Tetra Kites

by Tony Sangster
(Adelaide, SA, Australia)

Inspired by a recent question about tetrahedral kites, I found some 'spoon straws' at a local variety store. I gather the spoon bit on the end is used to spoon up ice slurry drinks. ) Joined two straws, part of one inside the other and stapled the spoon ends together. The unit length of each straw (cell side) was 31.5 cm. I used a short straw section internally to join cells and florist paper or paper-bag paper for the skins.

Yesterday with the breeze gradually building I managed to fly it!

Comments for Tetra Kites

Average Rating starstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Rating
starstarstarstar 		Similar to the Skewer Tetra
by: Tim Parish

The dimensions are just a fraction bigger than my Skewer tetra, so I guess it flies in quite a similar way. The straws must be quite light, possibly even lighter than bamboo skewers?

I found my own little 4 cell design to be a bit fussy in flight. Only in 'just-right' conditions would it return really high and / or long flights. However, it wasn't super-accurate in construction, with some differences creeping in at the vertex joins.

A 12-cell or 16-cell would still be dirt cheap, and fly a whole lot more stable. Speaking to myself as much as to anyone... Such a kite would be a good reward for all the patient fiddly labor!

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to YOUR Pictures Of Kites!.

I can tell you love kites...

Otherwise you wouldn't be all the way down here near the bottom of the page :-)

So, could you do me just a small favor? 

Please sign up for my free monthly publication, "Tethered Flying". No other emails will be sent, and your details are safe with me. You do need to be at least 16 years old. There's...

  • A huge "photo of the month" (via a link)
  • 3 "tips of the month" (one each for beginners, parents and the more experienced)
  • A "flight report of the month" (selected from my own flying logs, with a photo)

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.



 

Back to top of page

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!

RSS

  1. Niagara Kite Festival

    Oct 16, 19 06:00 AM

    While it lasted, the Niagara Kite Festival was truly one-of-a-kind. Yes, held at the Niagara Falls! Check out this previously published page for more...

    Read More

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

Like/share this site...

Like/share this page...