Nasa ParaWing, a pure traction kite...

Nasa ParaWing

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sail details

Follow carefuly sewing method described here.
It is really the simplest way to build a NPW !

copy the layup pattern and hot cut the sail : copy the layup of the finished measurements of each panel don't forget to add margins (1,5 cm seams, 2 cm for the perimeter) once finished, hot cut the panels hot cutting allows a precise cut and strengthens the edge of ripstop.
atttach the two half wings (1, 2) and (3, 4) (red line on the drawing) technics stitch with reinforcement cord
attach the boby panels only attach 6 and 7 for a two colors boby or for buggy sails (maximum strength) for 5 and 6 attachment you must first insert the "T" nose needed to keep the nice rounded shape of NPW.Technics stitch with reinforcement cord and T
attach wings and main body technics stitch with reinforcement cord
finish the perimeter of the wing techics rolled seam with reinforcement cord

technics : stitch with reinforcement cord

a reinforcement cord is inserted in the seams straigth stitch is sewn on both edges of folds a zig zag stitch is sewn over the cord this method allows a perfect strength of the seams. bridles will be then attached around the cord. This will ease a lot the NPW building...
to facilitate the seam construction, I use the following method layout a line at 1,5 cm from the edge. This line is the finished sail measure layout a second line (dashed) at 1 cm from the edge
position the edge over the dashed line glue the two pieces together (just a few drops of cyano acrylate cyano-acrylate glue can be dangerous for finger tips...
glue the cord over the first line a few drops are enough... with this very efficient method, all is done at once !!!
fold the seam to get the desired profile, to do that just follow the glued edges if needed, add a few drops of cyano-acrylate glue again sew a first straigth stitch (or a very long zig zag) turn the fabric and sew the second stitch on the other edge zig-zag sew over the cord

technics : rolled seam with reinforcement cord

to perform rolled seams on the kite perimeter layout a 2 cm margin glue cord on the fabric edge sew the cord with a straigth stitch (you will need at least a 1 mm cord to be able to sew it easily)
finish the seam fold it twice glue it sew the egde with a straigth stitch zig-zag sew over the cord

technics : stitch with reinforcement cord and "T"

There are 6 "T" on top of nose, they are cord reinforcements which allow to bend the sail nose. only T n° 2 to 5 are sewn when attaching panels 5 and 6 T n°1 and 6 will be assembled later when finishing the nose
"T" are inserted inside the seam insert one T edge around the reinforcement cord before sewing it glue it add 6 to 7 centimeters to the "T' compared to its final size. It will be fine tuned later. localise carefully "inside" of the sail (figure 1 on drawing). Inside means "the side that pilot will see". the red arrow points to top of NPW nose. "T" must be positionned as shown on drawing to allow to fold the nose over sail "inside" sew as shown in technics : stitch with reinforcement cord
here is a finished "T" the arrow still points to top of sail the stitch that you can see behind the T is one of dart nose. This will be explained later.