Types Of Kites8 Popular Single Liners
We
build and fly many different types of kites that are known in the West,
as you probably know by now. Not all of them originated in the West
though...
For example, our Dowel Sode over there on the left has a sail shape that copies the Japanese Sode Dako.
On this page, the focus is definitely on single-liners, and 'flat' types of kites in particular.
However,
I like to include designs with bowed spars or dihedral in the 'flat'
category. Not to mention Deltas, despite the small amount of billow in
their sails which helps to keep them stable.
A couple of these types, the Diamond and the Delta, are almost
'household names' now. Particularly during April in the USA, when it is
officially 'kite month' over there! Even in China, where kites have been
popular for many centuries, the Diamond and Delta from the West are
catching on and being absorbed into the local kite culture.
Apart from those 2 types, we hope you enjoy getting educated about some others that are not quite as well known...
The Sled Kite
A ram-airl Sled kite in flight.
In terms of popularity and sheer numbers, the Sled kite is up there in the Big Three - Sleds, Diamonds and Deltas.
I've
never seen a truly large Sled of the 2-stick variety, but have often
seen smaller ones flying here and there. Usually with inflatable spars,
as in the photo. In parks, down at the beach, even at Kite Festivals.
This
entire web site started out by featuring a humble little $5 all-plastic
Sled we bought for our toddler! It's still out there in the back
shed...
A
bit of research on these types of kites turned up an amazing variety of
configurations for such a seemingly simple design. Extra spars, vents,
cutouts, you name it. Whatever its exact form, the attractive thing
about these kites is the built-in transportability and instant setup.
Pure convenience.
The flying performance of store-bought Sled kites tends to be modest, but that doesn't bother the people who fly them!
The Diamond Kite
I
can't help noticing how often we are bombarded with images of the
Diamond kite in daily life. These types of kites are everywhere.
It
seems every second kid's show on T.V. and every second children's book
has an image or 3 of this extremely well-known kite shape. It seems
that, in the West at least, the word 'kite' is almost synonymous with
the shape 'diamond'.
Hear 'kite', see a 'diamond'!
As
a family we have often seen a Diamond kite of some description floating
on the breeze. Usually, the person taking an opportunity to fly a kite
is hidden by the houses and trees of suburbia here in Adelaide.
Interestingly,
all our building and flying of simple Diamonds has underscored the
basic reliability and idiot-proof nature of these types of kites! Many
other designs can have their quirks and give trouble when built from
scratch by inexperienced fliers. No wonder the Diamond is so popular.
The larger ones which break down for transport are very quick to set up
too.
With accurately made modern materials, Diamond kites can have
quite a good wind range, although they don't necessarily fly at very
steep line angles.
In some corners of the world, you might hear a Diamond referred to as an Eddy kite. There are a number of similarities!
The Barn Door Kite
With
so many visitors from the U.S. passing through this site, it's
appropriate to include a design that apparently originated in that
country. The 3-spar Barn Door doesn't make it into my top 3 types of
kites. However, a little browsing around the Web reveals that a number
of keen kite people take pride in making and flying large examples of
these types of kites.
I
have to admit, I've never seen a Barn Door flying here in Australia!
Apart from our own MBK versions of course. There must be a few around
though, since the term '3-sticker' has been in use for many years.
Both
our own Skewer designs are very much at home in fresh breezes, although
we fly them both with tails. Larger Barn Door kites are able to fly
tail-less, at least in light to moderate winds.
The Rokkaku Kite
The Rokkaku kite, often abbreviated to just 'Rok', has to be the most copied Japanese kite in the West.
These
types of kites are everywhere, from small ones turned out from
children's kite-making workshops right through to large expensive
air-brushed versions for sale in kite shops. There's always a few big
Roks floating around at our local kite festival each year.
Like
the Diamond and Delta, flying characteristics have a lot to do with
their considerable popularity! In my humble opinion. However, they don't
quite make the Big Three.
I've seen a Rok Battle at a kite
festival, and have to say it's not a bad spectator sport! The
competitors try to force all the other kites to the ground, any way they
can. Well, not quite, I'm sure firearms would be against the rules ;-)
Personally, I'm not so much into kite fighting, and prefer to fly my
Rokkakus up to 400 feet in light wind and thermal conditions.
Rokkaku
kites are quite forgiving to construct and fly. They are so stable that
a tail is needed only for decoration, or perhaps in strong wind
conditions. The larger Roks can have more bow pulled into the lower spar
for more stability anyway.
The Sode Kite
The Delta Kite
Our old Windjam Delta kite.
Number
3 of The Big Three! Of all the different types of kites, the Delta kite
is most commonly recommended to beginners by shops and festival
commentators, for good reason.
The Delta is easy to launch, flies
on the lightest of breezes, and almost always sits at a good steep line
angle. These characteristics have pushed along the popularity of this
design to huge levels, despite having only a fraction of the history of
the Diamond and perhaps even the Sled kite.
The vast majority of
Delta kites are bought from a shop, since they are not nearly as
straight-forward to construct as the Diamond or Sled. However, building
Delta kites can be very rewarding, as I can attest!
Our experience of Deltas has uncovered a tendency for them to get
unpredictable in gusty or fresh winds. However, in light winds or
stronger smooth breezes they are truly wonderful fliers.
Dan Leigh
has been designing light wind kites since 1974, and specializes in the
Delta configuration. Customers rave about the quality and performance of
Dan's Delta kites. Mind you, they don't come cheap!
The Roller Kite
An attractive home-made Roller kite.
Not a super-popular design now, but there are people out there who really love their Rollers!
An efficient light wind kite that can be adjusted for flying in stronger winds, the Roller has its roots in pre-War Germany.
With its tail-less design and steep flying angles, this kite is handy for flying in confined areas.
Our
MBK Rollers are reliable fliers, based on the Pearson Roller, with the
2-Skewer one quite capable of going overhead on 90 meters (300 feet) of
line. Despite its very modest size. The even smaller 1-Skewer design
once caught the eye of a German blogger who marveled at how a Roller
could be so cheap!
I have a sneaking suspicion that Roller kites
are more liked and well known in Germany and other parts of Europe than
elsewhere on the planet. After all, that's where the basic concept
originated.
The Dopero Kite
A Dopero kite, from Scotland.
Hardly
a common kite, the Dopero is however much appreciated with the Kite
Aerial Photography crowd. This design is capable of hoisting camera gear
aloft in light winds better than other designs of similar sail area.
The original kite was actually inspired by the idea of overlapping 2 Pearson Rollers. Hence DOuble PEarson ROller or 'Dopero'.
Our Doperos are rather loosely based on the original! These types of
kites generally have drag-pockets under the trailing edge, but ours have
twin keels. Also, ours have much lower aspect ratios. To put that in
entirely non-technical language, ours are 'stumpy' compared to the more
'graceful' types of kites that were originally made. I have my reasons
for this, and it doesn't stop the 2-Skewer version going directly
overhead on 120 meters (400 feet) of line...
The very best
shop-bought Dopero kites are wonderful hi-tech pieces of gear. Hence
they are expensive, with dollar prices in 3 digits!
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