We love kites and have lots of them. Sled kites are the easiest to fly and easy to make. Tetrahedral kits are more of a challenge but worth the extra work. My mom had to help with a lot of the knot tying.
What we learned:
Kites are like planes. The forces on them are the same. They are the lift, thrust, drag and the weight.
When we made a larger version of the tetrahedral kite we discovered that it flew better without a bridle. We attached the lead string directly to the kite and it doesn’t need a tail for stability either. When we made a smaller one, it needed the bridle and tail to keep it from spinning around. The best size we made was using 9 and a half inch straws. This made a bigger surface area for the tissue paper skin. When we first tried to fly this we were actually attempting to fly it upside down. We thought the wind should catch it more like a parachute to fly it. But then we realized it was more like an airplane flying like a v-shape in the air. That worked much better.
Once we made the 10 cell kite and tried it out we figured it would fly even better if it had more surface area so we made another level and changed it to a 20 cell kite. It worked and flew great! Someday we may even add more but we’ll have to do that work out in the garage because it won’t fit through our door!
Click on an image to enlarge:
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I learned some things about planes. Excellent research and testing.
Not only is it an attractive and cool project, but I appreciate the use of aeronautical terminology (lift, thrust, drag, etc.) I have never seen anything like it. I wonder how well a powered version would work.
We love this project! It is beautiful in the sky!
I didn’t know how to add the stars. I’ll try again.
It’s a 5 Star project!
What a beautiful and colorful project. I’d like to see it fly, but I wouldn’t want it to get caught in a tree and messed up.
It’s a keeper!
What a great project! It’s beautiful! I love kites, but I was never good at getting them to fly!
Forgot my rating.
Still very impressed.
Wow, that is pretty sweet. I never thought of a 3D kite before but I guess they work just fine. Great job!
This is awesome! How in the world did you ever get it into the air and flying?? It seems so fragile. Wonderful to behold!
Amazing and beautiful to see flying!
I love geometric stuff. It’s great.
This is one of my favorite projects of the summer. Kites are cool and yes, we do need to add on to it sometime. Great work!
amazing I have never seen this before . Love the colours .Mary Moore
This is a great kite!