How to Build a Roller Kite

Step by Step—Page 3 of 3

The MBK 2-Skewer Roller

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How to Build a Roller Kite
Prepare to Fly   

Finally, make up a flying line, and attach it to the bridle with a Lark's Head knot. See the photo above.

As a final check, lift the kite by the knot on the end of the bridle line. Shift the Prusik knot along the bridle line until the kite hangs at about a 30-degree angle from the horizontal.

Also, lift the kite with a finger under the nose and a finger under the tail, balancing it on the vertical spar. Try this a few times. If it's clear that one side of the kite is heavier, add small bits of electrical tape to the spar caps on the lighter side to balance it up.

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How to Build a Roller Kite
Flying!

The above picture is of the MBK 2-Skewer Roller kite being launched, down at a local flying field. The vertical spar had a slight bend in it; can you tell? It was fixed later, and the kite flew much better.

Assuming there is some breeze outside, just dangle the kite at arm's length until the wind catches it. As long as you feel the kite pulling, let out line slowly by letting it slip through your fingers. If it refuses to climb despite pulling on your hand, shift the Prusik knot toward the nose a bit, and try again. Keep going until the kite behaves itself!

Another approach is to get a helper to hold the kite up and let it go with maybe 15 or 20 meters (50 feet) of line let out. This way, the kite soon gets high enough to make it easy to let more line out.

Finally, if the kite doesn't seem stable enough, looping around in both directions even in light wind, just add a simple short tail, and try again. However, if you have put the correct dihedral in both spars, this should not be necessary!

If the kite flies OK but tends to hang to the left or right, try pulling some tether line through on the opposite side of the main sail. For example, if the kite always seems to want to loop to the left when gusts hit it, pull some line through on the right side as viewed from the flier. Make very small adjustments until the kite flies noticeably better.

Have fun flying, and I hope you've enjoyed learning how to build a roller kite!

Now, just in case you have actually made and flown this kite at least once already:

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