Category: Silver flowform

Kite day coming…

Though I’ve not referred to it here much, there is a kite day this coming Sunday at Fergusson Park for Matariki.  I’m not usually much for kite days, as I’m not overly social (!) at the best of times.

There is a predominance of massive (nothing wrong with that…) ‘kites’ that hang from a pilot kite, rather than fly on their own and finally – made by other people.  I think I’m good evidence that you don’t need to know how to sew to make kites – just don’t look too close at the stitching!

But this will be the first I’ve been to when I’m only bringing soft kites.  No sticks (apart from several that are part of the kite messenger).

3 parafoils
4 panflutes
6 parasleds
9 reels of line
1 picavet rig with camera
1 static dropper rig
3 misc droppers
1 ferry with dropper bag
hammer and stakes
1 set of night lights

I’m not counting the silver flowform yet – it hasn’t flown properly.  And the one bit of wind that it could/should have used makes me think the aerofoil shape is not right – and I am in the process of putting some ‘darts’ into the foils near the leading edge, trying to give it more lift than it currently has.

Silver flowform almost all cut out…

The kite has only 10 pieces in total.

All but the ribs have been cut now. 3 keels, front and back are done.

I’ve now created brown paper patterns for all but the front and back – those are measured directly onto the fabric.

Seam allowance around everything, though sometimes a bit rough.

Both the front and back of the kite have a range of circular air scoops/vents.  So far, I’ve cut them out with an old soldering iron.  But I want to have a go at reinforcing them with stitches.  The sewing machine is capable; am I?

Silver flowform

The blue parafoil is finished – and I’m going to strike while the iron is hot to start making another kite!  Striking with a hot iron, even just a hot soldering iron, is something you need to be careful of when working with rip stop nylon!

Flowform kites have a lot in common with parafoils, but are not nearly so ‘elegant’.  But considerably easier to sew, and since I’ll be sewing this one myself, that is a real factor.

The kite will be just under a metre wide, and a bit over 1.1 metres wide.  The lack of exactitude here is due to the fact that the pattern is done in inches, and I’m converting to metric for the layout.  Gets a bit confusing…

Here’s the article from the old Kitelines magazine that I’m using as my guideline: Flow Form Kite

I recognised the maker’s name – Ed Grauel, assisted by the magazine editor, Margaret Gregor, and figured it must be a pretty reliable pattern.  I can’t see any reference to the magazine in which it first appeared – it appears on the Internet as: http://www.kiteplans.org/planos/flowform5/flowform5.html