THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR 83 



A triangular piece of paper is pasted flat on to the tail frame, its 

 edges overlapping the frame. 



When the kite is dry, with small brush and ink paint eyes and 

 beak on the head, feet and legs on the body, and radiating lines 

 on the tail to suggest spread-out tail feathers. 



To make the bridle to which the string is attached, tie three 

 1 8-inch lengths of string, each by one end, on to the frame, one 

 at the neck and one on each side where the wing frame crosses 

 the body frame. Then tie the other ends of these together, 

 making the strand to 

 the neck about 3 inches 

 shorter than the other 

 two, which are equal in 

 length. The string on 

 which the kite flies is 

 tied to the point where 

 these three are knotted 

 together. 



The ordinary kite 

 must needs have a 

 tail. The wind is al- 

 ways fitful and gusty, 

 blowing with changing 



velocities and con- / FIG. 34. A tetrahedral kite 



stantly shifting its direction as one flaw comes from one direc- 

 tion, another from a different point of the compass. The kite 

 in such a gusty wind is buffeted first to one side, then to the 

 other, and so tends to bob around. As the wind suddenly 

 increases in intensity, the kite rises quickly, pulls hard on the 

 string, and turns a somersault. The tail acts as a stabilizer, for 

 it makes an inert weight hanging below the kite which the kite 

 must carry along with it. A body at rest forcibly resists move- 

 ment as a force acts upon it to move it. It has inertia. So if the 

 body is in motion, because of inertia, it tends to remain in motion 

 in the same direction until some force acts upon it to deflect it 



