Jump to content
KiteLife Forum

Possible indoor kite colors and shapes


cadcoke5
 Share

Recommended Posts

Since my goal is for performance, such a angels for a Christmas production, I realize I need to do a lot of investigation to understand what is possible.

Color;

I was at the recent Wildwood NJ festival, which had an indoor competition. I asked about the shape options and coloration, and it is starting to look like my choices are quite limited. The weight restrictions on indoor flying seem to be a major issue restricting color choices, because there are few raw materials, and paint or dye doesn't seem to be an option.

Are there other fabrics that can be used besides the Icarus that seems to be the best choice for performance? Any materials, that perhaps aren't ideal, but good enough to be used, and is available in a variety of colors? I especially like the idea of dyeable material, since that is a way to color and even paint shapes without adding weight. Nylon is very dyable, and polyester to a lesser extent.

I saw a single-line bird that used embossed holographic film. This might simply have been holographic "tissue paper" like you find in gift wrapping, but that is just a total guess. If it is simply that, then we have a much larger color pallet to choose from.

Shapes;

I only saw shapes like the Revolution brand that had 4 control lines. Is this because this is the only shape that works well for 4-lines?

The vocabulary of indoor kite shapes seem to be limited to Delta, and bird shapes for single line, and the Rev shape for 4-lines. Outdoor kites seem to have an infinite variety, but perhaps because indoor kites must perform closer to their limits, the rules of aerodynamics must dominate the design. But, if other shapes were possible, then I can see a lot of new options for kite performance. Some quick examples;

Dragon with the kite pilot as the dragon slayer.

Cloud following the pilot

Farmer trying to coax rain from the cloud..

Shark after a diver.

Of course, art is flexible in how it depicts objects. So, aeronautical design can be adapted to many shapes. I sketched a quick concept of an angel based on a Revolution kite. I welcome any comments about its viability. The color beams at the head would be fabric strips. The body itself would be loose fabric hanging so it doesn't affect the wing area, but it is such a large area, it may affect performance anyway. If that is a concern, I imagine it could be shrunk to perhaps half the area.

Comments? Speculations?

-Joe

post-8152-0-56541800-1401449554_thumb.pn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just looking at your sketch, I see a couple of issues!

The color beams, unless supported, would just fall in inverted flight and be either in front or behind! So to would the bottom! The added weight would also cause some problems for pilots used to flying an unencumbered kite! Things would need to be symmetrical and supported by battens or framed in such a way to keep them out of the lines!

On the subject of shapes: except for the Deca (out of production), and some home builts, the Rev is pretty much the only quad choice for indoor! Even most of the home builts are loosely based on the Rev idea! Reason is - it works!!

I understand you want to use these in very specific situations - and they might work in limited use! But for long session flying, I haven't found much that outperforms the Indoor Rev! IMHO!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the comments.

Perhaps you didn't see the enlarged image, The color beams are supported by a carbon fiber loop in the drawing. For the body, I can see how it would tend to get caught up in the line. I think I was thinking it would fly backwards, sort of like Superman's cape while in flight. But, in retrospect, that would not happen unless the kite was going faster than your typical indoor kite. Perhaps that can be supported by a string between the bottom points of the wings, if I shorten it significantly. I suppose another way to reduce the influence of the body is to make that part mostly netting. I have seen 1/2" gold colored net, and that may be a good way to make something visible there, but not add significant air resistance.

But, as you point out, the Rev works. It is a design born out of years of experience, and then it withstood the test of time. Any variations will likely have a detrimental effect. I realize any ideas I have must be tested, but without really knowing the process of kite design well, I can see how I can easily get myself into territory where my design efforts will be so far off-base that I am wasting my time.

Perhaps I should concentrate on coloration, and fabric choices.

-Joe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every added sq in of fabric alters the flight pattern. It would fly, but be prepared for it to act weird. The halo of light beams will create drag around the middle of the kite. spins would be ok, but I have to believe forward/back would be seriously affected. Especially on a Zen, but Wayne flys indoors a lot so maybe he could tell you how it might be affected.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just something as simple as adding a tail can throw things outta whack!! I put a tail of "bird scare" tape on, about 30' long, off one wingtip, and made the kite seriously unbalanced! You could really feel it! I would think that adding that much fabric would definitely affect flight in a not so good way!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, what shape is the arena you will fly in? To fly a Rev style indoor works better IMO when you have a 360 degree arena to play in. If you are looking to limit your window, like say while flying from the inside corner of a building, you might want more of a glider. With a glider you can narrow your window quite a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recommend highly stylized depictions of the images you want portray printed on the sail fabric, as opposed to altering the shape of the kite. In other words, don't change the shape of your canvas, change the image to work within the frame.

Try Googling "Revolution masterpiece kites" to get an idea of what I mean, or visit the Revolution kites site and forum. The images can be made to work with any style of indoor kite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...