This set of instructions on how to make a Barn Door kite assumes you know absolutely nothing about kite making. You might already have some
of the simple tools and materials required.
When you have successfully made and flown the Dowel Diamond, move up to this Barn Door for more of a challenge!
Anything you don't have is easily bought. If not exactly what I used, then at least something pretty similar.
The Dowel Barn Door is a fairly large tail-less design based on the traditional American kite. However, it will still fit into nearly all road vehicles, ready to fly. Either just in front of the rear seat, or flat in the trunk (boot).
This kite is good in light to moderate winds, and easily copes with gusty inland air. If the breeze strength is a bit too much for the Dowel Diamond or Rokkaku, it's time to pull out the Barn Door.
Setting up on the flying field is just a matter of attaching the bow-line toggle to put some curve into the horizontal spar. Then the flying line is attached to the bridle.
At this point you are ready to launch! The method of attachment is illustrated further down this page.
I have chosen to make '1 Dowel Length' equal to 120cm for every kite in the Dowel series. If you are in North America, 48" of 3/16" dowel is close enough to 120cm of 5mm dowel. This will result in a kite with similar flying characteristics to my original. Make sure to find a hard-wood type for your dowel.
On this site, there's more kite-making info than you can poke a stick at :-) Want to know the most convenient way of using it all?
The Big MBK E-book Bundle is a collection of downloads - printable PDF files which provide step-by-step instructions for many kites large and small...
Every kite in every MBK series.
Now's the time to read up on the kite making tools and materials required for making a Dowel Barn Door, 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.
Like to see a video clip? Just scroll down to near the end...
When doing the following, most of the width of the tape should be inside
the kite's outline. Use a single length of tape for each line. Hold it
out straight, touch it down to the plastic at one end, then at the other
end, dab it down in the middle, then press down all along its length.
As mentioned earlier, there's more kite-making on this site than you can poke a stick at :-) Want to know the most convenient way of using it all?
The Big MBK E-book Bundle is a collection of downloads - printable PDF files which provide step-by-step instructions for many kites large and small. Every kite in every MBK series.
It's a printable PDF file. Make a diamond, delta or sled step-by-step. They fly hundreds of feet up for hours on end. Woohoo!
Could you do me just a small favor though? If you're over 16, please sign up for Tethered Flying - my free twice-per-month publication. Here's just a sampling of the total content...
* 3 "tips of the month" (for beginners, parents & experienced)
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