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The Advance Rhea (10m) is a very impressive looking kite and supplied as a full package with a quality bag, 21m lineset and control bar.
Side-on shot of the 10m Rhea in flight
Another in-flight shot

The two ends of the control bar (or "modular bar" as Advance calls it) are connected to the centre section via fully articulated joints. The main lines attach to the centre section and the brake lines attach to the extreme ends of the bar. The two brake lines have a line connected to a wrist leash which operates the VERY effective safety release system. Where the lines attach to the kite's bridle, as the bar is released the brakes are applied up to a point where the line hanging down in the right hand image above goes tight. The system is one of the most impressive features of the Rhea package.
In the smaller sizes such as this green 4m the control bar works very effectively and the 4m turns very quickly. Although the bar is a little longer for the 10m kite turning response is fairly slow, particularly in very light winds. The 10m kite is reasonable heavy (there's a lot of it !!) therefore in a light wind it tends to sink rapidly towards the edge of the wind window and I feel that the bar does NOT have enough leverage to pull the kite back into the centre. This characteristic is easy to understand since the main lines are far too close together on the bar which obviously limits how far they can be pulled !! Now - because the ends of the bars can be moved independently of the centre section it is possible to apply a brake to turn the kite quicker but this is awkward since you have to move the whole hand up to the end of the bar past the main line attachments.

So - whats it like to fly ? - The 10m is sluggish in a light wind (e.g. 5-8mph) and there is power but it doesn't fly in these winds anywhere near as good as my 7.2 Blade. In a slightly higher wind e.g. 10mph+ the speed , response and power improves. Advance actually state a recommended wind range of 10 to 20 knots. The Rhea has a tendancy to overfly which can be tamed somewhat by tightening the brakes but its not as stable and forgiving as a Blade. Acceleration up through the wind window is impressive but the huge momentum of the big kite causes it to fly over the zenith - not unlike some of the large inflatables. It takes time to get used to and still catches me out occasionally !! The turning response is not particularly good as mentioned above - its best to intiate a turn well before the kite reaches the edge of the window otherwise it will continue to slide down. Re-launchability is very good and reverse launches are easy by pulling on both brakes i.e. pull on the linking line between the brake line attachment points. In terms of absolute performance the 4m Rhea aquitted itself very well against other 4m kites in the "shootout".

General views and conclusions - the overall construction is excellent and the short lineset is prestretched, equalised and sleeved. Inflation is fairly rapid after the first couple of flights and there is a velcro flap on each wingtip to aid deflation. The safety release system is superb and well engineered. The articulated (modular) control bar is "interesting" but the limited leverage offered by the centre (fixed) section of the bar is a concern for the larger size kite. I propose to experiment with a standard straight bar with the main lines attached at the ends of the bar and the brakes inwards of these points but still retaining the safety release system - full report as soon as possible when conditions permit. This should also permit a simple THREE line set up to be used ?
A few shots of the 4m Rhea which is fast and turns very well - it still displays some of the larger kite's instability and tendancy to overfly.