French Box Kite: down into Lake Ontario
by Tim Sly
(Toronto, Canada)
A home-made yellow 2M (6'6") span modified French military box flew reliably and extremely well. With a NW wind blowing from the land I flew it up and over the shore of Lake Ontario, which is one of Canada's great lakes - inland seas.
Reached the end of 150M line way out over the water. Then the wind dropped. No way to avoid it heading into the water.
Then I realized that the same aerodynamic forces that keeps the kite in the air also act to create drag in the water. It took almost an hour and a half to slowly winch the kite to the shore. It got me thinking about the possibility of a 'dissolvable' link in the bridle to at least allow collapsed 'streamlined' retrieval in water.
Comments for French Box Kite: down into Lake Ontario
|
||
|
||
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!
-
Beach Kites
Sep 19, 18 06:00 AM
This page was published back when smaller images were the norm on the Web. Take a look anyway, since some great photography was found, to illustrate the page...
Good Site?
E-Book
Testimonials
(unedited)
"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."
_________________
"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."
_________________
"I've just bought your super e-book and spent most of last night pouring through all the great stuff in it!
Very detailed and USEFUL information - thanks for such a great book."
_________________
"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!"
_________________
"omg i made a kite from this site and i fly it ....... booom i didnt expect this bc in the other sites instuction are trash
thank you"
This one's FREE
Download it now!
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