Plans for ultra-lightweight, collapsible, multi-cell tetrahedral kites

TetraLite Kites - 8 Standard Models:

The 8 standard models are depicted above. These views show the framework looking towards the front of the kite. Sails are shown in place, also. The blue sails are on the rear-most cells, the green sails are on the next closer layer and the red sails are on the forward-most cells or front of the kites. In other words, the red cells sit on the peaks of the green, and the green sit on the peaks of the blue. Note that Models 7 and 10K only have two layers. In their case, the green sails are the forward-most cells. Remember, the colors shown here are just for the purpose of this illustration. You can put any color sails you want anywhere on these kites, limited only by the colors of sail material available to you. The TetraLite Kites Assembly Plans and Instructions Manual explains it all!

To see some good diagrams of these and other tetrahedrons take a look at Anthony's Kite Workshop on his "Variations" page and more about tetras on Anthony's site.

The above diagrams are courtesy of Anthony's Kite Workshop. Thanks Anthony! See his pages for more possible variations and other kites. Notice that the coloring scheme is not the same as in the "8 Standard Models" diagram near the top of this page.

Here's just a small sample of some variations and concepts:

Pictures 1 through 11 above are all the Model 10K. Pictures 1, 2 and 3 show it with normal 1-foot long spreaders. In pictures 4, 5 and 6, 18 inch spreaders have been installed on the three lower left cells and the three lower right cells. In pictures 7, 8 and 9, 18 inch spreaders have been installed on the two upper left and upper right cells. Picture 10 shows what all the kites in this group of pictures look like edge-wise when collapsed. Picture 11 is the model 10K viewed from the side (this is also what it looks like collapsed). Picture 12 is the Model 10, a regular tetrahedron form. Picture 13 shows it collapsed (hanging on the wall). Picture 14 is the Model 12 and picture 15 shows it collapsed (also, hanging on the wall). Notice that the Model 10K and the Model 12 have the same outline when collapsed. All the kites in this group of pictures collapse to approximately 1-1/2  inches thick. You can expeiment with endless variations by combining different spreader lengths and cell configurations on your own designs. All you need is a little imagination and the TetraLite Kites manual!

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