How To Build A Box Kite
Step-by-Step - Page 3 of 3
The MBK 2-Skewer Box
How To Build A Box Kite
Flying!
Finally, make up a flying line and attach it to the bridle with a Lark's Head Knot. See the photo down there.
Assuming there is plenty of breeze outside, just dangle the kite at arm's length until the wind catches it. As long as you feel the kite pulling, let out line slowly by letting it slip through your fingers.
Another approach is to get a helper to hold the kite up and let it go, with maybe 10 or 20 meters of line let out. This way, the kite soon gets high enough to build it easy to let more line out. That's assuming there is plenty of wind!
Out In The Field
Box kite stories of my real-life flying experiences are worth checking out!
Illustrated with photos and videos, of course.
If the kite doesn't fly, there is only one explanation - not enough wind! If it loops around in both directions, try shifting the towing point forward a little. That is, move the shiftable knot along the bridle line towards the nose of the kite. As a last resort, you could add a small tail.
Isn't it nice to not be grounded when it's windy outside, and it's way too strong for most other MBK kites! By the way, if the kite stays quite low despite a good wind, you could try moving the towing point back a bit, towards the tail end of the kite.
Here's another picture of the MBK 2-Skewer Box Kite in the air. Air pressure on the sails is causing the main spars to bow out a little. Hope you've enjoyed learning how to build a Box kite!
2-Skewer Box kite in flightMaking Skewer Kites is my handy download of printable step-by-step instructions. This design and all the other 1-Skewer and 2-Skewer designs are covered.
Now, just in case you have actually made and flown this kite at least once already...
Ever Made This Kite?
You've probably read a kite-flying story or 2 of mine, after they appear under the "what's new?" link on this site. I sometimes wonder if anyone else has made and flown this particular design...
If you feel your efforts really paid off when the the kite finally got airborne - please type a few paragraphs in here telling us all about it!
P.S. I can only accept stories of at least 300 words. Just mention a few details like the weather, onlookers, the kite's behavior and so on - 300 words is easy!
Flight Reports From Other Visitors
Click below to read about various kite-flying adventures, contributed by other visitors to this page...
McGyver Kite in 30mph Winds 
My son and I started out to build the simple box kite with bamboo skewers, tape, a garbage bag and lots of enthusiasm.
3 Hours later... the Gorilla …
I can tell you love kites...
Otherwise you wouldn't be all the way down here near the bottom of the page :-)
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- A huge "photo of the month" (linked from a much smaller one in the email of course)
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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.
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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!
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Flight Report:
Tetra Turns TailMar 25, 19 07:59 AM
It was supposed to be a photo shoot for the latest tetra. This was a multi-colored kite, built to illustrate an up-coming e-book... Wind speeds were ideal, gusting over 30 kph down at the nearest beac…
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
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Comments
Plenty of fun kite info, photos and videos - there's definitely too much here for only one visit! Feel free to leave your impressions of this site or just this page, below...