Black Diamond

by Christi
(Cortez, CO, USA)

We had a kite derby for cub scouts. We made a sail kite and a box kite in the two weeks we had to prepare for it. Both crashed and burned during their their test run. So in desperation we got on the Internet and found this easy, great flyer.

With stuff found around the house we had a kite flying in about 30 min. It truly did waggle a lot, but it went up and stayed up.

Everyone there was pleased with my 8 year old son's kite and surprised to see a homemade kite fly. The weather was perfect with winds probably under 10 mph. Thanks for saving us!

Comments for Black Diamond

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Rating
starstarstar 		Diamond kite
by: Tim Parish

Gave this a three-kite rating since it is a very short tale.

BUT it was so positive that I just had to publish it anyway! I too have an eight-year-old - however he is not as keen on kites as he used to be, unfortunately.

I don't know what you are using for kite line, but if you get hold of some 30 pound Dacron your Simple Diamond should easily waggle all the way up to 400 feet or so.

A simple 2-leg bridle going either side of the dowel crossing point by say 6" each way will calm down the waggles. On the *horizontal* spar, so the fore-and-aft trim of the kite stays the same as it is currently.

Hope you get a lot more flying out of it in future!

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"Love the easy to understand step by step instructions, made from next to nothing materials and above all so much fun to fly... cheers Tim for sharing your well thought out pdf kite designs with the whole world.

Very satisfying making your own and watching them get air-born for the first time."

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"I decided to run kite making as an elective again on this camp in the past week - so I bought all your e-books, a bunch of materials, and then took a group of 10 high school students through making the kites over 4 days. We built a diamond, a Barn Door, a Delta, and two skew delta kites. Again - every single kite flew."

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Very detailed and USEFUL information - thanks for such a great book."

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"30+ years ago, I tried making a kite using the 'instructions' in a free kite-safety booklet. What a disappointment for a young boy.

 Your instructions and methods are wonderful. You help the builder to focus on accuracy, without making it hard. Also, you use materials that are durable, yet cheap!"

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Wind Speeds


Light air
1-5 km/h
1-3 mph
1-3 knots
Beaufort 1

Light breeze
6–11 km/h
4–7 mph
4–6 knots
Beaufort 2    

Gentle breeze
12–19 km/h
8–12 mph
7–10 knots
Beaufort 3    

Moderate breeze
20–28 km/h
13–18 mph
11–16 knots
Beaufort 4    

Fresh breeze
29–38 km/h
19–24 mph
17–21 knots
Beaufort 5    

Strong breeze
39–49 km/h
25–31 mph
22–27 knots
Beaufort 6

High Wind
50-61 km/h
32-38 mph
28-33 knots
Beaufort 7