Homemade kite in high wind... help!
Peter B. Steiger
what to do with, so the kids and I figured we could easily make
a kite out of newspapers. We blew a dollar on a couple of
sturdy-looking dowels (about 36" x 1/4") from the hobby shop
and with the help of six miles of packing tape made your
standard diamond-shaped kite with a lumpy but serviceable
tail. We didn't have that thing outside more than 10 minutes
before the wind snapped it to shreds.
What kind of materials would be best for a homemade kite that
can stand up to typical Wyoming winds (15-30 mph is "calm" for
us)? I was worried it would be too heavy, so I used balsa for
the frame, but clearly that was way too fragile.
If anyone can recommend a source for plans that a 10-year-old
can follow and can hold up to the high wind, I'd be eternally
grateful.
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Kenneth H Dilger II
(Peter B. Steiger) wrote:
In the summer time I would appreciate it if you could pass some of
that wind my way :)
Tom Arbster
if the winds are as good as you say. and you want to build a single
like kite, I would suggest a "BOX" kite they usually require more wind
than the diamonds, as they have more stick's for the amount of sail
area.
for materials go to the local post office and get some of their 12" x
15.5" tyveck Priority mailing envelopes....(they are Free, just
don't tell them what you are going to do with them) and they have a
EAGLE logo on one side :-)
go to you local walmart or lumber store, and get some 5/16" wood
dowels or if its really windy some 3/8" dowels and use these for the
frame.
assemble using shipping tape.
and if you want to do really enjoy flying, where you do the flying
(control) versus just holding a string. then I would suggest the
smaller or middle size "DYNA kite" they are bullet proof, and are a
good 1st kite.
lets us know what you decide to DO.
Regards
tom A. the "KITEMAN"
e-mail kit...@telepath.com
check out my favorite "KITE STORE" @
http://www.telepath.com/kiteman/
Toll Free ORDER # 1-877-45-KITES (54837)
Jerry Houk
If you have average sewing skills or better, or know someone who does, you
can make a kite sail from window screen. I made my first one, designed
after a Nagasaki Fighter, after hearing about a stunt kite made at a South
Padre Island event where the satellite toilets were blown down the beach.
Window screen will not fly by itself. My fighter would go up and lay over
to one side and slowly drop to the ground. The morning of a festival in
James town North Dakota, with twenty-five mile per hour plus winds, I got
the idea of adding some two inch wide tape to the perimeter of the sail.
The resistance this tape provided caused the kite to fold back just enough
to provide a dihedral angle, that stabilized the kite. Smaller plastic
kites were destroyed but my fighter flew steady on twenty pound test line.
Recently at Kites on Ice, I flew a Seven Sisters Kite, with a six foot wing
span, in a thirty mile per hour all day on one hundred pound test line.
Here again enough material was added, in the shape of dots to the middle of
each of the seven hexagons that make up the sail of the kite. These kites
aren't pretty but they fly well in high winds. You could try cutting out
areas of a paper kite and add light weight fabric screening. Don't give up,
were there's a will, there's a way.
From The Land of 10,000 Kite Flying Fields,
(they're melting)
Jerry Houk
michael m. moss
I thought I was the only one as a kid. left in 76, and seen fliers all
over the world since then, but never thought of "Norwegian Bachelor
Farmers" (Luterin at that) ever flying kites. ;-)
Just me
Mikey luvs Ya!
Jerry Houk
Maybe it's time to go home. James Town has a great little festival in June
every year. Contact Mike Gee,(mg...@mail.fm-net.com), for exact date. You
can also see the Worlds Largest Buffalo while your there.
That's no bull. ;-)
Jerry Houk
jeff greenwald
>Here in Wonderful Windy Wyoming we have more wind than we know
>what to do with, so the kids and I figured we could easily make
Hey, whaddayaknow - I'm not the only kite nut in Wyoming....
I saw some suggestions for box kites - these are probably your
best bet. I've been meaning to for some time build a triangular
box kite with nothing more than 1/4" rods and duct tape (yes,
duct tape) for the "sail" material. The idea is that I'd fly this in
40+ mph winds and see how it worked and with the duct tape
I could add or remove "sail" as I needed to right on the field.
One of these days...
Anyways...
1/4" or 5/16" dowels should be adequate spar material. I have
a high wind (30+ mph) delta stunter that I built that I use 1/4"
dowels in and I've only snapped a spar in it one time. If you're
getting into really high winds there are such things as solid
fiberglass rods. While it takes alot to break one of these
(I've never managed to break one, but I have driven them into
frozen ground - see related story at:
http://w3.uwyo.edu/~jeffery/kite000f.htm#plant)
they are very heavy (but in alot of wind this isn't necessarily
a bad thing...).
As far as sail material, either the tyvek that
was suggested or a very heavy mil plastic works well. I like
to get a 2.5ish mil type heavy duty trash bag. Of course, if
you're inclined to purchase kite grade ripstop and sew you
can do this as well.
I'm far from being any kind of expert, but I've found that the
diamond/eddy type kites usually do better in lighter winds.
I've had fairly good luck with sleds in high winds, but I've
had to use heavier sail material (light weight trash bags,
the plastic bags from the supermarkets, etc... will rip in
too much wind.) I haven't actually got to try out a box kite
yet, but my guess is that'd be the best design for the kind
of wind we see here in Wyoming, especially from January
through March.
FWIW - I also have an 8' flowform that I purchased that
does pretty good in extremely high winds as long as I put
a good drogue on it. But, if you're going to build something,
I'd go with a box kite.
Good Luck to you!
Jeff Greenwald
dewski on #kites
http://w3.uwyo.edu/~jeffery/kite000.htm
Thomas Bennett
--
Thomas Bennett
Thomas Bennett Kite Project
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/5754/TBKP.html
michael m. moss
Mikey luvs ya, and thank you I probably will look into this fest
further.