I admit I’ve been a gushing BMK fanboy for the past few years, early in my flying career the Air FX was one of the first kites to really impress me, I loved the Mantis and the Exile seemed to sync with my flying style instantly.

After the anticipation of a new BMK and experience of old ones I really expected the Mongoose to be love at first flight but it wasn’t. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, quite the opposite but it took a little getting used to and it feels like there’s more to come. This kite makes a refreshing change and offers a different feel to the numerous Nirvana influenced designs.

Take a few steps back in kite history: After the Tracer and the first axels the style of kite that followed was the High A/R Trick kite, the Stranger, Box of Tricks, Sonic etc. That was followed by the backspin pioneers like the Gemini, Area 51 etc. which took us up to the end of the 90s. Around the end of the 90′s we saw some French influence. Before the Nirvana came along in 2003 there were some kites with widely-spaced standoffs but which were very pitchy and which were the pioneers of many tricks we see today. Examples that spring to my mind because I own them are Pascal L’Surger’s Krazy Kite, Stefan Furter’s Challenge, the BMK Mamba ( though Ken might disagree with me putting it in this group) and to a less extreme extent the Opium. The Opium as far as I can deduce morphed into the Nirvana (hold one over the other they are so close but you can see where a few tweaks made all the difference). The STX and Nirvana went on to spawn the generation of kites familiar today.

Just lets suppose however that the previous generation had carried on and evolved further; now that’s the kind of feel I get from the Mongoose. It reminds me of the Challenge and Mamba with post Nirvana influences rolled into one.

Before people wail and complain that the Challenge was awful and how dare I reproach a BMK, I did say imagine if that style of kite were perfected (and believe me if you can get grips with the Challenge flies it can produce some truly satisfying stuff…).

So the Mongoose can be incredibly rewarding and do some nice stuff but expect to adapt your flying style a little if you’re accustomed to post Nirvana kites or the big sweeping moves and loads of slack you’d need for a Mantis. The Mongoose seems to work best for me with punchy moves and not too much slack.

This liking for snappy pops and controlled slack has the added benefit that it is a fantastic kite for people who tend to be very dominant with one hand; e.g while I can comete in both directions I’m definitely stronger anticlockwise. The mongoose is a piece of cake to comete in my ‘weak’ direction. It doesn’t end there the Mongoose has to be the easiest kite to trick with you weakest hand I’ve ever flown, other tricks tend to be equally easy to do in both directions.

Much has been said about the Mongooses ability to tackle strong winds and its true it is very effective. The Mongoose uses a design trick visible in other kites from the Psycho to the Fearless: The keel is big but steeply angled and the wing tips are cut away at the trailing edge. As the wind pick up you can feel the pull increase some but the speed remains remarkably constant. This however does have a slight trade off that at the bottom end in that it sometimes feels like it has an on off switch flicking from coasting to driving. Changing to a set of lighter lines didn’t improve this either but its not a problem. I was pleasantly surprised with how comfortable it was on the light lines when the wind picked up.

Just flying around the kite is very precise. It tracks straight, turns without oversteer and has a good window. The fact that it needs smaller inputs meant I over controlled it to begin with, too much time on the Mantis and heavy handed kites I guess but I soon got back into flying a more responsive kite.

Turns and spins are much tighter than we have become accustomed to over the past few years, turning well inside the wingtip, This also meant that tight spin stalls and the tricks you can link from them are back on the menu. It does buzz a little on tight spins when the wind picks up and tightening the leech line more didn’t get rid of it but its only on tight turns and its not intrusive.

Going through a few tricks:

• Stalls aren’t quite in the same league as the Mamba in fact they were a bit of  mixed bag in the turbulent wind on my local park – sometimes the kite would sink backwards, sometimes it wouldn’t stay put but I’d put that down to bad conditions. Certainly slides were good
• Moving on from stalls stabs are fine but be careful not to over control or you’ll put the kite on its back. I couldn’t get anything approaching a black hole, the kite is just too sensitive for a brute force move like that but a fast dive to a spin stall to stab works well.
• Axels are flat and harken back to the kind of thing we’d see on a Mamba, half axles are very clean, punchy and lose no height. Rolling/Spin axles are a little fussy about timing and you need to pop slightly later than you might expect but the result is nice and flat. Cascades are clean and fountains rise consistently.
• Tip stands, coin tosses and ollies are all clean along with throwing in things like fades in between.
• On moves initiated from a downward turn e.g. insane or moebius if your timing isn’t right the kite is quite keen to roll its back toward you or even roll itself up. You don’t get that solid locked in feel that some kites give in an insane.
• Flatspins can be very flat or can hang tail low depending on input an the Mongoose will also wait for you when you pancake it for a flatspin. Slot machines are nice at all angles. Taz’s are fine, though lose a little height and they’re are also easy to turn into combinations.
• Lazy susans and variations like snap/rolling susans are all there. It will also do a reversing lazy susan, in my hands too slow and not snappy enough to call it a cynique but maybe with work…
• Backspins aren’t so good, definitely a barrel roll rather than a flat backspin (appologies J.C. For disagreeing but now its in my hands you were right). However its fine for Jacob’s Ladders though Jacob’s Ladders need a little less slack to keep them tidy.
• The Mongoose has a slight dead spot in a pancake which means that for flic-flacs you need to pop back a little before the kite levels out. Not a problem once you’re aware of it and on the plus side it does make the kite very good at the mutex. This dead spot also kept tempting me to reverse flatspins but I kept flipping the kite because its so pitchy, something to keep plugging away at in lighter winds.
• You can tune the pancake dead spot out by setting bridle a little lighter but it compromises the kite in other areas so I like it just the way it is.
• The kite is very pitchy, far more than you’d expect for it size, another benefit of the slimmed wingtips. Some people may be happier with a little less weight (it only has 3 weights total compared to 5 on the Exile and Mantis) but you soon get accustomed to it, I tried just 2 but preferred 3.
• Straight forward rollups popped from a barrell roll are snappy and the kite flies around happily enough rolled up. I forgot to try 2-pop roll ups, though I don’t anticipate that being a problem. Popping the kite then letting it roll backwards also works flying upward but I could never get the Mongoose to do it flying downwards.
• Surprisingly for such a big kite its quite willing to pitch forward so crazy copters are doable but I did struggle to get a Yofade to go all the way, it ran out of steam  180 degree short of the wrapped fade (I’m more inclined to put this down to my poor technique). Wap-do-waps are a piece of cake on the Mongoose since it spins so willingly.

All in all the Mongoose is a very nice kite, maybe not love at first sight, maybe a little different but definitely a grower and something that keeps encouraging me to try new things and usually rewarding experimentation. I hope people buy it with an open mind rather than dismiss after a first flight when it doesn’t hit a triple wrapped comete cascade 6ft into their first flight because its got a lot to offer and if you’re jaded with the same old Nirvana clones then its a breath of fresh air.

-Ian

The 70’s were a time of great music. Not just during the 70’s but even now, 30+ years later. Why? It is not just that so many of us who lived during the 70’s are still around. There is something special about the music. When I first flew the Mongoose, it was like discovering an old friend. It was like sitting in a restaurant and suddenly hearing an old favorite tune playing. Words that were hidden away in the old brain rise up and spring out as if never forgotten.

That is how it felt flying the Mongoose. Sparks of kite joy long forgotten came rushing back. Suddenly I didn’t want to pop Jacob’s ladders, but snap square corners, side slide across the window, and watch straight line tracking- as if it was on rails. Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve flown something that tracked as well as the Mongoose. I had forgotten how much fun straight lines could be. Though the winds were bumpy, the Mongoose cut nice cleans lines like a knife slicing through butter.

Now before you tune me out, the Mongoose is NOT an “Old School” kite. It will trick with the best of them, but more on that later. That first time out with the kite I came to two very important conclusions. First, as I reflected on all the kite fliers I’ve met, it is my opinion there are far more kiters that enjoy old school flying than those gifted at performing the modern tricks. I believe old school is like 70’s music, classics that don’t go out of style. It’s time to not be ashamed of enjoying old school flying. The second revelation I had was that most of the modern tricks are not kite specific. Meaning, that I have a bag full of kites that will comete, yo-fade, etc. but just not in my hands. However, I have nothing in my kite bag that will track like the Mongoose. In fact it will track just as well in a beginner’s hand. It’s in the kite!

After interacting with Ken McNeill I am even more convinced of the above statement. Ken has been designing kites for over 20 years. His name is recognized throughout the kiting world. He shared that as he began to work on designing a new kite he wanted to do two things. First he wanted to create something new, something that wouldn’t be compared to the extensive lineup of all his other creations. Second the primary audience he was trying to please was himself. “Keep it simple, keep it clean, and the rest will fall into place”. What a great concept! Ken was after that which would put a smile on his face. Isn’t that why most of us go out to the field? Flying the Mongoose reminded me, that it is okay if I never learn to comete. Ahhh, but the good news is that Mongoose can actually comete and so much more!

If this is going to be considered an actual review I should give you lots of details of construction, handling and etc. Yet anyone that has ever owned a Blue Moon Kite knows they are all handmade by Ken and of exceptional quality! A careful inspection of two sails, (a standard and UL) confirms not only the quality but his consistency as well. You will not find any missed stitching on his kites. The nose caps are neat and clean as well, with no loose or frayed edges to catch a line. The same goes for the entire leading edges.

The kite uses a weight system that Ken developed that gives the pilot a wide range of options. It involves brass bushings that weigh 5 grams each, that can be added to the spine to suit the pilot’s style. I used 1, 2, & 3 on the standard and enjoyed each setting in various winds. Three made rollups go a little faster but flatspins were not as flat for me. On the UL I fluctuated between 1 & 2. The last area I want to talk about regarding construction is the bridle. Both kites have a three point bridle. In Ken’s words, he prefers to stick with a standard bridle and make tweaks to performance via sail design. Adjustments can be made by moving the tow point up or down slightly based on wind conditions. However, I flew both the standard and UL in a wide range of wind conditions and never felt the need to adjust the bridle.

Now on to the heart of the matter- how does the kite handle? As I reflect on several sessions with a standard and UL version one word comes to mind – Consistent! Light winds, heavy winds, bumpy winds – it didn’t matter. The kite performs marvelously through the wind window. As great as it is in precision it doesn’t loose a beat when it comes to tricks. It excels at side slides and flat spins! It’s been a long time since I have flown a kite that could I could pop 720’s & 900’s with. Coin slot after coin slot, over and over again – anywhere in the wind window. Even when the wind is up, the kite is easy to stall and then pop tricks.

The modern tricks are all there as well, though due to the size of the kite, especially its height – 42.5” – one needs to discover the proper amount of slack needed to do Jacob’s ladders and wap-do-waps. Tricks like the Taz machine required a few steps to make sure the kite had enough slack to fully rotate. You can see videos of just how well it can be tricked by Devin at the Blue Moon Kites.

When the UL arrived I was amazed at how easily it handled winds shifting from 1 mph to 10 mph. I was even more impressed by its smoothness and believe it tracks even better than the standard. For me the only challenge I had with it was rollups. Currently I have not found the right technique, though many others have. Though it is a full size kite it feels very light on the lines. The first day I had it out I got to compare it to a UL version of another “designer” kite about the same wing span. Though that kite is also an excellent kite to me it felt heavy and touchy on the lines compared to the UL Mongoose.

There is much more that could be said about these two versions of the Mongoose. There was so much more that I wanted to experiment with on both. Isn’t that the sign of an excellent kite? One that makes you want to linger on the field just a little bit longer, one that makes you want to slip out of work a little bit sooner. Long lines or short lines; with weights or without; it was always a joy to fly. Consistent.

Finally, I’d like to say a big thank you to Bob Merchant of Amarillo, TX who provided the kite used for this review

-Glen

We attended the Mile High Kite Festival up in Beech Mountain on Labor Day. The event is put on my the Richmond Air Force and the WACKOs and its always a fun event, even if the winds are a little hit and miss. Last year Ken debuted his 61/49 SLK and this year he returned with something else sort of new, the “Muse”.

The Muse is a simplified version of the Mantis and is the design which Ken has folks build who attend his kite building classes/seminars. The Muse has fewer configurations/options than the Mantis, lacking extra stand-off holes or weight kit. The construction is also simplified with fewer panels which means that it takes less time for Ken to build these and hes able to offer them at the compelling price point of $234.

Thats right only $234 for a kite crafted by an artisan right here in the good ole US of A. The construction is of course top drawer which is only to be expected given Ken’s standing in the industry. The kites include all the top end features one would expect, snag free nose, leading edge covers (both upper and lower) and well protected/reinforced trailing edge. For another $20 you can choose your preferred custom colors or for another $25 again you can upgrade the frame to Nitro spec.

So then, how do they fly ? Very nicely indeed. Ken brought three versions to the field. The standard model framed in Skyshark P200; the light version framed in SkyShark 3PT and the Nitro’d standard. All versions are based on the same sail, the only difference is the framing material. Doug Charleville and I spent the afternoon switching between them as the choppy winds came and went. The conditions prolly favored the light, but I found that both standards had sufficient lift and drive to fly and trick impressively. Whats more they handled the winds lulls and gusts better than many kites I’ve flown.

The kites of course excel in old skool flatspin, flic-flac, slide type moves and offer very good precision and corners but the design is very capable of more modern tricks such as jacobs ladders, combos and cometes (although the latter are decidedly ropey when flown by yours truly). We experimented with weights and perhaps the Nitro version was a little better with some on the tail but the kites flew just dandy in their simple/default configuration. Seems like these days everything come rollbar’d and weighted and whilst these innovations undoubtedly work it is refreshing to fly a kite without such gadgets and gizmos.

This is a helluva kite for the money; boutique quality at mass produced pricing; plenty trick capable and yet a graceful / elegant flier. I really don’t see how you Ken can miss with the Muse – which leaves me with a problem as I had been all set on his Exile UL.

]]> http://v2.1.kiteclique.com/wordpress-3.0/wordpress/the-blue-moon-fabrications-muse/feed 0 http://v2.1.kiteclique.com/wordpress-3.0/wordpress/6149 http://v2.1.kiteclique.com/wordpress-3.0/wordpress/6149#comments Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:03:59 +0000 admin http://www.kiteclique.com/wordpress-2.3.3/wordpress/?p=78 And now for something completely different. I received a Blue Moon Fabrications 61/49 SLK for Christmas and this past weekend I finally got a chance to air it and in the company of the designer himself, Ken McNeil. The 61/49 draws from the Marconi rigged kite and the Platz glider and Ken talks about the design and his influences on his forum here. The build quality is exceptional, as with all BMF kites, recently voted top of the tree in this quality survey.

Early on the conditions were not the best, with little wind and the threat of rain but we made the best of it and several of us took to the field with SLKs. Ken and Eddie Sprouse flying 61/49s, Paul Debakker of Focus Kite Designs flying his new Skate glider and me helping my daughter, Georgina, fly her Atelier Papillon then Prism Stowaway. When Georgie tired of kite flying I assembled my 61/49 and ventured out.

The wind was light and swirling and would have been a nightmare for a dual line, but such conditions seem to matter little to the 61/49 which can follow the wind as it changes direction. It flies somewhat like a fighter, tension on the line and it’ll move in the direction the nose is pointed, slack and it’ll float onto its belly where is can be rotated. That said, its altogether bigger than a fighter requiring much more working of the line and it is capable of real pull in gusts of wind. The occasional gusts presented a problem as the braided line I was using would burn my fingers as the kite pulled, next time out I’ll use a heavier line (150lb or more) and/or a glove.

I really enjoyed the change of pace with the 61/49 and whole heartedly recommend it. It’ll stay in the bag now and I expect it to rescue what otherwise would be frustrating sessions of poor wind conditions.

“This mod took two minutes (the yo-yo stopper were already fitted). You need: 3mm fibre glass rod, 54cm long,with a 3mm inside a 4mm end cap. I’ve done the same on my UL, but with 2mm fibre-glass and different end caps. If for no other reason it makes it impossible to get the bridle caught on the yo-yo stoppers – assuming you have them fitted.”

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