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Dang! Terribly sorry, been wrapped up in prep for the biggest kite event of my year, Cervia Italy, and spending quality time with my son beforehand... I'll try to get this taken care of on one of my planes tomorrow! Thanks for the nudge!

Alrighty, subscriber list reconciled and drawing completed... A very hearty congratulations to subscriber #1254, @snapper5! Endless, endless thanks to all for your support and patience, stay tuned for a new prize soon!

Here a new link for tom's kite building site https://tom.quadkites.org/en/ Look at the building section: https://tom.quadkites.org/en/build.html You should get what you need

Making this kite from scraps of a previous kite. This will be Kite #95

It might also be worth looking simply for sake of discussion, at how fliers hold their handles during flight... My leaders are tuned first and foremost so that when I go "full gas", it's the right amount of gas with no oversheeting or loss of pressure - I've tuned out any additional amount of thumb back / forward that might cause the sail to flutter or loose pressure (key signs of oversheeting). Basic looks at how I'm holding my handles during flight... https://kiteforge.com/tutorials/quad-line-kite-tutorial-figure-8-and-180s/ https://kiteforge.com/tutorials/quad-line-kite-flight-and-control/ What you might notice is that I'm not "holding" my brake lines back when I'm in normal forward flight, not really managing them at all - bottom of the handles are nearly straight out, thumbs at full tip back. Another pilot, using more forward in the settings, but almost always managing or balancing the brake lines through forward flight, a balancing act between top and bottom lines throughout: Neither right or wrong, but good visual contrast between the two different approaches to tuning.

Sounds about right. There are coatings that can be applied, with risks that come with it. Personally, I wouldn't bother with anything more than the coatings that come on fabrics. The risks of getting sticky, tacky, stiff, or yellowing are worse to my mind than the effect of fading due to age. Of course, I also have a small stock of Icarex / PC31 fabric that is coated, and UV-treated thread. Many kites are built from the stuff, but some are not. Ultimately kites are meant to be flown. Fly it, love it, let it get the UV damage from sunlight, damage from flapping in the wind, and when it's eventually battered and weathered and worn, retire it. If you're flying it enough that it is damaged due to wear and sunlight that means it's a well loved kite.