Important Steps In Designing Quad-Line Kites

**Sorta getting ahead of myself, as I haven't uploaded any Kilroy rodding pix, but thought I'd share a couple of _very_ important things to remember when designing quad-line kites. If they don't pass these two *tests* you are not going to have a *great* kite. It might still *fly*, but so do rocks if you throw them into the air

From Kilroy, Page 6 (http://puppetkite.tripod.com/makekil6.htm)

Important Steps In Designing Quad-Line Kites:

Check for billow: http://puppetkite.tripod.com/skeleton/billowcheck.jpg Even a new two dimensional (flat) kite has to have a certain amount of billow in the sail to be a stable flier.

Checking For A Propeller Shape: http://puppetkite.tripod.com/propcheck.htm (An animation. Wait for it to entirely load.) Once rods are in place, grab the kite by the two outside vertical rods (from the backside of kite) and make sure the kite can twist into a propeller shape without any binding whatsoever.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not talking about *much* at all... just *enough*... I think a lot of this boils down to personal taste. I would guess that I would enjoy _any_ kite *more* after it is 'broken in' and it's sail has stretched ever-so-slightly, giving it that *magical amount* of billow. A new kite always feels 'tight' to me... A few dips in salt water and an hour of 30MPH wind usually does the trick for me... _personally_. _Then_, I feel like I want it to stay just the way it is right then... before it *wears out* and gets too much billow... there's a *magical time* with every kite, and it seems like it doesn't last very long, or at least long enough I think Levis sells those used jeans for the same reason

A Shockwave is as flat as a board, yet it flies great..

The straightest tracking quad I ever flew was the Solution, it has no billow either, rather, the frame holds the sail in a 3D shape.

Persomally, I think a 3D frame (i.e. Deca and Solution) works a *lot* better than a flat frame with a sail that billows out behind it. Particularly when flying in reverse in low wind, a kite like a Rev will tend to collapse, while a Solution or Deca will not.

A couple more quick points or observations...

1. Look into Kilroy's eyes... you are getting sleepy The rather large area that consumes the eyes has no rod(s) directly behind it and here is where a _nice_ air pocket (billow) is formed. Even with the new material, this is quite prominent, and I am very pleased with this (for reasons mentioned in previous reply).

2. The reverse (problem) mentioned by Skull usually can be overcome by inserting a rod into a trailing edge rod sleeve. 'No more luffing of the TE during reverse flight' would be close to a *proper* technical explanation, I think... IOW, the trailing edge won't flip-flop forward (towards the pilot) and back while flying in reverse direction with the TE traveling *forward*.

3. The small diameter (Looking to buy a micrometer, today.) fiberglass rods circling the _entire_ kite's (Kilroy's eyes) _LE_ perimeter, without a *break* in the rod, has no negative effect on the ability to twist the kite into the *required* propeller shape, without binding or *structural stiffness*.

Are you getting this billow by contouring the sail pattern (like for a boat sail) or from the framing?

Before you buy.

With Kilroy's face, this billow came strickly from the framing. The areas of noted billow is rather *large*... two areas that are 26 inches tall and 28 inches wide (*square*)... something comparable to a Rev 1, I'm guessing... maybe between a 1.5 and a 1???... the difference being that this area is *framed* (literally) by carbon rods. A smaller kite would not *automatically* have this much billow, of course... it could only be achieved by actually incorporating (sewing) it into the sail area or by stretching the sail. It might have the same *relative* amount, but I'm talking about enough for the pilot to find *useful*. So, by changing the angle of the kite surface with the quad handles you can use the upper horizontal rod to achieve directionally *forward* flight by the exertion of wind force (pressure) on the area of sail on the _bottom_ side of that rod, and *reverse* flight by the pressure against the _top_ side of the _bottom_ horizontal rod's sail area. Left and right movement (with no change in LE direction) is achieved by moving the left/right side(s) of the kite forward/back and causing this wind pressure to move against the right or left _vertical_ rods in the same *manner* as the previously mentioned forward/reverse mode. BTW, a propeller spin is created when you do the *opposite* to each side at the _same_ time.

This hopefully (sorta explains why this *cup* of air is important (to me

Yup. Billow, me likes