| Andrew Kinsman |
5/9/2005 |
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| Circoflex
GB kite. Made from kitchen sized (24
inch wide) plastic garbage bag. |
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| Circumference |
48 |
inches |
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| Diameter |
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15.3 |
inches |
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| Radius |
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7.6 |
inches |
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| Tow point distance in front of
circle |
50 |
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percent of diameter equals |
7.6 |
inches |
| Tow point
distance up from bottom of circle |
10 |
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percent of diameter equals |
1.5 |
inches |
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| Bridle has
4 or 8 lines tied to single tow point. Four works fine for heavy packing strap. |
| If you use
thin or very flexible packing strap, 8 bridle lines work best. |
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| In clock
face type positions they are- |
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| position |
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length |
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length as percentage of diameter |
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| 12:00 |
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15.7 |
inches |
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103.0 |
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| 1:30 |
(optional) |
14.8 |
inches |
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12.71808 |
97.1 |
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| 3:00 |
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12.4 |
inches |
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9.783542 |
81.2 |
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| 4:30 |
(optional) |
9.4 |
inches |
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5.448473 |
61.4 |
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| 6:00 |
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7.8 |
inches |
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51.0 |
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| 7:30 |
(optional) |
9.4 |
inches |
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61.4 |
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| 9:00 |
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12.4 |
inches |
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81.2 |
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| 10:30 |
(optional) |
14.8 |
inches |
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97.1 |
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| Carefully
trim the bottom seam off the bag, producing a 48 inch circumference tube |
| of plastic. |
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| Make eight
2 inch long pleats in the trailing edge, each 1/4 inch deep. Tape with |
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| scotch
tape. This makes the back of the
kite smaller in diameter over the last |
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| two
inches. Make sure pleats fold inward
or trim them off for aesthetics. Space them |
| carefully
around the circumference, every 45 degrees. |
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| Make a 48
inch hoop of plastic packing strap, used to ship cardboard boxes. |
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| Cut about
50 inches and overlap it 2 inches to make the correct circumference. |
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| The hoop is
heavy where it overlaps- make this the bottom centerline of the kite. |
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| Tape the
hoop with a few turns of clear packing tape. |
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| Fold about
an inch of the top rim of the bag over the hoop. |
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| Tape with
scotch tape. Poke holes below rim at
45 degree intervals for the bridle lines. |
| Attach
the bridle lines. Bridle dimensions
are critical to success. |
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| Keep in
mind heavy hoop overlap defines bottom centerline when attaching bridle
lines. |
| A snap
swivel is a nice addition on the main tow line if you have one. |
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| Tape two
pennies inside the kite along the bottom centerline. |
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| One 6
inches from the back of the kite, another 6 inches in front |
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| of the first. |
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| Bridle
lengths are provided as percentages of diameter if you must scale up/down |
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| for different bag sizes. |
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| Pull is
light so fishing line is perfect. Perhaps take the whole pole for easy retrieval? |
| Enjoy! -Andy Kinsman |
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