PKD Buster 1.4m - 2m - 3m

I got the 1.4 as a fun power kite for those days when all you want to do is go out and test your mussels and not get dragged down a field. For a small kite it does have quite a pull and for a lighter flyer than myself maybe a real handful in stronger winds. It even has the ability in very strong wind, due to its speed with ability to generate apparent wind, to act as a buggy engine. The speed is not great but it is fun. The first thing you do notice about the kite when you unpack it is the bridles, they are very light and Un-sleeved. This makes you initially think that it will only last five

minutes and the quality is poor but I have not broken mine yet and it has had a fair few hours in the sky now. What is of very poor quality is the flying lines and handles. The handles can be modified but the lines simply need to be binned. In essence there is nothing wrong with them and are suitable for the kite. The problem is that they are very basic, having a very open weave. The problems that you will encounter straight away if you use these lines is line tangles and you will have no chance of untangling them. We replaced the Busters lines, both the 1.4m and 3m, with c-lines. Apart from this the 1.4m is a brilliant little stunt kite. It is lightning fast across the sky and in the turn. It definitely tests your flying skills if you have spent a lot of time flying much bigger less maneuverable kites. The kite is very light due to those lightweight bridles so will fly in virtually no wind. This makes its wind range vast. It even deals with crashes very well. After a particularly long flying session the 1.4 was flown into the lines of a 4m Firebee. The Firebee won the battle and the Buster 1.4 came away with a small 1 cm tear in the top of the canopy. After stitching it back together it fly’s as good as new. Everyone should have one of these kites in there kite bag. It is pure power kiting fun.

The De-power System

On the topic of bridles the Buster’s have an adjustable bridle. I looked very carefully at the bridle when I first got one of these kites and wondered if it would be possible to rig up a de-power system. There is no point on such a small kite but I was more interested in the possibility. I created a de-power system that was basically the same as on the Frenzy. It was very easy to do because the bridling on the buster is already separated in to a-b-c-d-e d sections. Did it work? Yes and No. It flew and it de-powered then it collapsed. The de-power bridling worked fine and the angle to the wind of the canopy changed. The problem is the leading edge. The design of the canopy does not lend itself to changing the air flow into the canopy. As the angle of attack to the wind changed the pressure inside the canopy became unstable due to either more turbulent air or not enough air entering the canopy. When the kite was de-powered it basically collapsed. Yes the de-power worked but a de-power allows you to fly a kite in a greater wind range and maybe in wind that is to strong for an equivalent sized kite.

Flying this de-powered Buster in a stronger wind would be positively dangerous due to the introduced instability the de-power introduced. That instability and canopy collapse caused more trouble than it was worth.

The 3m Buster is a very different kite to is younger sibling. It does not have a massive amount of power, infact a lot less than I thought, but that actually makes it a much better kite. It is a buggy engine. It is so easy to fly and use in the buggy it has now been adopted as our official buggy engine. There is no overhead lift as compared to the 3m Firebee which has loads. Comparing it to the Firebee; it is less powerful, less aggressive but much more stable. It will sit at the edge of the wind window and still pull, when the Firebee will be tying itself in knots. Side ways pull is where this kite excels. We have this kite set up on a three line Bar. Due to its cross over bridle flying it on a bar is very easy and the kite does not loose its shape or speed in the turn. I actually think it is a better kite flown on a bar. The third line allows re-launching after a LE crash and allows a safety to be fitted, which all our club kites must have. The 3m Buster does look very elegant in the sky and looks almost identical to the Ozone Little Devil. In fact you probably would not be able to tell our 3m Buster apart from a LD due to the fact that the PDK logo on the kite fell off, or at least washed off. The Logo on our kite was not fixed so very quickly disappeared. Still it gets people wondering what it is.

I really do enjoy flying this kite. It is a great buggy kite and I find myself reaching to fly this kite when using the buggy even over the Arc 460 at times. Quality wise some people expressed concern over its very low cost. Yes the lines supplied are rubbish, handles ok, but generally it is a very tough kite. It does not have all the reinforcement a LD would have but then look at the price.

2m Buster

My 2m Buster is the kite that is called on when the wind is either very gusty or simply to strong for the 5m Frenzy or Oxigen 3.2m but I still want to buggy. It really is a great little kite, very stable, has great pull and can propel you and silly speeds in the buggy. It is only when the wind gets very strong that I will fly it on handles as it is mostly flown on a three line straight bar. The power is much smoother and due to the Busters bridling the kite still turns very quickly. It does not go upwind as well as the Oxigen or even the baby Blade 2m but is still good fun and more than makes up for this small problem is stability. I must also add that this kite is virtually indestructible. On a number of occasions I have flown it in torrential rain and the kite still flies without any problems. The brake bridle knots have both come undone and been ripped out by a kite crash and still this kite comes back for more. After the several years I have owned it is still looking as new in its bright purple, certainly better than my Mac Bego 600 that after only a few weeks old looked very poor. Even though these kites are aimed at the new flyer and are at the budget end of the kite market they are very worthy kites and certainly not to be either overlooked or underestimated.

 

Review by Me.