In early 2001 I decided to make my own traction kite,
using plans by Roy Menage for his own design traction kite, called Firecrest.
I had never made a parafoil before, so it was a steep learning curve,
but within a month, working mainly evenings & weekends, I had finished
it!
Here is my photo diary of the making of a Firecrest 4.5m...
|
Tuesday 27th February 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
First step - find a spare room to work in &
set up a workbench.
|
Sewing on bridle reinforcement.
|
Ripstop tape around edges of vent holes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday 28th February 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reinforcing ribbon on rib.
|
Tip rib and flare.
|
Centre section completed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Outer section ready to sew.
|
Outer section completed.
|
Finished top skins! HOW BIG??!! It doesn't even
fit in the room!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Left hand view.
|
Right hand view.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday 1st March 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
End rib & flare (underneath of, showing ribbon
reinforcement).
|
Top skins sewn and hemmed (hemming took 3 hrs
alone!)
|
Sewing first tip rib.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Completed tip rib!
|
Keep going... only 20 something to go...
|
3/4 of the way through sewing on the ribs by 6.30pm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday 2nd March 2001
|
Saturday 3rd March 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Finished sewing the rest of the ribs
(took 2 hours) and then went and enjoyed the rest of my Friday
:-)
|
Spent the day marking out the bottom skins &
cutting out.
|
Centre section of bottom skin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday 4th March 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bottom skins sewn together and ready for hemming.
|
Bottom skins now hemmed and ready to attach to
the rest of the kite!
|
Sewing first tip rib (had to do it this way round
so I could see the hem lines marked through the fabric - impossible
to do with red fabric over white fabric...
|
|
By Sunday afternoon I had completed four ribs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday 8th March 2001
|
Saturday 10th March 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After 3.5 hours of sewing, I am now half way through
attaching the bottom skins!
|
2 hours further work, and all but the last cell
is complete!
|
Done!
|
|
|
|
|
|
The kite emerges from its chrysalis...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pinning the bottom edges before sewing.
|
Finished bottom edges.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday 18th March 2001
|
|
Sunday 25th March 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attaching bridle lines.
|
Both right and left hand A-sets finished.
|
And much later ..The whole kite - finished!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday 24th June 2001
|
Sunday 6th May 2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On the ground...
|
...and in the air!
|
|
Plans for a Firecrest kite (which come in many different sizes) can
be obtained from Roy Menage, see his website GoFirecrest
for details.
Many thanks to Roy for all the help he gave me in the making of this
kite - it flies well and has lots of pull. I buggied with it at Middle
Wallop 2001, and it can even be seen briefly in the "Kites 2001"
video!
Helen Ribchester.
