After building my first “Le Virus”, and being so pleased with the result, I have started to turn the second sail into a kite.
I made a few changes from the last kite I built… Continue reading
Le Virus – finishing second sail
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Category Archives: My Kites
Multi Tube
I recently purchased Jim Rowlands book titled Soft Kites and Windsocks(links to Half.com). I knew through previous searches on the net that this was good book and that it had a few errors. The list of errata for the book can be found here.
The kite that I am interested in at the moment is the multi-tube. I examined the plan last night and it looks extremely simple and expandable. While surfing today Continue reading
Butterfly – Papillon
In November 2004 I saw an interesting kite design. The Papillon, designed by Alain Micquiaux and manufactured by Atelier Kites, was being flown by Ted Gaudet, who just returned from the Dieppe International Kite festival in France. I thought this looked great and flew beautifully. The butterfly glides gracefully and if you pull or tug the line the butterfly beats it’s wings gently. Continue reading
Le Virus – first flight
Wow!!!! That’s all I have to say. This is a fantastic kite! I am completely thrilled with the way it flys and how responsive it is. 
I have to make a few tweaks to the upper spreader (mine is 1 cm too short) but other than that I didn’t adjust anything. The wind was about 10 mph (16 km/h) and smooth. I am not an accomplished trick flier but.. Flic-Flacs are super easy as with the fade, Axels and snap stalls are excellent. Corners were nice and the kite is rock solid in forward flight, no over steer in the spins…
Here are some shots..
–Bill
Le Virus – Finished!
Tonight I framed the first of two Le Virus kites. I used .2300 Avia Carbon tube all the way around and .120 micro carbon for the stand-offs and APA fittings on the LE and Lower Spreaders. Continue reading
Le Virus – Almost there!
I finally got a chance to get back to the “Le Virus” number 1 tonight. I was able to do the following today: Continue reading
Orange – Turbo Bridle
The oringal active bridle I had on my Orange never really satisfied me and I couldn’t get it just the way I wanted it. Turns were too wide and it just didn’t feel right. I had not flown the kite for several months and decided I would take another crack at the bridle. Continue reading
“Le Virus” – Another Sail
After making the green sail I wasn’t 100% happy with the color combo. I decided to sew another sail. This time using a similar layout to Christin’s original. Plus I was finally able to use mylar in a kite 
. It’s been sitting on the shelf for about 6 months…
I also applied some of the things I realized from the mistakes I made on the first sail. This sail was a lot less trouble to get just right when laying it out on the template…
steadywinds,
Bill
“Le Virus” – Sail assembly
I managed to cut, assemble and sew all the sail panels for my Le Virus. This was my first experience with a pieced sail and I learned a lot along the way. I tried to approach the drawing and cutting of the individual pieces as carefully as possible. I was rewarded with an easy assembly and symetric wings (that’s a releif)..
Continue reading
“Le Virus” – online workshop
There is a new online trick kite workshop starting on the GWTW forums. The kite is called “Le Virus” and is designed by Christian Derefat. I decided that I wanted to build another sport kite to improve upon the skills I learned while making “The Orange”. The web site for Le Virus is always growing and changes are made quickly based on the input of the users at the forum.
Continue reading