These are great kites and have a massive amount of pull. They are completely indestructible and a real blast to fly. They have virtually no overhead pull or at least the smaller ones do not.. Once you get up to 23 square meters I am sure the same is not true and they do go this big, even bigger. I only really flew these kites on c-quad bar manly because of the way you have to fly a NASA keeping a small amount of tension on the brake lines to keep the canopy inflated especially in the turn. They really do pull very hard and everyone that flew these kites was very impressed with how much pull they had for the size. In the air they look really good, not necessarily form the flyers point of view but good to spectators. They have a hawk like appearance in the air with the wing tips curving down,
almost like a flying upside down W. On the ground they are not very impressive, sort of bin bag like with lots and lots of bridles.
On the topic of bridles NASA power wing have to be the worst kite in the universe to get bridle tangles. This kite is a complete nightmare. Packing up on a windy day is hell and whatever you do when you get home take the time to untangle the bridles before the next flight. They are so lightweight in construction, including the bridles that theytangle very easily, looking at them makes them tangle. This light weight construction is what gives this kite its power but there is definitely a down side.
Fly the NASA is very easy though does take a certain technique to get the
best out of them. Setting the lines up correctly is very important and unless
just the correct amount of line tension is applied to the brakes the kite does
not pull very well. To much line tension and all your NASA will do is fly
backwards. This is where the c-quad bar was very useful because the lines
could be set and left
alone. Reversing a NASA takes a bit of practice as well. You can not reverse
it from the top of the wind window. All the kite will do is collapse and
invert, re-power up, collapse and invert, re-power up, get the picture. Fly
the kite low to the edge of the window then apply the brakes. The kite will
land in an elegant crumpled paper bag look.
The NPW9 is better than the NPW5. It is more powerful, more stable and travels upwind better. This is a very good buggy kite and will generate more than enough power. It can also be worked through the sky generating more power due to the fact that it will turn very quickly. If you can cope with the bridles this is one of the best light wind kites you can buy and the smaller ones are great in stronger wind as well. You can’t jump or board but in the buggy it is very good indeed.
On the subject of light wind flying the NASA is probably the closes kite that you could get to fly in under 5 mph, however, it is very slow and does spend most of its time trying to collapse. Even though the kite weighs next to nothing it still needs the wind to create pressure under the canopy to create lift and Stability. Under 5 mph there is not much of either but the kite will fly if it is worked across the sky, with a little bit of running around.
Review by Me
