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What makes a kite fly
1. What makes a kite fly?
Kites fly because the forces which act on them are in
equilibrium when they are in the air,
In order for a kite to fly three forces must be present.
Gravity
Tension in the string or line,
and
Lift
Lift is the upwards component which is provided by the
wind hitting the faceof the kite, adjusting the angle of
incidence that the kite faces the wind at will cause the
kite to rise or fall, if the kite is too upright it will
not deflect the air down and will pull very hard, if the
kite is too flat or horizontal the kite will be less
stable and the wind will spill underneath it too much to
generate lift.
2. What shapes of kites fly
best?
This is a really tough question, and there is no really
exact answer, it depends on many factors including what
you mean by best and what the wind conditions are. I
think that the best answer to this is that the shape in
terms of the plan ie square, triangle. diamond is not
really important it is the three dimensional shape which
is important, in this regard the best kites are either
bowed or set with dihedrals this means they have a sharp
edge down the center which spills the wind pressure
evenly over the two sides, I guess I should say that the
best shapes are USUALLY symentrical about the vertical
axis of the kite.
Flat kites are generally very unstable,
Box kites gain stability by having additional planes to
them which aid stability, they are usually really good in
strong winds.
3. What effect does the area
have on its ability to fly?
Generally greater area = greater lift BUT it usually
means greater weight which has a
negative effect on the kites ability to fly, area to
weight ratio is more important
4. How does a tail effect the
flight of a kite?
The tail of a kite improves it stability whilst allowing
the kite to be set
at a lower angle, thus generating more lift. The drag
induced in the
trailing edge of the kite by the tail slow it down in it's
sideways movement
thus presenting the face of the kite more into the wind
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