Kites: Smiling Girl under construction

This is an adaption of a square diamond kite. I wanted to move toward a more traditional diamond shape. I also designed so the cross spar and spine are the same length and same material; makes for easy assembly. I developed a set of banners called Wind Thru the Hair. They are a family of cartoon characters. This face is called "sister." I thought it'd be nice to have a kite to go with the banners. Since she was a young girl, I gave her pony tails. The pony tails are made from looping fuzzy tails so I can change them and make them any length I want. I cannot help but smile when I see her. I like the symplicity of the design so much I as made a 4 foot by 15 foot banner with four more feet of flowing hair. She has become one or our "calling cards," even appearing on our business card.

I learned of the large square diamond kite from John Freeman. The original concept was from Margret Greger. It is like a Hata fighter kite and would be very unstable without the tails. It is a wonderful design for it flys in a wide range of winds. As the winds pick up it tends to dump them by tiping up the bottom and flying more parallel to the ground.

It is made of 0.75 ounce ripstop nylon. This is five feet wide, ??? feet long and in the photo the pony tails are ??? feet long. Sparing is A20 fiberglass.