home
welcome
kite reviews
kiting terminology
coping with wind
Beaufort wind scale
kiting dangers
UK kite stores
US kite stores
UK Festivals
kite fest photos
design & plans

Buggying
how to buggy
buggy: first lesson
buggy tricks guide
buggy photos
tandem buggying
kite buggy e-list

Power Kiting
kite jumping
kite surfing
kite skiing

Flexifoils
stacking Flexis
Flexi launching
spar maintenance

Misc
kiting links
KiteAstrophy
kite fest photos
the kite bag
sky surfer
sanibel 18
holder 14
aquaria
guitars
about me

Explorer (High Flyers)

DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION
The Explorer has an extreme shape. A very high aspect ratio sail with a very short spine. The sail itself is somewhat smaller than the frame. The quality of sewing was fairly good but the single fold, double stitch method leaves bare edges on the back of the sail. Nose, t-joint and spine areas are all Dacron-reinforced. The sailcloth itself felt stretchy and detracted from the look of the kite. The fittings, made for High Flyers were of better than average quality. The bridle is lengthy. Standoffs have a simple end cap fixing into the sail which leaves a point sticking out on the back of the sail. There are aluminium rings for the attachment points. It has a leech line but no trick line.

FLIGHT QUALITY
The explorer was not that stable in straight line flight and required nursing around the sky with great care. It was very sensitive to any sudden hand movement and would not turn sharply. Large round turns were easy and tighter spins were very fast and well within the wing4ip although the kite did exhibit lots of oversteer. The kite was very sensitive at the edges of the wind window.

FREESTYLE
It was a difficult kite to stop and in light wind it would stop and sink down the window: in higher wind the kite's speed made keeping it stable difficult and too strong a hand movement sent it over backwards. The axel was very fast and the kite did not want to regain forward flight after this move: a half axel was possible but only with the utmost care. The Explorer refused to flat spin or turtle. The kite's real forte was the flic flac. The short spine length made the kite easy to spin. and this it did over and over. The long bridle combined with lack of trick line and the standoff fitting meant that the Explorer was prone to line wraps.

The Explorer is by no means an easy kite to fly. It is a very tough customer with a strong frame, but it is very unstable and does not forgive any error from the pilot. It's real plus point was that it would be immediately accessible for a beginner.