Mini Indoor Stunt Kite Make.

Intro: Mini Indoor Stunt Kite Make.

A cheap (and I mean really cheap!!) Mini Indoor Stunt Kite.
Made from:

Drinking Straws (thin)
Plastic Bag (pedal-bin Liner, the thinner the better)
Cotton Thread (strong white, but any will do if its strong)
stick (balsa, or anything sticklike and even from tip to tip. no taper)

You will also need:

Glue (superglue works best)
Needle (for minor stitching)
Scissors/Craftknife (sharp)

STEP 1: Get Your Plans.

To begin with (other than getting the materials) you wil need to get a suitable plan from online. then print the falf image of the kite (as its going to be symetrical) onto an a4 sheet.

or if your great like me (nah only kidding ;) im poo :( ) you can make your own (see measurements pic in next step).

You will need these materials:

Drinking Straws (thin)
Plastic Bag (pedal-bin Liner, the thinner the better)
Cotton Thread (strong white, but any will do if its strong)
stick (balsa, or anything sticklike and even from tip to tip. no taper)

You will also need:

Glue (superglue works best)
Needle (for minor stitching)
Scissors/Craftknife (sharp)

STEP 2: Layout

If you prefer to design your own kite shape (like I did) then lay it out on a sheet of card (cerial box would be good).

or you can use the measurments from the image below..

The spine leangth - 230mm, and the LE leangth - 350mm (leading edge)are also the leangths the straws need to be fo those parts. But we'll get to that soon.

STEP 3: The Kite Surface

Take the template you now have, and lay it over a folded peace of light plastic bag making sure the spine is lined up along the fold.

Then carfully draw around the shape.

then extra carefully cut it out making sure the plasic doesnt move (its folded remember so when you unfold it it wil be symetrical),
do not cut along the spine! remember its your line of symetry.

you should now have your kite surface. :)

(I have no image of the plasic but the image of the light cloth version below should give you the general idea)

STEP 4: Framework

Gather your drinking straws..

You will probably have to extend one or two for the longer bits.

The lengths are:

60mm x 2 for the two little thingys that go on the mainspar
230mm X 1 for the spine
350mm X 2 for the leading edge (both sides)
110mm X 1 for th small spar that goes near the tip
320mm X 1 for the mainspar


(again I have no pictures of this part, refer to the given images)

STEP 5: Assembly

Now you have everything..

Lay out the Kite surface and carefully glue the spine straw in place making sure its dead center all the way from tip to tail.

then glue the LE straws along the edge making sure that they are aligned to the edge perfectly.

It doesnt matter if the 3 straws dont meet at the tip.. they dont have to .. you can put a folded peace of straw across the tip slotted inside the LE straws as a reenforced tip and stitch it to them.

On the surface at the point between the tail and the wingtips where the surface meets at a angle (the point marked at 115mm x 65mm onthe plan below) attach a small peace of tape to strengthen. then using thread attach the small 60mm straws to this point stitching a cross shape. repeat in symetry.

Attach the mainspar to the spine 80mm from the tail (a small rubberband may work), and attach it to each LE 90mm from the end tips by stitching straw to straw.

Then stich the small 60mm bits to the mainsparabout 70mm from the spine. this will raise the surface to the desired shape for flight.

stitch the smaller 110mm spar in place where it fits snugly near the kite tip.

You should now have your Kite :) but we're not there yet.

STEP 6: Bridle and Control Lines

This is the fun bit :S

You will need to make a bridle to attach the control lines to.

This is done by tying a peace of thread to the points where the spars are stiched to the LE, and the mainspar crosses the spine..

You will have 3 peaces of thread on each side. They will need to be tied together at certain leangths to work properly.

I used thiese lengths:

from small spar/LE, 123mm (spar to knot)
from mainspar/LE, 133mm (spar to knot)
from spine/mainspar, 97mm (spine to knot)

Thies are the same for both sides.. once knots are tied add a second knot 15mm further up before cutting off excess thread. This is for attaching the control lines.

We now have the bridle set up..

Now get 2 equal lengths of thread (use the same stuff for all this build)
about 6Ft each, tie a loop in one end of each and attach the other end to the stick at a distance of 130mm appart making sure the leangths are equal..

The Kite is now ready to fly :) (hopefully)

(again im such a poo for not having pictures :( )

STEP 7: Flying!

Attach the lines to the bridles by looping the loop through itself and pulling it tight around the knot on the bridle. it holds well and can be removed if need be by losening the loop.

Take the stick in one hand out level with sholder in front of you. and lay the kite on its back on the floor below tip facing away from you with your hand facing downwards.

carefully wind up any loose line until the kite is only just above the floor..

now for the mad bit :) get in the middle of a clear area. a large room is best. (no obsticles)

It will take a little bit to get used to. To get the kite to fly you need to pull the line away from it.. So if you jerk the stick upwards the kite will (if built properly)fly forward and up.

to keep the thing going keep pulling away.. You can get some pretty descent manovers just standing there on the spot.

It mainly flys in a curved figure of eight formation around you.. but u can experement. Its quite responsive :)

Bellow is a version I made using a light fabric.. It works but requires more effort and harder pulling.. The lighter the better ;)

I hope this is informative enougheen with the lack of pictures.
This is my first Instructable and wanted it to be worth doing..

These thngs are fun and good to play with cats (its like being swooped by small birds)

and its made with easily replaces materials so you can make as many as you like.

Comments

[mashedpotato13]

I would replace the drinking straw frame with a bamboo skewer one...

[Bongmaster]

u could but that would probably make it heavier. and would need more force to lift it.
i went with straws cos it was lightest, and is plenty strong like that :)

[Duckism]

is it possible that you could put more pictures on this? there are like 2 pictures with something so complicated. it's pretty confusing

[Bongmaster]

i would have to make a new one from scratch in order to do that and i dont have the time right now :(

[alexwin]

Those are good directions, but I've never made on of these before and I'm completely lost on step 6. Maybe like more pictures, labeling what a "mainspar" is, etc., would be helpful to people like me who don't know. Thanks!!

[Bongmaster]

ah i referred to the long bit across the kite as the main spar i believe

[Kevin12345]

Do you have any pics of the braces on the underside of the kite? If you do, could you show them?

[Bongmaster]

the straw braces were just sewn to the other straws, I have a new camera now so i should be able to get some better pictures up soon ;)

[cre8ev]

I like your kite. I want you to know i was the first guy to create an indoor kite and sell it on the market. I sold it under a number of names, house flyer, pocket kite and others. I even set up a factory in south America to produce them. I have photos of the kite and my factory.I will post them if you are interested. It was in the late 70s early 80s. I sold millions of them all over the world. cre8ev

[Bongmaster]

kool stuff. i never seen any other indoor stunt kites tho :) would be nice to.

[safdar]

it looks confusing!

[DurkaDurka]

hey looks pretty cool good idea

[funwithfire325]

hey can you email me the kite plans privite me for my email

[Bongmaster]

what plans exactly? the ones i printed off from the net? I'm not sure i still have them on pc, but u can use any layout u find online, just search for stunt kite plans. and when u print them out make sure it fills the page (assuming the plan is a half plan like in the pictures). if not its not hard to draw out from a plan.. i'll look on my pc for what plans i have.

[funwithfire325]

i want your plans

[PAWZ]

no way! an indoor kite?! that sounds too good to be true :-s try and get a vid on here and i'll beleive it when I see it, and then i would def put the effort in to make one. good instructable though :-) (if it does really work) and yours looks cool... and silky

[frogerman3]

ok i made one it crashed realy bad

[Bongmaster]

you need to make sure the thing is even (symetrical) and you may have to play with the bridle. make sure its precice. remember its not good for wind (too small and response is far too fast). its something you need to ge the hang of. also make sure the line lenghths are both equal. if one side is longer than the other the thing will veer off something cronic. To test it out just pull your arm up sharply and the thing should shoot up in the air in front curving from the floor.. if you have experiance with full size stuntkites then it would be easier to understand. The air being blown directly toward the underside causes the lift.. keep trying and if need be make another.. i'll try and better this make soon with proper pics and instructions. Trust me it works ;) practice makes purfect :P

[horwichg]

I very much enjoyed this. I am a big fan of all sorts of kites, and this is a lot of fun to play with.

[Bongmaster]

what? you made one already? :S