Parastorm Typhoon II

It's a while since I've been buggying as I sold my old Flexifoil Mark II buggy at Middle Wallop in 2004. I didn't find it comfortable to use anymore as often I would come away with aching kidneys from where the seat dug into my back. Even the addition of a Sky Bums buggy backrest didn't help. Since then I've been on the look out for a more comfortable buggy that wasn't too technical and would give me enough elbow room so that I wouldn't keep banging them on the side frames. Enter the Parastorm Typhoon II designed by Kieron Bradley..

I texted Joe at Dunstable Kites and he replied to say that they had one set up in the shop and available to try on their nearby four acre test field. I went up on the Saturday and put the buggy through its paces. Within the first few minutes of flying with my favourite 2.2M Predator II I started to develop the tell tale signs of a "Terminal Buggy Grin".. I returned to the shop and placed an order.

I decided on the wider axle option instead of the standard for stability. Joe also did me a deal on wider tyres as the ones it comes with are quite narrow. I received a phone call on the following Thursday to say that the buggy had arrived and two days later I was back at Dunstable Kites to collect it.

The buggy comes unassembled in a large Parastorm bag and each piece is wrapped in bubble wrap for protection. There is also a second smaller bag for carrying the wheels and a set of decent spanners / allen keys. Unfortunately there was no assembly instructions although I'm told it is supposed to come with them. Oh and the wider axle doesn't fit in the bag :-(

Joe set about showing me how to put the buggy together. It seemed quite a daunting task to start with as there are a lot of parts. I'm glad Dunstable Kites know what they're doing otherwise I would have had to do a lot of it by guesswork.

One of the first things I had to decide was which way up to have the headstock. The shaft is angled and the idea is that it's better to have the steering vertical when using it in a small space where a lot of turning is required and the other way up for when going on long 'safari' runs.

The buggy slots together easily although we did have trouble fitting one of the vertical black tubes through the silver steering sections. Eventually we had to apply a lot of persuasion from a large rubber mallet to bang it into place and a screwdriver to force apart the holes in the silver sections. I'm guessing that the black tube had been manufactured slightly out of tolerance or the paint had made the diameter too large.

The seat strapping is quite a challenge and this is the part where I would have truly got stuck without guidance as there are some very specific ways of threading it through the frame. It does allow for a lot of adjustment and once we had the buggy set up I found the seat was pushing me forward in an uncomfortable way. A few adjustments later and I had a more natural sitting position. I think the seat adjustment is something that I will need to refine each time I take the buggy out.

There are also a lot of sharp bits where the strapping has been heat cut. I'll have to do something about that otherwise in the summer when I'm buggying in a t-shirt I imagine I will be cursing loudly and coming away with some bad scratches to my arms.

Apparently the front wheel should be fitted on the fork first and only then should the silver sections be tightened up to the vertical black steering tubes to prevent misalignment.

Make sure that the allen key bolts and nuts that thread through the silver parts are done up very tight. I had the silver sections slide down the black tubes twice. The first time it dropped onto the front wheel and the second time it slid slightly and scratched some of the black paint off one of the tubes.

The wheels don't seem to rotate as freely as they could once they are attached to the frame. I don't know why this is but guess it has something to do with the spacer inside the wheel being pushed against the bearings once the wheels have been bolted on to the frame. We tried spring washers on either side of the back wheels although I'm not convinced that they made any substantial difference. This issue will I'm sure impede performance.

Update - 25/04/2006 : Regarding the wheels not rotating properly. Joe, guided by the technicians at Parastorm worked out what the problem was and it turns out is very easy to fix. The wheel bearings were not fitted into the wheels properly and so by lining up the internal spacers and giving the bearings a few taps with a hammer pushed them in far enough so that now the wheels rotate freely!

I took my newly assembled kite buggy out onto Dunstable Kites test field and buggied for about an hour or so on a 4.7M kite. It behaved very well although I had the headstock set up on the 6th hole from the top which put the steering a bit too far away. Next time I'll try setting it at the 5th or 4th hole.

The wide axle is excellent. The buggy feels stable and because the rotating back wheels are physically further away I don't end up losing skin off my elbows or get the handles and line caught. The buggy is comfortable with plenty of elbow room around the seat frame and enough support to hold me when being pulled sideways.

I did have one "Out Of Buggy Experience" when turning. One of the lines became caught on the nut of the allen key bolts fitted through the top silver section. The buggy had been assembled with nuts and excess thread facing outwards. Later I changed them around to prevent this happening again so that now the bevelled allen key side faces outwards. I also remembered to do the nuts up very tightly.

I lost one of the plastic bungs / caps from the front fork at one point. I guess a line must have got hooked and pinged it off when I wasn't looking. Fortunately Helen spotted it on the field later on.

Despite some minor niggles it's a great buggy and I'm Iooking forward to putting it through its paces properly. Thankfully it's even possible to get it in the car just by taking off the front fork and wheels as this means that I don't have to disassemble the seat strapping.

Easter Monday and I finally got to try the buggy out properly. We took a trip up to Stopsley and spent a superb four hours tearing up and down the field. The wind was gusty and there were distinct areas which were either calm or howling depending on how the wind was coming over the ridge.

I set the headstock on hole 5 and I think I'll probably settle with that for the time being as it's a good compromise between having the steering too far away and too close. I did make one mistake when assembling the buggy which thankfully I soon spotted. The horizontal frame bars which connect to the rear axle had moved out of the holes slighly so that the two headstock attachments on the frame and seat frame didn't sit next to each other when bolted in place. That could have been a bit nasty if the frame would have collapsed mid-turn.

This was certainly the buggy to have for these gusty wind conditions. I didn't suffer any OOB experiences and took great delight in spinning the back end around which it does effortlessly. The wheel design is really 'blingy' and sets the buggy apart as it reflects the sunlight. I guess this means I'll have to keep them clean though... The other great thing about turning is that it's possible to hang one arm over the seat frame to provide even more stability. Compared to my old Flexi buggy it's like a fairground ride :-)

Stopsley Flyers

Parastorm Related Links

http://www.aeolian.co.uk/kites/kites02/mwallop2.html

http://www.aeolian.co.uk/kites/features/ski-buggy.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/3686706.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/3643359.stm

http://www.parastorm.com/

Stopsley Stuff

Stopsley from the air

Stopsley buggying in 2000

Stacey Lewis Video Outtakes from Stospley