I just took delivery of a 4m PKD Buster to learn with before I attempt to kitesurf.
Been in the field out the back of my house test flying it and am covered in grass and mud. Had a bloody great time. The first question of the day is what do the bridle adjusters do ? I flew it straight out of the bag so just put up with what it was set at (2 and 3 gathered together). Does anyone have experience in flying with different settings or just some general info on flying shapes. Cheers.

I think its somthing to do with the amount of power ths kite has due to angle that it sits at when flying and the brakes too.
I will be interesting in the answers from the proper kiters as Ive just ordered a kite for days that I can't windsurf.

Not too sure about the PKD Buster specifically, but I'm sure what BEFS had said is true (you're learning quickly BEFS).... Usaually you can adjust the front and back lines to get the kite to fly the way you like it, some people like to have a bit of pressure on the brake lines most of the time, others like the brake lines slack unles you pull on them.

You may also be able to adjust the settings of the kite to make it turn faster by using different lines attachments on the bridle.

Adam has probably flown one of these kites and wuill probably give specific answers soon.

BEFS... What did you order??

Al.

Ive ordered a 5m beamer £160 ready to fly

Yep it adjusts the angle of attack of the kite.

The knots are on the powerline bridle.

I've found the sweet spot for all the sizes I have flown is knots 2 and 3 the same as they are set in the factory.

Moving it higher to 1 or 1+2 will make the kite fly more quickly across the window and produce slightly less power.

Further down will increase the power and make it fly more slowly. If you go beyond about knot 4 I think from memory, it make the kite fairly difficult to launch, it won't fly straight to the zenith but needs working from side to side on the way up.

Have a play next time you're out; I did and have now settled on knots 2 +3 on all of mine

Busters like flying without brake input at all pretty much, just have enough so you can reverse and land it, can use a little on turns but they turn very well as they have a crossover bridle.

All of the ones I have seen fly well straight out the bag, you can tinker with it a bit to suit you as you get used to it as Al said (length of brakes in the cleats)

Great choice as a first kite, and 4m has enough power, lines and handles aren't the best but they do ok the ones on my 1.4 are a year old and seen 50mph winds !

Oh just one thing to watch out for the bridle can get caught around the knots when unpacking and if you crash it so just make sure its untangled or it doesn't fly as well.

Told you Adam would have all the answers!!!!

Al.

Thanks for the info Adam, I'll leave the bridle at 2 & 3 for now and then fiddle with it when I've had a bit more flying time. I've played with the brake lines and they seem to kill it if they're too tight, so I've left them loose for now. I suppose it's best to tighten them as the breeze gets up.

Now here's the next question !

The handles are joined together with the rope from the power lines. Is this for a particular reason ? I found it was too short and was limited on arm movement. I can quite easily lengthen it, but is that the correct thing to do ?

(This sounds a bit like that old joke about the string between new wellies being too short !!)

That's the strop you're talking about - people have cut it and lengthened it to suit themselves.

The strop is the line that you put into your harness when you get one.

Here's a link to a thread on the Flexifoil site:

http://www.flexifoil.com/community/forums/showthread.php?t=33162

Hope that helps

Rob

Perfect. I'll chop it and put a loop on each end so I can tie in a strop for when I use it with a harness.

Thanks Rob.

No prob

Yes as Rob said, chop it a few inches from the back of the handles, seal the rope and add knots or loops to the end so you can add your own strop later, I too find it a little short when using a harness buggying.

They can also be a bit of a pain if you get a load of twists in the lines it takes longer to sort out as the handles are tied together.

I missed my kite today got home from work to find a card from amtrak in the door. Wasn't expecting to get here til Monday at the earliest as I chose the cheapo free postage.
So get ready people its gonna blow its socks off from Monday as I will want light winds to try it out!

where did you get it from in the end?

Got it....well ordered it from 4kite.co.uk