Powerkites
Nasa Parawing 5, with a keel length of 2,4m (total wing area of
about 4,4m^2). This was the first kite I have built (at the same
time as the Phantom), with the help of my mother-in-law (who has a heart
of gold). It pulls like a beast and is particularly suited as an
engine for body-surfing. I guess the biggest draw-back of this kite
is the millions of lines making out the bridle. If you plan on building
a powerkite, this is definitely the first one to build, as it is easy and
inexpensive.
The 9/10, made by Wallendair in Cape Town. Wallendair is
a company who mainly manufactures paragliders and saw a market for powerkites
in South Africa. It is a fairly large kite (10m^2) and pretty scary
in anything more than 15kph winds. It is very well suited for the
typical low winds that we experience. My 9/10 is made from Porsche
Marine and was built for competition flying.
The Sputnik 4 from Stuntkites II. A very nice kite with a
wing area of about 5m^2 and probably more suited to my flying style than
the 9/10. On advice from Bernard Malle and Andrew Beattie, I used
a cross-bridle; VERY good idea. It was well worth the effort and
I even think it might have been less work than the cantenary bridle suggested
in SKII. This picture was taken at Herold's
Bay with very low winds (as you can probably gather from the way I
stand).
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