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 Psycho Page

Manufacturer Wind Range:  6 - 30 mph

Optimal Wind Range (IMHO) : 10 - 30 mph

Weight (my actual kite) 7 3/4 oz        220 g

October 1, 2002

This kite is truly a blast to fly when the rest of my bag & many others can't fly.  I went out to my local field & the winds were 15 mph to 20 mph (with gusts).  The only choice for me at that speed is the psycho.  I don't care what a manufacturer says about wind range of a standard kite.  At these speed you will most likely break a spar or at a minimum stretch the sail on most standard models kites.

Anyways, I just wanted to post that even in this high wind I was doing flic flacs & even held a stable fade, not to mention some yo-yos.  I also managed a 1/2 lazy susan to fade.  Quite fun.

The psycho is the KING of high wind.  No tip wraps, stall-able & trickable.

March 10, 2001

A recent experience I wanted to share.

I had an opportunity to fly for a few hours, however winds were not co-operating.  I wanted to practice advanced tricks like Rotofade & 540s but winds was 23 mph with gusts up to 28 mph.  I thought that this is WAY too windy to fly.  I remembered  that the Psycho wind range is up to 30 mph & on the video Andy flies it in 40 mph.  So I pull it out.   Assembly was difficult because the wind kept trying to steal the kite away, but I managed.  

Now I am all setup & ready to go.  I kept thinking this is way too windy but I launched it in spite of my better judgment.  The kite took off & was extremely fast & actually very fun.  At the edge I was able to do some maneuvers but amazingly the kite stood up well for such extreme wind (no shuddering).  

Man what a blast, although I would have preferred 5 - 10 mph.  :-)

January 4, 2001          

Well I had 2 opportunities to fly my new Psycho (December 29 & 31, 2000)  On the maiden flight the winds were calm, around 3 mph but later moved up to 9 mph.  Now picture this, My friend Kirk & I arrive at my local field (4 soccer fields combined) & it is blanketed in pristine white snow.  Never touched or walked on & at minimum  6" deep.  The Psycho's colors against the white backdrop looked beautiful. In fact, I enjoyed the winter flying (not assembly) over summer flying because of the white background.  

Now to flying:  Once the winds went past 6 mph & I didn't have to constantly keep moving backwards to gain any lift, the Psycho really gets fun.  I was able to do many tricks like double axels & Flic Flacs.  But more than that, I really find this kite to be extremely fun to fly.  It is very easy to recover in flight for those pilot errors & I rarely tip wrapped it.  Also I find the psycho to be one of the easiest kites to Pancake that I have ever flown.  

Once Pancaked, many tricks will be open to you.  I was easily able to 'Pancake to Fade' it, however when I tried to Rotofade the Psycho, it recovers instead of spinning.  But that aside, I had a great time with it.  Relaunches from almost any position are fun & easy.  Many times I had the kite buried in a 2 foot snow bank & was able to re-launch it.  Another added bonus to winter flying is tip stabs and tip drags in deep snow are allot safer than hard grass.

But that's not the end.  On December 31, the winds started at 10 mph & then quickly moved up to 20 mph.  At this point, the reason why I bought the Psycho became perfectly clear to me.  All my other kites would have been grounded, but the Psycho was just getting started.  The Psycho was really fast & believe it or not, still trickable.  Not just at the edge of the window but I was able to spin stall it near the center & then axel it.  (Side note, 5 degrees Fahrenheit plus a 20 mph wind chill factor is extremely cold)

Conclusion: The Psycho has quickly moved up as one of my favorite kites.  In fact, because of its sturdy frame & very useful wind range (6 mph - 30 mph) I would recommend this kite to anybody who is looking for a second kite (after a beginner kite) or even a novice looking to purchase 1 good kite that covers most wind conditions.

If you get a chance to try a Psycho, do it.  You won't regret the experience.

PS: Special thanks to Kirk P. (Kitegoof) for tying a loop in my leech line which helps speed up the assembly process.

David G.

Kitefan

Psycho & Psycho video on TV