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woodpekr · Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 7:34 pm Post subject: Rang Thang

The inspiration for this kite is Lee Sedgwick's Ring Thing which won "Most Innovative" at this year's AKA convention.

The Kite was made with a 1/2 section template out of scrap Ripstop sent to me as packing for a Kite Studio order (Thanks Steve).

The wand is 1/2" PVC 5 feet long. It's too heavy. After an hour of waving it around my forearm was fatigued. I also tended to choke up on it, so I'm going to try a 4 foot piece of Carbon tubing. I must have something in the kite closet that will work.

The control line is 12 feet long with a knot in the middle to keep it with the wand. There is 1 foot hanging out the end of the wand there for someting to grab to reel the kite in.

Layout is based on 3 x 48" (1/8") Carbon rod. Yields 144" circumference, which yields a diameter of 45.85" for the the frame. I arbitrarily decided on 45" for the diameter of the sail.

The template was made full size and then cut to 1/2, 1/4, 1/6, 1/12 sections.

Thanks to CJQ and RevFlyer for answering some questions I had when it came to putting this together.
_________________
Rich Durant
Portland, Oregon

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.

wdrwilson · Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 7:54 pm Post subject:

Hey Rich,

Looks very Cool!! Laughing

...

How is it birdled?

--Bill

CJQ · Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 9:15 pm Post subject: Rang thing

Hey Rich , very clever. I tried Lee's toy out at Seaside It's great fun to fly , say! Good use of stuffer material. It's a bummer for me as Steve never ships my orders I just pick them up , so I never get scraps. Maybe I should ask him for the stuffing he would have used for my order. (ya right). Ho-Ho .

CLIFF

woodpekr · Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 9:47 pm Post subject:

knotronda · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 12:04 am Post subject:

I'm thinking this would work well in Tyvek!! (A little spray paint. . .) Of course, in a no-sew version!

KR

woodpekr · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:05 am Post subject:

woodpekr · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:23 pm Post subject: A few pics of the Ring Thing

_________________
Rich Durant
Portland, Oregon

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.

Russ Mozier · Joined: 19 Dec 2003 Posts: 423 Location: Christmas, FL

Lee has named this kite the "Yfo". I first saw this kite in Wildwood last May. Lee was teaching my granddaughter Lacie to fly it. They were flying it as a quadline. Lee said it could also be flown as a dual line and a single line, he flew it as a single line in the indoor competition Memorial Day. Lacie asked Lee about getting one of the kites and Lee said for her to get me to build her one. He sent me a full size pattern for the skin and I finally got around to building it for her for Chriistmas, it's pink and black (her choice of colors). I still haven't figured out the bridle, Lee's description is "the bridle runs from the joining of two colors 90 degrees to the other side to the other two colors". I'm not sure if this is for 1, 2 or 4 line. I'll be taking the kite to Florida with me next week and I'll experiment with the bridle there, it's been too windy here to try it.

Russ Mozier · Joined: 19 Dec 2003 Posts: 423 Location: Christmas, FL

I forgot to put the photo of Lacie's kite in my last post so here it is

KiteSquid · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:01 pm Post subject:

High contrast!!!!! GREAT!!!!

It looks like the bear on the shelf want to go fly it!!!!!!
_________________
VR/
KiteSquid AKA TakoIka AKA Harold of King George VA
PS Yet another post by the Squid... Shocked

Doesn’t he ever shut up?
PPS The wind is like the air, only pushier.
PPPS All information provided is for hobby use. None may be used commercially.
PPPPS Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur. x11.1K
PPPPPS Please excuse my speling errorors.

wdrwilson · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 5:04 pm Post subject:

Looks great Russ...

Sounds like that description is for the single line bridle but I am sure it will all come together when you get a chance to fly it..

--Bill

woodpekr · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 12:49 am Post subject:

I've just come in from a two hour session with the Rang Thang (aka Ring Thing, Lee's UFO) . . . I live in NW Portland, corner of 17tn and Hoyt, (just a block from the Mission Theater, for those who know the area) which is down town. There's a 4 way stop and the powerlines are high enough when flying the kite on the wand they're not an issue.

We had kind of a party out there. Lot's of people asked about the kite and when they did I'd offer to let them try it. 6 or 8 folks gave it a go and we all had a great time and a lot of laughs. Lots of kite smiles.

We managed to beat that kite against the pavement quite a bit. I need to replace a couple of the tabs that attach the sail to the frame, but that's no big deal, the pavement is rough on kites . . .

Hmmm, what can I do to make this more of a street kite? Maybe a bit of leather or some other material that would help prevent some of the wear and tear on the tabs . . . any thoughts?
_________________
Rich Durant
Portland, Oregon

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.

wdrwilson · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 2:29 am Post subject:

Would cable ties help at all? They are a harder plastic. You could get wide ones and put them over the existing tabs... not exactly sure how it would work but they can take a beating and it would keep the fabric tabs from touching the pavement. When they wear out you could just replace them.

--Bill

Doug LaRock · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 3:41 am Post subject: wear points

Rich , good to hear of the fun your having. I use some material called 18 oz. vinyl for wear points. It is a fabric reinforced vinyl the they use for truck tarps. I got mine a tent and awning supply. It works great , its light and abrasion resistant, and sews good. If you can't find any locally I would be glad to send you some.

Doug

EBGB · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:15 am Post subject:

Sounds like a job for Velcro.

But then, everything sounds like a job for Velcro to me.

Sew a patch of loop on the top and bottom of the sail, then wrap a piece of hook around the spar and stick it to the patches.

Velcro isn't all that durable, but it would certainly be easy to replace.

I think I'm going to build one of these shortly - in time for the Windless Kite Festival at Long Beach.

Question: I noticed that in one picture, the edges are straight, and in the other their scalloped. is there any difference in how they fly?
It seems like the scalloped edge would be more taught, and be less likely to deflect up or down - but is it worth the extra work?
_________________
(A few sticks short of a full frame.)

Don Ostey

CJQ · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 12:30 pm Post subject: Rang Tang Street Version.

Hi ,I understand how the hard the sidewalks can tear up the tabs of fabric. EBGB has an excllent idea of velcro. That would give you much better durability and quicker replacement ,Also better adjustibility. My suggestion would be to use the Industrial Strength Velcro. Much thicker than the clothing grade velcro. I get the ISV at Home Depot.

CLIFF

KiteSquid · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 1:09 pm Post subject:

Kevlar Stands up to a lot of abuse.
_________________
VR/
KiteSquid AKA TakoIka AKA Harold of King George VA
PS Yet another post by the Squid... Shocked

Doesn’t he ever shut up?
PPS The wind is like the air, only pushier.
PPPS All information provided is for hobby use. None may be used commercially.
PPPPS Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur. x11.1K
PPPPPS Please excuse my speling errorors.

Russ Mozier · Joined: 19 Dec 2003 Posts: 423 Location: Christmas, FL

I'm still looking for some more suggestions on bridling this thing. I'll try to bridle it Christmas week in Florida. I really need help on the single line. I'm going to try the dual and quad just by attaching at points around the circumference and see how that works. I've been thinking about adding some cross lines too. If I get something to work I'll post it when I get home.

woodpekr · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 3:19 pm Post subject:

woodpekr · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 3:26 pm Post subject: Re: Bridling