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Nirvanaby R-Sky Kites
Specs
HistoryThe Nirvana was the 9th kite I purchased. A lot has been written about this kite. It has dominated the world competition circuit every year since its introduction, and has been the European and French champion several times over. It is the "gold standard" that newer kites are usually measured against. I bought this model, a 2005 vintage, as a used demo kite from the Kite Shoppe at the end of 2005. My kite came with many of the newer features including pre-installed yo-yo stoppers, a 15g weight in the spine and a slightly shorter upper spreader. ConstructionThe kite is extremely well constructed. My Nirvana showed virtually no signs of wear despite being a used demo kite. The sail is made entirely of rip-stop Icarex with mylar reinforcement at key points. The frame is a very sturdy P200 LE and 5 PT lower spreaders (all skyshark). The 6mm spine has 15g of tail weight preinstalled. The bridle is a very solid braided turbo bridle. All of the stitching is reinforced and sealed appropriately. The LE is smooth and snag free, and the R-Sky yo-yo stoppers are a very nice addition. TuningCurrently I'm flying the stock 15g tail weight (available in late version models) with an additional 6g - for a total of 21g of tail weight. This seems to be the sweet spot for the Nirvana as it provides very good roll up performance without sacrificing precision or turtle performance. I'm flying the stock turbo bridle which seems to handle very well. It turns on a dime but still has excellent precision. I believe the spreader on the current model is a bit shorter than the one on earlier models. If you would like to try an alternate bridle, there are a variety of possibilities here: I have tried the 3 point bridle on the Nirvana and it is slightly more responsive on some tricks, but I'm not sure that it is overall better than the stock bridle. The stock bridle provides excellent performance. The only other addition I made was a small line between the inner outhaul and upper outhaul to prevent the inner outhaul from getting wrapped around the tail. This is a nice thing to do on any kite to avoid excessive tail wrapping. I have not had to do anything else with my Nirvana - it flies great! In FlightThe Nirvana over the last few years has become the gold standard which other kites are measured against. The reputation is, in this humble kite pilot's opinion, very well deserved. The kite has exceeded my expectations in virtually every way. It has fantastic precision - such that tracking a straight line comes naturally. The full size and slow graceful flight it gives only adds to the grace and majesty. Yet despite the outstanding precision, it will easily turn within a wingtip. Combination turns are lightning quick and acceleration is silky smooth. Beyond the superior precision are stellar tricks. The Nirvana does every trick in the book, and then some. In fact I've learned several new ones since I bought this kite because it is so predictable and precise in its tricks as well. The Nirvana is stable in every position - turtle, fade, rolled up, stalled, pancake, you name it. It requires larger inputs than many other kites, but I've found that to be an advantage when practicing new tricks. The larger inputs also make the kite somewhat more forgiving of small errors. The Nirvana does beautiful snap stalls, breathtaking slow axels, and amazing 540's. All of the axel based tricks look great because it is a full size kite with a large kite feel to it. This lets you slow dance many maneuvers making them look even better. It is rock solid in a fade, and easily transitions to flic-flacs or lateral rolls. The backspin requires just a little bit of setup, but even it can be executed in something approaching slow motion back into a stable fade - making this an excellent kite to learn advanced tricks like the backspin cascade. Speaking of cascades, again the big kite feel helps it half axel easily with only a small counterpop. Lazy susans and multilazies are a piece of cake. Jacobs ladder is also not hard. The yo-yo maneuvers are also there, though it is a little better if you yo-yo from a lateral roll or alternate set up as opposed to a single pop maneuver. The best thing about the Nirvana is just that it is so darn predictable in any position. The Nirvana has an excellent low wind range down to about 4 mph or perhaps even a steady 3 mph if conditions are right. The only downside I've found is that the trailing edge gets quite noisy in high winds, which can scare off some of the spectators at the beach. On the plus side, it does perform pretty well in high winds if you put a set of R-Sky airbrakes on it. Overall ImpressionThe gold standard of kites still in 2006 - and probably well into the future. Though this is not my favorite high wind kite it is usually the first kite out of the bag in light to moderate winds. There is just something special and unique about this kite that gives it great precision, extremely good trick capability all wrapped up with the grace and beauty of a full size kite. Also it is an extremely approachable trick kite - the large inputs make it much easier to learn new tricks. The only other kite I currently have in this class is the Sea Devil. The Sea Devil is a little easier to roll up and backspin, but it is still not as precise, graceful or predictable as the Nirvana. They each have their advantages - but I'm never disappointed when the Nirvana comes out of the bag. Pro
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