Styrofoam Kites

Airborne Pop-corn Cups and Others

Since I'm about to describe a few different kinds of styrofoam kites, I'm sure you won't mind hearing just a bit about the material itself.

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The foam-slab box kite in the photo flew, but generally I prefer cheap and very light plastic. Combined with hardwood dowel or bamboo spars, the resulting kites are efficient and very good in light winds.

Box kites also work well using these materials, held together with short strips of electrical insulation tape. That's handy for when the winds aren't so light!

Did you know that at least three completely different types of styrofoam kites have been popular at one time or another? I'll mention three types here, some examples of which are probably lying around in people's cupboards or even are still being flown.

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Styrohawk Kites

There's a guy with an amateurish but oh-so-passionate website who describes how he constructed durable and high-flying kites from styrofoam cups and masking tape. His favorite styrofoam kites, which had a 71cm (28 inch) wingspan, were made from the 32-ounce cups that were sold in the USA. He had two designs actually, which he called the Styrohawk and Stratohawk. Here's a list of interesting facts about these kites:

• different cups can be used to make the kite in different sizes
• the kites are totally waterproof, which is handy
• if well-made, the design is capable of handling 100 kph (60mph+) winds!
• no sticks, wires, clasps, ties, connectors, and so on are required
• with a decent breeze, these can fly several thousand feet up!
• they can act as bird lures, attracting curious birds of prey

I might make one myself one day! If it's as good at high-altitude flying as he says, I'm definitely interested. Even though this kite dates back to the mid-90s, it will be a good idea for as long as styrofoam cups are around. Even if styrofoam is eventually changed to some other material, I'd say there's a chance this kite concept will still work!

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Turbo Kites

A tumbling wing can generate lift, and this is the principle used by turbo kites like the one in the small picture down there. It's easy to prove.

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Styrofoam Kites From Walmart

Again in the USA, the giant chain store Walmart used to sell big styrofoam kites in the shape of eagles and other large birds. A passing fad, not many people are flying them now it seems.

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Other Kites From Styrofoam

OK, OK, I know I said three types of styrofoam kites, but an extra one just came to mind. And some extra info just came my way via an email from another enthusiast. Real STYROFOAM insulation tiles can be used for these kites. Maybe at some later time I will provide detailed instructions for these. But for now, if you are the experimenting type, read on!

Somebody had the idea of constructing a square box kite using styrofoam tiles for the sails and light wooden doweling for the spars. With the tiles butt-joined together, there is no need for the usual bracing with cross sticks. It's just a simple box kite, but apparently the idea works. I can imagine it would need a decent breeze to fly though.

An even simpler concept is to make a triangular box kite from foam tiles. With the edges beveled at the right angles, you can tape or tie three rectangular shapes together, forming a triangular tube. Run a bridle string through it, secure it so it can't slip forward or back and tie a small loop to attach the flying line. I haven't tried it yet myself, but the concept sounds promising!

Apparently, the tetrahedral kite idea can work as well. This involves cutting out four triangular sheets of styrofoam. After some beveling, they should fit reasonably neatly into a tetrahedron shape, like those old flavored-milk cartons. Are you old enough to remember them? ;-)

Finally, here's an idea which doesn't involve tiles but foam coffee-cups and straws. Use your imagination to cut up and tape together some of these cups to form a simple sled kite! Use straws for the two vertical spars. After some experimentation, you might even be able to do away with the straws.

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