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How to Make a Perfect Kite

Make your own simple or complex kite with sticks, paper, plastic or cloth, some string. Then you just need a good wind to make it sail perfectly through the air. Kites consist of five major categories: flat or plane, bowed, delta, cellular and flexible. Within these categories are kites that resemble animals, humans, insects, airplanes, balloons and geometric designs. Most kites are made up of parts that include a spine, spar, frame, cover, bridle, flying line, tail and reel.

Things You'll Need

Thin garden string
Glue
Paper
2 straight wooden sticks or dowels
Markers, paint or crayons
Curtain ring

Instructions

Kite Instructions
- 1
  Use slender wooden sticks (spars) of cypress, spruce or pine to form the kite's frame. Cut one spar two-thirds the length of the other. The longer spar forms the center pole; the shorter one forms the crossbar.
- 2
  Mark the exact center of the length of each spar. If one side the spar tends to go down, trim the heavier side with a razor blade or sandpaper until it balances. Cut a notch in each end of both spars to hold the guideline string. Join the spars at the center of the crossbar.
- 3
  Wrap the string twice through the joining point of the center pole and crossbar to bind the sticks together. Apply glue to the string, and allow the glue to dry.
- 4
  Make a knot to attach the guideline string to the notch at the top of the center pole. Keep it tight, and steer the guideline string to the other notches, starting with the crossbar. Knot the guideline string at each notch of the frame.
- 5
  Use newspaper, brown paper or a lightweight, yet strong fabric for the cover. Put the frame on the covering. Trace around the edge of the frame with a pencil; leaving a half-inch margin around the entire kite for the guideline string. Cut out the pattern traced on the covering. Decorate the kite.
- 6
  Position the crossbar against the covering's undecorated side. Crease the margin and then apply glue. Seal the margin with the guideline string. Let the glue dry completely.
- 7
  Prepare a bridle to control how the angle of the kite's surface meets the wind. Cut a piece of bridle string equal in length to the center pole. Knot one end of the string to the top of the spine. Loop the string twice through a bridle or curtain ring attached just above the halfway point on the bridle string. Tie the other end of the string to the bottom of the kite's center pole.
- 8
  Cut a second piece of string equal to twice the width of the crossbar. Attach one end of this bridle string to one end of the crossbar. Loop it twice through the bridle ring and then tie the bridle string to the other end of the crossbar.
- 9
  Knot short strips of cloth at 6-inch intervals down a strip of cloth that measures twice the length of the center pole to make the kite's tail. Tape one end of the tail to the bottom of the center pole. Fly the kite. Shorten or lengthen the kite's tail if needed.

Aviation