For this Barn-Door, you need long lengths of 5mm (3/16") wooden dowel. It is easily cut to the lengths required with a small cheap hack-saw.
Note: The length of bought dowel can be somewhat inaccurate. So if you have bought 2.4 meter lengths of dowel, you might have a couple of centimeters less than you bargained for! Hence I cut my 120cm spars from 1.8 meter lengths of dowel.
Now there's a little work to be done on the horizontal spar. Use 20 pound flying line if you have some, otherwise just use some of your 50 pound flying line. With this kite laying on the floor, each tip of the horizontal spar will be 0.08DL (9.6cm, 3 3/4") above the floor.
The two points where the diagonal spars cross the horizontal spar need to be lashed together. There's the top-left one in the photo.
Use a drop of glue to secure the knot and also to prevent the dowel from slipping through.
Now take a 0.3DL (36cm, 14 1/2") length of 50 pound flying line and tie it around one of the diagonal spars, right where the diagonal spars cross.
Use a Granny Knot right in the middle, so there is an equal amount of line coming out from each side of the knot. See the photo.
The remaining steps...
After the bridle has been made up, one line connects to where the spars cross, with a Lark's Head knot. This is shown in close-up, in the bottom photo.
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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.
Feb 21, 19 06:34 PM
The workshops were busy near the beach in Ōtaki... ---------------------------------------------------------------- Kite flying is all the rage in Ōtaki, now that the sixth annual Kite Festival has be…
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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