How to Make a Sode Kite

Step by Step—Page 4 of 4 

The MBK Dowel Sode

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How to Make a Sode Kite
Prepare to Fly

Make up a flying line and attach it to the bridle with a Lark's Head knot. See the photo, where the Lark's Head has been left loose.

Suspend the kite from the knot at the end of the bridle. Shift the Prusik knot along the bridle line until the kite hangs at around a 20-degree angle from the horizontal. To lock the Prusik in place, take the two bridle lines in one hand, the flying line in the other, and pull tight. To unlock it, you just pull the bridle line straight, with the knot in the middle.

Check the bridle slip-knots on the horizontal spars. Retighten if necessary, and put a small drop of wood glue on each so they can never come loose. You won't have to wait the full drying time for this glue to dry, since the amounts are small.

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How to Make a Sode Kite
Flying!

First, if it's very windy outside, stay home! This is a light-wind kite and won't like being launched in a gale or even a fairly fresh breeze. If the wind is too strong, it will deform badly and refuse to fly properly.

The Prusik knot on the bridle line can loosen off a little over time. If necessary, pull on all the lines to tighten the knot up before a flying session.

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 taking loop after loop off the winder.

Be cautious about letting line slip through your fingers. If a big gust hits the kite, the line could burn you! For any kite this big or bigger, it's a good idea to wear a glove of some sort.

Another approach is to get a helper to hold the kite up and let it go, on the end of maybe 10 or 20 meters of line. This way, the kite soon gets high enough to make it easy to let more line out.

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

The e-book instructions for this kite include even more handy hints that will ensure you get the most success possible when flying this particular design. They show you how to make the kite more transportable too, so you can remove a spar and roll the kite up into a slim bundle.

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

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