How to make 5 new kites out of one

I have been thinking for a long time about reducing the size of my box system, which consists of 11 individual Cody rear cells. On the one hand, because the overall size I chose in 1998 now seems a little too bulky in terms of setup time and pulling power. On the other hand, there is hardly any opportunity to fly this kite here in our inland region.

New division

The new layout now consists of four double cells and a triple box kite.

It is possible to combine the four front boxes in red, purple, blue and grey with rear cells in yellow, red, grey and purple, meaning there are 16 colour combinations available, depending on your mood or the state of the world.

Until I have tested the various combinations in flight, I will first show the triple box here to shorten the waiting time a little. Once I am satisfied with how everything flies, I will present the details on the relevant page.

Let’s start with the redesign: I had already made the hexagon kite with the Dortmund coat of arms a little smaller, but after the first test flights I wasn’t quite so happy with the new shape. I therefore decided on a “classic” hexagon shape and sewed the coat of arms onto the new shape. You can find more details on the kite page.

The construction of the new kite also means that there is a new kite flyer. Wait, a new kite flyer-my granddaughter. She’s only 10 months old, but you can’t start a nice hobby early enough.

The kite is an Eddy and a fox face is appliquéd onto it, naturally female as it should be.

I will soon publish the construction of this kite in the appropriate place.

Although a little late, I would first like to wish all visitors a Happy New Year 2024.

After weeks of waiting for better weather-either it was raining or it was windless and cold-there were finally days with good flying and light conditions again. So I didn’t think twice and went to a familiar location to get a feel for kaping. I chose the Hardenberg harbor on the Dortmund Ems Canal.

Just a few days later, I was able to visit a new photo spot: the Humbert slag heap in Hamm. The conditions were a little more difficult here, as there was little space on the slag heap plateau with the prevailing wind direction, which was of course once again different to the forecast. And the wind was also much weaker than promised. But with Delta and a little later with the Flare I managed to get some usable pictures.

I hope to take a few more aerial shots this year, let’s see if it works out.

See you soon on this channel

As a long-time user of a pendulum, I had long wanted to give the Picavet suspension a try. I have tried this suspension a few times, but what kept me from using a Picavet permanently was the annoying fiddling with the long cords, which always led to difficulties, especially in windy conditions, when I wanted to hang the suspension in the flying line. Handling the pendulum was simply easier and quicker for me. I also have the impression that the stability around the Z-axis is better with a pendulum.

Since the flying conditions were more than modest in our “winter time”, actually it just rained continuously, I sat down, made a few considerations and then ordered a few parts. I chose an H-shape, also classified as the Rendsburg type, made from wooden strips, made the line length slightly shorter than described in the literature and ordered ball-bearing blocks from the model shop for the line guide. There are 4 single-disc blocks at the bottom and 2 double blocks at the top.

On this occasion I also finished a RIG suitable for my Sony A6000.

Now I’ve actually got everything together and the tests can begin. I just need to get the weather and wind right. And maybe I’ll become a Picavet user after all.

As people keep asking where to buy these miniature blocks, here is the address where I bought them: AJ-Modellbau in Remscheid/D

Translation by DeepL