Week 7 Update

So this is what it feels like to be riding under the "one kilometer to go" sign in the Tour de France on the final stage of the race.  The end is almost near, but we can't quite see the finish yet.  We are in our positions ready to go for the final sprint, where we hope to finish high in the standings.

THIS WEEK, WE FINALLY OUTFITTED THE KITE WITH NYLON SUCCESSFULLY!!!  All of the pieces of the kite were finally printed at the beginning of the week, so we were ready to build.  During class this week, we cut the new diagonal supports and changed out the old connectors for the newly printed connectors.  We then put the new diagonal supports in place.  After this was complete, we then put the nylon on the frame, and attached the lines of the kite to the same places that they were attached on the old design.  After all of this was finished, we ran a few test flights.  The kite was not easy to fly because it kept stalling and nose diving.  This meant that the kite's weight was off-balance.  We again tried to use a penny as a weight, but because of the added material in the design, this did not work.  We then attached a washer to the front of the kite, hoping this would be enough.  As soon as we added the washer, the kite flew like a hawk.  Figure 1 below shows the top view of the kite and the washer attached to the nose of the kite.  Figure 2 below shows the bottom view of the kite.  This figure shows the framing that supports the nylon of the kite.  Based on aesthetics of the kite, we are wondering whether we should move the washer to underneath of the nylon.

Figure 1 - Top View of Second Version of Kite with Nylon

Figure 2 - Bottom View of Second Version of Kite with Nylon

An added bonus about our kite, which we were not expecting, is that it is a fairly good glider.  We discovered this when we ran several experimental practice runs with the kite.  Most stunt kites move quickly and are heavier than most gliding kites, so we did not think gliding was something this kite would be able to do.  Video 1 below is a short clip of the kite gliding.  We believe that the kite could glide pretty far. However, in this clip, the lines of the kite hinder its gliding ability and cut the flight short by keeping the kite tethered.

Video 1 -  Kite Gliding

For the next week, we hope to switch the majority of our focus to tweaking the kite, improving our kite-flying skills, and working on the final presentation.  Last week, we finally outfitted the kite with nylon after switching the design to better suit nylon, which does not bend like the plastic we were first using. While we thought that this would have been the end of the project's building phase, we have come to the conclusion that there is still more work to do.  As you can see from Figure 1, the nylon does not reach to the back points of the kite.  We may have to cut a new piece of nylon to fix this and attach the new piece to the kite.  Also, as visible from Figure 2, there is a lot of excess material at the nose of the kite, which we are planning to trim down.  Daniel also plans to put a few hours in to learn how to fly the kite well.  He has had the most practice testing our designs and is probably the most comfortable with the kite so far.  While it seems like there is a lot of to do in the following week, a lot of the work is small and hopefully will not take long.  The tasks expected to take the longest are learning how to skillfully fly the kite and working on the presentation.  What is good about both of these tasks, though, is that we have until the day of the final presentation of our indoor stunt kite to complete them.