Gerhard & Daniela

 

Fighter Kites and their flying characteristics
 
A fighter kite´s main flying characteristic is, that it is only stabilized by pulling the line. When the line is left slack or if there is no pull on the line the fighter will only turn around itself or fly in circles; only to fly straight in direction of the kite nose on the next pull on the flying line. That´s how a man/woman after a short practice time will be able to fly different figures on purpose.
There is a possibility for absolute beginners, to glue a short plastic tail at the end of the kite. This will slow down the kite in turning around and it will be easier to control it. When you feel confident just shorten the tail a little and get used to the new speed, until in the end you don´t need any tail at all.
Icarex-Fighter in flight

 

Fighter Kites made form Orcon, Polypropylene foil and Icarex
 
Although there are many individuals that make fighter kites in the United States, there aren´t a lot of kite builders in Europe which build fighter kites from modern materials.
The good thing is, building time is short and you don´t need a lot of materials. You even don´t need sewing machine for making these kites - all the seams are glued together (have a look at the BASF building instructions in the plans section).
 
We started building fighter kites in summer 2002. Usable bow material is carbon fibre with a diameter from 1,2 mm to 1,6 mm. As keel the majority of builders use bamboo. The advantage is, that you could add the needed bend in the keel prior to the flight just by bending the keel. The bend is essential for a good hovering, spinning and stopping of the kite.
Some builders use flat or rounded carbon fiber and use different methods for bending the keel. It´s mainly personal preference which material you use and tuning the kite to your personal flying style.
Crazy Chicken made of Orcon in a Zebradesign
 

"seamed" leading edge with double sided tape		 When working with modern materials it is not only important to hotcut the leading edge, it is also important to stiffen the leading edge by a second layer of the skin material (see picture).
This needs to be done because the tensioning line, which runs around the traditional fighter kite is missing. The trailing edge doesn´t need to have a second layer, this would be tough with the rounded trailing edges.

 

Fighterkite Competitions
 
The traditional way of fighting with kites is cutting the opponents kite line, which is done with special manjha line. This line is coated with glass dust, rice starch and different spices. This glass dust makes the line really sharp and you have to pay attention that you don´t hurt yourself. Here the bigger paper fighters are used.
In the USA so-called line touch competitions are very famous, where the main goal isn´t cutting the opponents line but only touching it. In these Competitions the smaller fighters made from Orcon and other films are used.