Tim

This clean Tim by Ashley Ware-Lane was enhanced by Brian Skinner's clever calligraphy.
Tilt your head to the left to read it. See some other nice homemade kites  here

Papillon Fighter

Didier Ferment's Papillon (butterfly) is a clever design that can be made as a fighter or quad. This big kite is constructed with Avia 1570 (4mm) carbon tubing with a horizontal spar of .080 carbon rod. The four main spars are each 1 meter long joined at the center with two crossed aluminum ferrules. As with all fighters, a tug on the line increases stability by increasing dihedral. This unique bridle increases this motion by pulling the wingtips back, and line slack makes it spin to change direction. The large sails allow it to glide and float in light wind. Flight resembles a large light-pulling buka, but more trickable and easier to re-launch.

Sail patterns are sewn through three layers and the excess later cut away. The Papillon can be scaled down to use spars as light as .030 (3mm) diameter to create a short line fighter. Wingspan/Height 1.4 meters (4.5 feet). Mine is bridled and flown using 75 pound braided polyester. Plans are on the Ciel Libre site, with more info at the German site  http://www.tricktail.de/papillon   including photos of various Papillons.

Construction notes:
Cutting the edge of the sail into a slight curve as shown should smooth the trailing edge, as the sail area outside the bridle lines is under less tension and tends to wrinkle.
The kite can be made by using adhesives and tapes, although the full-sized version may need the strength of sewn spar tunnels.

Bridling:
Tie the two horizontal lines that connect the main spars so they are snug when the kite is flat. they should be matching lengths. Tie the vertical rear line between the centers of the top and bottom horizontals with enough tension to give the kite a 14 cm bow in the total depth of the kite. The front vertical bridle goes from the top center knot, through the ring and to the bottom knot. The tow point loop is tied above the ring.
For disassembly, a button and loop are handy for de-tensioning the rear bridle. Didier shows this method on his site, and it's easier to use than a lark's head knot.
The blue dots in the drawing are sliding adjustment knots for left-right steering and up-down sail angle adjustments.

Thanks to Bruce Woods for his help.

Another Papillon by Bruce "Line Jerk" Woods.
    

Dave "Bow Tie" Harris
Fashion consultant

Apocalypse quad
by Charlie M'Clary

A different quad indeed. This kite is detailed here with plans and some notes.

 Warning:   I am not an expert nor fully competent at anything, so be
cautious about making anything that appears on these pages.