Kites & kiting

[Turtle]

GOOD LUCK!!! WTF is a longeron?!?!?

 

:lol: Not a shorteron. I'll get to them in a sec.

 

So I did all the cutout and didn't get any blood on the fabric where it would show. My stock wasn't as big as I thought so I will have an added piece on each wing. I have also hemmed and sewn together the top cell already. All the while watching the trees outside sway in the breeze, I am staying the course.

 

The longerons then. They are the 3 parallel sticks that run the length of the kite and support the triangular cells. Note this, with a few extra sticks is the basic triangular box kite. So I marked up a color coded plan.

 

Longerons are Red

Wing-spars are Green [Held in sewn pockets along wings' leading edges.]

Cross-spar is Blue

Pink shading is Conyne's original kite; often called the French military kite. It has no wing-spars.

Delta wing is finished out in Light-grey

Upper cell is Dark-green

Lower cell is Light-green

 

The basic proportions on the diagram are what I am using, but I'm following hundred-year-old advise on the Conyne to not have upper & lower cells the same size and the vent/gap the same as the cells. On the 72" longerons my lower cell is 20" tall and the upper cell is 16" tall. I'm also adding a 4" gap above the top of the upper cell. Cell sides are all 24"

 

Is it better? I have no idea. :lol:

 

Off to sew the bottom cell.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Turtle

[LaurieAG]

My 2 kite accessory wishes at top of the list are a recording altimeter(about $50 from model rocket outfit) and a spring scale to measure line pull (about $12 at hardware store). Ah well...if wishes were altimiters and spring scales I would have them. :lol:

 

This one logs altitudes and triggers a cutoff on reaching a programmable height.

 

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__28495__Hobbyking_Altitude_Time_Limiting_System_for_R_C_Airplane.html

[Turtle]

This one logs altitudes and triggers a cutoff on reaching a programmable height.

 

http://www.hobbyking...C_Airplane.html

 

Very cool! Not sure I need any triggering, but that's a cheaper unit than the one I was looking at. It's not clear if it functions stand-alone as far as just recording max altitude as does the one I was looking at. I don't want to have to hook to a computer to get my info.

 

Sewing is coming along. Both cells complete and I'm working on the first wing. An unexpected consequence of having to add pieces to each wing is a color mismatch. :omg: My fabric was a cover for one of those portable awnings. It's silvery on one side [going to be the top of the kite] and was dark green on the other side. Anyway, the dark green faded a lot, but seems on the first wing the addition piece has faded little. Who ya gonna call?

[Turtle]

Sometimes I forget where I wasn't. :blink: No worries. Ahead!!

 

So the color-mismatch is the same for each wing. Yay!! Aaaaannnnd, the seams joining the mismatched matching additions to the wings just happened to land right in line with the cross-spar!! Reinforcement just where it's needed. The wings are done and the only sewing left is to join the wings to the cells. Then it's back to stick work.

 

So on an historical note, what made Conyne & his kite a big deal is that the triangular box part is held in shape by tension from the wind on the wings and not by sticks. On the ground it looks as a misshapen blump, but in the air it's a peach.

 

May I just say, "damn this is a big kite!" :omg: Cheers then.

[Turtle]

I feel like a horse rode hard and put up wet. I didn't even sew that much up at Fort Warden.

 

Stick work is going to take a while as I have in mind to tie tight loops of string around the sticks and dope them with paint every 6 inches or so. This all comes back to the Doug Fir I used and its propensity to long splits diagonal to the faces. That's another good reason for the paint, as I was hoping it would glue down some of the small starting cracks.

 

Now again on an historical note, Silas Conyne got into all this -according to legend- because he wanted to fly advertising banners from a kite and he needed a kite that would fly steady and high. That is, Silas wanted his kite to do work. G'donya Silas, you mysterious ol' dead kite guy!!

 

So anyway, while I was whiling away my morning not working on sticks and waiting for golf to come on, I got a bright idea for work for my kites.

 

Spreading seed.   :ip: :ip: :rose: :ip: :rose: :ip: :ip:

/forums/images/smilies/banana_sign.gif

 

 

I was thinking Wildflower seeds :bouquet: , but any seed dropped from a kite hundreds of feet up is, as any seed dropped from a kite hundreds of feet up does. Off to coffee up and root on El Tigre... :coffee_n_pc:

Edited July 21, 2013 by Turtle

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

Ick, golf, boring to play even more boring to watch.

 

My mrs keeps talkin about kites lately....mayhap should we see some adequate wind we could possibly go fly a couple....She's funny, thinks flying a kite involves much physical exertion...silly girl, proper kite flying involves finding adequate wind, a proper release and cold beer.

Edited July 22, 2013 by DFINITLYDISTRUBD

[Turtle]

Ick, golf, boring to play even more boring to watch.

 

:lol: My guy lost. My biggest gripe about golf is how expensive it is to play, which is why I don't. It's free to watch though & I love it.

 

My mrs keeps talkin about kites lately....mayhap should we see some adequate wind we could possibly go fly a couple....She's funny, thinks flying a kite involves much physical exertion...silly girl, proper kite flying involves finding adequate wind, a proper release and cold beer.

 

I think the image of running with a kite to put it up is an insidious meme burned into most people's brains. It's all about as much work as you want to make it though, and your outlook is a cheery lay-back-and-sip-it kinda set up I like. I often toss a blanket in as it makes a good place to drop those small bits that always seem to go missing in the grass, as well as a comfy sittin' & layin' spot. My videographer is pressing for a lawn chair & I may throw one on the trike next time as there's plenty of space and easy tie-down.

 

I did get NASA's kite calculator running, but they don't have delta-Conynes modeled so it's a bust. I tried checking a 14' delta, but the limit seems to be 10'. :doh: Poo on that noise. I'll know how it flies when I fly it.

 

Besides using non-standard cell sizes, I am following some old advice to put the cross-spar in front of the wings and in front of the rear longerons. The reasoning IIRC is that the strut in back keeps the wings from forming a smooth curve as the sails take the shape of the wind.

 

I think for now I will use 3/4" aluminum angle stock for my cross-spar. My pockets are big enough and after the mid-air break-up of the 7 footer I think the cross-spar needs to be beefier than the other sticks. I have one wing-spar now sized, sanded, spot-tied, and half-painted. I'll grab a pic of the whole incomplete kite when I take it outside to size the cross-spar.

 

Good flying y'all!!!

Edited July 22, 2013 by Turtle

[JMJones0424]

So anyway, while I was whiling away my morning not working on sticks and waiting for golf to come on, I got a bright idea for work for my kites.

 

[banana]Spreading seed.

Seed bombing! I can think of no better use for kites. Mix some various seed of your choice with some clay rich soil, roll into balls, and drop at your leisure.

[Turtle]

Seed bombing! I can think of no better use for kites. Mix some various seed of your choice with some clay rich soil, roll into balls, and drop at your leisure.

 

 

:thumbs_up Well, if we weren't already on a watch list, we likely are now. :ebomb: Sounds like just dumping a box of seed as I was thinking is not the most successful way to go. I watched a video on how to make balls and found some info on bombing with seedlings. :omg: Check these little babies.

 

Source: >> Could military strategy win the war on global warming?

 

 

 

PS I have named the 7 foot Conyne-delta Alida, which means 'small winged one'.The 14 footer I'll call Matilda, meaning 'mighty in battle'.

Edited July 22, 2013 by Turtle

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

I dunno my friend, some seed types might fair thee well very well and take up happy homes some distance from the drop site. I suppose it would depend on seed type, but I'd wager most wildflower seeds are quite happy to take root without assistance. I mean, much better dispersion could be achieved using height and wind if one refrains from adding ballast to the seed.

[Turtle]

I dunno my friend, some seed types might fair thee well very well and take up happy homes some distance from the drop site. I suppose it would depend on seed type, but I'd wager most wildflower seeds are quite happy to take root without assistance. I mean, much better dispersion could be achieved using height and wind if one refrains from adding ballast to the seed.

 

That's what I was originally thinking and then I was swayed by the b o m b making propaganda. Muahahahaha.... :naughty: Now you have steadied me though and I think you are right. If wildlife eats some seeds, more power to them. All the extra work & weight of making & transporting balls or capsules is not an attractive prospect for me. I actually thought of seeds because I was first thinking of doing a confetti drop on video. While those were fun in the old days, these days it's more likely considered littering. :omg:

 

Since I have in mind native wildflowers, I suspect you're right Double-D and they darn well know what to expect when they fall on native ground. :ip:

 

First wing spar done, starting on #2.

[Turtle]

Inside shot, lofting Matilda. Shows the silvery top side of kite and my moment of 'd'oh...there's not enough fabric here for a full wing!'.

 

Outside shot, Matilda layed out to size the cross-spar. Red arrow points to a yard-stick and Yellow arrow to the un-cut -but now marked- cross-spar. While I do have the wing-spars in their pockets on the leading edges, the longerons aren't attached yet so Matilda can't stand. Even up on the railing I couldn't get her all in the frame. :omg:

 

Longerons will be stapled to sails with an office stapler. I may or may not staple the wing-spars in. If I do it will strengthen spars, but then I have to have a longer kite bag. If I let them float I can take them out and use a shorter kite bag. Anyway, kites ahoy!!! Avast ye land lubbers and prepare for a good ol' fashioned aerial assault! [Did you know one of the earliest recorded uses of a kite is from Before the Common Era in China when a kite reportedly was flown over a fortress wall from outside, then its string measured in order to determine how long a tunnel to dig to get inside?]

Edited July 22, 2013 by Turtle

[DFINITLYDISTRUBD]

JERK! May it be stuck in your head for a bit now ->

[Turtle]

JERK! May it be stuck in your head for a bit now ->

 

 

You just never know what this swaggman's got in his tucker. ;)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvazMc5EfE

 

Tie me kangaroo down Sport!! :dogwalk:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D-LmRNdQiQ

[Turtle]

First it's seed-bombing by green guerillas, now it's photo-bombing by high school geeks!!

 

Spaceweather.com July 22, 2013

PETUNIAS FALL FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: On Friday, July 19th, Caleb Smith was hiking along the John Muir Trail in California's Sierra Nevada mountains when something unprecedented happened. A vase of petunias parachuted out of the sky. "They landed about 50 feet away from me," he reports.

...

The balloon was launched to photobomb Cassini's picture of Earth from the highest possible altitude. In addition to the petunias, the payload contained three scientific experiments, a copy of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and a Galileo Bobblehead.

 

...

 

Photobomb!!?? This calls for the Urban Dictionary.

 

photobomb (verb)- to drop in a photo unexpectedly...to hop in a picture right before it is taken.

 

(noun) An otherwise normal photo that has been ruined or spoiled by someone who was not supposed to be in the photograph.

 

Can't we just have an old fashioned aerial drop without it being a bombing? Crikey!!

Edited July 22, 2013 by Turtle

[LaurieAG]

You just never know what this swaggman's got in his tucker. ;)

Tie me kangaroo down Sport!! :dogwalk:

 

Just make sure you don't get any Kangaroos in your kite Turtle as the swagman's Matilda is his swag. Might be a novel way to release seeds too but the authorities probably wouldn't agree. :)

[Turtle]

Did nothing on Matilda's sticks today so a little more Silas J. Conyne history. I ran across this a couple weeks back, but just today picked up on Fourteen foot kite. What a happy coinkydink. I transcribed a bit of the story, but the full article is archived as a scan.

 

Full article: >>Kite Too Much

 

Kite Too Much For Inventor

Conyne Made an Involuntary Ascension Without Serious Injury

Chicago, Aug. 21 [1900] =Silas J. Conyne, the scientific kitemaker, manufactured a kite fourteen feet high.

...

Lifting the kite into position in the wind, he began to back away from it as it soared above him, keeping the steel cable line under his arm to prevent the strain of a too sudden snapping up of the slack line.

When 100 feet from the kite and 900 feet from the anchored end, the line lifted Conyne into the air. To let go would mean the destruction of the flier

...

 

Note the article gives the length of line laid out as 10,000 feet and it should be 1,000 feet judging by the rest of the details. Steel wire eh? Under your arm eh? Too much Silas the Showman and not enough Silas the Scientist I dare say. :doh:

 

Adieu. :coffee_n_pc: