Dowel Kite Posts—Dopero

(Oak Dowel Spars)

It's an archive of sorts, although there are no dates and times. Kite flying is timeless, don't you agree?

I trust there is plenty in here to educate, inform, and often entertain!

These short flight reports once appeared as posts in the site-blog page, although that page is no longer present on this site. Below, the latest posts come first. Just scroll down and stop at any heading that appeals :-)

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Dowel Dopero Kite

Dowel Dopero Down!

Well, sometimes you get deceived by the weather stations! It was supposed to be relatively light down near Noarlunga this morning. Hence I had the Dowel Delta in the car, with the Dowel Dopero brought along just in case things got breezier. They sure did.

Dowel Dopero Dusted Off

With little sunlight for any half-decent KAP photos and almost zero wind, it was a day for pulling out a super light-wind design from the back shed.

The 1.2 m (4 ft.) Dowel Dopero, although having a slightly higher wing loading than simpler Dowel Series kites, has always been a delight to fly in light conditions. The four-leg bridle keeps it steady in moderate winds too, giving it a very respectable wind range for something made from wood, plastic, and ordinary electrical insulation tape. Talking of which, a couple of spar tips needed a bit of extra tape since they were showing their age.

After the spar tips were restored to airworthiness and 20 pound, yes 20-pound flying line connected, a tow up was attempted. This went on for quite a while since the dopero insisted on sinking out very slowly every time I stopped. There was simply not enough breeze!

The reserve was fairly large so it was possible to keep working the kite up from time to time, while walking to the far side. This was the very first time this kite had been flown on such light line.

With every long pull up, the stretch of the thin Dacron was most obvious. Nothing would happen for a half second or so, before the kite would start to accelerate upwards.

Eventually, the kite gripped when at about 100 feet off the wet grass. Leaves were barely moving at all at ground level. The wind could be felt against my cheek only occasionally. But now the pale-orange Dopero kite was accelerating slowly upward on its own.

The kite soon found a steep line angle and parked itself there, displaying just the occasional nose twitch caused by its twin tail-keels.

The line was secured to a handy park-bench arm-rest while I pulled out the camera. However, the breeze started to die even further as the sky darkened and dusk approached. After a hasty photo or two, I was busy trying to keep the kite out of trouble. A wind shift had taken it over some trees and saplings.

So ended a short but enjoyable outing!

Dowel Dopero as Good as Ever

With 6-year-old Aren at soccer practice for 45 minutes, and a gusty breeze tickling the treetops, it was a chance to pull out the Dowel Dopero. This kite has had a good break from flying, so I had a quick check of all the tape spar caps, after rigging. The ones on the lower horizontal spar were a little suspect but would hold up for a while—I hoped.

The next 20 minutes or so were spent with short flights, walking out to bring the kite down, readjusting the upper bridle loop, and relaunching. After about three tries, the dopero flew straight and true. This kite responds very predictably to the knot position. If the knot is shifted to the right, the kite turns to the right, and vice versa.

Given the limited time available for flying, it was sensible to stay under a 60 meter (200 feet) line length. The air was rough up there, causing the normally sedate kite to twitch its tail and accelerate upward (suddenly) from time to time. Five turns of line around a smooth-barked sapling was enough to hold the strain, as the kite held a high line-angle in the cool breeze.

The efficiency of this design is just amazing. There was no thermal activity to speak of, and yet the kite kept bobbing up to high angles, pulling like a horse. A check of the Windtronic meter showed an average wind-strength of just 1.4 kph and a peak gust to 3.6 kph. However, there was a dense row of pine trees upwind. The clouds moving overhead indicated moderate-strength winds higher up. And so did the very taut flying line!

 

 

 

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