Cristierra

There are several videos on YouTube uploaded by the locals, proving the concept. I didn't believe it at first either.

I have found a decent place for flying kites, actually, that's why I am posting again. After extensive research on the local customs, I've come to realize that 1: only "poor people" fly kites 2: There is no other type of kite available nor anyone who flies it (except for kite surfing) in this country, thus anything other than fighters kites or the stuff I make myself will have to be bought from outside of Brazil, which is impossible at the moment due to the fact that the national post mail service stopped receiving and delivering all packages because of the recent virus outbreak 3: "rich people" do not fly kites (nor RC airplanes, apparently) 4: there is some serious technique behind the fighter kite and it's potential is huge. Taking the time to learn the one-line flying style may be worth by the maneuvers it can perform alone 5: people who fly kites never bother taking more than 10 steps out of their houses to fly them, in fact, the whole objective is to fly them "in the hood" to hunt the other kites, therefore fighter kites are absent in desolated locations as the city's outskirts (even though they can still destroy other high-flying kites up to 3km away). With that in mind, I believe it's safe to assume that regular neighborhoods got a 3km radius of red zone attached to them. Flying in areas surrounded by nothing but the private residential districts ( that's where "rich" people live, basically) and farms seems safe if I don't climb past 400m. Anything higher than that and it'll be bait for the kites from the nearest hoods at 1.5km - 2.5km away. Now for the place I actually found... It's a piece of elevated ground (about 8 meters of elevation squeezed between a highway and a private residential district (which is about 50m away). The length of the land is about 200m with a rough width of 25m. No trees, no electric wires, pure open space (feels even bigger because of its elevation), and the wind always seems to be strong there, with plenty of room to fly a kite. What really wanna know is that would it really be safe to fly kites so close to a highway like that? I'm sure there won't be a problem with the local laws, but I'm concerned about the general safety. Also, I already started working on the mini fighter kite prototype, the structure is ready, but the kite paper I bought came in a tube and I need it 100% flat to glue it on, so I placed some heavy stuff over it to see if it will flatten over time. If anyone knows how to effectively flatten thin paper quickly and reliably let me know.

Thank you guys very much! Since I'm new I'm still figuring out all this stuff, your recommendations help out a great deal! I'm not willing to compromise the structural integrity of the kite. Cutting the spars is out, along with all kinds of kites that use spar-based structures. Soft kites seem to be a great place to start (ignoring the fact that they're massive flying targets). I would like to try building some ancient Chinese models and some Japanese models I learned back in pre-school that I never really got to fly. Dual-line foil kites piqued my interest, but I will probably leave them for later on. There are some other things I must be sure of before diving deeper. More to that below... I've been researching more about the kites the locals fly, and well... they are way more dangerous than I initially thought. There are 2 base models they fly, one small, square-shaped model that flies without a tail, crazy agile. And the standard, measuring 70cm on the main vertical rod, the latter flying with 20m tails. They're made out of bamboo rods and paper. Costs less than 5 USD cents per unit. The performance is overdelivering though. They can fly carrying more than 6km of line without any issues whatsoever, and their effective range to "hunt down" other kites is as long as its pilot can see their own kite, which is usually up to 3km. They can dive and ascend extremely fast and pull some bullshit maneuvers that defy all logic. I don't understand how is that it can possibly do all the stuff it's capable of, even more to the fact that it is piloted by a single line. Given the danger that they pose and the insane skill of the locals flying them (I sat on a bench on my neighborhood's square to observe the dozens of kites battling each other on the skies. Absolutely ridiculous, there is no way a paper construct should be able to do what it does), I think I'm going to verify if the fly zones I chose are safe to go first and foremost. I will build a scaled-down version of one of these South American hunter kite designs that fits in my backpack and fly it on the places deemed "safe". If it doesn't get attacked by any other kites I guess I should be safe enough. Guys, thank you again for the support, I think now I can pick it up on my own, until I get to the Dual-line foil kites.

Hello, I'm looking into getting back some sort of flying again... kites seemed a most headache-free path to take, so here I am. More specifically, I'm looking for a portable kite solution that can fit into a small or medium-sized backpack. My whole everything is depending on the kite's portability, if I can't fit it into the backpack, there will be no flying around. Of all the problems I will have to overcome to get into this hobby, portability is the most severe of them. With that cleared out, I now ask: what do I do? 「I noticed that portability was mentioned some other times in other threads, but there seems to be no specific thread that focuses on the whole portability thing」 The local vendors which I have easy and reliable access to have some few RTF kites in stock, all over 180cm or so. Even if I manage to fit most parts in the backpack, I would still have to carry around the long non-telescopic tubes and spars, which is something I just can't do. The backpack idea is mostly to keep troubles away on a local level as well as carrying them around comfortably. "Fighter kites" (as I've seen they being referred to on this forum) are a common sight here. It is global knowledge that locals will attempt to attack anything that flies and could possibly be cut down by a dangerously glass-infused sharp wire, or destroyed by getting entangled on the lines, such as photography multirotors, other kites, balloons, and full-sized helicopters. Therefore keeping my own kite out of sight until I reach a most remote and deserted area is the optimal way of ensuring that no one will keep their eye on me until I settle down somewhere. Most zones where I could possibly fly a kite in peace cannot be reached by any land vehicle as well, so the backpack is irreplaceable. I am willing to pretty much do anything to fit the kite on the backpack, whether that be building my own, modifying stuff, inventing wonders, whatever it takes. I will not go out with any kites on sight - nor tied around unusually odd packages. It has to fit into the regular looking backpack so nothing will seem wrong or out of place to random observers around. Up to this point, the only reasonable solution that occurred to me seems to be building a miniature kite that would fit into a customized case that would go into the backpack, this way being permanently ready to fly. What do you guys think about it? Any suggestions?