Assembly Instructions
For the A-Patriot-Sled kite
.
Please note the the A-Patriot-Sled can be purchased in the online catalog
under single line kites.
I've been building kites since 1999 and this is one of my favorites to build. This kite uses my 11.41/13.08 sled ratio. Where the top of the bottom keel is 34.25" long finished the and the edge of the middle body is 39.25" long at finish. For larger or smaller just multiply the (11.41 & 13.08) by your number of choice. I chose the 39.25" length for shipping purposes as the maximum international USPS package length is 42". There are probably 100 different styles of sled kites commercially available today in various sizes. This is a basic two sided tube sled with 1/8" fiberglass side spars. The spars enable this kite to fly in the worst of gusty air conditions. The kite is a good lifter in medium winds and you can add a whole bunch of line laundry on a windy day.
I build my A-Patriot-Sled kites out of Dilon 100 which is a 1.05 oz impregnated Ripstop. That particular Ripstop repells water and thus the kite also works nicely for kayak towing. A sled kite of course doesn't have the forward pull like a parafoil. However the spars in it make is easy to launch and many times one just wants to kayak kite for fun with medium pulling power.
The kite with spars is a little heavy but it's a tough cookie and should give one many years of service. I don't claim it's the perfect sled kite but I do think it's a pretty good one and it's easy to build. Please note you will find no patterns here just the instructions for building the kite.
Last I want to tell you this is a swag kite. The kite when flying does not stand still and flys to the left a few feet, corrects itself then flys to the right a few feet and so forth. It does that in all wind speeds and thus fills the sky with both color and movement.
Scott Haas - November 2005
Flying the
Kite
The Inventory Parts List
Table Setting
Bottom Keel
Top Keel Part
Outside Tube
Spar Tube and Batten Ends
Body
Bag