US Mk II Stunter

When it comes to American PP Stunters, I've got in my collection a triple-stack of the Junior, a smaller version of the basic Stunter, and I've got the The Monster, a 6-foot version. But up to now, I hadn't managed to get my hands on a 'standard' American Stunter. That's changed now, with the addition of an American Mk II to the collection!

It's similar to UK-produced Stunters in most way, but it does feature an extra spar at the back of the kite, similar to the extra spar of The Monster:

The Mk II feels quite heavy on the lines, and is relatively sluggish response to input. This is definitely different compared to UK Stunters. I'm not sure what the cause of this is, although the extra spar of course increases the weight of the kite.

You may have noticed something missing: a tail. I must admit it was quite strange to fly a PP Stunter without a tail!

Now the kite didn't come with a tail, but that in itself is easily remedied. However, according to the 1991 catalogue, the "kite is flown without a tail".

Well, who am I to disagree with a PP catalogue?

BP Stunter

Earlier this year, I wrote about me getting my hands on a BP promo Peter Powell. It needed some TLC: the tail part had been fixed with duct tape, but this had lost its adhesiveness over the years.

Rather than simply replace the strip of tape, I decided to make the repair a bit more thorough, and use green duct tape to keep within the colour scheme of the kite. After all, it also came with a green tail!

So here's the BP kite, ready for take-off at our primary flying field!

Personally, I'm very happy with how the repair came out. Even though it's not original, it certainly looks like it could be.

And it looks very good in the sky, with its green tail.

I have no idea how many BP Peter Powells were produced, but whether one or a hundred, it's a very nice addition to my collection!

Red polythene Mk II

Our very first Peter Powell Stunter was a blue polythene Mk II, and this particular version isn't exactly common; it's taken me until now to get my hands on a second one, with a red sail.

Flying it in winds gusting over 30mph just again shows when PP Stunters are really happy!

What's curious about this one is that the frame is black fibreglass rather than the usual white:

I have seen the occasional picture of a PP with a black frame, so I do think this is original and not a home-made refit ...

Having two polythene Mk IIs (and being part of a kite team), we of course had to fly them together!

And they flew together very happily in the strong gusty wind!

I do think I'll keep the tails as they are now: red with red, and blue with blue. Somehow looks better than red with blue, and blue with red (but feel free to disagree with me).

Ripstop Mk II triple-stack?

I recently posted on an orange ripstop Mk II, which needs quite a lot of TLC to get it flying again. Shortly after posting, I got my hands on a pair of ripstop Mk II PPs, for a very reasonable price, and in very good condition.

Having three ripstop Mk IIs now, in the colours yellow - orange - red, screams out "stack 'm", doesn't it? None of the kites came with tails, but getting a set of yellow, orange and red tails from the Powell guys is easy enough. Or, maybe even better, a set of three banded tails: yellow/black, orange/black, red/black? Would certainly add to how the triple-stack looks in the sky, given that the sails are a single colour. What do you think?

As they say, watch this space!

A wee restoration project ...

If I'm basically given an old Peter Powell kite, needing some TLC to get it flying again, I'm not going to say 'no' and condemn the kite to the dustbin, am I?

Here's the kite in question: a ripstop Mk II:

Sail is faded, quite a bit actually, but is generally in pretty good nick; no rips or tears. Cross spreaders are missing, and the spine is broken in two. When I said 'some TLC', I actually mean 'quite a bit' ...

Now it so happens that last year I was given a complete fibreglass frame, and since then, I've acquired some more spars and bits and pieces. Plenty to get this faded orange Mk II back in the air again; watch this space!

Jamaica

So far, I've only been able to get my hands on three kites from the Caribbean Kite Company: a single Cayman in the older chevron colour pattern, and a pair of Caymans in the later colour pattern. But the company also produced a wide range of dual-line deltas, and even a quad-liner.

Thanks to eBay-US (and a friendly fellow kite flyer who was willing to bid for the kite on my behalf, and ship it to the UK), I've now been able to add the first dual-line delta from the Caribbean Kite Company to my Peter Powell Kites collection: a Jamaica (virtually all their kite models were named after Caribbean islands).

The Jamaica is a relatively small kite: wing span of 1.63m. It has a fibreglass frame and is also quite flat. That flatness really influences its flight behaviour.

The kite needs a decent breeze putting pressure in the sail all the time; it doesn't like the edge of the wind window. Jamaica also tends to oversteer quite a bit. But even though it is not much more than a glorified beach kite, I did manage to axel it! Just about, but still ...

The self-proclaimed ambition of the Caribbean Kite Company was to produce kites of the highest quality, to be the benchmark for top-end sports kites. This Jamaica certainly doesn't tick that box, but it may well have been aimed at the lower end of the market, with the larger models targeting that top-end. Guess I'll find out once I get my hands on them, won't I?

Another bicolour ripstop Mk II

You know the saying about buses, don't you? Wait for one for ages, and then two pass by. Same with kites sometimes. Recently, I got my hands on a teal/pink ripstop Mk II Peter Powell through eBay, and very shortly afterwards, a very similar one popped up on eBay. This time the colours were green and pink.

Wind was quite variable when we flew it for the first time (as the previous one, with a modern pink tail), so it certainly didn't perform optimally, but flying it did!

Now, having two very similar PPs like this, we had to fly them together, of course.

The wind was quite difficult for flying a pair of PPs properly, but we gave it our best shot.

Incidentally, I just realised that this is my 50th blog post here!