Help with flying a stunt kite

[AgeGap]

My son has a stunt kite. I would like to know how to adjust the strings (three pairs attached to the kite not the control lines). Also would fitting a long ribbon tail make it more stable. Thanks.

[NobbyNobbs]

The position of the strings may depend on the kite itself. I assume this is a delta. There should have been instructions with the kite.

Having a tail is nice, sometimes, for the look of the thing, but often it can just get in the way. I'd suggest starting off without it. Once he gets used to flying, he can add it.

One thing, though, I must stress, if you don't already know this. At no time should there be anyone between the controller and the kite. At the speeds those things attain, the control strings can become quite dangerous.

[AgeGap]

Thanks, no real instuctions with kite. What I am looking for is a 'balance point' to set the kite so it will fly at a certain angle relative to control lines. Anyone know the angle or any good links to sites that may help.
Thanks for the warning, I try to avoid getting hit by kite but I never considered being hit by lines.

[TheDoLittle]

You might want to consider finding a local club:
http://members.tripod.com/~TKOGunn1/kiteclubs.htm

I visited a few times with the South Houston Area Recreational Kiters (S.H.A.R.K.) and a few of those guys helped me when I got my first stunt kite. I even showed them a thing or two with my little electric RC airplane.

And I can also attest to watching the lines. During one meet, I took a nice 3 inch long swath of skin off of my forearm from a line during a launching accident with someone else's kite.

[Myriad]

The typical rigging for a delta-shaped stunt kite is that each flying line attaches to three bridle strings: one to the nose or to the point where the short front lateral spar meets the leading wing edge, one to the tail (the far end of the center spar from the nose, which may or may not be the rearmost point of the kite, because some stunters have swept-back wingtips), and one to the wingtip or to the point near the wingtip where the long back lateral spar meets the wing edge, on the same side. (I'm not sure exactly how that relates to your kite's "three pairs" -- that's the right number of strings, but I don't usually see them arranged in three pairs.)

If you lay the kite flat on the floor belly-up, and hold on to the points of the harness where the flying lines attach, there should be only one point in space where you can hold each attachment point so that all three of its bridle strings are taut. It is these points in space that you are adjusting.

The most important thing is that the two points in space must be symmetrical along the axis of symmetry as the kite. That means that each point must be the same distance from any point along the kite's center spar including the nose, the same distance from their respective wingtips, the same perpendicular distance from the plane of the kite, and so forth.

Assuming that condition is met, the exact details of the exact rigging are part of the design of the kite. I can tell you some typical positionings though. First let's define a useful point A, which is difficult to describe but easy to picture when working with the kite. Imagine a line directly connecting the two attachment points. Find the center point of that line (call that point B). Then drop a perpendicular to the plane of the kite wing. If the symmetry is right, that perpendicular should land somewhere along the center spar of the kite. Call that point A.

Typically, point A is more than halfway, but less than 3/4 of the way, from the nose to the tail.

Typically, the distance from each flying line attachment point to point B is about one third to one half of the span of each wing of the kite (so that the separation between the attachment points is about one third to one half of the kite's total wingspan).

All of these can vary with different kite designs, though, and making adjustments can be tricky. If there's some obvious asymmetry either in the rigging itself or in the way the kite flies (such as, always spins to the left no matter what you do), then adjustment will be necessary. If not, and if the rigging was factory assembled, think twice before messing with it. If it was assembled for you by someone at a kite store (some of whom are real experts at this), take it back to them to adjust.

The most frequently made adjustment is changing the angle of attack of the kite by shortening or lengthening the bridle string from the attachment point to the nose, and lengthening or shortening the bridle string from the attachemtn point to the tail by the same amount. This has the effect of moving point A forward or back along the kite's center spar. If point A is too close to the nose, the kite won't rise high when manevered toward the point straight overhead, or won't lift at all, especially in lower winds. If point A is too close to the tail, the kit will be difficult or impossible to launch.

Perhaps I can make more specific suggestions, if you tell me how the kite is behaving that makes you think it needs adjusting.

The learning curve on any stunt kite can be a challenge. It's not as easy as it looks in the videos. If the problem is that the flyer is overcorrecting at each wiggle until it goes completely out of control, that's more likely a matter of practice than a problem with the kite's configuration. Expect to re-launch the thing for your son a few hundred times until he develops the light touch required. (And tell him that's expected, to keep his confidence up.) Smaller stunt kites turn faster, and so are actually harder to control -- but bigger ones can pull with a lot of force, and that can be a problem too for a kid. Some are purposely designed for beginners, to turn more slowly and not pull too hard.

As for a tail, some stunt kites (like the diamond-shpaed Trilby, one of the most commonly sold and one of the hardest to fly -- though it's hard to beat a train of a dozen of them for sheer spectacle) are designed to have a tail and will be hard to control without one. But for a delta, a tail won't help (though you might try attaching a streamer to each wingtip) and if the kite is tending to spin out of control, it will increase your aggravation by getting wrapped around the strings.

Respectfully,
Myriad

[AgeGap]

Thanks to all. Sorry Myriad, three pairs was the best I could come up with. I think another trip to the park is called for. That and some trial and error.