Solus: The Smallest 100" Sport Kite You'll Ever Fly

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[chilese]

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I first flew a Solus at Kite Party 9. It was a prototype and I did my first on-purpose double yo-yo on it. Offered to buy it on the spot.

Months later, I have now flown Kent's custom Solus, most recently, this evening at the Friday night fly. It was also flown by Kent, Darren and Joe from Arizona who comes up on most Fridays. Winds were light  ( 3-6 mph ) and smoother than average for Las Vegas.

You have seen videos by people who are much better fliers than myself. So I will just kind of bullet list the general comments made by all of us.

1 The kite feels much smaller than a 100" kite. In fact, we generally thought it felt more immediate and responsive than the smaller Widow Maker.

2 Although the tow points are quite wide, a hard pull with one hand will put the kite into a one spin stall, which is really a handy way of entering a trick in the middle of the window.

3 While straight lines are achievable, the kite really wants small inputs. I would fly other kites for figures if in a competition. For freestyle, the lines just require a bit more care for figures.

4 I could repeatedly do multiple yo-yos. The kind where you do a small pull in-between revolutions to get the next flip. I have not been able to do this as well on any other kite.

5 I claimed the best Taz Machine for the night with a surprisingly slow, textbook looking TM. This is not an easy trick for me.

6 Joe was doing his more advanced comete, crazy copter type stuff. He too felt the kite belied its size and acted much more like a 7.5 ft trickster than one a full 10 inches bigger.

7. Just remembered. When doing cascades, the one-pop cascades look the same as the two-pop cascade in that the kite flattens to a pancake position in-between the 3 and 9 o-clock positions. I haven't seen other kites flatten in the same way when doing the one-pop input.

So, if you like trick kites, but always felt they had to be somewhere around 2.1 meters to be a real trickster, be prepared for a shock. At 2.54 meters, the Solus defies conventional thinking.

Well done Sky Burner. 

[adx1592]

Hey Mr. Chilese,
Thanks for the review. Are you flying it with the longer upperspreader, or the smaller one? Some of them were cut a bit longer by accident and I was just wondering which version you guys are flying out there.

Great pics too! Really like that blue stock color. I've never seen one except for on the colorizer.

Have a good one all,
Devin

[chilese]

I have been flying with the longer upper spreader. Although shortening the US 1/8" doesn't seem like it would affect the kite too much. But then, I am not the designer. 

[adx1592]

Give it a shot! I think it makes the kite a lot more accessible when it comes to better tracking and helps with pitch (especially on the UL) a bit. Again, I'm not quite sure how that smaller spreader makes such a difference. My two first kites have always had them. Give it a shot and let me know what you think either on here or in a PM if you'd like. I'd be curious to hear your opinions. Again, thank you for the review!

[Ca Ike]

I have been flying with the longer upper spreader. Although shortening the US 1/8" doesn't seem like it would affect the kite too much. But then, I am not the designer. 

  That 1/8 inch doesn't make a whole lot of difference but it does make a difference.  I took mine out yesterday after making the change and right away the pitch was noticeably crisper and the dead spot in the flare to fade was not nearly as bad.  Tracking seemed to be a bit better with next to no wobble on square corners but it likes push turns for corners better than pull or combo turns.  My UL should be where the big change should be since I had to take off over 1/2 inch of the US to make it the right length.

[inewham]

I have been flying with the longer upper spreader. Although shortening the US 1/8" doesn't seem like it would affect the kite too much. But then, I am not the designer. 

It depends; theres a point where you go from bowing the ULE out from straight to pulling it in. Thats the point where the back of the sail changes from curving the wrong way with the longer spreader to getting straighter and a little loose. If that 1/8 happens to be around that point it can make a lot of difference transitioning between something that rotates to something that pitches.