do remember from the days of rec.kites (yes I go back that far) that someone (ABW?) called it a Puddle.

Ah, thanks! That brings back pleasant memories of my first go-round with kites in the latter 90s. Used to spend hours on rec.kites when I discovered it, trying to learn remotely. ( Box of Tricks vs Jam Session? What is an “axel”? "Androol"?)

Appreciated your input here. My Puddle may be more of a Piddle in the eyes of a judge. And up = Fountain makes so much sense, and rings a bell.
 
I must also thank you for the Kite Trick Animations on your website. I actually consulted it to try and verify the proper trick names before posting my reply above, and in my second coming back to kites it has proven a very useful resource as I work through the moves. (To that point, I wasn’t sure about the descending on my Cascade. A look at your Backspin Cascade description does not seem to require the descending part. Prolly not an exact science I realise. But love the underlying humour of it all.)
 
Unsolicited plug for your animations, which I did not seek permission for and can remove if inappropriate:
 
https://reeddesign.co.uk/kites/tricks/index.html
 
Thanks again.
 
Michael
 
 
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RoyReed
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Mon Aug 17, 2020 3:42 pm

Thanks (and for the link). I would have carried on with the animations if Jobs hadn't had a thing about Flash and started the trail leading to it being dropped by everyone, and Google hadn't dropped their Flash to SVG/JavaScript/HTML5 converter.

I think for most of the tricks with 'Cascade' in the name the cascade bit just means it alternates and repeats. In fact you'd get better marks for a Backspin Cascade the didn't desend and just stayed in the same place in the sky. Does anyone do Tricks Party any more? I always thought their classification system was weird anyway.
Must fly
Roy
REEDDESIGN Web Design
 
sprdbryj
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Wed Aug 19, 2020 8:12 am

Thanks Michael.

Any more opinions out there?
 
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jaydub
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Fri Aug 21, 2020 12:18 am

Check your PM, Tony.
 
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harveystubbs
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Tue Sep 15, 2020 12:56 pm

I found it set up too heavy and a bit of a slow burner but a lot of Chris' designs are like that. I sold my supernova and my element. Superfly is nice though
 
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midibot
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Fri Sep 18, 2020 2:07 pm

harveystubbs wrote:
I found it set up too heavy and a bit of a slow burner but a lot of Chris' designs are like that. I sold my supernova and my element. Superfly is nice though

Interesting. What's your take on the UL version of the SuperNova? Tried it?
.
 
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harveystubbs
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Re: Request for Supernova review

Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:05 pm

I never tried the UL version ..... Sorry for the delay in responding