Who are Highflyers?
Donna Sikorsky
If anyone could share their thoughts on the Highflyer kites it would certainly help me to know what to order (It is not easy to find quality kites in the town I am from).
Susanne Durie
>I am new to both the rec.kite group and to kites as well, but am rapidly becoming enthused by the prospect of expanding beyond sing=
le-line stuff. In my search for a new challenge, I have come accross a kite called Team Spirit. It appears to be manufactured by H=
ighflyers, from Cornwall in England. How does this make of kite compare to Fizz, Flexifoil and/or other brands of kites I have hear=
d discussed on this group.
d quality kites in the town I am from).
Hi
My first sports kite was with a Highflyers Club Sport (I think this is very similar
to the Spirit, just with fewer pannels. From what I remember both are based on the
original Tim Benson Phantom) and I havent looked back since!.
I bought the kite a couple of years ago when the build quality wasnt quite as good
as it could be - the seams tended to fray, especially on the trailing edge. However
I have heard since then these problems have been attended to.
From my experience these kites are an ideal introduction to the sport. They are
relatively inexpensive and are competent performers with the advantage that they are
pretty robust. I use this kite solely to let beginners thrash around with it these
days.
In terms of performence they, IMHO, cannt really be put in the same class as Fizz
kites. They are not, by any stretch of the imagination, trick kites or even very
precise, but they are good all-rounders.
Although they are not on the cutting edge of performance kites they were totally
responsible for my obsession with kiting, and although I now have many different
kites I have fond memories of the Sport and many people have felt the joys of flying
for the first time with this kite.
Good luck in your quest
Susanne
Jim Cheetham
: called Team Spirit. It appears to be manufactured by Highflyers,
: from Cornwall in England. How does this make of kite compare to Fizz,
I have the Highflyers Club Spirit in my collection - it
was the third kite I ever bought, after a single line
parafoil and a simple fibreglass diamond kite. I guess that
the Team Spirit is probably slightly slower ...
For a delta, this kite pulls rather hard, but is tough enough
to survive very high wind. It also (with a little pilot effort :-)
flys in very low winds, sometimes when I'd expect most ultralights
to be having problems.
The whole range are beginners kites - put together tough to
survive the inevitable crashes, and not especially spectacular
in flight - overall good and solid. It is not by any means a
trick kite, which is a good point for a beginner.
I guess that means I'd recommend it, as long as you're
prepared for the pull in higher winds.
Specifications
Wind Range 2 - 30 mph
Wingspan 8 feet (ish)
Air Frame 6mm Carbon
Flying lines 80 to 200 lb
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David Greenhough
j...@oasis.icl.co.uk (Jim Cheetham) said:-
>Donna Sikorsky (d...@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca) wrote:
>: called Team Spirit. It appears to be manufactured by Highflyers,
>: from Cornwall in England. How does this make of kite compare to Fizz,
>: Flexifoil etc
>
> I have the Highflyers Club Spirit in my collection - it
> was the third kite I ever bought, after a single line
> parafoil and a simple fibreglass diamond kite. I guess that
> the Team Spirit is probably slightly slower ...
The Team Spirit is specificaly designed with team flying in mind.
It is vented along the leading edge and is rather more rad than you
think. They claim it to be the only custom designed slotted leading
edge kite in the world. I wouldnt go quite that far. Its very nice :)
> club spirit
> For a delta, this kite^pulls rather hard, but is tough enough
> to survive very high wind. It also (with a little pilot effort :-)
> flys in very low winds, sometimes when I'd expect most ultralights
> to be having problems.
You should try their(smaller)Club Spectre, its a blast in a breeze >:o
>
> The whole range are beginners kites - put together tough to
> survive the inevitable crashes, and not especially spectacular
> in flight - overall good and solid. It is not by any means a
> trick kite, which is a good point for a beginner.
Club Sport is a real good introduction to sport kites in general and
IMHO very good value. This is very robust by design (as are most
Highflyers models) and as Suzanne who also replied to your post will
vouch is a good beginners kite. Personally I fly a Spectre (well, it's
my boy's first big 6 foot kite) which is a gas esp. in a good breeze
and a Shaddow (8ft) from their range as well as a stack of Wild
Thangs. These are ridiculously fast, cheap, small and (pro carbon version)
well made that only too often they are bought by outright beginners
who are overwhelmed by the sheer speed and manouverability.
>
> I guess that means I'd recommend it, as long as you're
> prepared for the pull in higher winds.
I'd certainly second that!
>
> Specifications
> Wind Range 2 - 30 mph
> Wingspan 8 feet (ish)
> Air Frame 6mm Carbon
> Flying lines 80 to 200 lb
>
specs as claimed by Highflyers
W\Thang Club spectre Club Sport Club Spirit Shadow Team Spirit
W\span 1.25m 2.07m 2.40m 2.40 2.38 2.40
Wind\mph 5>30 3>30 3>30 3>30 1>25 1>35 !
pannels 2 4 6 8 14 10
line 50lb 200lb! 150lb 150lb 150lb 150lb
Team Spirit is still on my TO BUY list along with Fizz's Box o tricks
and Andy Prestons (Flexi)Psycho . I must admit my Stranger has been
out of the bag more often than any of my Highflyers this season but
thats due to the light winds (or am I just kidding myself?)
Lastly maybe I'd better draw your attention to the odd coincidence of
my hostname and software when compared to the above.
I called my host Spirit after the best kite I had flown at the time.
Jim Cheetham called his Oasis. Thats the name of the mailer I'm
writing this on.
Wierd huh?
BTW I've no connection with HighFlyers other than being a customer.
They're real good people to do business with.
May you never loose your whiskers in long grass!
David Greenhough
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gre...@spirit.demon.co.uk
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dieter sattler
in Article "Re: Who are Highflyers?" you wrote:
> My first sports kite was with a Highflyers Club Sport (I think this is
> very similar to the Spirit, just with fewer pannels. From what I
> remember both are based on the original Tim Benson Phantom) and I havent
> looked back since!.
If i remember correctly, all Highflyers kites (except Wild Thang and
Spectre) where based on the Phantom. But with the Team Spirit they invented
some new features:
- trailing edge totally different to the Phantoms
- larger sail area
- LESS -> *L* eading *E* dge *S* lot *S* ystem there've been 2 slots on the
leading edges which should decrease the pull of the kite in higher wind
speed and the should enable easyer flying in lower winds (the slots should
decrease turbulances on the back surface of the kite - this should be the
same effect which is used on aircrafts using additional flaps on the
leading edge of the wings which are used in slow speed flying (take off
and landing)...
In my opinion, these new features didn't change the kites flying abilities
that much - but i agree with you, it's still a good 'allround' kite for a
reasonable price.
Breezy greetinx,
Dieter
[die...@fununltd.han.de]
Hannover, Germany
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