Alex's Hobbies » Kite

Delta FireBird Kite

AnA — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:10:19 +0000

Recently, just purchased a Delta FireBird kite. It cost about $25 and it could fly pretty well. I like the design and the colour of this kite. Below is the video during flight. Enjoys and cheers!

This article on Delta FireBird kite is brought to you be www.alexteo.com

Flying flowform kite

AnA — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:25:32 +0000

Finally, after a long wait. Managed to get my flow form to fly. This is the first test flight and it seem not so stable in strong wind. Need to add a drogue to stabilise it. Below are some video during testing and flight. Thanks for viewing. Cheers!

Test using fan…

Actual test flight…

This article on Flying flowform kite is brought to you by www.alexteo.com

Kite Drogue for flowform

AnA — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:05:35 +0000

Although I still do not have a chance to fly my small flowform. However, for small flowform like mine, I read that it required a kite drogue in order to remain stable during flight. Thus I decided to make one as below. Using the formula from this site; I managed to calculate the exact dimensions to make the Drogue. Will try out soon and hope it helps to stabilise the flowform kite. Cheers!

This article on Kite Drogue for flowform is brought to you by www.alexteo.com

FlowForm Kite using Tyvek

AnA — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:11:45 +0000

All this while, I had something in my mind that somehow feel incomplete if I never make a kite out of Tyvek. Tyvek is a very common and popular material for many kitebuilders. Despite the popularity of this Tyvek; I could not find it locally in Singapore. However, it is easily available overseas. Although I could get it oversea, but the overall cost plus shipping will be a little on the high side for me. It costs about $50 to make a kite size similar to a flowform 8.

Anyway, after hunting for weeks for this tyvek, I finally found an envelope of dimensions: Height 30.4cm (12-1/4″), Width 39.3cm (15-1/2″) made of this wonderful material. So, time to go to the table and plan for a new kite.

This time, I am making the flowform again but of smaller size. In fact, half the size of what I had done previously. It is 40cm x 50cm flowform. I know smaller size kite normally requires stronger wind than bigger kite does; but I still go for it as I want to see how smaller flowform behaves. Another reason to made a flowform kite of this size is due to the size of envelope. When open up, it covers about slightly more than 40cm x 50cm. And since 40cm x 50cm (which is about 1.6ft x 1.3ft = 2.08 sq ft); can consider the size of a Flowform 2. Very small size flowform I think.

I had completed the whole kite in 2 weekends; about 3 days effort in total but think is worth it. To date, the wind condition is not very suitable for kite flying, but I hope I could find a windy day to do the test flight soon. At the mean time…. enjoying the look of it. Cheers!

Initial inspiration of making flowform kites was actually came from a friend of mine whom kindly share posted procedures of flowform kite making in his web site. Without, his kind sharing, it will be impossible for me to complete all these kites so smoothly. Please visit his site (Zsolt’s site) and to be inspired too.

This article on FlowForm Kite using Tyvek is brought to you by www.alexteo.com

Chinese Dragon Kite

AnA — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:09:14 +0000

After few flight of the delta kite, I got hooked on kite and fell in love with it. Kite flying really is fun and gives you a feeling of freedom. With that, I am thinking of getting more kite to fly.

Somehow, I came to know about this Chinese Dragon Kite and found it very interesting. After some searching for such kite, I decided to get one small one for myself. Understand that the smaller one may not be able to fly in gentle wind condition and it required stronger wind condition; I still got it as I may just leave if as an art piece even if it really cannot fly.

After some research, manage to get one from eBay. This one was cheap, it only cost S$32.66. It comes with 36 segments and a simple winder and line. I have yet flown this Dragon Kite as the wind are getting not strong enough for flying recently. Will find opportunity towards the end of the year. Hope it will fly well.

At the mean time… appreciating as a piece of art. Cheers!

This article on Chinese Dragon Kite is brought to you by www.alexteo.com

FlowForm Kite using Polyethylene

AnA — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:18:37 +0000

After the inspiration of making the newspaper flowform kite. I proceed and continue with the making of another similar FlowForm kite using polyethylene (garbage bag). The dimensions are the same as the newspaper version which are 80cm x 100cm. Base on this size, the kite could consider a FlowForm 10. I had used mainly 3M transparent packing tape and 3M scotch cloth or duct tape for bonding of the kite. All the joints are mainly using the transparent packing tape with double sided tissue tape when needed. The keels were re-enforced with the white duct tape as shown in some of the photos below.

To date, I still do not have a chance to do a test flight. However, base on the newspaper version I hope it will be as stable. Anyway, since I will be having more time this weekends; hope there is enough wind to do a test flight. Will keep everyone updated. Cheers!

Special thanks to Yvon from Canada for sharing the knowledge of making his transparent packing bag’s flowform kite. I was amazed and impressed by the types and numbers of flowform kites he had built over the years. Please visit his site (Yvon’s site) to be inspired.

This article on FlowForm Kite using Polyethylene is brought to you by www.alexteo.com

FlowForm Kite using newspaper

AnA — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:09:30 +0000

I love flowform kite. I had purchased one small one previously. But, it is not so stable in strong wind. So, I ever thought of getting a bigger one for more stability.

Anyway, since I have some time, decided to DIY one instead of purchasing one. Inspired by many flyers using ripstop nylon to DIY their flowform; I decided to give it a first try using newspaper instead. The size of this newspaper flowform is 0.8m x 1.0m. I used scotch tape and white glue (UHU) for all the joining portions. It took about 6 hours to complete the whole flowform. Pretty long time I would say, but this is my first time making kite. So it took longer than expected. Anyway, below are some video, and it is time to enjoy! cheers!

FlowForm front view

FlowForm rear view

The test flight…

This article on FlowForm using newspaper is brought to you by www.alexteo.com

First Delta Kite

AnA — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:34:01 +0000

After inspired by the number of beautiful kites at the marina barrage and also on the Singapore’s kite day . I decided to take out my one and only kite which I had purchased many years ago for my kids for a flight again.

One of my non-working day, I went to an open field near my home for the flight. The wind was good for kite flying. But, the sun was hot. I was having sun burn after 2 solid hour in the field. But, I was having fun and really brought me back to those days went I was a kid. For now, I am hooked and will get to fly whenever possible. Cheers!

This simple article on First Delta Kite was brought to you by www.alexteo.com

Singapore Kite Day 2009

AnA — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:27:56 +0000

I was at the Singapore Kite Day 2009 on 14 and 15 Feb. This was my first visit to such kind of Kite’s festival.

The first day was a cloudy day. The wind was not very consistent and many of the bigger kites could not fly well. The smaller ones has the advantages as it managed to catch the upper wind and still fly well.

The second day was more windy and the frog kite managed to stay in the air a little longer. I did not stay long as I was with my kids and the weather was too hot for them.

Although the weather was hot for both days, I really enjoy it very much. I am looking forward to the next Kite Day in 2010. Cheers!

This article on Singapore Kite Day 2009 is brought to you by www.alexteo.com