Ariel Plan

This little hummingbird is made of 1570 (4mm) spars and fittings with about a half-yard of nice quiet nylon. Yes, the upper spreader is too low, but it works. I'll raise it on the inevitable UL version, with a .080 frame and lighter sail. The goal was a very fast and durable medium-to-high wind kite and the result makes up for some of my dead-end projects. Ariel is a composite of other kites, with traits selected for stability, resulting in a low-aspect sail with long whiskers, making a deep kite. At launching, it hesitates slightly due to the heavy frame but once airborne it's stiff and smooth, with the tensioned trailing edge leaving a soft white-noise sound. A not-unpleasant bit of over-steer allows fast pirouettes but tracking is excellent. Steering input is very sensitive but there is enough feedback to give you a feel for the kite. Axles are fast and leading edge launches are a breeze. Wind range seems to be in the 6-25 mph range, and at even higher winds it still works well, but it's hard to see! The beer can is for scale reference only. After flying the Ariel a while I got to sample a Micron for the first time and found it somewhat similar, though the Ariel handles much higher winds. Although mine has heavy spars for gale winds, I would recommend using .098 rod instead.

Yes, the upper spreader is too low but it works.  I'll raise it on the inevitable UL version, with a .080 frame and lighter sail.  The goal was a very fast and durable medium-to-high wind kite, and the result makes up for some of my dead-end projects.  Ariel is a composite of other kites, with traits selected for stability resulting in a low-aspect sail, with long whiskers, making a deep kite.  At launching in light winds, it hesitates slightly due to the heavy frame but once airborne it's stiff and smooth, with the tensioned trailing edge leaving a soft white-noise sound.  A not-unpleasant bit of oversteer allows fast pirouettes but tracking is good.  Steering input is very sensitive, but there is enough feedback to give you a feel for the kite.  Axles are fast, and leading edge launches are a breeze.  Wind range seems to be in the 5-15mph range.  At higher speeds it's hard to see!  The beer can is for scale reference only.  The plan assumes some experience with kite making and the ability to print the sail plan to size.  Nothing in the construction is special, just basic kite construction.  Morten's version. This kite isn't named for the Arial typeface or a Disney cartoon character, but for the British maker of the Square Four motorcycle. A very fast bike with pathetically weak brakes.  I intend to make another sing a .098 rod frame, which would be a better kite for average winds.

Bridle Dimensions

A prusik knot attaches the  tow loop (red) to the inhaul line (green), and another one ties the inhaul (green) to the purple outhaul (purple).