Had couple of kites at home for the kids, and one of them was really cheap and broke in no time   So took the rods out of the one that broke, and started making the other one an RC Kite (something like a Trike or Hang-Glider), using these rods (more like kabab sticks) for reinforcement.

Since this is purely experimental, the "frame" was just some pieces of the kind of foam that comes with big servers. And nothing has been fixed with glue !  Everything including the motor is fixed with rubber bands, so that things can be moved around at the field.

There are many unknown variables, the main ones being the angles of attack for both the motor and the kite itself.  I am not sure if there is enough wingspan, but the kite on top it self is really easy to remove, and an new one can be tried.

Going to test it tomorrow if the winds get better.

Here is how it looks from the top.

There is lots of room for experimentation, including making it a pusher.

BTW, it has only throttle and ailerons.  More throttle should take it higher, assuming we can figure out the angle of attack.

Now..where are my sunglasses 

All the best Anwar Ji...would be nice to see how she flies.

Regards

Quote from: ankurkaul17 on May 04, 2011, 10:33:48 PM
Now..where are my sunglasses  

Can't handle some colorful life ?   

I like the simplified control system From the picture it looks like you'll need more angle of attack but with every thing held with rubber band, it should be no biggie.

does it really fly , can we have a control over it , lookin for a video

hi Anwar,
looks good....are you using the weight of the 'motor pack' in the same way as a hang glider pilot?
ie  a control wire from the wingtip to the servo to the wing tip and one from the tail to a servo to 'swing the motor pack for climbing, turns and diving??
good luck with the maiden.................. hope it gets sorted ok.
regards
don
UK

wow its great!!! really colorful!!!!

for last few days, after seeing few threads on RC kites i was also tempted to build one. now i am getting motivated!!!!

controls are innovative!!!!

all the best for maiden!!!!!!

cheers

Quote from: sunk? on May 04, 2011, 11:52:10 PM
looks good....are you using the weight of the 'motor pack' in the same way as a hang glider pilot?
ie  a control wire from the wingtip to the servo to the wing tip and one from the tail to a servo to 'swing the motor pack for climbing, turns and diving??

Nope Don. This one is more like elevons, without the elevator action   I did consider the "pivot/hinge" action that you mentioned, that is up for experimentation later on.

Hi Anwar,
oh I see just a 'kite look alike' but plane controls.
hope it works out well
regards
don

Couldn't maiden because of winds, tomorrow seems too windy too, per windfinder.com.  So looks like it will be saturday.

Also, will try to get another kite that is more like a wing (instead of this butterfly shape).

Ok, did some basic testing at the field.  The kite as it is was a huge problem, and could manage only a 10 seconds or so flight.  There seemed to be couple of reasons.  It was still a bit windy and my power setup is a bit underpowered.  But the main reason is that the back half of the kite was not reinforced, causing it to flex and do funny things.  The butterfly shape of the kit contributed to the flexing.

So got another kite, which looks more like a wing.  Will continue playing with this, as it seems to be a lot of fun and frustration.  For this one, most likely it will be built as a proper hang-glider with a pivot at the middle. 

hi mate,
that sounds like 'progress?' 
good luck on the second kite, it could prove interesting. 
regards
don

Thanks Don... it did prove interesting

And like the masters say, "if it looks like it is gonna fly, then it is gonna fly" !

It flew !  Was waiting for low winds, and noticed that close to sunset today was one of the rare times here with winds less than 2knots.  Went to the field, and after a few tries with the new setup, it flew.  The main changes were that the kite was changed to one that had more of a wing shape (instead of the butterfly one), and changed the arrangement so that it is more like a hang-glider where the wing is attached to the power system using a pivot/hinge like setup, and the aileron servo pulls the whole wing to one side or the other.

Here is a self-shot video (just the phone kept in the car), and pardon the low light conditions (the video is HD, in case you cannot see the action).



Upgrading the power system should make it flyable in winds also, that is the next step.  Also need to build a proper trike body with balsa ( instead of this foam jugaad) !

hi Anwar,
yes that looks very good and do'able with some slight differences.....bigger motor would be good [ you 'don't have to use' the full power  ]
may be a bit of expo on tha sevos or perhaps a different link hole?
and some one to launch for you would be easier take off.
well done that man........
regards
don

Congrats on the maiden

Changed from a 6x4 prop setup (smaller motor) to a setup with 10x4.7 prop.  Had to reduce the kite angle of attack also quite a bit, but the kite is now able to handlea good amount of wind.

Anwar Bhai, a few points for consideration
1. lateral oscillation is because of a lack of directional stability , a small vert stab will do the trick it can hang down, in the prop wash.
2. if you embed a servo into the depron and mount this lateral control servo tray on that servo (Something like pan-tilt) without adding on any other control you can have pitch control as well, while retaining simplicity of the design

PS
Good job

This is exactly what I am aiming to build ( and procastinating ). quick question - are you using a v tail mixer for the alirons or do u have it inbuilt on ur Tx .

great kite though, congrats

There is no v-tail mixing at all, there is just one servo that pulls down one side of the kite or the other, causing it to turn.

Gusty bhai - I did not want to touch the kite at all, or change its airfoil properties.  Its simplicity is what everyone commented about, and how much it just looks like "a kite with a motor under it".  In fact, if I had added a somewhat sizable rudder/fin to it, it would turn much better.  But the wing pull method seems to be appreciated by everyone.

Planning to build a proper balsa trike/cage/motor mount... that is the next step.

Anwar bhai,
Think about Pan Tilt, same servo can pitch as well, when the whole servo moves down or up, the stick will pull both ends down and rig it naturally nose down so when the pull is released it regains its rigged position.

PS
I know you understood the first time, explanation was to keep the lucidity of the thread

Right, I got the pan-tilt aspect earlier, missed responding to it.  The throttle based altitude (pitch) control seems to work well enough, even in fair winds. 

But your approach has an added advantage that it decouples throttle from altitude/pitch control, and that will allow the kite to handle even more wind.  In the present situation, if we increase throttle above half to handle very high winds, the kite also climbs higher.  So this is something I was considering.  But it seems that just another servo for pitch control would be enough, not sure if we need to have a pan tilt mechanism for that.  I will just a higher torque servo for the same.  Planning to build that into the new frame.

advantage would be, pitch servo can be concealed, while the stick mech for roll is visible and visual simplicity maintained

hello Anwar.
good on you mate.... you've cracked it.
wonderfull maiden flight and what a big area for it too.
I'm sure with the balsa framed trike  you will have a good cheap flyer there.   

regards
don

Anwar Bhai

did a wind tunnel on a generic kite, if you add a streamer (Like all kite has) the lateral oscillation reduces considerably and looks cool too. do one flight with a streamer and see, if the ground result is same as the WT