Untitled - KiteLife

The Probe Ultra Light is an interestingpackage of new ideas . At base, thekite is an exercise in simplicity of design. There is nothing fancy aboutthe design . . . no frills, no excesses . Anexamination of the kite reveals anumber of items both present andlacking . The leading edge wing tipsare bare spars with end caps . Overthese end caps are stretched tabs ofelastic from the sail which are, in turnheld in place by the next larger sizeend cap. It works!The lower spreader rod, a onepiece item, is secured to the bareend of the spine rod by a length ofsurgical tubing . Lower bridle endsare cross-tied to the spreader beforeit is placed onto the spine . There is noconventional T-fitting . . . and that workstoo!The actual spine rod fits inside acase of Dacron which forms a stiffenedkeel on the face of the kite .The total package presents itself asan 83" kite that weighs only about 61ounces . With a spine of only 181inches, it also presents us with one ofthe higher aspect ratios that we havetested .Initial testing of the Probe UL wasdone at the low end of its 2-20MPHspectrum . In light wind of 3-5 MPH,the kite garnered numbers well withinaverage . Lines used were 801b .Spectra at a length of 90 feet . TheProbe UL tracked well and handledsweeping turns with comparableease . Likewise, square and angularturns went well . Tight, repetitive turns,however, showed a bit of problem .The UL is capable of turning extremelyquickly . . .so quickly, in fact,that we found ourselves constantlywatching so as not to pull the kitefrom the air . A couple of items conspireto bring about the condition :first, there are no standoff spars onthe Probe; and second, the sail isfairly taut . We were able to "pull" thekite from the air at virtually any pointby a yank on the lines .This is not to say that the Probe UL isdifficult to fly . In fact, we found itMODEL : PROBE ULFABRIC WEIGHT : .75 oz ripstop nylonFRAMING MATERIALS : filament-wound (fiberglass)WIND RANGE : 2-20 MPHCONFIGURATION : delta-type (83 inch wingspan)SKILL LEVEL : novice/intermediateMFGR'S SUGGESTED RETAIL : $69 .95MANUFACTURER : K-LINE KITESquite flyable . Unlike most higheraspectratio kites, the Probe ULlaunches straight up virtually everytime . . . there is little or no slurring fromany point of takeoff. It proved to beabove average in the stability columnand utilized a good deal morewind window than comparably-sizedproducts .The lack of standoffs leads to onefurther problem that is commonto flat-sailed kites : when it is down, itis truly down . Althoughwe were ableto pick the kite up from the leadingedge, the diminished sail size makesthis a difficult option . The savinggrace here is that in most instances,the kite is forgiving enough to avertmost unplanned ground contacts .In many cases, such as a downwindturns performed on the sides of thewindow, an uneven pull on both lineswill "shoot" the Probe through theturn with ease .The Probe UL's long (38 inch),straight, trailing edge, produces goodamounts of sound even in the lightestwinds . This same long edgecombined with a bridle that locatesthe clips at a fairly outboard positionallows the kite to "float" across thewind window in a nose-up attitude .While most pilots view this as a deficiency,the malady is controllable,to a high degree, by the flyer andcan add some interesting variancesto the standard flight routine .There are relatively few things thatwe would change on the ProbeUL .There are no stops on the leadingedge either above or below any ofthe vinyls . At lowered wind speeds,this presents no problems as the vinylsare attached by running the sparthough the end, then out the siderather than by a drilled hole throughboth "sides" of the tube . It may provea different story in high winds . Likewise,upper bridle points are attachedaround the leading edgespar above the upper vinyls . Theyare free to ride towards the nose . Asimple slipping of one part of thesecuring loop below the vinyl providesan easy alternative . We'd alsolike to see some stops added on thelower spreader to prevent the bridlelines from sawing on the tubing thatattaches it to the spine .Workmanship on the Probe UL isgenerally good . Although itis essentially a two-piece sail, thesewing is well done and fittings areclean .At a suggested retail of $69 .95 theProbe UL holds the prospect of genuine light-wind flying at a price thatwill be within the grasp of many . Thatit will improve the skills of the flyer is aforedrawn conclusion . . . light air is,perhaps, the hardest situation tomaster. While there are a host ofother products that may perform thesame function in better fashion, itseems doubtful that they will do so aseconomically!CB/SB