Jump to content
KiteLife Forum

Just a though for no or low wind kites


Recommended Posts

As cool as that sounds I don't think I would like it.

I throw my kites around quite vigorously so having the mass is good for me.

I have seen some balloon kites that are used for lifting.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As cool as that sounds I don't think I would like it.

I throw my kites around quite vigorously so having the mass is good for me.

I have seen some balloon kites that are used for lifting.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just been thinking about this.

The gas inside will make it weigh less but won't change its mass....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

exactly ... weight less and then you just pull very slowly and painfully graceful  (laughing)

 

just don't make it float like a balloon ... just enough to make it gliding and stay off the ground

 

over 30 years ago I used to do BMX (bicycle stunt, brutal ... I quit shortly afterward) ... I wonder how can I make this bike lighter ... fill the tubes with helium ... fly higher like E.T. boy did .. (LAUGHING !!!)

 

AIR ... there is a resistance ... therefore, still controllable ... helium rod kite against air

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, John Barresi said:

Have you seen the new Heli-Carbon© spars?

Helium impregnated graphite, literally as light as air.

After googled, are you referring to helicopter ...

... (couldn't find it) or like an actually a rod for fishing pole or a rod for kites ?

Very interesting ... got more information about it ? and also is this already happened on a bicycle ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, John Barresi said:

Have you seen the new Heli-Carbon© spars?

Helium impregnated graphite, literally as light as air.

About 10 years ago I saw some engineers making very thin rods with a construction like bird bones. The internal 3D lattice kept them stiff and very light. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to do that in a Hydrogen/Helium atmosphere to trap the gas in the pockets. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe a twin-skin sail is the answer, fill the void in between the skins with helium. Careful calculations would have to be made so the heli-kite would have slight negative buoyancy. It wouldn't be much fun if it had too much float...

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or, like kite surfing, have an inflatable frame. Wouldn't take much to use a party ballon tank of helium...

JB, hook line and stinker! Lol.

Funny thing though, this is how lots of new products are first conceived.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
On 3/24/2016 at 2:27 AM, RobB said:

Maybe a twin-skin sail is the answer, fill the void in between the skins with helium.

So far, I think this is the only helium kite suggestion with enough buoyancy that could affect the behavior of the kite to any extent. When considering how much a litre (1dm^3) of helium at sea level can lift, i.e. 1.02g, one can see that it hardly would make any difference for a framed kite with helium filled carbon fibre rods (tubes/pipes rather), for example a full size dual line kite with 6mm carbon tubes. The total length of all carbon tubes could be about 5m and the mass 300g. The radius of the void inside the carbon tube would typically be 2mm. The volume that can be filled with helium is then:
pi*r^2*L = 3.14*2^2*5000 [mm^3] = 62800 [mm^3] = 0.063 [litre]
Then the helium generated lift would be:
1.02 [g/litre] * 0.063 [litre] = 0.065 [g]
So the contribution in lift from helium for the framed kite would be less than a tenth of a gram, while the total mass is about 300g.
To instead lift a 300g kite you would need the below volume of helium:
300 [g] / 1.02 [g/litre] = 294 [litre] = 0.29 [m^3]
I.e. a kite would need to be quite thick to completely float by the helium content alone.

I wonder (along with the rest of you it looks like) if a light wind kite based on the double helium filled sail, that partially floats on the helium but still needs some wind to fly, would be harder or easier to fly. You could preserve a medium wind kite's mass and moment of inertia and structure's strength. Imagine doing tricks much dependent on the mass in the frame, in light wind or do rough ground work tricks. Guess many battens in the sail or dense connections between the front and rear sail would be required for the sail to preserve its shape (or should it perhaps be a front and rear spine for the front and rear sail?).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, DeafThunder said:

Brain Damage Overload

Sorry, no intention of being difficult. I merely wanted to state that the lift from a helium filled carbon fibre tube is not enough to lift a standard dual line kite and also show why I think so. The latter part is just a brief speculation on what a helium filled sail kite's properties could be and also how such a kite could be implemented.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, SparkieRob said:

The other problem with a helium filled sail would be the stitches...

Two suggestions for handling this:
1. Seal the seams with some rubber like goo (as little as possible not to increase mass).
2. Inside the double sail use a thin plastic film (like the reflective type in toy-balloons) as a wing shaped balloon for containing the gas. This would relax the requirements on the sail as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Exult said:

Sorry, no intention of being difficult. I merely wanted to state that the lift from a helium filled carbon fibre tube is not enough to lift a standard dual line kite and also show why I think so. The latter part is just a brief speculation on what a helium filled sail kite's properties could be and also how such a kite could be implemented.

(laughing) ... it was ... umm ... quite deep ... (laughing) ... it's all good ... it will takes time for me to absorb those information ... I do get the idea, though.

14 hours ago, Exult said:

Two suggestions for handling this:
1. Seal the seams with some rubber like goo (as little as possible not to increase mass).
2. Inside the double sail use a thin plastic film (like the reflective type in toy-balloons) as a wing shaped balloon for containing the gas. This would relax the requirements on the sail as well.

or get a hotdog balloon ... tuck the balloon tube into the sleeve ... blow it up with helium ... it might stretch the seam/hem/stitch :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, makatakam said:

The other option is to make the air denser than the kite. Voila, instant buoyancy!

Or perhaps fly in a sea of mercury? The kite would like to float towards the surface, but it would be a bit difficult to see the kite under the mercury surface.

  • Like 1
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...