Say what you want about Rob, but he had this kite design nailed and dialed in.
Sorry, but that's utter nonsense.
No two kites from Rob were the same ... and I should know I have a complete "set" of Mohawks. I have a friend here locally with a Mohawk with noticeable curve to the leading edges and yet every other one I've seen has absolutely straight leading edges.
I'm told that his building had improved by the time of the MXS - but he continued to tweak the design. The version offer by SKD is faithful to the example provided by Rob, but as we've established in another thread it is not identical to earlier versions of the design.
Contrast this say with err, um ... an
established builder. Improvements maybe be introduced over time, but the fundamentals of the kite remain the same.
-Frazer
Utter nonsense in your opinion, highly qualified in mine. Since I own and fly the Air Oeuvre version on a regular basis, I'll stick with my opinion.
The original Air Oeuvre Mohawk
XS is a well dialed in design. I base my comments not on the first non XS Mohawk or any other kite that Rob made but on the fact that I've flown quite a few original
MHXS and own three. The design is excellent, they feel like they are set up well and the kites design is mature. All that I have tried have flown and tricked very well without any odd behavior. Tazes, Cascades, Backspins are all cake on the original. The wind range of the standard is similar to a Deep Space. The ones I own are all a bit different because they were all framed different for different wind ranges. The ones that were framed the same fly and trick the same. It is a great kite, get over it already.
I'm not going to defend Rob or any of the thing he did or said. But he obviously evolved as a kite maker / designer as time went on. I own / have owned several of his last designs and quite like them all. They have all been sturdy though a little rough in the fit and finish department on a few but at least as good as say R-Sky.
On the SKD version, the fact that it has a different bridle, roll bars and many minor changes in manufacture means that it is not faithful to the original. When you make changes to a kite expect it to be different. When you make multiple changes to a kite design they can compound each other. The outcome can be quite different than just a single modification. The new version may very well be an excellent kite, just not faithful to the original.
That being said, I have not flown or even seen this version so I can't compare it to the original. But it sure sounds different from what I read in the the review and from what others that have flown it have told me.
