Got out and flew kites yesterday!

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modeltrains

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Yay! Got out and flew kites yesterday! It's kind of my thing to get photos of each which got flown. Can be a bit of an adventure doing camera one-handed with kite string in other hand! As you might imagine I don't get photos of the 2 string stunt kites while flying them. Odd as it might sound, I feel really grounded when flying. Out in the grass and wind under the sky I connect or reconnect with life. The hazy diagonal line in some photos is apparently a hair, mine or the cat's which got down in the retractable lens mechanism. Canon won't tell me how to take the camera apart to fix it myself but I could send it to them for a month.
Umm, no.

And kites are great because anyone can fly them, it's not like kites are NASA rocket science.
Oh ...
Wait ...
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/kiteaero.html
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This joker is 7 feet, 2m, long and the legal pad paper pattern messes with my eyes to where it often looks to be upside down - which can't happen.
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Little $3.50 plastic delta kite from Walmart flies quite nicely at the listed wind speeds. I don't know offhand what they are and I'm not going out to the car to look. A lot of people try to fly these and the little plastic diamond kites in too much wind. Stick to the wind speeds listed on package and both types will fly quite well.
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That's a fun one and I forget its name. Tails are aftermarket, nice ripstop nylon like the kite fabric.
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That baby has about a 7ft, 2m, wingspan. Style is called Delta Conyne. That style and full delta kites do not require tails. Got it from a place in Boulder, Colorado. In a good wind it can nearly pull you off your feet. COOL! Ripstop nylon with fiberglass spars and spreaders.
String used is 150lb, 68kg, test. I think kite only requires 80pound, 36kg, but I figure a little overengineering never hurts. Speaking of overengineering, that wooden crank winder is not overengineered - there are days where without the leverage provided the kite is NOT going to come down.
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This monster has a 9 foot, 2.7m, span and is actually rated for less wind than the 7 footer because of having lighter construction including lighter fabric, which again is ripstop nylon. Has basswood spars and spreaders, about 5/8 inch square or a bit thicker and yet is lighter than you'd guess. It's also a hundred dollar kite.
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The following kites didn't get flown yesterday but on this one I wanted to show about putting LED lights on it. Has about a 6ft span.
With a little luck and brighter lights maybe I can cause a UFO report?
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This one is also a 6 footer and is about 14 years old. Is showing wear but remains a favorite.
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My health is a mess from half a dozen causes among them being some issues with my hands; Raynaud's, and something which adds up to cause similar end results to carpal tunnel but isn't it. So since flying can't happen every day it is a big thing for me when I get to.

During decent weather (spring to fall) my kits live in the back of the van. With 3 kite carryalls and several loose kites it is better for me to just leave them there and haul them in and out. Means not much else than 3 laundry baskets will go back there, but, hey, I'm set up for a good thing at a moment's notice! Hmm, I wonder how long it is since the back seat has been unfolded?

Oh, by the way, April is national kite month. https://www.nationalkitemonth.org/
https://kite.org/activities/events/national-kite-month/
 
Looks like a good time. I keep toying with the idea of getting a modern Delta kite to take advantage of windier days when rockets and R/C airplanes aren't as much fun to fly.
 
I'd suggest getting a couple different ones rated for different wind speed ranges.
Are some which can handle as little as 3mph and some which can take up to 25mph.
There are some good ones and some so-so ones out there. And some little ones and some huge ones. Deltas do not require tails but I often add them for the motion and artistic effect.
for me, either the little plastic deltas or the 6ft and larger ones have been the most successful flyers. Have had a few in the 4ft to 5ft span range by a couple companies but for whatever reason they weren't the best flyers. There are several places I've bought online over the years because kite stores are hard to find around here. I think the 9 foot Delta-Conyne came from a place in Pennsylvania. The 7 foot one came from a place in Boulder, Colorado. Done a lot of business with them, are good folks, https://intothewind.com/ The stained glass looking one was available through a local hobby shop (now gone, owners retired) via hobby distributors.

In contrast to the above comment about 5ft deltas this 5ft delta-Conyne is a good flyer and something about the pattern gets me thinking of spaceships. I don't have a photo of it in this new computer but here's where it came from https://www.rascalkites.com/Meridian-5-Delta-Conyne-Box-Kite-50173.htm Looks good with red-yellow-orange streamers on tips.
Oh, wait a minute, after digging around in unlikely folders found a couple!
And, yes, in a good wind you want good gloves, the string can burn ya if you aren't careful.
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Had to remove right hand glove to hold camera since these fit looser than the yellow gloves. First pair of this style I had got a hole burned in left thumb a few years back from guiding free-running string while letting a big kite cope with a sudden jump in wind strength.
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Kites??? That is about as close to heresy as you can get on a rocket site. Its like being a Hatfield at the McCoy family reunion. Its like bringing your cat to a dog park.

OK, I really like the Delta Conyne and the two tailed ones.
 
Great Kites! Want to have some fun? Put up a train (6) of the Delta Conynes! I use 4500lbs. kevlar and tie it to my truck!
 
Bring a kite to a launch. If it's too windy to launch rockets, then its GREAT conditions to fly! If nothing else, some folks love to watch a guy getting drug all over the place wrestling with a 4 meter power-kite...
 
So I'm actually on the hunt for a Delta conyne, but I get stumped by the various options / manufacturers.

Your favorite flier / hardest puller? I plan to lift some payloads.
 
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I have a 12 meter kite that I use for kite boarding, now we are talking power!
 
I love kites!

I can claim that I was once a professional kite flyer. The summer after high school I traveled all the way from Phoenix to go work at Kitty Hawk Kites in Nags Head, NC. A couple days a week I actually got paid to sit on the beach and fly kites, including a huuuuuuge inflatable kite called a Sutton. It was flown on climbing rope! Why did I ever leave?

I still fly kites pretty regularly, and they're always a fixture on beach vacations.

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Wow, you got more kites in the air in a day than a lot of low power rocketeers do!
Those are great. Thanks for sharing
 
I live near Wei Fang... apparently this is a popular place for kites. I'm thinking of going out there to check it out. There is a festival going on right now until the 25th.

I have been flying one of my new kites quite a bit lately, and working on a couple of designs of my own.
 
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