Hello everybody! I want to make my first power kite by myself, I have plans, ripstop, sewing machine, basically all what I need to sew one, BUT there is one problem, I looked up all internet but i didn't find how to sew it together, i found photos where it is shown how to assemble kite, but not exactly how to sew it together step-by-step.

If someone have done it or have direct photos/instruction how to assemble it, I would be grateful, if someone could send it to me.

email: coolwave@inbox.lv thanks already.

welcome

and BTW

you have plans, indicated by "I have plans"

plans? or drawings which might detail only the size, shaped, etc but not the process?

Designs in Foilmaker, but i don't know how to sew it together.

The idea is to start one side. Sew the panels of the first cell together (straight stitch) on the sides and front (assume it's a closed cell). Put the first profile in with the seam pointing out towards the second cell, and leave the trailing edge open. Then put the top and bottom of the second cell onto the seam connecting the first profile with the first cells top and bottom panels, leaving the trailing edge open again. Then put the second profile in, finishing the second cell. Keep working untill you made about half a kite. Of course, don't forget to put in your bridle loops while doing this.

Next, do the exact same thing on the other side, making the other half of your kite. One half of your kite will end in a profile, the other in a top and bottom panel for the closing cell. Now it's time to put the two together.

First attach the top panel (since that's the most difficult one) to the profile of the other half, seam on the inside as usual. Now comes the tricky part: roll up your entire kite, both halves, as tight as possible, just leave the last half-attached panel free. Now fold that panel all the way around the two tight rolls of fabric, untill it meets the profile. Sew them onto eachother. You now have a complete kite that's been turned inside out through the closing cell. Carefully pull both halves (the rolls of fabric) out through the inlet or the trailing edge, whichever is bigger. You now have a nearly-finished foil kite. This sounds more complicated then it is really, if you roll op both sides of the kite and realise you're supposed to end up with an inside-out kite, you 'll immediately realise how it's supposed to go.

Lastly, close the trailing edge, either by folding it over a few times (need to have added a lot of seam prepared for this when cutting out the panels), or by adding a folded strip of fabric around it. You can do the closing of the trailing edge with a zig-zag or triple zig-zag stitch.

Now make a bridle, attach some flying lines, launch it, and take some pics for us

perhaps the source the "patterns" should be happy to help?

i always give out my plans with easy to follow directions . helps take out the guesswork, rather than actually designing my own.

@PHREERIDER sory, but your posts isn't helping me at all

@Pulsar: tnx about instructions, now I only have to start do something!

about bridle....I am going to make Flexi Blade 4 (11 m^2), I wonder what would be the best bridle system?

You're making a replica of a commercial kite? (Is there even a Blade IV 11? Never knew...) Then copy the bridle as well, otherwise it won't fly anything like the original. Any kite patterns should come with a bridle plan, otherwise they're pretty useless...

In my experience designing a bridle is actually harder then designing the canopy, so just slapping something together is definitely not the way to go. Any half-decent canopy will fly with a good bridle. Maybe not good, but it'll fly. A good canopy with a dodgy bridle often won't even take off.

Don't waste fabric on a canopy you don't have the bridle plan for.

Ok, there is the problem, biggest Blade 4 is 8.5, i thought I can just make it bigger with the same bridle, but now I understand that i can not....deam, so close :D

Pulsar, you don't know where to get complete plans in Foilmaker program?

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of good plans out there available for download. Making a good kite not only takes a lot of designing, but if you want to do it right it also requires building several prototypes. That's also the reason why my designs aren't that great, they're all first prototypes. Too expensive to build a version that may only be slightly better :P Then when you finally make a good design, most people don't want to just give it to everyone by making it a free download on the web. There's some free designs available for Foilmaker and Surfplan (like foilmaker but a lot newer), like the Dutch Gual (allround performance) or the Wingine (buggy). They don't go bigger then about 8 square meters though.

Enlarging a blade 8.5 could actually work, as long as you have all the panel layouts and scale them correctly. For bridle you could try multiplieing every single line with a certain factor. I'd try the flat length of the 11 divided by the flat length of the 8.5 and see what that does. Might have to tweak a bit but in general i think it'll fly. In reality larger sizes usually have different designs, like a higher aspect ratio or smaller profile height, but a 8.5 is already designed for (very) light winds, so i think it wouldn't be a very different design. Now if you would take plans for a 3 square meter and scale that to a 11, then we'd have a problem.

You want to also check to see that the ripstop that your using has been coated or not. Uncoated ripstop feels almost like regular fabric; whereas, coated ripstop will be crispy and be able to stand up in a crumpled mass. The coating helps the ripstop hold air rather then letting it pass through - it helps the kite maintain a wing shape when inflated. If it's not coated I have heard that you can buy and apply the coating to the raw ripstop before sewing it up. Good luck.

Welcome!
Easier and probably cheaper in the long run to buy one :D

Ok, I am going to make Gual 8 , of course I could try to get scale relation from 8.5 but it would be risky, so i decided to stick to tested values I am afraid that I haven't got sufficient knowledge to adjust 8.5 to 11 or so

I wonder, if my weight is ~78 kg in full gear, and I am on land, for example I am on mountain board. 8m/s wind would do the job with 8 m^2 power kite?

a rev powerblast clone is much easier to built.

Yes i have coated ripstop, tnx for advice

@Kamikuza- yes, of course its easier to buy one, but it's all about doing your self....if so many have done it,with great results, why it couldn't be me?


a powerblast isn't the kite that i am looking for, but yes, it is much easier to build .

You could try NPW's they seem much easier to make and have proven designs

Cos it's not that easy try NPW, you'll be impressed with that and it's easier to do ... you'll get better results.

Jukucs -

If you're building a Gual, go to the original site:

http://www.wingine.nl/

Look under Building Techniques: Building a Foil. Step-by step photo sequence for a Gual. Lots of other useful info in other sections of that site.

krumly