Delta Kite construction

[Gabriel]

Hey everyone, 

So I have a two questions about Delta construction.

Question 1:

I've made my delta sail as you can see from the photos but now I need to attach the keel. 

In a small version delta I sewed the keel directly into the sail (which was one whole piece of fabric). Should I do the same thing here???

One online book says I should fold the sail in half and sew a 1/2 inch stitch from the nose to the trailing edge and then sew the keel onto that.

 

Another online source says I should cut the sail in half and put the keel in between the two wings and sew all three together.

 

My thoughts are to fold the sail in half and do the 1/2 inch stitch down the middle and then sew the keel into that. My concern is that this delta is much bigger than my first one and I want the keel to not get torn out of the fabric. 

 

Question 2: 

Do I make a spine pocket running the entire length of the kite???? or do I simply do as I have done before and make a pocket at the nose and at the trailing edge to stick the ends of the dowl into, rather than a full length pocket???

 

Thanks everyone, 

 

I look forward to your responses. 

 

[frob]

For the center spine there are many options. You can have a pocket the whole length, you can attach it at top and bottom and optionally run your spreader through it, have a velcro-held pocket at the bottom, an elastic loop in a nock, or attach in other ways if you want.  Unlike the leading edges which can take a beating, the center spine (hopefully) only needs a sturdy nose connection and tail-point connection to keep the sail tight.

For the keel, most advanced kites use a bridle instead of a keel. A keel is permanently sewn in place and isn't adjustable. A simple 3-point bridle can have two attachment points on the upper leading edge and one attachment point near the center tail. The bridle can be adjusted with knots to help balance the kite and adjust the pitch for different wind levels.