Before the Innova divorce proceedings, the FD was already a legendary mold, but mainly as an accurate flip up with cheat code levels of straight-line distance grabbing flight. And there were lots of contenders for the title in that division: River, Heat, Rival, TL3 ... but the FD had its die-hard fans that would not be swayed thanks to a flight path that just seemed "pure" and yet shapeable by able throwers.
Then the divorce was announced and the angst about whether the FD would carry the same magic when pumped out of a non-Innova owned mold drifted into a kind of panic. Retailer shelves were cleared out of the "old" FDs in fearful anticipation and Innova (cannily) invested its share of the divorce settlement into the "Dark Rebel" Fairway Driver, which was yet another kind of cheat code, to be fair ...
Then came the hype videos and flood of Youtube reviews, all heralding a newer and better FD, in Italian C-Line plastic (whatever that means), and I felt it was time I gave it a shot given it wasn't priced at London Gastropub Dinner levels.
In hand, it feels deeper and slightly chunkier on the rim than I expected, and the plastic was admittedly jewel-like and a delectable blend of gummy+stiff. A hint of shoulder ridge flowed into flattish dome, and it was comfortable in both forehand and backhand grip. On first throws, the new plastic clearly needed some seasoning to shed the factory overstability ... I mean, if I wanted an Eagle, I would have bought one instead, no?
But it carried the promise of specialness, primarily in the early flip up action on 90% pace shots and the arrow straight mid-flight, so I went to work in the field and on the course. And ever so gently, as the disc caught its first few hundred ground hits, the flip-ups from baby-hyzer starting coming through at 80% pace, the mid-flight glide held straighter and straighter, and the low speed fade edged closer to the promised numbers - closer, but not quite. I think all would agree that it's more of a fade 2 than a fade 1 in this C-line version (my FDs are blue and red, if you believe in the colour-coding theories).
So it made the bag, because I actually prefer a stronger fading straight flyer that can be forced over to a long turn than one which is minded to turn no matter what.
But the big test was whether it could help me take on the most epic course in the UK, the Whitcombe Farm. How would it deal with the insane elevations, the vortex of winds in the valleys, the judgmental insouciance of the sheep ... would it prevail? Oh boy, would it prevail!
Even at an 80% strength throw, I was gliding past big arms throwing 12 speeds up and down the hills, straight as an arrow, holding its line against 20kph gusts. On the monster Final 9 safari hole, an appreciative crowd of fellow competitors watched it laser itself over 600 feet to land in the cradle of Bunny Hell, with the most graceful of high-speed turns that faded back onto the fairway in line with all the body English I could muster.
Yes, it needs a power-thrower's snap to fly well. Yes, angle control is the unlocking code to its greatest powers (nose up = no-no). Yes, Italian plastic is marketing nonsense. But the legend is justified, and the magic lives on!
