Tukkal Details

All spars are tapered toward the ends. The spine is roughly round, with the thickest part at the wing center, measuring about 6mm and tapering to 4mm at the ends. The remaining spars are rectangular in cross section, with skin side toward outer edge of kite. The spine is attached to the back of the wing spars, but in front of the tail spar. The entire frame is flat.

Front View of nose
Exposed spine is wrapped in tissue, with nose triangle fastened from behind. Curved hems are strengthened with with internal cotton line cotton line. A small aperture is cut for spine at center.

This photo is included for orientation. This particular kite is larger than the others, with a 96cm wingspan and 85cm spine. It is otherwise proportional to the kite shown in the plans. This one's so pretty I hesitate to fly it but probably will.

Rear view of nose, where spine crosses upper wing spar. A good place to add some paper reinforcement.

Wing tip
A tricky spot, since the spars must be strongly joined here but without bulk.

Intersection of spine and lower wing spar.
A bit of tissue overlaps the right side of wing spar, and a bamboo node bulges on the left.

The joint of the upper side of the tail. The yellow tissue has a cotton line reinforcing the hem. The black triangle is a reinforcing patch

The lower end of the spine at the tail spar. A stylish tassle is a nice touch made from tissue Probably not a performance enhancement.

Front of the area above. The gold paper is a reinforcing material similar to a wrapper on a chocolate bar.