Lifting a flag?

[Marcus Murphy]

Hi all,

I'd like to lift a large flag as line art, starting from scratch. It will be from a mountain top 250m up on a small island, 2.5km square. The flag itself is 3m long, and should weigh maybe 3lbs at the most. I'm hoping to have it ready to fly in about 5 weeks.

I looked into 'flag print' kites, but I'd prefer it to blow in the wind as a flag, as opposed to just a static image on a Rokkaku or similar. So far the easiest thing seems to be just buying a white or light blue single line soft parafoil/sled, and attaching the flag a few meters below the kite on the line somehow. To be honest, I'm not even sure what I would need to consider to do that either.

Where could I find small/easy to use kites suited to this kind of task/environment, and are there any DIY bridles or conversion kits for line art/laundry? My budget is around $100 at the moment.

Thanks a lot,

Marcus.

[RobB]

Hi Marcus,

Here is where I would start looking... https://www.gkites.com/store/

Check out the Super Sled. Lots of lift for the $$$. I know it might be cost prohibitive to import,

but the package would be pretty small, at least.

You will find all the supplies you need to setup the flag on the line, as well. A couple of carabiners

should do.

Good luck, and post some pictures !

~Rob.

[Marcus Murphy]

Thanks. Wouldn't carabiners just slide the flag down the line, or do you mean they attach to the back of the sled? (I'm probably being dense here)

Also, is it always a good idea to use some long (clear) tail streamers for stability?

I looked at French Military lifters there too, as the super sled seems like a monster for the lifting I need, unless I'm underestimating the weight of a large flag.

They look cheaper and seem to give even more lift; are they more trouble than you save in the cost, and are they any easier to assemble?

[Marcus Murphy]

I've found a French Military style for about $30 in Denmark, with line included, which is below the import threshold (~$35) so no import tax.

My only question now is how to go about attaching the flag to the line; do I clip it on somehow, or hang it from a pole with a bridle of some sort?

[RobB]

I'm a big fan of the French Military kite, a double French Military was my first 'real' kite. I still have that one , but lost the basswood spreader somewhere along the way. This is one that I picked up recently, and it's got PLENTY of pull. I fly it on 500# line.

As far as attaching the flag, one carabiner at the top of the flag, one at the bottom. You just wrap the flying line around the carabiner 3 or 4 times, it won't slide up or down. I attach an inflatable that has considerable drag using this method...

Good luck !

~Rob.

[SunriseKites]

Hi Marcus, It has been over a year since you posted this. Did you ever gett he flag up? How did it look? Do you have any photos?

We used a 16' delta to lift 6 3x5 USA flags last april at a kite festival. we used the caribiners to attach them. I also added a small amount of line to the bottom caribiner to alow the flag to fly a more virtical natural stance. I didnt want it strapped to the linedirectly since the kite line is always on an angle and not virtical like a real flag pole.

Enjoy the Sky

Dean