Author Topic: My new Armstrong Foils  (Read 16392 times)

ninja tuna

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My new Armstrong Foils
« on: January 25, 2020, 06:41:22 AM »
Armstrong foils, oh yeah.   

There has been very little talk on these and I wanted to start one.  Bought these all one my own.

From watching the blueplanet videos with the interviews about the Armstrong foils, these were gonna be the ones for me.  Very few reviews on them but all seemed good.  From the interviews, the construction of them seems top notch.  I have seen other issues with other companies that I did not like.  I have read about aluminum masts from several companies bending and I did not want to deal with that.  We shall see how my choice holds up over time.

So far, I have only had the 2400 out on a wingding.  I will make a separate post about that.  The 2400 seemed like it was quite fast to me.  It has a lot of float. When putting it in the water, I have to take a few seconds to sink it.  Cant wait to get some small surf to start playing with it in the waves.

The 1600 I have only had on short foil board and an 8’0 sup behind the boat with the 72 cm mast.  Being this is the 4th different foil I have ridden behind a boat, I have a little more to compare it with.  Instantly getting up behind the boat, the 1600 felt very smooth and stable. It seemed to surf the small waves best when it was close to the surface.  And then it seemed like I breached the foil but I was still able to stay up.  So then I began playing with the height.  I could ride it very high easily.  Then I wanted to breach it.  And it actually took effort to do it which I thought was pretty amazing of this foil’s tolerance.

The foils themselves feel very nice construction wise.  Again, we shall see how they hold up. Few reports so far are saying very good.  The bag and covers are really nice.  I am doing the wingding thing out of my boat at the moment while learning and everything packs up nice with the bag.  The parts were all in labeled bags and an instruction sheet included in the bag for quick reference for locations of the hardware.


2400 wing
 

1600 wing


Directions in bag


Covers for everything


Parts included and labeled


Top view 1600 and 2400


Side view 2400 and 1600


Bag and covers


Side view with mast and tail


Califoilia

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2020, 11:54:21 AM »
Nice review Ninja, and from my experience of swapping boards with guys who were running the Armstrong foils, all I can say is that I'm very impressed with them.

So much so that after riding the 2400...I'm no longer interested in throwing my Maliko 200 back on my fuselage ever again (not that I ever rode it that much anyway). The 2400 is so much faster, turns so much better, and projects forward when pumping so much better...instead of the straight up and down like a porpoise way the M200 now seems to do.

All around, all of the Armstrongs I've seen, riding, and have heard their owners talk about them...puts them way up on the foil totem pole in design, quality, interchangeability (of not only wings, but stabs, masts, and fuselages), and most importantly...performance! You made a great choice IMO.

The only negative I find is that they're really proud of their product, and are asking a king's ransom for them (like 90% of the industry sadly)...or I would have ditched all of my Go Foil stuff months ago, and would have been on one already.

So now my only dilemma is...do I take a second out on my house and start all over again with the Armstrong, or just take out a bank loan and buy the GL set up to add to all of the Go Foil stuff I already have? Yeah I know, first world problems... ;) ;D
« Last Edit: January 25, 2020, 11:56:13 AM by SanoSlatchSup »
Me: 6'1"/185...(2) 5'1" Kings Foil/Wing Boards...7'10 Kings DW Board...9'6" Bob Pearson "Laird Noserider"...14' Lahui Kai "Manta"...8'0" WaveStorm if/when the proning urges still hit.

surfcowboy

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2020, 08:35:50 PM »
Man, the attention to detail on those things is really nice. The mounting hardware alone is so trick.

Army also seems to know his stuff. Who knew that sailors would end up changing the whole surf world.

surfcowboy

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2020, 08:42:02 PM »
Double post

Wetstuff

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2020, 09:30:45 AM »
If you think about it, there will always be a market for Porsche amidst all the other brands. The trick is to have the engineering and production skills ...and management with spurs and a tight rein.  As fast as this is growing, there will be a constant, interesting battle.  Here is an hour-long interview at REAL worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhCSwVic_2Y

Jim
Atlantis Mistress .. Blue Planet MultiTasker ..   Atlantis Venom

Hilly

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2020, 10:17:47 PM »
Best upgrade you can do is get the new 232 tail. Much faster on the Wingding and surfing. They are awesome foils, wait until you try the HS 1550 front wing it is a major step up  ;)

SUPdad

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2020, 10:50:40 AM »
What exactly does the new tail help with?  More maneuverability or more speed/efficiency?  I don’t need more maneuverability but sure could use more efficiency. I have a 1600 wing, medium fuselage (60cm, I think), zero deg shim, and old style tail.  I’d like to pick up a 1550 wing but trying to stay on budget. :o

WindJunkie

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2020, 12:56:33 PM »
Never tried it myself but from what I've heard, looser ride.

VB_Foil

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2020, 02:29:27 PM »
Just received my new HS1050 wing. Waves are flat, but initial impressions after eyeing it up:

-Quality has improved?! (Thought it wasn't possible) Finish is really nice and the white paint seems more integrated, deeper in the lamination maybe. Very smooth.

-More of a high profile design when compared to the 1200. With trailing edges lined up, the 1200 'nose' sticks out and the 1200's swept back wing tips extend beyond the 1050s. The 1050s wingtips are swept back, just not as exaggerated.

-Overall similar width to the 1200.

-Noticeably thinner than the 1200.  Looks fast!

I’m a 5’9” 65kg rider:

Boards:
   4' 27L Armstrong FG Wing/Surf
   4’5” 34L Armstrong FG Wing/Surf
   4'11" 60L Armstrong Wing/Sup
  
  

Foils: Armstrong HA525, HS625, HA725, HA925, HS1050, HA1125, HS1250, HA1325
Wings: BRM 2M & 3M, FreeWing Nitro 4M, OR 5M & 7M Glide

StandinDan

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2020, 08:57:28 PM »
Was stoked on my Armstrong. I'm on a 6.0 board with the 1600 wing, 72 cm mast, 60 cm fuselage, and 232 stab.
I watched the Armstrong video posted above and took note of the shim discussion.
I shimmed out the stab approximately 2 degrees nose down with a couple stainless washers, to direct the front wing up and it made a world of difference, total game changer. Now I'm even more stoked.
The waves at SanO can be fairly mushy but this minor tweak made even the mush super fun. The best way to describe it is as if there is one of those Swiss exercise balls under the nose of the board: it doesn't want to breach, but it doesn't want to fall off either. Rides just levitate along like a magic carpet ride as long as there is the least little push.
« Last Edit: January 30, 2020, 09:03:23 PM by StandinDan »

ninja tuna

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2020, 05:05:33 AM »
Nice Dan,

I have heard similar.

Quoting VBfoil from another forum:

"Also regarding the 2400, my last session was very light wind. I was having trouble getting off the water, so I swapped out the 0 degree TTF for the (now discontinued) -0.5 TTF and it helped a bunch. I haven't tried the -2 TTF, but someone else in the 95kg range raved about the -2 paired with the 2400 for lighter conditions."



And then in terms of surf , this insight followed with the shims.
"Interesting about the 2400 , I only have a 1550 and a 1200 , but I have the same experience with the shims, when the surf is small I go 0 shim and there's more lift at slower speeds and it turns on a dime, then when the surf is bigger and I don't want to blow out on the take offs and want to go faster with less front foot pressure I put on the +1 shim and happy days off we go"

ordering some today to see how it goes.

VB_Foil

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2020, 07:41:53 AM »
You can nerd out like me and make a hardware case out of a small tackle box:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwX7DDvHHB4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I’m a 5’9” 65kg rider:

Boards:
   4' 27L Armstrong FG Wing/Surf
   4’5” 34L Armstrong FG Wing/Surf
   4'11" 60L Armstrong Wing/Sup
  
  

Foils: Armstrong HA525, HS625, HA725, HA925, HS1050, HA1125, HS1250, HA1325
Wings: BRM 2M & 3M, FreeWing Nitro 4M, OR 5M & 7M Glide

ninja tuna

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2020, 08:17:38 AM »
You can nerd out like me and make a hardware case out of a small tackle box:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwX7DDvHHB4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link



Already there, but just a basic plastic one.

RATbeachrider

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2020, 05:15:04 PM »
Very nice! After foiling (prone) on the original KeNalu for the last 5 months I switched over to the Armstrong 1550HS front, 300 Uni rear, 60cm stabilizer and 72cm mast ... this foil is a dream.  Nice smooth easy takeoff/liftoff and easy to bank the turns.  Pumping is easy too on this set up and I'm starting to practice the "pumping back out."  Next purchase will be a 4'x19" 36L board.

exiled

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Re: My new Armstrong Foils
« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2020, 05:30:15 PM »
Very nice! After foiling (prone) on the original KeNalu for the last 5 months I switched over to the Armstrong 1550HS front, 300 Uni rear, 60cm stabilizer and 72cm mast ... this foil is a dream.  Nice smooth easy takeoff/liftoff and easy to bank the turns.  Pumping is easy too on this set up and I'm starting to practice the "pumping back out."  Next purchase will be a 4'x19" 36L board.

How does the old KeNalu compare to it? I'm contemplating the same switch.

 


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