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John Rose's Kites and Kite-borne Objects

24-Panel Rotor

A short movie clip of the first trial, mp4 format, 344 kB. (very light wind that day)


Freedom 2000 - Kite #1, a Rev-style quad

Test flight, on very short lines, not even any control handles yet. Photo 1Photo 2

Posing with me and the walnut tree. treeandme_f2kbwr_3719.JPG

Some construction detail photos: greentape3694.JPG - le_mid_seam_a3697.JPGle_mid_seam_b3698.JPGle_mid_seam_c3700.JPG


An 18 square-foot Pilot, Kite #2 - made out of Tyvek® housewrap

   

More details and photos here.
Spinsock

Used as a tail on my Pilot 18:
- hanging as line laundry.
And a short movie, in MPEG-4 video format (4.5 MB) or Quicktime MOV format (1.3 MB).

The pattern is based on Kitemonger's Spinsock Pattern. When I made the panels I pieced them together from fabric cut across the end of the 5' roll, not along the length.


Sceptre Mk2

Kite #3 - A 1.8 m wide two-line foil, designed by David Holt.

July 11, 2009: new photos and stuff.


March 25, 2009: Just finished sewing and backyard-testing a prototype of a rotor, which I call the X-Squared Rotor.

As far as I can tell it's an original design, at least in terms of how the template is made.

FF04A Flowform Kite # 4 - now with matching tapered tube tails

backyard flight test of ff04a

August 8, 2009 update: first flight with the tube tails.


One-Piece Cody

April 18, 2009: Kite #5 - Sunshine, snow is gone, some light wind, and the ground is thawed enough to put a stake in the ground. Woohoo! Test flight of my One-Piece Cody box kite.
One Piece Cody


August 15, 2009 - Pearson Roller (some photos, text still under construction)

Pearson Roller in flight

Kite # 6 - This was built during the Dieppe 2009 International Kite Festival, at a workshop given by Karl Longbottom. As near as I can determine, it was the last kite out of the sky on the last day of the Festival, just before the wrap-up banquet.

It is an excellent flier, although the lines connecting the top to the lower wingtips may need more careful adjustment in stronger winds.


August 30, 2009 - Dunton-Taylor Box Delta

Dunton Taylor Box Delta kite Kite #7 - Another very nice low/moderate wind kite. I had read many favourable comments about this design, and had to make one for myself. (Lost sometime in Fall of 2010. It must be somewhere.)


Oct. (?), 2009

Umbrella Rotor - side view Umbrella Rotor - built from the skin of a broken golf umbrella.


Sometime in here - #8, a quick-and-dirty low-wind/no-wind glider kite (Still missing photos, and it got damaged at the Dieppe Canada 2010 Kite Festival)


January 4, 2010: Borelli Glider Kite

borelli glider, on sofa Kite # 9. This is my lowest-wind kite yet.


March-June 2010: Pocket Sleds

Kite #10 pink and black pocketsled Kite #11, April 22, 2010.

May-June: #12, #13, and #14.

October: my blue and orange pocket sled #18, March 22, 2011: pocket sled for sue #19


Mini Mock Form - July 19, 2010

Kite #15. Aug. 28 - the tails are done.


Deep Pocket Sled September 2, 2010.

Pocket Sled kite with extended cells Kite #16, an unsuccessful experimental kite design.


Urban Ninja September 15, 2010

red and white Urban Ninja kite Kite #17, Great for low-wind/no-wind conditions.


Thermik-Delta (Variant) May 9, 2011

Thermik-Delta Variant Kite #20 - scaled down to about 2/3 of the width of the original plan. It's still unstable, and I have to fiddle some more with the frame and fittings.


Brazilian Fighter - RCAF Theme June 19, 2011

brazilian thumbnail Kite #21


Wee Wun Fighter (Variant)

Wee Wun fighter kite Kite #22 - begun sometime in 2009, I think, but never got it to fly properly until July or August 2011. It's loosely based on Tony Slater's "Wee Wun" low-wind fighter, and modified to take economical advantage of some scrap materials I had on hand. I had recently added adjustable tension lines on the spine and the spar (both are 2mm carbon fiber rods). My original problem was that I didn't realise that fighters are (by design) somewhat unstable. It does not have it's own page yet. (See the same photo, medium, or large.)


Ohashi (Variant)

Ohashi Variant, with Performers' Company logo August 31, 2011. Kite #23 - an Ohashi/Poster kite, built to be donated to a fund raiser auction.


Miscellaneous

May 29, 2009 - Kite Anchors

A half-baked idea.


July 11, 2009 - SUBwoofer

(page under construction) A resonator device to amplify the sound of the wind in a kite line.


Nov. 15, 2009 - An idea for a DIY fitting: bowed spreader bar to leading edge spar.


New Sewing Machine May 18, 2010 - Woohoo! A new (to me) sewing machine with a table.


May 21, 2010 - It was too nice out (sunny, wind NE 8-15 km/h) to continue mowing the lawn so I took the Pearson Roller and the newer pocket sleds to a field along Folkins Drive, mostly so I could photograph the pocket sleds. Just before I started packing up to leave I noticed these spider silk strands on the flying line for the Roller. These would be from small spiders that were travelling by ballooning. I had maybe about 200 feet of line out.

spider webs on line 800x600 version, or 1600x1200 version . . . . spider webs on line, Pearson Roller 800x600 version, or 1600x1200 version

There were dozens of them, many at least 20 feet long or so. They were a bit tricky to photograph, because the best viewing angle was almost directly into the sun.


November 21, 2011

iKap - versions 1 and 2, My quick-and-dirty KAP rig for an iPod touch on a Pearson Roller.


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