Shortwave
Just two more spars.

This toy has a five foot wingspan, 1880 verticals, 2300 leading edge, and some scrap fabric. I sketched half of the sail on a pizza box allowing for a 5 foot wingspan. Bridling was done by eye on one side, then tied on the other side  using a ruler to make the legs match. Most seams are sewn with a three-stitch zigzag to resist stretching and trailing edges are straight stitched.  The nocks are made from plugged and drilled aluminum tubing. The LE curve was drawn on the fabric with the tensioned spar as a guide so the sail is evenly tensioned. The two 32" LE spars can be cheaply replaced as I certainly will shatter them.  [Boy was this true]  

It flies almost exactly as expected, quick to respond in a good way and has that nice buzzing sound as it zips around the sky.  Upside down and backward flying are a breeze and flipping a wing is almost impossible.  The bridle tow points are 18cm from the face of the kite and might work better at around 24cm in order to distribute the load from the frame better. The small wingspan makes steering very sensitive even with my scaled down handles and 75 foot lines. Wind range starts at around 8 mph and in winds gusting to 28 mph a LE spar snapped as soon as the kite was airborne, as expected. Just an attempt to establish the wind range. Later in 10 mph winds, the top spar split after a hard tap on the ground. Sounds like a real pain  but it entertains some other fliers immensely.
 
A check of Dave Lord's spar chart showed that fiberglass spars are in some cases a close performer to pultruded carbon sticks.  The new spars, J65 Glasforms, are holding up well and are quite stiff due their slightly larger diameter and thin walls.  I have rammed the kite into the ground many times and can find no cracks in the spars.  The center internal ferrule is glued to one spar and the ends are wrapped with a band of epoxied polyester thread for good luck.  Low-tech that works!

Plans are to bash this mini before investing in the materials for an 6.5 footer but at this size it works very well. A slightly bigger one with the same weight might increase the wind range (see below).  The better handling and response of a "5-stick" design is the way to go.  This was made for the price of a good six-pack not including the broken spars. Cheers!

Shortwave Lite
My favorite quad
 

The low-wind abilities of my first one limited its airtime in the light winds here in California. A friend suggested replacing the spars with Easton graphite-wrapped aluminum arrow shafts instead of the popular Skyshark spars to stiffen it and save weight, while maintaining durability.  A new kite was planned even before I got the spars home. The light-fabric sail has increased area along the trailing edge especially in the middle. Instead of sewn fabric strips to prevent stretch along the vertical spars where the weave is at an angle, a small Dacron line is sewn to the back of the sail with a grooved presser foot. A bare Spectra bridle reduces wind drag and the brightest fabrics are used, since this is a hot little kite. The kite took a few hours to sew.. I didn't bother making a bag for it since it fits in the car easily, and the first one never gets folded up anyway.

I just got in from flying it and can't get over how well it performs. The wind range must be  about 2-18 mph with a nice floaty feel that turns into speed as the gusts hit. Very controllable in reverse flight, floats, dive-stop and reversed slides. It's only fault seems to be re-launching from a flat position on the ground, and that can be dealt with. Those graphite/aluminum spars bring the entire weight down to 4.5 ounces while dramatically adding stiffness. This is the best quad stunt kite I have, and it fools me into thinking I fly better. 

  

Cassiopeia
Too Heavy

Plans are from astronomer and kite maker Bjarne Madsen, who named it for the W-shaped constellation.  The first time I flew it was during unusually high winds (23 mph) at the windiest place in town.  It flew great despite my lack of any four-line experience and the awful dacron line.  I was having so much fun doing backward launches and spins I didn't want to go home.  Next time out in lighter air it fell out of the sky at each lull in the wind and was a general motherbear.  When I showed it to Victor at the kite store he groaned as he picked it up and said "well, it's a good high-wind kite!"   Live and learn.  Using heavy screen-door mesh for the screening was also a silly move.  The rest of the kite works well but since it was easy to build I'll make another.

Light-wind Cassiopeia
Too Light

After experiencing the Cassiopeia  I made an Icarex kite that was a few inches wider, but not taller, in order to get the most from the local light winds.  Reinforcements previously made of heavy black Dacron are now of 1.5 ounce rip stop, shock cords are thinner, and the horizontal spar is pultruded 1880 graphite with 1570 verticals.  The finished kite weighed 4.5 ounces, and flew much more controllably in light air.  Hovers and launches are smoother. In heavier air the leading edge becomes a "C" shape and threatens to snap.  2300 graphite now solves that quirk, and 1880 vertical spars are much better.  The screen strip below the leading edge is now removed since I find it unnecessary and just adds the weight of stitching and lapped seams and isn’t pretty.  For this and my other full-sized quads, 50 or 90 ft lines are used.  Light summer winds have made this kite a favorite when the heavier kites don't work, but the Icarex is noisy!

This one was made to improve on my first crude Cassiopeia.  This kite was scaled 112% to fit the top spar I pieced together from broken Shockwave SUL tubing that was given to me.  The verticals are Beman UL 21 tubing and the fabric is crisp 3/4 ounce nylon.  The SUL tubing has proven heavy for this kite and will be replaced with something else.  This kite was made pretty much according to the Cassiopeia plans.  Credit for the color design belongs to an unknown maker whose kites appear on the web.  This is one of my best-flying kites but the narrow center makes wing-flipping too common.  Medium-wind flying is improved  due to the light spars.  Each time I make one of these  I am surprised how easy and fast it is to make.  My sewing skills must be improving...maybe not. 
           

Photo:  Bug Light Park, South Portland, Maine.

This design is a mini, a bit under 4 feet long, made of Icarex and 080 graphite rods with a 48" 090 graphite rod bent to tension the sail.  Most edges are catenary cut to spread the tension along the edges to reduce the noisy buzzing of Dacron. Attachment loops at the ends of the vertical spars are connected to 30 pound, 30 foot lines with light handles made of 1/8 inch aluminum rod with automotive fuel line for grips.  Flight is touchy unless the wind is smooth but spins, reverse flight and hovering are much like with the larger quads.  The tiny lines are best wrapped on two winders to avoid a windblown tangle.  Total cost with lines was about $12.  The lines could be 12 feet longer and the leading edge might use a thin rod through the hem between the verticals to prevent noise on larger versions.  A good kite to pull out when the wind is too light for other kites.  
Junebug Plans

After long admiring Didier Ferment’s adventurous designs, I built the Tri-Pale quad in Icarex, and after some tuning and head scratching it has become very enjoyable.  This kite has 17 graphite spars!  Foot-long handles had little effect and were replaced with 20" aluminum tubes shaped with a conduit bender, topped with foam bicycle grips.  This kite weighs 15 ounces, needing a good wind to launch.  Stunt precision is limited but flying such a kite is a real hoot.  It launches from any edge on the ground and needs 10+mph winds.  Flight characteristics are ponderous due to the heavy frame, but when one of the area experts flew it, it looked nimble doing stunts until the main transverse spar split.  Bridling from top tow points to the center point of the main spar now strengthens this area.  This kite attracts attention but I enjoy just watching it in the sky.  The Tri Pale is a puzzle to build but is fascinating to play with.  I just leave it on the wall assembled since folding it up is a chore.   Didier has more unique designs on his wonderful site, and he's a helpful guy.

This quad is an evolution of my Junebug but resembles the Davies Fijet.  It’s not a copy, since the idea came from flying my light wind Cassiopeia as the 1880 top spar bent back.  Why not bend it permanently like a Peter Lynn C-quad?  Catenary trailing edges like Junebug prevent flutter.  The leading edge looks easy to sew but in stretchy ½ ounce nylon it can be a chore.  The Japanese decoration was my first attempt at appliqué, and was fun to do. 

First flight showed the effects of too much stiffness.  The kite is too flat and has no directional stability.  The top tow points are now moved outboard of the vertical spar tops by six inches to allow the top spar to curve back in the center.  The tails, while maybe not needed, look flashy. When the kite lands nose down it can be rocked like a rocking chair into forward flight.  When it lands flat on the ground it stays there.  The center of effort is too low for stable forward flight and a vented panel across the top of the red design might fix that but would detract in other ways.  I've since replaced the top spar with 1960 fiberglass solid rod after 1570 graphite tube snapped on installation.  This makes a more flexible kite but one that still has problems.  A Cassiopeia- type bridle helps greatly and now it behaves well until it reaches the upper half of the window, where it glides towards the pilot and hits the ground.  It is, at least, a very durable kite!
It now has a new owner in Italy who will certainly improve it. Picture
 

NASA Para-wing (NPW5)
Cheap and Cheerful Power

Flying a nice borrowed Slingshot B3 meter brought a serious case of big kite envy.  Thinking it was time to get into traction (?) the cheap and cheerful NPW5 plans of Peter de Jong seemed just the ticket.  His Windows freeware calculates the dimensions for the entire kite and bridle based on the height of kite you specify.  He supplies detailed instructions that describe strongly taped seams, a logical way to make the bridle work for both quad and dual line flying, and a 2:1 purchase on the brake lines to make them work more smoothly.  The top lines fly the kite and the brake lines are used to de-power it.  By putting upper and lower pigtails together through the single lark's head it becomes a two-line flier.

I used a 70-inch vertical height to give my first kite a flat area of around 4 square meters using 1/2-ounce nylon, and bought some 300-pound top lines and 150-pound brake lines and a spool of 75-pound Dacron for the bridle.  The aluminum tube handles I usually use are now strengthened with dowel plugs in the ends with heavy pigtails.  For two-line flying a  2-foot hardwood dowel with grips and pigtails works well.  The left grip has a wrist strap to keep the bar from becoming a projectile.  If the bar is released, the kite collapses and spins.  After re-launch just pull back on the non-strapped hand until the lines untwist. The kite rolls up to about a 6 x 14-inch cylinder.  When the lines are removed I immediately tie the tow points to the nose to avoid making a mess of the bridle.  Seems to work so far… 

Right from the start this kite is a success.  After connecting the lines a short pull on the handles transforms it from a pile of cloth to a flying tractor.  Luckily the bridle needed no adjustment other than trimming some loose ends to reduce snags.  It flies in the lightest wind, and pulls enough to lift me from a sitting to standing position.  In 10-15 mph winds, sliding along on the grass is great fun as long as there is room to stop and no sharp objects around.  Within the rather limited 160 degree window it spins and turns precisely, and is easy to land and re-launch without help.  Some who have tried it seem impressed by the power and precision.  For a kite builder looking for a first power kite, this is a great project.  I'm glad I didn't make a larger one, at least until I learn to control this one.  I'm thinking about making a smaller one, maybe 2.5 meters, for really high winds.  Although a foil design has many obvious advantages, the NPW5 is pretty impressive, especially for a kite made for less than $10 worth of material .
   

Bill Painter, alias NPWBill, has developed much better ways to make this kite and any NPW5 builder would do well to check his cool website (links). He has a cascade bridle that speeds the kite's flight by eliminating drag and ways to sew the kite more precisely and lots of pictures of different designs.  He is working on NPW9 kites lately, along with a group of creative kite makers around the world

A  U.S. agency called NASA actually designed the NPW5 and NPW9. HQ kites has purchased the rights to use NPW5 and NPW9 as trade names. 

4m Eliminator
A bit of string and knots

The Eliminator series by Andy Smith are elegantly simple traction foils that have flat top and bottom skins with one pattern for all ribs.  Foils are fairly easy to make, but take time to sew the ribs in place and bridle. The plans are in Foilmaker  format, making the viewing, modification and printing of patterns simple. Bridle dimensions are output in table form along with other necessary information and winglets or ventrals on the wingtips are separate drawings from the Foilmaker file. The plan I downloaded had a curved canopy and mesh-covered intake vents that I changed to a flat canopy and open intakes. The leading edges of the skins are reinforced with 2.5 cm strips of old 4 oz Dacron sailcloth folded once and sewn into the hem. I only printed the rib profile, as the rest of the panels are simple rectangles. Cross-vents were enlarged a bit to compensate for a vertical strip of fabric left across the vent hole for reinforcement. Small cross-venting holes were added to each rib's rear area for good luck. A 200lb (90kg) dacron line was glued along the ribs' lower stitch line to be sewn through while fitting the ribs to the lower skin. The bridle will be knotted to this line, instead of to the usual sewn loops. Bridling is Dacron 75 and 150 pound braid.

This kite possibly pulls harder  than some larger commercial kites, since the area is flat, there is no wasted area not directly facing the wind. This isn't the easiest kite to turn, but the bridle's irregularity is probably the cause of the distortion. It seems to turn better by braking the following wingtip slightly. The window seems huge, which should be great for buggying. It pulls near the edge and top very well and launches easily from nose up or down positions. This kite is as powerful, but not as easy to fly as a  borrowed Advance Off-Road 5.4 that I've been flying. It is fun to see what a basic rectangular kite is capable of, and learn how things work.
 

Deka

One freezing January day, I got to fly a Deca A1 kite.  The smooth and responsive flight in high winds was impressive and was a refreshing change from flapping flat quads, so I made a model of thread and bamboo slivers and sketched my own version.  Since the Deca is a patented kite no comprehensive  plans are available, so I just guessed at dimensions and materials.  One mistake was making the center section too wide, causing fluttering, so I shortened it in the middle leaving an unsightly seam.  It took a while to get the lines all tensioned correctly, but the kite flies better than expected but not better than a real one.  A larger multi-paneled one is in my sketchbook to perform in lighter air.  I have been lucky enough to fly a variety of Deca models and the Deca 15 is  my favorite. 

One kite leads to another, a small Icarex polyester zero-wind Deka and after many hours of fiddling with the tension line lengths I decided it was as done as it would ever be.  The smaller size makes line tension more critical and can drive a kite maker crazy.  It flies well in no wind or light wind, on short lines.  This picture was taken with the lines in my left hand and the camera in my right.  It really is flying!  Lower right photo shows size comparison.  Not as much fun as the larger one since it is fussy about wind  and collapses in gusts, so my Junebug gets more airtime.

Deka 6 Quad

My green Deka always seems too wind hungry, so I made this larger one using lighter materials. The sail is broad seamed with six panels, giving it a 3D shape. Fabric is half-ounce North nylon and spars are all Easton A/C tubing in 2600 and 2300 diameters. Kevlar fabric loops form the six tie points. The main spar has both internal and external ferrules for strength, with Kite Studio machined end caps fitted to all spars. 100 pound braided Dacron forms the web of lines holding it all together. The wrinkled center seam was re-sewn to smooth the sail right after this shot.

It flies pretty well but the main spar is a few centimeters too short and the lacks stiffness to keep the sail tight at the leading edge. Perhaps the line adjustments account for some of that fault. These kites take time to get right, but the unique flight makes it worthwhile.
 

As the Deca is a patented kite made by Guildworks, posting plans wouldn't be right and also I wouldn't want to have to describe how to adjust those lines.  My design is simply a rough approximation from looking at the kite and some pictures of it and took a long time to get working.  You could do the same or simply buy one. Some Decas were made by HQ Invento for a while and turn up for sale used.  The tie-dyed A1 or the Deca 15 are works of art and should hold their value better than mass-market kites.

It Flies Nice kite Flies beautifully A fine kite    ?????