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Kites page
I have recently (mid 2001) been interested in kites, specifically traction kites,
with the aim of going kite-surfing.
Here's some links to navigate :-
 Plans
are now downloadable in SurfPlan format. Yes, download SurfPlan, download
the plans, and you can print them directly, export them to DXF format...even
change all the parameters to whatever you like.
 | Delta wing 2-line kite with aerofoil shaped skin. |
| Wingspan ~180cm |
Click on the image to go to the kite gallery...
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I'd never flown a real kite before, let alone made one, so
my starting point was to build two speedwing kites, from plans at Henry
Kulk's website.
I
have got one successfully flying, after a lot of mucking around with the bridle.
Speedwings are notorious for this, but once I realised that the nose has to be let a
looooong way out, such that it will only just take off, it was quite straight forward.
Click here for details on my
speedwing bridle.
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| Single skin hybrid traction kite. |
| 4-line control with 2-line option |
| Flat wingspan, 3.4m. |
| Flat surface area, 3 sqm. |
| Foil equivalent area, 2.2 sqm. |
Click on the image to go to the kite gallery...
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My second kite building project is my own design, called the
Dabbler. It started out as a project inspired by Terence Kearey's NPW-ESP kite. His
straightforward approach at designing a kite in Excel inspired me to design
my own kite. I fairly quickly
gave up on Excel when it came to doing the 3D calculations and 2D skin projections and wrote
my own program
to do the kite design. (See further down the page to download the
SurfPlan program)
Click here for the story of
my progress so far.
Click here for
the plans.
Click here for
instructions.
If you do make a kite from these plans, please send me an email and tell
me how it goes. I'd also love to get some photos and I'll stick them
up on this web page. |
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This is a photo of my first attempt at a home-made kite
buggy. It's made from a kid's BMX bike, an old golf cart, and some aluminium tubes. The
footpegs are actually the bike handlebar turned upside down. This
buggy was made with no welding. Everything was bolted together, and
the only tools used were a drill, a hacksaw and a spanner.
This buggy had a few trial runs. It rolled well on hard sand at low tide, but the
steering geometry was not quite right, and it was difficult to
control. The back wheels also weren't strong enough, and I kept
bending the back axles on hard turns. It was never going to work,
but hey, it was fun making it. |
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| Single skin inflatable strut hybrid traction kite. |
| Flat wingspan, 5.8m. |
| Flat surface area, 7.5 sqm. |
| Foil equivalent area, 5.5 sqm. |
| Made from chikara |
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This is basically the same design as the
Dabbler, with the following differences :-
| Size. The 2.2 was too small for surfing. I decided on
5.5 as a good size to learn on. |
| Water relaunchability. The Dribbler uses inflatable struts
instead of fibre-glass rods. It's also made from chikara, so it doesn't absorb water. |
| No internal bridle is required, as the inflatable
struts should hold the shape better than the fibreglass rods. I
have tested a bridle, and 2-line steering is not useable anyway.
I think the kite is too big for that. |
| Flatter profile. Apart from adding the leading edge tube, I
have also flattened the nose of the profile to reduce drag. This is much
more severe than the slight changes I made for the Dabbler 5.0. |
| Increased angle of attack to 5 degrees. Was 3 degrees on the
Dabbler. This is too much, because the kite is always powered
up. I'll probably go back to 2 degrees for inflatables. |
| Higher aspect ratio of 4.5. |
| Colour scheme. Instead of the good old rainbow design with
different coloured panels, I actually wanted a design. It ended up being very similar to the old Naish
colour scheme, but that's totally by chance, because the pattern was suggested
by Karen, who wouldn't know a Naish if it fell out of her nose. |
| After it flies, I'll be trying a reactive bridle for reverse
relaunching. |
Click here to see my progress
Click here for
the plans.
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SurfPlan has moved to it's own page...
Jump to SurfPlan page |
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