Kite Experiments

Kite Shape

• The most basic consideration in designing a kite is the kite's shape and what effect that will have on the kite's flight patterns. Let students choose from a few standard kite designs and construct them out of newsprint or light cloth with wooden dowels as the spars. For a simpler activity, let them use or modify pre-made kites. Develop hypotheses about which kites will perform best and why, then test them by measuring maximum height, longest flight duration or fewest launch attempts.

Steering Kites

• Some kites have two strings, one for each hand, which you can use to steer them in a stiff wind. Give students double-stringed kites and practice flying them on a windy day. After they have gotten the feel of steering, begin experimenting with the effects of different adjustments on how the kites handle. You can tape pennies to various points on the kite, attach or remove a tail or alter the measurements of the bridles (the triangular strings that attach the kite strings to the kite).

Kite Tails

• Most flat kites need tails to stabilize them. Have students construct simple sled kites or diamond kites and test how well they fly without a tail, as a control. You can measure flight length, height or number of launch attempts (doing your best to control for wind speed and how fast the kite flyer is running). Add progressively longer tails and repeat the experiment, trying to find an optimal length for the tail to maximize or minimize a certain flight characteristic.

Bridle Length

• The bridle of a kite is the angled length of string that connects the top of the kite (point A) and the bottom of the kite (B) to the kite string at the "bridle point" (P). The bridle's length and the relative lengths of AP and PB have significant effects on the kite's performance by affecting how much air the kite's sail holds. Fly a kite repeatedly, moving the bridle point lower each time by progressively lengthening AP and shortening PB by an inch or two at a time and graph the effects on flight time or another benchmark.