How To Make A Delta Kite
Step-by-Step - Page 1 of 3
The MBK 1-Skewer Delta
These instructions on how to make a Delta kite are fairly detailed. However, the reward is a great little light wind flier! Just the thing for a gentle evening breeze. About the only tool required by these instructions is a pair of sharp scissors.
Any other materials you don't have are easily bought from local shops. If not exactly what I used, then at least something pretty similar!
The pictures should make things pretty clear. Just quickly work your way through from top to bottom, skimming over any detail that you don't need.
The MBK 1-Skewer Delta kite is quite small at 1.0SL (29cm, 11 1/2") in length, but copies the full-size Deltas with a floating spreader and triangular keel.
The little skewer kite flies best with several skewer-lengths of tail.
A tiny bit of extra plastic taped to one wing-tip can correct a turning tendency, but this might not be necessary.
If a 20 pound Dacron line sags too much, you could try polyester sewing thread instead. That should get the kite up to 300 feet :-)
Making Skewer Kites is a handy download of printable step-by-step instructions. This design and all the other 1-Skewer and 2-Skewer designs are covered.
How To Make A Delta Kite
Sail
Now's the time to read up on kite materials and other things needed for building a Delta kite, if you haven't already.
The template shown above represents one side of the kite sail. You will now transfer these measurements to the sail plastic as follows...
- Firstly, take a bag that you want to use for the sail, and lay it flat on the floor.
- Mark dots on the plastic which correspond to the corners of the Template. Any small errors in position don't matter since the sail will be symmetrical.
- Using the marking pen, rule lines between the dots.
- Flip the plastic bag over, and trace over all the black lines using your marker pen and ruler.
- Cut out a rectangular section of the bag containing the kite sail, open it out and lay it flat on the floor - you can now see the complete sail outline, as in the photo up there.
- Lay down clear sticky tape along all edges of the sail except the long edges of the 2 tabs. The yellow marks represent the tape in the photo. To save weight, try to put only ¼ of the tape's width inside the sail outline.
- Cut along all the black lines, with scissors.
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!
-
Making Paper Kites - A Step-By-Step Guide
Sep 18, 18 12:58 AM
Making Paper Kites is a fully photo-illustrated step-by-step guide to making high-flying Sled, Diamond, Rokkaku, Sode and Delta kites from just copier paper and sticky tape. Even the spars are paper-a…
Return to How To Make A Kite from How To Make A Delta Kite
All the way back to Home 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
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...