Lift and drag are important to remember in the performance of your kite. For your kite to fly stationary in the sky the lift and drag must be equal and opposite to the gravity and tension forces pulling it down. When the wind dies, so does the kite. Without wind there is no resistance for Newton's Third Law and without air moving across the surface of the kite Bernoulli's Theorem of lift is also gone. When this happens you've got two options:

a) Run like mad and create your own wind, or

b) Watch helplessly as your prize kite flutters to the ground.

You will find that the center of pressure is best controlled by the positioning of your kite string. For example, in light winds you will achieve the best lift by lowering your towing line to the base of the kite. This may produce a slight wobble or bring about large circles in flight. If your bridle towing line is too high it may cause your kite to tip side-to-side and it could flip over. Experiment with your line placement to get the most out of your kite-flying experience.

So how do we build a kite? 

Major funding for Rough Science was provided by the National Science Foundation. Corporate funding was provided by Subaru.

Copyright © 2002 The Open University and WETA.