#kite making

No Context Crow #275: Kite Crow

This kite is an excellent kite for reading wind speed and condition. It moves almost instantaneously to any change in wind speed or direction. When the wind speed increases the kite visibly moves upwards and responds fast enough to show gusts in the air. I have flown this kite in very low wind speeds (5km/h) and it is very stable, a short drop in wind speed, however, may land the kite. The kite can also fly in moderate to strong wind, however, the pull on the kite line is strong, the spars start to bend drastically and it fights its way sideways out of the wind window.

When I have flown this kite in good wind conditions, it is capable of being used for KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) with a light camera and will fly at a relatively steep angle. The Dopero kite, which comes from the Roller design, is an excellent kite for KAP and provides excellent stability.

Originally I made this kite with a three point bridle, however, it was incredibly difficult to find the perfect symmetry and it would fly to the side. I changed the bridle system to a two-point bridle which instantly improved the kite's performance and reduced the setting up time prior to each flying session.

The kite's sale was originally held together using Venture Tape, however, after its completion I had access to an old (and reliable) sewing machine which I then used to reinforce the sail laps. A zigzag running stitch was used to sew the sail laps. With the sewing machine to hand, I travelled the perimeter of the sail installing a hem as I went. The hem gives the kite a neat look as well as reduces the stretching of the kite sail.

The webbing pocket at the bottom of the spine had been penetrated by the fibreglass spar during one flying session and so it had to be fixed by doubling up the webbing. I believe one layer of polyester webbing would be sufficient, however, the Nylon webbing I have used is thinner and allows greater movement and stretching between the threads.

To maintain the symmetry within this kite I had sewn in some small guidance pockets for the central spine to go through. The guidance pockets restrain the sail from sliding sideways around the spine.

Materials

60gsm Ripstop Polyester

6mm Venture Tape

5mm Fibreglass Tube Spars

5mm End Caps

5mm Nocks

5mm Plastic Dihedral Connectors

25mm Hook and Loop

25mm & 50mm Dacron Tape

25mm Nylon Webbing (Use Polyester Instead)

4mm Eyelets

3mm Bungee Chord

35daN Bridle Line

22daN Flying Line

Dimensions are in millimeters.

| wanted to create a kite that flies in Light wind conditions and at a nice steep flying angle, so my eyes turned to the interestingly shaped Roller Kite. This type of kite is not readily available without having a large price tag attached, not to mention the limited designs available. Why not make one?

Contents

Kite Plan

Construction

Flying Behaviour

The name Coracias comes from the Latin for the genus species of bird called the Roller. Seemed like a relevant name for my kite, and some Roller birds such as the Lilac-breasted roller display strong contrasting colours.

Roller kites do not require tails to fly which makes them very interesting to watch, | have witnessed many people stop to view this Coracias in action!

As with the majority of diamond kites, Little Star will only fly with a tail attached. The tail I made for it is a bit shorter than required, the kite spins in the sky and flies sporadically. However, during one flying session, I thought I would weigh the kite tail down to improve the kite's stability. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a (clean) handkerchief, why not tie this to the tail I thought. It would be funny, right? Well, it was both funny and the ideal tail improvement, it provided both weight and drag to the tail to allow the kite to fly incredibly stable. Since that day I will only fly this kite with two handkerchiefs, one for the kite and an additional one to wipe the tears of joy from my eyes.

This kite's sail was made from ripstop nylon and fixed together with venture tape. Each sail panel was cut out using a small butane-powered soldering iron and metal ruler. Using this hot-cutting technique melts and seals the nylon fibres to stop the edges from fraying. The sail panels are layered so that the darker colours are on the near face of the kite, therefore, when light shines through the sail no dark silhouetted lines are visible between panels.

All sewing on the kite and the original carry bag was done by hand (I did not have access to a sewing machine at the time). The sewing thread used was black Sew-All thread.

The tail is just over 4m long and made from 50mm wide strips of ripstop nylon.

Materials

70gsm Ripstop Nylon (PU coated) 4x4mm Ripstop

6mm Venture Tape

4mm Fibreglass Tube Spars

4mm End Caps

4mm Plastic Dihedral Connector

25mm Hook and Loop

25mm Dacron Tape

15daN Bridle Line

13daN Flying Line