i just took out my new 09 Waroo 15m for its first fly today, just giving my first impressions and hoping to get some advice on a few issues. Main thing was I was a little surprised by the rear lines slackness once i got the kite up? I'm 250 pounds (6ft5") and the kite was on out-of the box settings, A-B for the wingtips.
It wasnt that windy, only about 10-12 kts, but not too bad just to set up the kite and get a feel for it.
Inflation: The dual pump seemed to work well. The middle strut bladder seemed to squeeze out a bit over the edge of the inflation valve when i was pumping it. I had to deflate it, poke it back inside a bit, then reinflate it. Not sure if i should be pushing the valves into the body of the strut or not? (its not mentioned anywhere in the 09 Waroo manual) Also, what is the little plastic pointy end of the velcro secure inflation valve cover for? I presume i just squeeze the sides of the strut valves to deflate them, seemed to work ok.
I noticed the rear lines attachment point on the kite has a 6 knot graduation to attach to. I chose the 2nd knot furthest from the kite. On launching, this seemed too slack.. there was definite arc in the rear lines as they went up to the kite, and i got next to no power when trimming the bar pulling it towards me. This was with full trimstrap powered up. I tried landing the kite and getting a friend to re-attach the rear lines this time to the 5th knot (2nd closest to the kite). This still seemed to have a fair bit of play. Maybe this is normal and i should expect the center/front lines to stretch over time?! Or was it because there wasnt really enough wind, maybe if i get 15 knots + i will feel more tension on the rear lines?
Trim strap: was a bit weird for me as my other kite is a 09 Cab SB.. black (power up) seemed to do nothing, until i realised that the red strap (depower) needed to be pulled to have any (gradual) effect. The black power-up is a one-shot activate, while the red depower is gradual activation. This is the opposite of the Cabrinha depower system, where power-up is gradual and depower is one-shot. Is this normal for Best kites?
For my next session i will try use the last knot (closest to the kite) next time, and maybe AA connection on the wingtips to make it faster turning. Overall i liked the kite, there wasnt really enough wind, but it behaved itself and i am really looking forward to taking it out in a bit more wind.