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

Average Rating starstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

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!

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to MBK Kite Making.

I can tell you love kites...

Otherwise you wouldn't be all the way down here near the bottom of the page :-)

So, could you do me just a small favor? 

Please sign up for my free monthly publication, "Tethered Flying". No other emails will be sent, and your details are safe with me. You do need to be at least 16 years old. There's...

  • A huge "photo of the month" (linked from a much smaller one in the email of course)
  • 3 "tips of the month" (1 for beginners, 1 for parents and 1 for more experienced kite-fliers)
  • A "flight report of the month" (selected from my own flying logs and illustrated with a photo)

Looking forward to hearing from you...

P.S. My free kite-making e-book "Simplest Dowel Kites" can be downloaded as soon as you sign up.



 

Back to top of page

Need winders, reels, flying line?

We earn a small commission if you click the following link and buy something. The item does not cost you any more, since we are an "affiliate" of Amazon.

Click here to buy anything you need. Just use the Search box in there if you need different weights or lengths of line, for example.

P.S. Keep an eye out for books by kite author Glenn Davison, a prominent kite person in the USA.

What's New!

RSS

  1. Flight Report:
    Dual Line Club Fly

    Jul 14, 19 08:41 PM

    Yesterday at Semaphore Park we had the usual club kite fly... However, with a stiff sou-westerly, we all opted for dual-line kites! Although Mike had the ever-present red parafoil up with some inflata…

    Read More

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

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

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

Strong ...
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

Like/share this site...

Like/share this page...