Dragon Fly

This is the first 3D-kite I have designed. It is made of Icarex, Ramin and 3mm/1.5mm fibreglass. Wing span is about 1.5m. The wings are framed, but the body is soft - basically a fancy wind sock which simply hangs underneath the wings.

(7K) (7K)

This kite has no built-in dihedral, instead it relies on the wind pressure to obtain a stable dihedral shape. In very low winds this kite is therefore rather unstable. In low to medium wind it flies very nicely and can even be left unattended. The bridle is a bit complicated: In order to achieve the dynamic dihedral I used an 8-legged bridle, i.e. 2 legs per wing :-)

A nice feature of this design is that wings and body are separate detachable units. I intend to build a few alternate bodies soon.