AKA Presentation - Muncie, Indiana - October 1999

by Tony, “the Old Man”, Ferrel

Edited and updated for kitebuilder.com on 11/27/00 by APF

As written by the “Old Man”, there are 3 steps required to create ANY kite...

THINKING
ENGINEERING OR DESIGN
BUILDING

I know it’s backwards, but lets discuss Step 3 first -BUILDING. The reason is, the actual building part is the easiest part if steps 1 & 2 were done correctly; AND, this building part is the part that most of us already know how to do. Lets do a fast review:

MAKE THE SKIN FIRST
ATTACH FITTINGS
CUSTOM CUT STICKS

For “A” you probably use one of 4 methods...

Bobby Stanfield’s exact cut & bind method (my favorite)...OR
Randy Tom & Jose Sainz appliqué method...OR
Your own special method that works for you...OR
A combination of all of the above or some of the above

For “B” you either make em... or buy em... and the key is knowing what fittings you need or want, which is what we are going to discuss in detail in Topic 2 of the Trilogy, Fittings and How They Work.

For “C” you custom cut the sticks to fit and make up for minor sewing glitches where the real length is a little longer or shorter than planned in design.

Back Now to Step 1 - THINKING, and Step 2 - ENGINEERING/DESIGN... the Tough Ones...

If you have never built a cell kite or any kite for that matter, the easiest way to accomplish steps 1 & 2 are to "look at a plan in a book." My favorite bibles are...

Magnificent Book of Kites, Maxwell Eden or if you prefer Eden Maxwell, superior, contrary to what KiteLines says, yes mistakes, but tons of good stuff
Kites, Ron Moulton & Pat Lloyd, gorgeous pictures and idea’s, and plans
Big Book of Kites, Jim Rowlands, snowflakes etc.

Quote: Bobby says if you can build his Stone Mountain Kite you can build anything, and I agree...see Eden’s’ book , but be aware there are a few hookers in that plan...

REMEMBER - Plans are just GUIDES; and they are NOT WRITTEN IN STONE!

I promise you, you can stretch the measurements to fit you, or the material, or the sticks... and in most cases it will work just fine... I mean come on, 36 and 7/8” - yeah right - I bet 37” works

Most times funny numbers are a result of metric conversions...Do Not Convert... Buy a Meter Stick, working in metric is easier than working in inches.

Another and perhaps the best use of books is to get aerodynamic thoughts... Look at the pictures and see stuff that FLY’S... File it in your cranial memory bank.

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