Parasled Kite
Prepared by Nick Wallingford
April 2018
This kite is a parasled. It uses the general shape of the sled kite (another popular first kite to make, but it has sticks…) combined with the ‘pocket’ that provides the vertical rigidity. Both these kite principles are relatively new, in the scheme of things, both developed for the most part in the last 50 years (a mere drop in the history of kites).
I make my kites from a light weight rip stop nylon. Slightly preferable to parker nylon (yes, I always thought it was parka nylon) but not so available. You want a fabric that holds the air, but doesn’t stretch, but is still light.
The kite is not absolutely particular about measurements, but these should be ‘good’ ones. And it can be scaled – easily to twice the height of this little pocket parasled. When it gets bigger, it gets pickier about wind conditions, and if not spot on, can easily get blown out, folding across the middle and falling to the ground. I like this smaller one, that can dance on very light winds, and up to a reasonably strong wind will still see it sometimes flying. Steady winds better than gusty, as a rule…
Only three pieces to cut. I cut with an old soldering iron, on either a sheet of ply or (better) a glass table (it doesn’t damage it). But it could be cut with scissors, allowing a bit more, and then hemmed. Or even just scissors and leave the edges raw – nylon (especially ripstop) doesn’t fray all that much. The grain of the fabric isn’t super critical, but use common sense, and keep it symmetrical. I like to have the leading edges of the pockets (A1 to C1 and E1 to G1) parallel to the fabric grain – but it really isn’t a game-stopper.
The two ‘scallops’, at the top of the main piece, can be from the curve of a large dinner plate. Better to cut the scallop a bit ‘shallow’ to start – you can always take the scissors to it later to try to improve the collection of air into the two pockets. Remember, when it is flying, the two pocket pieces are on the back of the kite, behind the main body piece.
Four seams for the two pockets (which will be formed on the back of the kite when it is flying) are the only real sewing. You just need to make sure you get the correct edge set up before you sew! I will generally sew the two seams closest to the kite’s centre first, aligning the fabric so that this seam will be covered. Then do the two outside seams, just straight sewing. I have found that a glue stick it really good for alignment, etc, as I’m not a great tailor. I always sew from the top to the bottom of the kite, figuring that top edge is probably more important for flight and appearance.
Note made later: Sew straight down both sides of each pocket piece – then turn the whole thing inside out – so it is right side out, if you know what I mean…
But those two pockets could just be sewn straight to the face of the kite – as long as they are done the same way on both sides it is all workable.
Now the bridle attachment points. I use two strips of duct tape, cut to be about 20mm x 60 mm, folding them over the two attachment points. Sometimes I align them with the square edge of the fabric, but generally just pointing out toward flying point. Then, I use a hot needle to melt a small hole through the tape and fabric to thread the bridle through.
The bridle is a piece of string about 3 to 3 1/2 times the height of the kite – a bit more than 1500mm will work fine. One end is (securely!) tied into each of the tape attachment points, then carefully find the middle of the bridle to tie a small overhand knot to make the towing point. I use line with a fishing clip to connect, but you could just tie a knot. The line can be incredibly light. And should be – the kite will fly a lot better.
The tail is a complete variable. Personally, I really like to fly this small kite – if it has been carefully made (!) – without a tail. It should be aerodynamic with no tail, but most people want them, for the looks. I make the tails from nylon offcuts, cutting them to about 30 mm wide strips, then clustering the strips together and stitching across the top to join them, then tacking that to the bottom middle of the kite. You can make the tail of any length or number of strips, really. Not enough tail, if the wind is a bit strong, will see the kite looping off to one side or the other to crash. Too much tail can, if the wind isn’t strong enough, can make the kite boring to fly, if it can lift the tail at all! Be willing to try small amounts of tail to start and add more if the kite is too unstable. One of my best flying kites has about 8 or 10 strips, each about 600mm long.
Most times I make this design, it ‘just flies’, but there is one mod I sometimes make if I can’t seem to get it to climb and fly as good as it should be, when it just kind of hangs too close to the ground, flying, but not soaring. That mod it make a short seam (about 40 mm) at the bottom of each of the two pockets. You have to sort out where is half way across each of the two bits of fabric, but even that is not really critical. The main thing is that this seam will help to keep the pocket filled with air, especially in light winds. I put these little darts (are they called darts?) but as a ‘purist’ in design, I try to avoid having to do it.
When made well and flying in a nice breeze, if you pull the line quickly, the kite will rise up higher into the sky.
A lot of making this kite well relates to being always aware of symmetry – a small kite like this just can’t have something different on the left or right side. It needs to be as symmetrical as possible…