Kite Making at Home— II 



How to Build and Fly the Blue Hill /^^ 

 Box, Malay Box Combination and 

 Tetrahedral Cell Kites 



Bv H. S. Rinktr 



(Concluded from June issue) • - 



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A box kite is the most practical to build and the easiest to fly 



fail when you 



HAVING progressed thus far, variety 

 can be introduced by making some 

 Blue Hill box-kites. These are 

 named after the Blue Hill Weather 

 Observatory, Massachusetts, where they 

 were originated. They look like Fig. i6. 



Make 4 sticks |^ in. square, but 

 otherwise proceed as described for the 

 Malay kite. All kite sticks must be 

 worked out in this manner to assure the 

 absence of cross or twisted grain. 

 Otherwise they may 

 least expect it, and 

 make more trouble 

 than if made right 

 at first. Several 

 ways of bracing have 

 been used, but the 

 writer has had best 

 results from the one 

 shown. Put the 

 frame together as 

 indicated in Fig. 18. 



Two of these side frames 

 for each kite. For bracing 

 better than a bamboo pole, about '4 m. 

 in diameter. Take a piece of this about 

 4 ft. 6 ins. long and rip it exactly in 

 half, from each end until about 4 ins. 



Fig 



are needed 



nothing is 



in the middle remain uncut. Wrap this 

 part with wire and solder. Then it will 

 appear as shown in Fig. 19. Spread it 

 out on your bench and hold with wire 

 nails as illustrated in Fig. 20. 



Now at points marked A, cut a 

 shoulder, so that you can spring the 

 brace into the holes in the hardwood 

 strips. Take two strips of cambric 19 ins. 

 wide and hem both sides, making them 

 18 ins. when hemmed. Pull out the 

 puckers and square one end. Measure 

 12 ft. I in. and scjuare 

 the other end. Sew 

 up with a half-inch 

 seam. You now ha\e 



1 two endless loops, 



2 each exactly 12 ft. 

 I long and 18 ins. wide. 



Glue the seam to the 

 other sides of one 

 stick. Slip the other 

 side frame into the 

 loop, put in the stretchers, adjust the 

 sails smoothK', mark with a pencil, take 

 down and glue. When knocked down this 

 kite folds flat. It cannot be rolled. 



The bridle is a loop of twine tied to the 

 sticks at the inner margins of the cambric. 



U7 



