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BITZ (Mullin Kites)

A rush of adrenaline is good for the system from time to time

The Bitz is one of new series of trick kites from Mullin Kites, the small British manufacturer.

CONSTRUCTION
The Bitz has a twelve panel Icarex P31 sail in a "Phantomesque" radial cut on a 6mm Exel RCF carbon frame. The design of the kite is quite extreme with a very high aspect ratio wing and very short spine length; the leading edges are heavily cambered although the sail isn't particularly deep at about 18m. The area around the nose is fairly flat kept under tension from the long top spreader. The sail is well reinforced at all the strategic points, T-joint, top spreader/spine and panel ends. The bottom of the spine features the now familiar Velcro fastening. The trailing edge is held tight with a leech line and a trick line is provided. The standard of construction of the sail was fairly good, although a couple of seams were a bit wobbly and there were some wrinkles around the tail area. The kite has the classy low profile Tradewinds leading edge fittings which are stopped at both top and lower spreaders. A nice feature was the trick line which is neatly kept in place on the wing-tips with a hole drilled through the nock. The whole assembly was well thought out and neatly finished. The bridle is a standard style three point.

FLIGHT TEST
As the Bitz is an out and out freestyle/trick machine, we dispensed with the normal flying around trying to assess the precision qualities of the kite and went straight into freestyle mode. Flying the kite on short lines, it was immediately obvious that the Bitz is quite a radical customer. Ordinary tight turns and quick spins exhibit a fair bit of oversteer, and the kite skids sideways easily. Fast and snappy axels were a piece of cake and the kite flips round with the nose slightly down, almost as though the kite is doing a head flip rather than a flat axel On the edge, the kite tended to lose a lot of height when axeling. Low half axel turns often ended up with a wing-tip on the ground. We also noted that the window was quite restricted.

When doing 540s and other flat spin maneuvers, the Bitz once again excels, spins being really quick. The kite also tends to rise as it spins. Backflips were again easy to get although the kite isn't very stable on its back and tends to drift sideways. Despite the trick line there were quite a few wing wraps especially when trying to get it to do "Lazy Susans" (axels on its back).

The Exel frame stood up to repeated clattering very well, although in the very lightest winds (below 3mph) it did feel a little heavy. As soon as the wind got up, the kite started to speed up and in anything over 10mph the Bitz is blurringly fast.

On the ground, the Bitz is again an able performer with the robust frame forgiving

pilot error. The coin toss is easy and can be done almost anywhere across the window. Recovery did pose a few problems as the kite had a tendency to get into a sideways on position from a rollover which defied numerous attempts of recovery.

CONCLUSION
The Bitz is an out and out freestyle kite which would not really suit someone just starting out into trick world. It has a few rough edges which make it an enjoyable and challenging fly even for an experienced pilot. The frame is tough if a little heavy and the Icarex sail is a bonus which makes the kite feel tight and responsive.

All in all this should be a kite to check out, maybe as a second freestyler or an upgrade from a more basic model for the pilot who is feeling more ambitious. It is certainly not a forgiving kite, and has a couple of niggles which need ironing out but it has the potential to be totally "rad"!