This is an Email I received from Nilo Vélez on 1998-10-10

"Possible improvements to the Trick Tac UL kite"

I knew about your kite some time ago, and have recently constructed it twice. The first version was made following exactly the instructions you gave on your Web. On the second kite, I introduced some slight construction variations based upon my own experience as microkite maker. Those modifications made it lighter and so more capable for indoor flying. However they didn't reduce the kite's structural integrity nor alter it's (wonderful) flying characteristics.


These are the modifications I made:

  1. I used Icarex instead of carrington for "Spar covers"
    Such a small kite doesn't need so much reinforcement, however it's important to glue spreader fixings in place, avoiding them to tear the sail.
  2. Central T:
    A nice solution for making the central T is to cut a slice from a 3mm end cap and use it as shown in the figure:
  3. Trailing edge hemming:
    In your Web, you assume hemming is better than hot cutting. This is true for big kites but, when used in microkites, the only problem with hot cutting is than it makes a little more noise.
  4. Inner wiskers reinforcements:
    This reinforcements look like origami but they're a good alternative to dacron reinforcements. Use a 4x2cm strip of carrington for making them:
  5. Central tip:
    Why didn't you use just a dacron pocket?
  6. Win tips:
    This methods avoids the use of two end caps instead of one. The problem with it is that it doesn't allow tension adjustments, so you should cut spars exactly to fit. The carrington strip in the images is stitched to the "spar covers".

I'm only giving construction tips, because I think Trick Tac's design is wonderful. I would like to know about other designs of yours and, of course I would be glad to receive any information regarding the world of Kiting.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Nilo Vélez
nilovelez@yahoo.com
Madrid (Spain)

[plan]