“Flying V” by SPYY
By Chris Rhoads 08/15/09

Introduction
The Flying V is the signature yo-yo for Ed Haponik. It was designed with his personal style in mind, working with his blend of old school and new school tricks. Just like Ed’s style, which cannot be classified as old school or new school, the Flying V defies classification as well. It is bigger in diameter than the Big Brother Bully while being thinner in width than the One Drop M1. It can be setup to play tug responsive or dead unresponsive. This is definitely a unique yo-yo that goes against the norm when it comes to modern yo-yo design. With a name derived from a classic, and iconic, electric guitar we are going to ask one simple question. Does it rock like Neil Peart or is it pure Neil Diamond cheese?

Specs
Weight: 65grams
Diameter: 55.7mm
Width: 34.3mm (with C bearing), 32.7mm (with Slim C bearing)
Gap 4.0mm (with C bearing), 2.4mm (with Slim C bearing)
Bearings: Stainless Size C and Stainless Slim C
Response: Deep recessed with O-Stickers or flowable silicone

Look and Feel
When I first unboxed this yo-yo and then removed it from the black, velveteen bag I immediately noticed the odd dimensions of this yo-yo. It has a large diameter and thin width, which made me question the stability of this yo-yo. I talked with Steve Buffel of SPYY and he said that the Flying V is designed with more traditional dimensions.

After getting over the unique dimensions, my eye was immediately drawn to the shining silver rims that contrasted with the rich green, matte anodized finish. The rims look stunning but they are not going to be for everyone. First, we all know that raw aluminum is not the best grinding surface. And second, raw aluminum will pick up those micro scratches from play that most raw yo-yos get. Again, when I talked to Steve he let me know that the rims are there for looks. When asked about the grinds his response was: “This is an old skool yoyo styled after the times when grinding wasn’t even considered.” While the lack of grinds worried me, I could not get over how nice those shiny rims looked on the Flying V. The finish on this yo-yo is pure, bead blasted, new school. Great feel on the finger and thumb for grinding. We will talk later about the arm and palm grinds.

Weight
The Flying V is a hair light for my tastes on paper. I like a 66-68 gram weight when looking at yo-yos. Even though it is a little light, the Flying V’s unique shape helps make up for it. With such a narrow width, all of the weight is concentrated in the center while still having huge rims giving the yo-yo great spin times and amazing stability. I found it to be fairly forgiving on a bad throw and dead smooth on a good one.

Response and Bearing
Before I go into detail about the response system let me state that the pictures are from when I first purchased it from the YYN BST forums. The original owner put red silicone in the groove. I postponed this review while waiting for delivery of some stock response pads. The response system for the Flying V is deep recessed O-Stickers. One set of stickers leaves Flying V unresponsive, in my opinion too unresponsive. It would slip the occasional bind while playing with it. With a second set of stickers in it, the Flying V became a little too responsive. I busted my knuckles one or twice due to the double sticker response. After playing it with the stock response I went back to how I purchased it and threw some flowable silicone into the cavernous gap. With a slight recess of the silicone, the Flying V plays like a dream. It has snappy binds while still being dead unresponsive.

The bearings that come with the Flying V are another feature that make it such a unique yo-yo. It comes with a standard C-Sized bearing; new territory for D-Size bearing loving SPYY. It also comes with a slim bearing which when coupled with stacked pads, and a little thick lube the Flying V plays like an old school yo-yo. Not surprising considering it is made for Ed “lover of the fixed axle” Haponik. I am not the best at stalls and regenerations so I put the slim bearing away after about thirty minutes of play. While it may not be my thing, I must give SPYY massive kudos for giving the player so much freedom and choice when it comes to the setup and play of the Flying V.

Playability
This yo-yo is so smooth. I noticed it on the first throw. There is no vibe, no wobble, just smooth. This is my first time playing a SPYY brand yo-yo and if they all play like this, it will not be my last. Now with that being said, it is not for everyone. It is a thin yo-yo so it will take a few tries before you start landing hops on it like a pro. It is a large diameter, which made it hard for even my gargantuan hands to pop into chopsticks easily although I fixed that problem by using my thumb and middle finger instead of my index finger. The polished rims did hurt the palm and arm grinds slightly but not as much as I thought it would. There is very little contact between the rims and my hand so the raw aluminum does not have much material to catch the skin. Now that I have the bad out of the way, lets get on with the good and there is a lot of good. The anodized finish finger and thumb grinds for days. It spins forever so you can chain several tricks together with revolutions to spare. The spikes are great for rip starts and balancing on the thumb. Finally, the slim width allows it to slip between strings with ease. All in all, this is a well-balanced yo-yo.

Final Recommendation
While this yo-yo is not for everyone, it is a great yo-yo that should be given a chance by all. A friend of mine cannot get over the “goofy” shape but I am better once he throws it he will like it. I am a huge fan. It gives me many choices for setup and makes me want to learn regens and stalls. It is one of my daily carries because of the slim width, it jus feels good in the pocket. I would definitely add this to the list of things from Canada that rock, right up there with Rush and the Barenaked Ladies.