Mini Kites

[Focal]

Hey, I am interested in building really small kites. I want to know if anyone out there makes them, and materials they use. I have no idea what to use for fabric, and i found some really tiny graphite spars i thought might work well, but i have no idea. Also, what kind of string is recomended for bridles and lines? Any input or comments would be great.

[codykiteguy]

While miniture kites are not my thing (anything under 4 feet is too small for me and my Codys) you might want to contact the Chicago Skyliners to see if they can put you in touch with Charlie Sotich. As far as I know he is the "Main Man" when it comes to postage stamp sized kites

[tiny tako-kichi]

Howdy, Focal and Codykiteguy.

Not sure if either of you are still looking for info on making miniatures. If so, please feel free to post here again, and I'd help with whatever I can.

Tom

[Mousie]

WOW... Tiny.. is that really a kite.. or a mayfly???

totally impressed.. here..

from one under 5 foot.....

hugs mousie

[tiny tako-kichi]

Thanks, mousie!

I'm still new here, so not sure what the rules are, regarding posting website addresses. I've got a few pages up-and-running about little kites, and one with some building tools and materials.

The fly is only cellophane with a bamboo sliver for the spine, but flew well enough to compete at WSIKF, this year. Also did a train of 101 three inch diamonds for WSIKF.

Thanks again for the enthusiasm!

Tom

[John Barresi]

Quick note, I just got back from Taiwan and will be mostly off-forum for the next day or two... But please do feel free to post any URLs if they will be of use to someone, or are relevant to a topic at hand.

[tiny tako-kichi]

Thanks, John!

The most info I have readily available is here http://www.littlekites.com/howto.html

No kite plans, but some how-to that can help save trial and error.

Great job with the website, John. Thanks for making it available to so many.

Tom

[Progcraft]

Also did a train of 101 three inch diamonds for WSIKF.

What did you use for the spine and cross-spar????

I'm totally intrigured. I think I might build a train like this.

Thanks,

P.

[tiny tako-kichi]

Howdy, Progcraft.

The spines and crosspars are hand-split bamboo. Straight for the spine, curved for the cross-spar. You can see some tips on this at the link in my previous note.

They were all strung on one flying line, with very thin slices of small vinyl tubing for stoppers (it was the lightest thing I had on hand at the time). Sort of like beads, with knots that held the stoppers from moving up the line, and maintaining the desired distance from each kite. The kites themselves were only pierced once, to put them on the flying line. If they had to turn 360 degrees on the line while in flight, there is NO TWISTING!

The thing I kept thinking about while I was making this (besides "I hope this flys"), was that each kite only has to hold it's own weight and the weight of the line between it and the next kite.

If you're doing one that consists of kites that fly by themselves, you got it made!

I have a page up that tells more about this train, if you'd like to see it. The URL is

http://littlekites.com/kitetrain.html

There's also a short movie showing it in flight, if you're interested and have a couple minutes to wait for it to load on a dial-up connection.

Most importantly, let me know if there's anything else I can do to help get YOUR miniature train get off the ground!

Thanks for the enthusiasm. It keeps me doing what I do.

Tom