good I hope you get it, I am to old Santa just past me by.

Nice work Renny, it looks like the NPW bug has bitten :D

In a big way

How's the 4 meter coming along?

Very good, It is going slow right now, I am working on the art work and I am no artiest.
But when that is done I will be moving fast.

Now I've gotten into the do it yourself NPW craze. After getting the beautiful 4.0 (which makes a cameo in the video) from the npw goddess , I'm almost embarrassed to show this one -but that's never stopped me before. And the question has come up about how hard it is to make an NPW for the first time.

I actually have been trying kitemaking now for several months w.o. much success, generally getting frustrated by not being competent with the sewing machine. I've made a few small sled kites that didn't fly very well.

I also was fairly intimidated by the various plans I'd read (despite the fact that the Tom White plans which I followed are quite excellent). So I decided to try this 1.0 meter Dollar Tree NPW5 (no they don't sell the kite now, just the stuff you need to make one) to see if I ever could put one together assuming I could actually do the sewing. I also figured it would be very helpful to see how one of these things actually went together - sort of a scale model of the process.

I like it, very nice. What did you make it out of, a blue tarp? it looked nice.:bisou:

Amazing! The only thing I would be wary of is how the bridle attachment points would handle the load of using it for traction, I take it it's an NPW 5? It just goes to prove that the NASA design is pretty versatile and doesn't need really light materials to fly :D

Quote: Originally posted by sadsack

I like it, very nice. What did you make it out of, a blue tarp? it looked nice.:bisou:

Yes its a blue tarp, but not the heavy duty kind you see at Home Deport. Its pretty light (probably too light to actually use as a tarp) but very strong. I can't tear it apart with my hands. It is really light. I thought it would take a lot of wind to get this to fly, but it really didn't.

bigE123, It is an NPW5. The bridle line on the back in the main panel is probably the weakest point. I may try to reinforce that, but it showed no signs of failing yesterday, albeit in light wind. The side panel bridle lines are very solid - amazing how grippy duct tape is. I did a test hanging a 20 lb weight from one line and it held. (Try to post a picture of that later.)

I found the tarp material can be sewed (I did sew the darts though I think they could be taped or stapled), so I may put some stitches in to tie it down in future itereations. The purpose of this was not to really make a traction kite for towing, but to see how the whole thing goes together. I learned a lot from this. (Also I'm new to flying quad lines so this is helping me learn that too.) I do plan to take it out in a lot of wind to see how it holds up.

Nice! How did you attach the bridle in the middle?

I used 3M clear packing tape (from Dollar Tree, of course). I was originally going to replace that with duct tape after putting the bridles in because its very strong, easy to apply and peel away, while duct tape is more or less permanent. At the time, I thought being able to see where the line is would be important, though I don't thinks that's critical now. It seems quite strong - pulling against the line I can't remove it. Since you have 12 bridle lines all pulling on the reinforcement line against each other there is some synergy.

After flying for 2 hours in light wind no issues apparent so I'll see if I need to do that.





BTW - I'm finding this material is much easier to sew than the kite fabric I have, so future iterations may have more conventional reinforced seams and the like. Certainly, this approach is probably limited to very small kites like this one.

That's awesome. That looks like a great way to start building and flying as a prelude to actually sewing so you have some idea of what your doing.

That was the main reason for doing it. I really wanted to build a model to see how this all worked. I figured if it didn't fly, I should just give up. Since it does, well, who knows?

I like it! I have had many folks ask if I made my own kite, and I've had to confess a lady in Louisiana made them for me. It must be gratifying to be able to say, Yep, I slapped her together with a tarp and some duct tape! Good job!

You soon will be sewing then, and much bigger one too.

Randy, Like most of what goes into making something, it's only not knowing how that is intimidating... Using a sewing machine really isn't that hard... Spend some time on the machine doing things like making weight bags or fix your pants... simple things that won't hurt a kite design if you do them wrong. Then when you feel ready go for the NPW...

I've used a machine to sew a great many single line kites and it's real quite an easy thing to use... It's just getting used to how it works. I've never tried an NPW because I don't feel I have the time to invest in it... While I want to try flying one, I'd rather buy one.

When I started to make kite about 6 months ago, I ask around what kites I should start outwith.
I was told just start making them, more you make better you come at making then. So i did in the last 6 months I have made about 60 + and I have 2 going now. just start and the kites will take care on then selfs. it is like you go in to a kite trans and when you come out the kite is done.

Yeah I think I experienced the kite trance. Now I'm trying to decide what to make next. I've only made 3 so far. Oddly, the most complicated kite I made (the 1 m2 NPW) flies much better than the sled kites I made. But they have to fly themselves with a single string, while I can control the NPW. But yeah, it makes the most sense to "just do it."

BTW - flew "lil Blue" again today for about an hour - wind about 5-15, starting to feel a real tug from it at times. No signs of wear on any of the taped parts or in the tarp material. If nothing else this is a fun quad trainer to fly though its obviously much quicker and more responsive than my bigger kites, so its more of a toy. But fun. Flew the new 4.0 NPW as well - a huge amount of pull - went off the 60 foot onto short lines.

I am working on a 4.0 NPW now. Hope to be done this week.
Now just waiting for some snow, but still can use my skates.:frog:

Randy... I'd love to try that 4m next time we meet up!

That would be fine. I was thinking of going to Swift C tommorrow, in case you can make a lunchtime run. I flew it today with my landboard at my spot on Lake Lanier. Worked pretty well - wind was 10-20 and gusty. I did have to park it for a while though when the winds got really strong. I'm still learning quad lines but like them a whole lot. My 1.0 has been a fun trainer, though it moves a lot quicker than the 4.0. I'm probably going to convert the Nasa Star 5.5 to four line as I get more comfortable with it.

Not anytime soon... I've got a Class in January with LOTS of reading to do,... Lunch breaks will be knee deep in textbooks for the next few months, but I'm hoping to break away at some point for a break... I'll let you know.

CR@P... Tomorrow looks nice! Tomorrow would be a great "take a break" day, but unfortunately I have a Dr. Appointment in the morning and a prior engagement in the afternoon.

Hi Randy, if your looking for short cuts just to get a kite built and flying, instead of sewing the darts, run a line in the top LE seam, secure on end and shorten it by the dart width and secure it. It's not something I do but I do know of ppl doing it if they are building a quickie. Like sadsack said sewing is a matter of just doing it and keeping your patience, before long you'll be thinking "what was I worried about".

Oh and while I think on, material: You can get 60g/m2 ripstop material which is fairly cheap off flea bay, it's easy to work with and bullet proof, as you go lighter it becomes a bit harder to work with (especially parachute type material, it has a more silky feel) is a real pain.
The lighter the material the less wind it'll fly in, but you need to take more care making sure there are reinforcements in key areas. My big NASA and batman is done in 56g/m2 material and both have taken loads of abuse, have had both stuck in trees and once hauled out no damage at all to the material.

@bigE123 - thanks for the tips. I'm working on a npw9b now, 1.8 m.

Say big123...

How do you apply your decorative patterns, colors onto your fabric?

It's all stitched, appliqué is the official name for the technique, the batman and pirate have the centre cut out and the lighter material sewn in-place to let the light through. The NASA etc are true appliqué where the pattern is hot cut, then stitched onto the kite skin.

Nothing fancy for this new build tho' due to the amount of sewing just for the basic build, each side is now just over half way done:

Excited to see that airborne bigE!

I'll take a 4 and a 7 meter BigE :D