Delta Kites

Fabulous Floaters!

Delta kites have a well-deserved reputation for performance and easy flying. The simplest designs of this type aren't too hard to make either!

The simplest Delta is just a triangular sheet of sail material with 3 spars and a spreader attached. The flying line is attached to the central spar at a little less than half-way from the nose end. A simple ribbon tail may be added if extra stability is needed.

With just a little more effort, you can make your own big but transportable kite like the one over there on the book cover.

We've been to few kite festivals over the years and taken plenty of photos. There's a few Deltas among them, so see below for a few examples which show some of the variety we saw.

Delta Kites We've Seen At Festivals

Down below there are 4 Delta kites, each one with a unique feature or two. Although most Deltas look quite similar in construction and shape, keen kite-makers still manage to find something to make their creation unique!

A typical large Delta here, with the sail area put to good use! Arty details over a colorful geometric backdrop. These kites always look good with the sun's rays penetrating the sail and lighting up the artwork.

The tubular tail helps stability, but good kite-makers always make sure that it also complements the artwork on the kite's sail in form, color or both.

This Delta shows show creativity in the form of the sail as well as the artwork!

The trailing edges of the kite are also the flaming trailing edges of the Firebird's wings. That flaming Firebird's tail might not do a whole lot for stability, but it sure completes the illusion of a bird in flight! The beak of the bird coincides with the nose of the kite as well.

The wind direction must have been just right on the day this shot was taken. Hence I was able to get right under the kite for a perfect plan-view photo, from the Semaphore jetty. You can clearly see how the leading edge spars are not connected to the nose.

This Delta also sports some clever art work. In this case, there is nothing at all to distract from the art. No keel and no tail.

Unlike the previous kite, the leading edge spars extend right up to the nose. Perhaps they are also connected to the central spar. Hence the kite's flying characteristics might be a little different, with less flexing and shape-changing during flight.

Finally, this huge white Delta is a perfect example of the tails being integral to the design.

The 2 tails are attached to almost the complete width of the kite's trailing edge. From a distance it looks like the sail and tails are all one piece, radiating whiteness like an airborne advertisement for Omo!

The spars on this Delta also appear to be connected at the nose.

That's about it for this page on Delta kites. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the info! There's our home-made Dowel Delta in the video below...

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