A friend of mine in VA, Ben Liptak recently bought on of those blowout Atelier “V-Masque” sails from Bilboquet in France. He got his buddy Paul Shirey of Aerostar kites to frame and pimp it for him.

For more on the framing specs and such check out Paul’s new and updates section.

Here are Paul’s thoughts:

“We finally got a reprieve today from this sub-freezing weather. So, I decided to take your V-M on its maiden flight. First of all, it sure felt good to fly again and get out in the sunshine! Ok, ok, I’ll get to the point here is my review:

1. For the test flight, 5 – 15 mph variable winds, 150#/100 ft lineset w/ leaders attached & intermediate tail ballast (SSL 9 grams). After setting up the kite, I didn’t bother to put on my gloves. Figured I would fly it for a few moments and then have to start the bridle tweaking process. You know what? I never ended up touching it at all! I was quite surprised since I wasn’t 100% sure it was even installed correctly. In addition, the OEM V-M likely uses different fittings which can throw-off the bridle geometry a bit. Kite was quite precise yet would still do relatively tight spins (pivot point centered a few inches outside the wingtip). Plus, the kite seemed to have adequate lift during the lulls while producing a nice solid pull at the upper end.

2. I had a big grin on my face almost immediately! Not only was it fun to fly, but I was relieved since there were a lot of unknowns about the airframe and so forth (a bit anxious I wasted your money and my time!). Started off doing some precision maneuvers. Very crisp 90′ punch turns and I could easily complete the Square Cuts & Ladder Down competition figures. Snap Stalls and Tip Stabs were also very good. After getting a feel for the kite when stalled, I was able to pull off some full window Side Slides. Be warned, the V-M sail does generate a good amount of noise! Personally, I didn’t mind it and found the sound to be an asset when timing figures (Ex: when doing tight octagons).

3. The airframe kick a$$! Seriously, I can’t imagine another configuration that could possibly work any better. We picked a great set-up my friend! During some of the harder gusts, I simultaneously swept back on the lines and stepped backwards to put some excess stress on the frame. Not even a hint of wingtip shake was experienced. And to my surprise, did well in the lighter winds too. Since I didn’t get an extreme at either end of the wind speed, not sure of the true useable range. But, if I were to estimate, I’d say ~ 3 – 18mph (which ain’t too shabby!). During turbulence, the kite didn’t transmit a harsh feedback down the lines like an overly stiff frame often does. And, during those tip stabs, the LLE spar would deflect just the right amount (not too wimpy, yet enough resiliency to prevent breakage and keep the wingtip planted on the ground).

4. Moved on to some freestyle next: All the flat spins stuff was very good (Axels, Kick Turns, 540s, Coin Tosses, Cascades, etc.) Backspins stupid easy to initiate. In fact, I went to transition out of a Fade (which are pretty stable BTW) and accidentally did a full rotation ! HA! Many of the Backspins weren’t that flat however more of a Barrel Roll appearance. Lazy Susans, Reversing Lazy Susans & Jacobs Ladders were just ridiculously easy! IMO, how neutral the kite was on its back was one of the V-M’s best attributes.

5. About the only thing that eluded me was Roll-ups. Yes, I know people bitch about the Sano being tough, but the V-M seemed harder to me. The only way I could get it wrapped was to execute a deep turtle, recover and then immediately back flip again so it would ultimately roll-up. Keep in mind, there was a deep coat of wet snow on the ground, so I wasn’t exactly that mobile! LOL Also, maybe rolling-up right out of a JL would work too. Finally, there is always that SS 15 grams ballast at the ready! J

Overall, I loved this ‘pimped’ V-M! And, to be honest, I was prepared *not* to like it. Figured at 2.4m and being French, the kite would require tons of arm movement and a ‘Yank & Spank’ flying style. While you could fly it that way, you could also finesse it through nice slow axels and such. In many ways, it reminded me of the 8 ft. A* Pulsar Pro. Quite nimble for its size yet still precise. And, while the Pulsar would flat spin a bit better and was more stable in a fade, it was really tough to do the more technical tricks the V-M can easily accomplish.

So yeah, I think you’re going to love your new toy! I wanted to keep flying it, but then reminded myself this ain’t my kite. LOL But in the 20 minutes I had it out really makes confident to now deliver it to you. Not only does if fly extremely well, but seems quite durable too (wasn’t sure about that machined Center ‘T’, but held up fine). For sure, these Masques are pretty cool dual-liners so hats off the L’A. Never flew the full-size 2.6m, but I did enjoy that 2.1 you once had and like this new 2.4 even more. “