Kite Flying Log

Jun 2007

Date: Wed Jun 27, 2007
Location: Old Reynella (vacant lot)
Weather: Moderate/strong breeze, cloudy, cold
Kite(s): MBK 1-Skewer Delta prototype 2

Comments: I finally got around to putting together the second delta prototype. To help with stability, I reduced the angle between the left and right main spars to almost 90 degrees. This also allowed the cross bar to go further back. That's good because it puts the balance point further back and also reduces flexing in the wingtips. Hopefully that extra stiffness will result in less misbehavior in strong winds!

For a tail, I got creative and cut five large freezer-bags into 2 cm wide loops and tied them all together. Each loop looped over itself around the next one. The result was a really long plastic chain! It was too long really; I might chop it in half later and make it a double tail.

I took it out for a fly in a rather strong breeze. I told myself off for not putting some paper clips in my pocket because guess what—it's still too nose heavy! I was amazed at how far off to the side it would fly. There was no tendency to loop at all, so that's promising.

Date: Sun Jun 24, 2007
Location: Holden Hill (reserve off NE Road)
Weather: Moderate breeze, gusty, cloudy, cold
Kite(s): MBK 1-Skewer Delta prototype 1

Comments: This turned out to be the best flying session yet, with the 1-Skewer Delta. However, it's obvious that it has a rather limited wind-speed range. Despite getting it way above some tall trees, as soon as wind strength got too much, it would loop left continuously until contacting the ground. The usual solution is to walk toward the kite to ease up the strain but not when it's flying in front of a 20-meter (60-foot) tree! The looping might be due to inaccurate construction or one wing being slightly heavier than the other or one main spar bending more than the other or a bit of all three of these factors. When the bugs are worked out of this design, it's just going to fly so high. In fact, I've decided to attach a brightly colored piece of plastic to the tail of the next prototype, just to keep it in sight! That's because at the moment it's entirely covered with clear plastic, including the tail.

Date: Tue Jun 19, 2007
Location: Old Reynella (reserve)
Weather: Moderate breeze, gusty, cloudy
Kite(s): MBK 1-Skewer Delta prototype 1

Comments: With a bit of wind blowing around the house and bright sunshine (despite some clouds), I set out once again with the pram, the delta tucked away in the storage compartment. Soon the kite was in the sky, now with a second tail attached next to the original one. That was worth trying before adding any weight. Anyway, taping the second tail ribbon on added a little weight right where I wanted to add it anyway. With the extra tail, the flight of the kite was promising but it was still prone to looping in large loops—even in wind strength that should be ideal for it. It still managed to get up to quite a high angle from time to time, on 10 or 20 meters (60 feet) of line. Now it was time to add weight. Two paper clips were added right near the attachment point of the tails and it made quite a difference! It's a really lightweight kite. This time it soared up to a much higher height, nearly giving me line burn with the 3 kg Premium Monofilament flying off the reel! Those long gusts had me worried; I could feel around 2 kg of pull I'm sure, from my little featherweight contraption. A long series of loops finally put the kite on the ground again before anything broke. If not the line, the spars must have been taking more than half their breaking strain as well! It was finally decided to shorten the top bridle string just a little by putting a knot in it. The delta flew fine, seemed more stable, and the angle of flight was still very good. All in all, I'm 80% satisfied with this kite now. It probably broke my height record today. With more room, it would have been so easy to let out another 100 meters (330 feet) or so of line! Another 1-Skewer Delta is on the drawing board, so stay tuned.

Date: Tue Jun 12, 2007
Location: Old Reynella (reserve)
Weather: Light to moderate breeze, gusty, cloudy
Kite(s): MBK 1-Skewer Delta prototype 1

Comments: I headed out again with the 1-Skewer Delta sporting a cotton bridle with the attachment point shifted back a centimeter or two. It launched with the first gust that came through and it was pleasing to see it rocket straight up to a 70-degree angle or more. I let some line out and it kept climbing. You beauty. Unfortunately, it turned out to be flawed after all. Once on its side, it would continue to fly all the way to the edge of the window and even head back toward the ground—with no sign of it correcting, at all. This happened in both directions, which is a sign of instability. I got home and had a good think, recalling my youth, hauling model gliders up on towlines. Aha, I think this kite has its center of gravity too far forward! We'll test that out before long, by adding a little weight near the attachment point of the tail.

Date: Mon Jun 11, 2007
Location: Old Reynella (reserve)
Weather: Moderate breeze, overcast, cold
Kite(s): MBK 1-Skewer Delta prototype 1

Comments: Do you like my impressively-named creation? :-) I spent some time on the glass-topped kitchen table making a little flat delta kite from bamboo skewers, sewing thread, wood glue, freezer bags, and clear sticking tape. There'll be no more baby sled for a while; this delta is my new love. Well, it comes at least fourth actually, after the Creator, my wife, and toddler son Aren ;-) Hang on, what about the old Honda Prelude mmmm. Anyway, we took the kite out and discovered that the attachment point is too far forward. It floated up just a few meters then glided down like a model glider. So it's back to the drawing board.

As mentioned earlier, there's more kite-making info here than you can poke a stick at :-)

Want to know the most convenient way of using it all?

The Big MBK E-book Bundle is a collection of downloads—printable PDF files which provide step-by-step instructions for many kites large and small.

That's every kite in every MBK series.