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HQ Neo II 11m Review
By Sean S.
Click on pictures for larger image
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The Neo II (2) is the
latest edition to the HQ power kite line. Being
reengineered from the Neo I (1) there are
improvements in all aspects of the kite making it a
great investment. This kite is a huge advancement in
the water relaunchable closed cell power kites. With
increased performance and top notch safety features,
this kite is hard to compete with for those looking
for a multi surface power house.
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The Neo II has a great
new bar and chicken loop design; from my experience
with this kite the bar pressure is substantially
lighter than that of the Peter Lynn Synergy. One of
the strongest features of this kite is the Total
Depower Safetyline, which when activated by pulling
up on the top hat, (Figure 1),releases the chicken
loop causing the bar to slide forward and tension
the center line. This causes the kite to fold in
half like a taco and fall to the ground like there
was no wind. (Figure 2, 3, 4) I have personally used
this twice on purpose and once as a test. All three
times the system worked with no problems (a great
feeling to know that if you have to you can totally
kill all power).
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Setting up the kite for the first flight is as easy
as setting up for the hundredth. All lines are
pre-attached and being a bridle line kite this is an
awesome thing that HQ does for its customers. Just
unzip the huge bag and throw your kite on the ground
and unfold the lines walking backward with the bar.
(Figure 5, 6, 7) Stake down the brake line and
unfold the kite. Make sure the deflate zipper is in
the closed position and hold the kite up to
pre-inflate with air. (Figure 8) You don’t need to
really worry about it being totally filled when you
pull on the center lines to launch the kite it fills
quite quickly. Strap into your harness, connect the
chicken loop, pull on the center line and hold on
tight!
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The clam cleat depower strap
is a great method for quickly adjusting your angle
of attack depending on the wind conditions. The only
problem I could foresee is that the there is wear on
the rope that is being held in the cleat. It’s
nothing that I think effects performance or safety
but is more of an esthetic thing.
Packing up the kite is just as easy as unpacking.
Stake the kite and open the deflate zipper releasing
all the air and tuck all the bridles into the kite
fold it by rolling then wrap the power lines around
the bar. A great feature the bar has is two elastic
“rubber bands” that pull over your wound lines
keeping them nice and tight against your bar
preventing tangles. (Figure 9, 10) Just another
little thing that impresses me with this kite.
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When picking a Neo there are several sizes to choose from (6, 8,
11, & 14 meter). I weigh approximately 145 pounds (65.8 Kg/
10.35 Stone) and purchased the 11 meter Neo II in the blue
camouflage. I live in New Mexico and our winds aren’t exactly
consistent in power or direction. This kite will fly in as low
as 5 MPH of wind, of course it’s not very aggressive in these
winds but still fun to fly. At around 12 – 16 MHP is a great
wind speed for having a good time riding on a mountain board or
doing pendulum jumps. Recently I flew the kite in 22 MPH wind
and had a great time, it is defiantly intimidating but not too
bad once you get started. Jumps are literally effortless (which
is great if you’re expecting it) however I was not and loss
tension on the lines when the kite drifted directly upwind and
pulled like I was strapped to a semi-truck. After what felt like
a hundred yard dash trying to keep up I fell flat on my face and
popped the safety. Needless to say my friends thought that was
the highlight of the day.
All in all, this kite has been a
great time. I would recommend it for beginners to advanced
fliers. I however would caution that you have a good
understanding of the depower systems and a strong foundation of
flying before advancing to this kite. Hopefully this review was
helpful to those considering purchasing this awesome flying
machine.
Happy Flying,
Sean S. N.M.
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