Interesting circular and rotary kite designs.

It is made from 1" thick high density Styrofoam. It weighs in at about 3.5 oz. and works best in steady wind over about 8-10 MPH. The center 1/4" wooden rod has been replaced by a hollow carbon fiber arrow shaft. This brought the weight up to 3.75 oz.

The leading edges are covered with clear packing tape to reduce chips obtained by the necessary kick to get it spinning. Nails and plastic electrical bundle tie-wraps make excellent bearings, especially when a little Vaseline is added to the nails.


Kite 3- This kite is a thing of beauty which requires 19 MPH air to fly. First flight damaged one of the end shafts which only extend through the first two internal chords. Eventually thin foam rings were added on the ends to protect this delicate tubular kite. They also store additional rotational energy to keep the kite from being stuck in mid rotation. It steers in reverse to a normal 2 line kite making it tricky to fly. Manufactured from balsa wood with a Monokote covering.


Kite 4- This was an attempt at an improvement to #2. It flew terribly, due to vanes 1&4, 2&5, 3&6 producing successive lift. Ends oscillated up and down as the lift pulses arrived at certain wind speeds. It steers in reverse to a normal 2 line kite. Changes in direction rapidly decelerate the spin. Air flow over the blades at extremes of the wind angles is poor.


Kite 5- This was an attempt to fix the oscillation seen in #4. This worked, but all the other detrimental flying characteristics of #4 remained.


Kite 6- This was an attempt to fix #5. The hope was that adding the baffles would improve laminar air flow and possibly return the kite to conventional 2 line kite steering as was seen in model #2. One strange feature is that this kite can be pulled along the grass and will actually launch into the air. Steering response was very poor compared to the highly responsive #2.


Kite 7- Constructed from 2 liter bottles and foam. Very strong and light. The hope being it will produce more lift and fly at lower airspeeds than #3. At 5oz this kite is too heavy and could be made much lighter with thinner bulkheads and less glue. Gorilla glue was used to connect the bottles and insert the shaping bulkheads. Designing the bulkheads for the 4.3 inch circumference 2-liter bottles was non-trivial. The next model will probably use Monokote to save weight and make construction easier. Complete assembly instructions at the bottom of this page.




Kite #7 assembly-
Made from wooden sticks, foam, and four 2-liter PET bottles, glued together just like bottle rockets. This one weighs in at 5oz. Assembly: connect four bottles after sanding the contact points, glue them with gorilla glue. Insert several foam ovals, smallest dimension is 2.5 inches. This assembles a tubular oval. Insert a nail in the sticks and use safety pins, or fish line swivels on the nails to form the necessary bearings so the kite can spin. Connect two lines, one to each bearing. For very high winds replace the wooden sticks with carbon fiber arrow shafts. Insert short wooden plugs to push the nails into. Whip the ends of the wooden sticks with thread and apply super glue to keep the nails from splitting out due to the side forces. Fishing line swivels work best as lines don't twist up. Use 1/2 inch thick foam if you can find it, 1/4 inch for inner ovals. Use 1 inch foam and split them into 2-3 ovals with a sharp non-serrated meat carving knife. Less glue is better to keep the kite lighter. The two foam circular disks on the ends add gyroscopic stability and protect against damage. Make them only slightly larger than the wing. Launch the kite by spinning the top of the horizontal kite away from the pilot. This kite is extremely maneuverable and is best used over water to save on repairs. It likes wind in the 10-15 MPH range, and has flown in wind over 40 MPH. Landing is difficult, best dunked in water, or have a friend put one arm over each string and walk towards the kite and catch it. If someone helps you launch it, never let them spin the top towards the flyer!!! This causes great lift towards the ground, and sure destruction.

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