Okay been flying the Element again, in it's repaired state.

Changes, well the bridle is on Red - it has been very light winds. In this set up the Element feels like a UL-STD rather than a STD. Saturday when the wind was really low was harder work.

Last night I added a yo-yo line. Not for yo-yo's (it is a bit too long and too far back for that) but to cut down tip-wraps when trying to do new stuff. It really makes a difference on the frustration score.

Had 30 minutes with this kite today.

They say what goes around comes around.

The Element reminds me of 2 kites that fell between old-school and new-school flying. The Darkside and the Tribal.

Especially the Darkside Regen and the Tribal with a weight in it.

Have Chris and Carl got the balance right between 540's and fap-do-waps (or whatever the french are flying this week)? It is hard to say on first flight. Cascades are frustratingly not as expected. Tip-Wraps happen like they used to. Comete timing is different. Yet itYo-Yo's, Backspins, 540's and multiple axels like a dream.

Time will tell.

And it looks rather yummy in this video:

Bryan Beasley gives it a good thorough spanking.

Build Quality.

Mark (Mr. Jest of Eve) has been gaining something of a reputation over the last 12 – 18 months as that of a quality kite builder, and rightly so. The Talon will go some way towards cementing this reputation. The stitching and construction is excellent. The kite is beautifully made and lovingly constructed with some of the best materials around. Component parts are the PC31 Ripstop Polyester sail with Mylar reinforcing along the trailing edge, Skyshark P200 and Skyshark Black Diamond Nitro leading edges, 7pt lower spreaders and Structil for the spine and other bits.

Design and Technology

The sail graphics for the Talon are amongst the most striking on the market. There seems to be endless scope for colour themes, 3D effects and personal preferences. There have been a few Talon made already with a simply stunning, sophisticated look to them. It wouldn’t take much however, to add some fun and zest to the outlook. A word of caution though, the colouriser (found through the Jest of Eve website) can easily eat up several hours of your time. You have been warned.

A lower Aspect Ratio has been used in comparison to the Trident, so many of the over steer, pitchy ‘issues’ have been addressed, and the whole effect is one of a much more balanced kite.

Technologically speaking, there’s nothing ground-breaking here. Roll bars and covered leading edges come as standard, and there’s a bit of ballast to help with the manoeuvrability. The Trident came with some neat little cones fitted to the roll bars to help stop the lines slipping during wrapped moves. This has been improved further with a ‘Slip Catch’. This is a small protrusion from the yo-yo stopper fitting (where the roll bars fit into the leading edge), and it seems to work pretty well.

Flight Characteristics

Enough of the arty stuff, how does it work?

Well, pretty nicely. There’s not too much pull and the sail catches the wind effectively enough, so little wind is needed to get the thing working. The 3 point active bridle makes it pretty responsive and it holds a line quite well. So well in fact, that I would suspect that a scaled up version would make a passable precision kite.

Precision however, is not really what the Talon is all about – so let’s talk freestyle. All of the basic positions are easily accessible. There’s a stable fade, solid if not deep turtle, easy pancake with the flick of the wrists and recovery is predictable. Axel based stuff is sharp with stabby inputs, and flat and soft with a more delicate approach. Combining the 2 makes for some delightful combinations of Cascades, Cometes and Taz Machines, with multi-spins flat and smooth. Similar can be said of 540’s and Slot Machines. Aggressive inputs give really quick spins, whilst smoother, more controlled action does offer a really pleasing ‘Old Skool’ Style.

Backspin moves and combos are very tidy, and lead into one of the very finest Barrel Rolls I’ve seen. Just get it spinning, apply some pressure to the active hand, and keep it there. Pull harder for a fast roll, lessen the tension for a slow one. Release and catch whenever you’re ready. Sweet. Turtle based spins are not the Talons’ forte, but they are a lot more achievable than the previous Jest if Eve design. Lazy Susans (with multi-spins from a single input), Rolling Susans and Inverses come at a snap, as do Insanes and Rolling Cascades, but whilst reversing these moves (ala Cynique / Insane L/R) are perfectly do-able – there just not as easy as most of the other moves. This is down to the depth and stability of the Turtle and the pitch characteristics, which brings us on to… Roll-ups are a pleasure, as many as you like, real quick and concise, or slow, smooth and flowing. This inbuilt pitch also enables Yo-Fades and Crazy Copters, and all of the variants to come quite comfortably with the right inputs.

To compare and contrast…

There seems to be a wealth of fantastic kites available to the serious and recreational flier alike just now, so how does the Talon compare. Well to start with, this is as well, if not better made as any. Bar none. It’s right up there with ‘Benson’, ‘CR’ and ‘Sky Sport Design’. The price for a bespoke, boutique kite is about right, and whilst there are cheaper, mass produced, options available, the Talon certainly represents value for money for what it is. In flight, the Talon flows like a Benson ‘Deep Space’. It’s nothing like as crisp, but more spin friendly and pitchy than a CR Fury .85, or RSky Nirvana. It’s not all French in its Turtle bias, but backspins and Barrel Rolls like a dream. All told, the Talon is a really accomplished freestyler, with a sleek and silky transitional style punctuated with a sharp and defined aspect. Just this reviewers’ opinion, but ‘sweet’ indeed.

Bryan

These folks are doing something positive. They aim to:

"Have Kitesports expressly listed in the Single Payment Scheme, Cross Compliance Guidance list for Permitted Activities as a Group A (Permitted Without Restriction.) activity."

More here.

A full WMV 24Mb WMV can be downloaded here.

There is also a 12 Mb Movie here. But I can't get it to work.

Click more for photo.

And a video: Here

Available from Kites4U in the UK here is the blurb:

Finally there is a true Quad Line Kite that can do more. Much more!!!
Capable of performing all the tricks in the book, the Knockout is a true competetion-freestyle-trickable framed 4 line kite of a new dimension.
Competition Revolution flyers watch out.

The KO is handmade and not mass produced

Click for Big

First thing to say is that this kite works. It feels right.

The Eyesight at factory settings is keen to jump into the sky, and combines drive and pull from it's deep sail.

First thing I did on take-off was fly to the top of the window, and straight into a yo-yo. I was just trying to get a feel for how much weight to add. As far as I am aware this is not a weighted kite unless the weight is hidden in the spine or in the velcro tail somewhere. I am not sure it needs any extra weight. So I put mine away.

Now I am not a combo king, I am a sloppy flier, but I was flying Jacobs Ladders, Backspin Cascades (the kite backspins nice and flat) and other bits and pieces without too much trouble. I am sure a Tricks Party flier could make the Eyesight sing. The Lazy Susan is not as accessible as say the L'Atelier Transfer and its kin, but it is certainly there in a way that can't be said of kites like the Fury. Axel's take some setting up, unlike something a bit more Old Skool like the Eolo_Tribal and the kite prefers to Cascade nose down, but doesn't lose huge lumps of air and height doing so. The Comete felt nice and flowing, not Fury easy but not hard work like some other kites.

Ground work seemed fairly straightforward. Flap-Jacks, Superstarts and other odds and sods (puntastic) off the green stuff. I had no major tipwrap issues, although this kite does have yo-yo stops and two cable ties which I get caught up in whatever I fly from time to time.

I managed to Yo-Yo 540 the Eyesight without unwrapping a couple of times. The kite clearly wraps nice and tightly.

The Eyesight at first flying is kind of on off. When it is driving it is driving, when it is stalled it is stalled; Sideslides from a 540 are default at the edge of the window. However the stallability can result in the Eyesight dropping out the sky from a Turtle, and it the kite is not as solid at the edge as some. I must say I enjoyed adjusting my flying for this. Some tricks sometimes need a walk forward to keep the kite stalled right and other times a little legwork is needed in the opposite direction to recover the kite too.

The construction quality is hard to describe, and best done in detail. But for now I will say that The Eyesight is nicely put together with lots of workshop touches, good knot work and stitching, but not the standards of the top Western workshop kite builders.

And I love flying a giant robot head. Worth every penny. And hopefully with some more time with the kite and some other hands on the straps there will be a full detailed review up soon.

Video 1 57mb MP4

Video 2 41mb MP4

Air Oeuvre Website

Robert Writes:

This is the final prototype of the Mohawk XS, everything has been finalized. The kite will be on sale very soon.

All the "light" clips (obviously sunny and daytime) the wind was 2-6km/h.
All the "dark" clips (obviously stormy and windy) the wind was in excess of 35km/h.
I made sure there were spots where you can scrub the video and see obvious signs of the wind speed.

It is the exact same kite, with the exact same setup. No bridle, tailweight change of any sort. Same flier, same beach. Same lines (80lb 80ft with 5ft leaders on handles, and 4ft leader lines on the kite).

First video music is The Faint - Southern Belles in London Sing
Second video music is Deathcab for Cutie - Sound of Settling

Flown at northshore beach, St. petersburg, Florida. Here.
Wind from the east on "light clips", wind from the north east on "dark clips". So you know where the window is

Enjoy!

First up Rob, thanks for the interview, I guess that when you are not kite flying you are a busy man. So to start at the beginning, how did you get into sport kite flying?

My brother bought a foil. I'm not exactly sure why he bought it, or what gave him the idea, but there it was a symphony 2.3. I watched him fly it and then I flew it, and I was hooked! My first thought was, "I wonder if I could make something like that." He bought a phoenix, and an addiction which I prompty broke while practicing multilazies, which was the first trick I really started to learn. It went from there with GREAT obsession, flying everyday from dawn to dusk for months.

Absolutely. The Level One Genesis and the L'Atelier Transfer Xt.s. I've put a lot of time on the Genesis. I stopped counting after I hit 1500 hours on my main Genesis! It was flown literally everyday from dawn to dusk for 6 months. I used to go out to the park and bring my laptop to abuse the Wi-fi. I would fly then hop onto one of the major forums during a break and go back to flying. When I received my first Xt.s I became enamored with multilazies and related tricks. I remember a few days of flying well into the night working on them. Man I love that kite! You can really see the influence of the Genesis and Xt.s in our designs.

There was a period of time where I flew the Sea Devil a lot too. I really did get bored with it though, and honestly, I can't really manage to put it in a category of kites that influenced me too much. It was a tool for me, and a good one at that.

I tinker with everything. My main attraction to flying was the idea that I could make one myself. I figured I needed to learn all the tricks first in order to be able to move on to design, but I jumped the gun a bit haha. I can't help to tinker with everything I find.

Previous to this I ran a pretty successful recording studio, and all I ever did in my spare time is tinker. I've built my own guitar amps, mic preamps, a 1176 clone, and various other things. I also released a few VST plugins for audio recording software as well. I collect video game consoles, as well as play them constantly, and I love to tinker and mod those as well. Right now when I'm not working on kites, which is pretty rare, I've been working on converting some of my VST's to LADSPA, though with little progress so far.

There will always be a market if you create it. We offer a complete warranty on the sail including user damage. If someone is not fully satisfied we have little problem with giving refunds as well. Anyone can make a sport kite, and anyone with a good amount of spare time and a few brains can design a good one. The difference is the level of assurance and service they get. We're always working on it and feel we're doing good. I know our orders are starting to go over our capacity to produce and ship them!

I don't think it's a myth if you quote the idea properly. A polyvalent kite is a kite that can do everything, not necessarily well. I just don't think that a push towards that is what is going to push the kiting community forward. I think it makes products bland and somewhat watered-down. At some point if you want to impress the idea of performance upon people you have to create a product that excels in one area at the expense of others. When that occurs, someone will see the bar set higher and create a NEW breed of polyvalence that pushes everything to that new level. Right now I think too many companies are afraid to push the bar out of fear that they wont be the ones to come up with something that exceeds that new level of performance.

We notice that your website offers the most comprehensive performance break down for kites we have ever seen. I tried this in a limited form way back in the dark ages of kHiTe, but I kind of gave up because reviewers could never quite work out what a perfect 540 actually was. What was the thinking behind your breakdown?

I figured something along those lines would occur, so we decided to break it down into "ease" and "beauty". The idea is that a trick that is particularly easy may not look particularly good, and vice versa. The definitions are based on what I feel is common sense. A 540 is impossible to really do a clean 540 flat spin on a kite. The kite will enter and exit earlier than 540. It is really just a loose descriptive name because the trick closely resembles it. I think a good 540 starts flying down, exits nose up as late in the spin as possible, and the belly stays parallel to the ground for the entire spin. Someone else might think differently, and that is fine with me.

There are some tricks like the multilazy that I think are fairly loose in terms of beauty. A flat multilazy maybe theoretically nice looking, but Mayet doing a multilazy on an Xt.s is anything but "flat". It is absolutely one of the nicest looking things I've seen a kite do though. There are a lot of instances like that in which I think the person doing the reviewing has to buck up and just say what they think regardless of what someone else may say.

I think it also helps that my brother and I are the ones who design the kites originally. We know everything the kite was made to do, and we have more flying on the kites than anyone else. We outsource some of the rating occasionally to some of our sponsored flies and "local" fliers as well who get to fly kites constantly during the prototype phase.

Hmm. Im certainly right in between. I am concerned with the ability to do tricks "on demand" and little more. How I fly depends on the wind and what tunes are playing through my headphones. Some days I might combo for an hour without breaking into flight, and some days I might not do a trick except every few minutes. I really don't care much about style though, I'll leave that to someone else to figure out.

I guess it's not so much "new", as redone. The Mohawk has been available for a while now, but we took all the feedback we received from the first incarnation and made a new kite with the same concepts. The mohawk is a trick trainer. It is a kite made to help fliers learn the 'latest' and more modern tricks easily. With the new Mohawk we made it perform some of the old school stuff much better and be a bit nicer in general flight.

Simply put It is just a trick kite. Placed in some sort of scale of style of tricking you can put it completely opposite of wherever you put the Jest of Eve Trident. I have a funny feeling that the new Mohawk will be the exact same in regards to the new Jest of Eve Talon as well, but I haven't had the blessing to fly one yet.

The new mohawk will have a slightly different name as well, that we have not decided on yet.

And what were you looking for performance wise compared to your previous designs?

It needed to pull more, cascade well, wapdowap and fly well in low winds above everything else. I guess essentially we took the old Mohawk and added a teaspoon of Benson Deepspace, sauteed it in some Nirvana UL and served it on a plate of Kick-Ass.

That was really cheesy. Dont hurt me.

We also focused on making the crazy copter spin much easier, quicker pitch, better axels and more well-suited to multiple yo-yo's.

Don't care so much about what other people are doing. Too many people are concerned with being on some sort of level as other people rather than enjoying kiting for what it offers and developing their own style and derive their own type of joy from it. Kiting would move forward so much quicker if people stopped focusing so hard on learning how to comete and perhaps learning to do a trick that is really more interesting to themselves.

Thankyou for your time Robert.

Thankyou!

The above kite is 3,300.00 THB which equals about £50.43

The Eyesight video is the pick of the bunch I guess. A fantastic sail panel layout on this striking kite makes it prime material for a kHiTe review.

Click for Big

We always like to see something different. Good to see that folks are flying freestyle all over the world

Videos

Eyesight (Modern Freestyle)

Hurly (Pairs Flying)

Jungle (Water play - not so smooth)

Product Pages

Eyesight

Jungle

Hurley

The V8 354ps Quattro would set me back almost 40k, but it is certainly nippy with a 0-62 time of 5.1 seconds. However the V6 oil burner looks the better value, 40 mpg combined and still hitting 62 in under 6 seconds. Heavens knows where the S5 comes in price and performance wise.

Real kite, Real kite fliers however in the video. Pics here.

Initial impressions suggest that the Jest of Eve Talon is a far more balanced freestyle kite than the Jest of Eve Trident. The pitchiness of the previous design is still there, but a more flowing character opens up smoother 540 and Axel based tricks.