Fractured Axel

A few comments after spending a short time with my new Psycho.

Assembly:
The Psycho requires more assembly than any other kite I have. The instructions are pretty good, but I managed to miss the details on having to move the leading edge connectors when assembling the leading edge. I worked out how to properly tension the leading edge line eventually and how to get the trick line in place without it falling off. The main issue is with the standoffs which just push through holes in the trailing edge (dacron lined holes of course) - there isn't much to hold them on so they'd be pretty easy to lose.
It's obvious this is an "old" design of kite, the tow point is attached to the bridles round a metal ring (reminds me of my first diamond stunt kite). The leading edge connectors are also unusual, standing at 90 degrees so that they have to bend to get the spreaders in.

Video:
The Psycho ships with a video which is quite fun. A few people (including the designer Andy Preston) showing off what the kite can do. The video is well made and shows a style of flying I've not seen much. Quite often Andy is bouncing the Psycho off things, cliffs, walls, parasols, ships, even flying through a pedestrian subway. The video gives you a good idea of what the kite is capable of. I'm not sure when the video was made but it demonstrates the kite performing Axels, Cascades (I think before the were called Cascades) and Flik-Flaks.

In flight:
It's fun. The handling is completely different to anything else I have tried. The Psycho is roughly the same size as the Enigma and I, sort of, expected it to feel the same - it doesn't.

When playing with a new kite I usually try flying some basic boxes, to get the feel of the input required (a useful tip from last years Flight School at Bristol). I could (mostly) get really sharp 90 degree turns, but on the turn at the end of the downward box leg it was easy to over pull, which sticks the thing into a side slide. I did a couple of nice boxes with the bottom line of the box being a slide in from the outside of the window, very pretty. As the wind dropped a little it was very easy to oversteer, I'd say the Psycho oversteers even more than my Paradox.

I also managed my first ever yo-yo's. This kite loves to flip onto its back. Give it a pull followed by a hint of slack and it'll flop over onto its back. I couldn't get it to hold a fade (but that's just me, the only kite I can regularly hold in a fade is the NewJam). I also managed multiple wraps, slightly over pull the pancake to fade, or just give it a lot of slack, and it wraps easily. A quick tug and it unwraps just as quickly.

One problem is the ease with which the kite comes to bits. Hit the ground in the wrong way and the spreaders pop out of the centre-T and the standoffs come off (usually dropping out of the sail). Not a problem if you land OK but it means that you can't quite throw the Psycho around in the same way you would an Enigma. Hitting the ground shouldn't be a problem though as the kite likes to fly so recovery in the air is pretty easy.

Summary:
Overall I really enjoyed flying the Psycho and I'm looking forward to the next time the wind picks up so that I can give it another go. My short flying session was one of those where, after a few minutes, I was laughing to myself as the kite did odd things in the air.

I'll have to get Claire to sign up to Fractured Axel so that she can give you her impressions of her Stranger which also had it's first outing yesterday.

Nice review.

Nice Pic Ed---------you got some persecution issues?

no i have just turned evil for the day.

LOL Welcome to the Darkside Sir! See the black sun rise from the Solar Lodge!

Point of interest - I love the Psycho on mad manic days. You dont have to worry too much about trashing it as it is so easily fixed. A definite 'Grin Factor' kite in my book.

I superglued the stand-offs where they push throught the hole in the sail, fast and safe, nice review.
B.

I did something 'similar' - Softened the ends of the standoff sail connectors with a lighter then flattened the end to keep it in the sail. Supergluing may have been neater, but a spot of heat worked for me - Never had it pop out since I did that.

You are right, I did that on the Stranger, needed just a lighter and Hey Preto! no more worries.
B.

The most indestructible kite??

I vote for the Dot Matrix, with added eleccy tape around the stand offs and the top spreader /spine area for those multiple beach (i.e. wet sandpaper) dead launches...

with a bit of tape around the end of each spreader, even the most violoent impact wont dislodge them, and the P200 wont break with this kite Ive tried and failed. Its ace. Its great. buy one. NOW.

I posted some modifications to the psycho here.

I loaded my lower spreaders & changed to APA fittings.

My psycho was my first proper kite back in 2000 and it still occasionally comes out on really wild days, although the Minigem has sort of superseded it. My only comment, and I don't know if its just me, is the apparent fragility of the lower leading edge. I don't know how many times I've had to repair them after a rather "clever" tip stab! Having said that, its a brill kite if you want something manic because of the wild oversteer.

They usually break where they enter the ferrule. Next time they break, replace the whole leading edge with a single piece of carbon (no ferrule). They wont break again then.

My Psycho is the kite that goes on holiday with me because it has the widest wind range of the few that I have that that fold up small enough to fit inside a medium-sized suitcase (along with a couple of spare spars and some clean underwear).

Psycho spars use less than 2 quid's worth of carbon, which is cheap entertainment in my book. The leading-edge fittings move more easily with practice, so the kite soon becomes field-serviceable.

My current spars are stuffed with 4mm rod, but are glued with non-gap-filling adhesive, so I am still breaking them occasionally. Future repairs will be glued with Araldite to stop the tube from splitting around the insert.