Nigel's Kites

Here is a kite I made about three years ago. It has the outside profile I used for the first 10 or 12 Whoosh kites. This one had an interesting layout of the panels. zoom in on the picture so you can see the detail. The idea was to get a really nice glitter from the Icarex fabric as it reflected and transmitted sunlight. I think it had a beautiful effect. I really like all white kites, this one has a big of colour to make it more interesting. Also as is usual for the Whoosh kites none of the panels had straight edges. I don't use straight lines. The edges where panels are joined all have a slight convex radius. This gives the sail a fuller shape which is one of the reasons these kites have a lot more lift and pull than other kites. I still like this shape, but I prefer now to have more connections between the sail and the leading edge tube, and less bridal connections to the leading edge. I now prefer a bridle with no connection to the center of the kite. Also at each bridle connection point to the frame there now is only one line, never two lines. This is just a simplification. If your look at this bridle you can see how the center bridle is not doing much. Two separate connection points further out would do more. Also the connection point at the tee connection. There is no point in having two strings there. I will have to make an up dated version of this kite.

I am going to start posting more pictures. I have tended to only post when I have something new. Since I don't make many kites this has been a bit boring. Some pictures will be of some old stuff I made that are not Whoosh kites but they are interesting. Maybe some pictures from previous Longbeach festivals, and Pacific Rim as well.

Here's my new stack of 7, 60" midvent Whooshs at Longbeach last week. I few it several times. It worked best one morning the winds were around 10 mph. It few great. It remained locked in only having shakes during the transition from forward to reverse. The travelling bicycle (tumbleweed) is quite easy! It flys as fast in reverse as most other kites in forward. Forward it is fast. With the right brake setting making the Whoosh sound. In 10 mph the pull is still only about the same as a single standard B series. I fly it on 300 lbs lines anyway because there is always enough pull. I am really looking forward to trying it in a 2 mph wind. I will post some movies later. One experiment was the spacing. You can't see it in this photo but the spacing is not regular. The first two kites are spaced at 30", the second 31" the third 32" etc. This gives the top kites more room to get wind. Less sheltering from the front kites. I am pretty sure that experiment worked.

Here is my new stack of 60" Whoosh kites. They weigh just 42 grams each. The sails are small, made for low pull. They should have a wind range 2 to 20 MPH.

I have sewn a stack of 60" Whoosh kites. I was thinking of leaving them white. Now I am thinking of paint.

I am getting ready for Longbeach. I am making a new stack of 60" Whoosh mid vent kites. Also I am making some wooden and carbon handles. The wooden and 3D printed versions shown below.

Robert and Akimi's mid vent Whooshes in India. These kites have the travel sized frames so the fold down into a little package about 17" long. They fly in winds up to 25 MPH. They get pretty fast in that kind of wind. One thing that is common to the design of many of my Whooshes is the angle of the keel spars. Often I prefer them to be splayed out as these ones are rather than pointing straight down as on most other quad line kites. The latest kites I made, the eyeballs I tried going back to straight, but I think I prefer the splayed way that has been my habit. I think it makes the kites reverse better. Particularly the straight up climb in reverse seems better on my kites with this style of frame. Has anyone else done this?

Here is the bridal on my new kite. I usually make the brake bridals and the front bridals completely separate. Also on about the last 6 kites I have made I left out the center connection to the frame. I am pretty sure that connection is a complete waste of time. I have been doing unlinked briddals for a few years but I decided to try a linked bridal with some similarities to the Djinn bridal. Which I also tried several years ago also then with poor results. I experimented with it for about an hour but I didn't really get anywhere with it. I was trying to have a bridal where the kite would fly just off the front lines, and just of the brakes as well. I couldn't quite get that to work, even though I had huge range of adjustment. Maybe this won't ever work on my kites. I can't ever learn anything without experimenting and trying new things.

Here is today's kite. It is one of two new 8 panel Whoosh design kites I am trying for something new. It has more connection points to the sail than any other Whoosh I have made. The color and design reminds me if my Djinn. I just have to bridal it. I am thinking of trying a Djinn style sync bridal instead of my usual un linked type.

Here is a picture of a new handle my friend Tony Tung printed for me. It is made so the length can be varied by installing different sized tubes (2400 pulltruded carbon) in the end. Right now I have used them for flying my little 60" mid vent Whoosh. With that the extension only sticks out the bottom 1/4" because a very short handle is required. This style of handle is great for that kite because it has so little pull that it is nice to fly just off your finger tips so you can feel how it is pulling. The trouble is with normal handles you end up dropping them when you do that. With these that is not a problem. I have flown the little Whooshes in 1 1/2 MPH wind, there really isn't much pull at all, but with these you can still feel it.

The leader line is not installed, instead of two knotted leaders, I put a string right though the handle about a foot long, the string comes out a hole at the top for the power line and out the end of the tube at the bottom for the brakes. The string can be adjusted for more brake or less brakes by sliding it one way or the other. I think that is better than the normal system because there are less knots to get caught and no d rings.

4 new Whoosh kites ready for bridals. These are the ones I call midvents because the can fly in a huge range of winds. The sails are smaller than the normal Whoosh, but there are no vents.

Here is a new kite. It is based om mu experience with the last design. I decided I wanted more area at the tips. At first it had some really bad characteristics. Finally I figured out the right bridal and adjustments. I flew it for two hours in very light conditions and it was pretty amazing

Here is a picture showing the wisker on the back which I have already changed.