I now finally have a quiver of Armstrong foil wings to compare. Here is my opinion of the Armstrong foil and the wings that I have currently. Please note that this is my opinion and not fact. I have no financial ties to Armstrong and I paid retail for all my equipment. Here is my journey with the Armstrong system.

I first purchased the Armstrong 1200 wing with a 70cm keel in May 2019. I had an MFC Hydros at the time and the Armstrong was to be another feather in my quiver. The construction is top notch. I was very impressed by the finish and the way the parts fit together. The design of a pure carbon and titanium foil is brilliant. I bought my foil from Infinity Surf shop. It is in Dana Point which is not far from San Onofre where I love to foil. I learned of the shop having the foil on Instagram from a post I looked at right after my foil session at San Onofre. The shop was just opening, and I drove there to buy it. Spending two grand to walk out the door with the foil seemed steep, but in the shop I was impressed with the construction so I grabbed the bag and headed back to San Onofre to try it out. I parked and went to put together my foil and then noticed that one of the holes in the fuselage was shallow and shiny at the bottom. I could not get a bolt in it and realized that there was a broken bolt in the hole! I drove back to the shop and they had others, so I received another fuselage that did not have plugged hole and drove back to San Onofre. I put my foil together and went out into less than ideal conditions and rode the foil. I was crushed. I felt like it was so slow and that the tail was dragging. My MFC was so fast and this seemed like a snail. I chalked it up to the conditions and my first experience on the foil. The next day I rode it again and it still felt slow. I was really confused until I looked at the tail Shim that was included and it was a Negative 2! I went back to the shop again and they had one that was Zero degrees and I took that with the hopes that it would make a big difference. Wow, it really did.

I spent the next few months riding the 1200 wing on the 70cm fuselage and alternating it with the MFC Hydros 1250. I loved the construction of the Armstrong, but the MFC was so much more responsive and easier for me to pump and even turn. Then by the end of the summer people where starting to cut the fuselage down and the 60cm and 50cm production ones came out and I bought them as soon as I could.

I tried the 60cm fuselage and BAM, I was able to turn so much better and pump a lot further. I felt like I made a giant leap up in skill level. This one small adjustment made all the difference in the world. I realized that the MFC I was riding had a 63cm fuselage and it was why I liked it better during this period. I have tried to go back to the 70cm fuselage and each time I do I switch back. I do think the 70cm has a place in one’s foil arsenal. I think the 70cm would be great for Tow in sessions and downwind sessions where stability would outweigh pumping and radical turns. I could see using it for those situations.

I had fine tuned my foil to a 60cm fuselage with the 1200 wing, zero shim, standard tail and this seemed to work well in a variety of conditions. Turning was good and pumping to a second wave was about 50% of the time. The problem was that I only had the 1200 wing so when I traveled I would take my MFC Hydros since I had the 1050,1275 & 1400 wings to match any condition.

Lucky for me Armie had wings in the works. By chance I met him at San Onofre one day and he was using the HS1550 wing. I was able to borrow one for a session. I ordered one immediately and waited for it.

The 1550 opened and whole new world for me. I was using the MFC 1400 and I was able to pump and turn well with that but with the HS1550 my pumping skill seemed to accelerate. This is a flying wing. The glide on this wing is unmatched by any other I have used so far. That is saying a lot since I have had the MFC 1400, the Axis 900, and the Signature Albatross 210 & 175. Glide is the ratio of Lift to Efficiency (Drag) of a wing. In my comparison of the MFC, Axis and Armstrong, it was the Armstrong that was the fastest wing. I would have never guessed that. I would have said the MFC, but in my real world testing it was the Armstrong that consistently had the highest speed for a session.

Now at this point tail chopping was in full swing and when the 232 tail came out I was one of the first to get it. I used it for the first time in Kauai at the Kalapaki Bay Challenge. I have not taken it off since. Yes, that is how much of a difference it made and that is how much I like it.

Then this past month of January 2020 I saw the 1050 wing was going to be released and I ordered it immediately. I have had it for the past few weeks. It is a turning machine and pumps decently.

Here are my thoughts on all three wings. I did three 45-minute sessions at San Onofre January 28,2020 on each wing with the 60cm fuselage and the 232 tail wing in zero shim.  The surf report was a Northwest swell 2-4 feet. The opinions also include impressions from other sessions I have done on each wing.