Kite Plans

monk_e_boy wrote: post #2

Henry Hulk, wow, haven't heard that name in years. Nice designs. No kitesurf kites though, probably the most popular kites on the market now? Maybe in the west, not sure about the east.

Don’t forget the middle. There are many excellent spots for flying kites away from the coast.

One of my favorite kite shops is out of Boulder, Colorado: Into The Wind[0]

I’ve only bought from them once or twice, but I used to spend hours paging through their paper catalog as a kid. I also visited their shop in Boulder as a teen — that was really fun.

[0] https://intothewind.com

Re: Kite Plans

#5

Post by Toadsoup » Wed, May 22, 2019, 2:57 PM UTC

Edit: I can accept that kite plans can be on topic for HN. I also don't mean to stifle anyone's curiosity about kites or kite building.

I suppose I expected something more akin to "Kite Plans, Experiments, Observations, and Results that SoAndSo ran" or "Specific Kite Plan and Notes" to be linked on HN.

If you're new to kites, good news, it's a lot more fun than it should be.

--- Original Post: I am confused, why this link is on HN?

I enjoy kites and have used this site before, but what makes it worth the front page of HN? It's nothing new, their site hasn't really changed in years, and it is somewhat off topic.

Was the poster just fired up about kites? Am I missing something?

Re: Kite Plans

#6

Post by hvs » Wed, May 22, 2019, 2:57 PM UTC

Due to the HN hug-of-death: https://web.archive.org/web/20190522135029/http://www.kitepl...

Re: Kite Plans

#7

Post by RobotCaleb » Wed, May 22, 2019, 3:10 PM UTC

Toadsoup wrote: post #5

Edit: I can accept that kite plans can be on topic for HN. I also don't mean to stifle anyone's curiosity about kites or kite building. I suppose I expected something more akin to "Kite Plans, Experiments, Observations, and Results that SoAndSo ran" or "Specific Kite Plan and Notes" to be linked on HN. If you're new to kites, good news, it's a lot more fun than it should be. --- Original Post: I am confused, why this…

I'm curious what you consider on-topic.

Re: Kite Plans

#8

Post by tonyarkles » Wed, May 22, 2019, 3:10 PM UTC

Toadsoup wrote: post #5

Edit: I can accept that kite plans can be on topic for HN. I also don't mean to stifle anyone's curiosity about kites or kite building. I suppose I expected something more akin to "Kite Plans, Experiments, Observations, and Results that SoAndSo ran" or "Specific Kite Plan and Notes" to be linked on HN. If you're new to kites, good news, it's a lot more fun than it should be. --- Original Post: I am confused, why this…

It definitely meets the “satisfies intellectual curiosity” criteria for me! I think we’re giving it the HN hug of death right now (or my phone internet sucks here), but I’ll definitely be checking back later and maybe building one this weekend.

Kites are pretty cool and, as this site points out pretty dramatically, can go from super simple to technically very complex and interesting.

Re: Kite Plans

#9

Post by erdosjr » Wed, May 22, 2019, 3:17 PM UTC

Toadsoup wrote: post #5

Edit: I can accept that kite plans can be on topic for HN. I also don't mean to stifle anyone's curiosity about kites or kite building. I suppose I expected something more akin to "Kite Plans, Experiments, Observations, and Results that SoAndSo ran" or "Specific Kite Plan and Notes" to be linked on HN. If you're new to kites, good news, it's a lot more fun than it should be. --- Original Post: I am confused, why this…

Apart from being fun, there is a good amount of engineering in designing kites.

For example, NASA has been experimenting with designing simple parachutes [1] and it turned out that the parawings (or Rogallo wings) are pretty good traction kites, too. The NPW kites are still popular kites as they are cheap to make and long-wearing in use.

[1] http://2e5.com/kite/nasa/reports/

Re: Kite Plans

#10

Post by fouc » Wed, May 22, 2019, 3:18 PM UTC

When I think of kites, I always think of my dream of a kiteboat for long term cruising around the world.. purely kite powered, with maybe a small stabilizer sail if necessary.