A Tailless Kite – The frame of a 3-ft. kite is made of two sticks, each 3 ft. long.
These are tied together so that the cross stick will be at a distance of 15 percent of the full length of the upright stick, from its end, or in this case 5.4 in. The sticks may be made of straight grained pine, 3/8 in. square, for small kites, and larger hardwood sticks, for larger kites.
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Excerpt from the book: THE BOY MECHANIC VOLUME I 700 THINGS FOR BOYS TO DO WITH 800 ILLUSTRATIONS 1913, BY H. H. WINDSOR CHICAGO POPULAR MECHANICS CO. PUBLISHERS —Contributed by Chas. B. Damik, Cooperstown, N. Y.
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The cross stick is bent into a bow by tying a strong cord across from end to end. The center of the bend should be 4-1/2 in. above the ends. The bend is shown in the sketch.
Connect all four ends or points with a cord, being careful not to pull the bend of the cross stick down, but seeing that it remains straight across the kite. When this is done the frame is ready for the cover.
The cover will require 2-1/2 sheets of tissue paper, 20 by 30 in., which should be pasted together as the sketch indicates. Cut out the paper, allowing 2 in. margin for lapping over the cord on the frame. Place the frame on the cover with the convex side toward the paper and paste the margin over the cord, allowing the paper to bag a little to form pockets for the air to lift the kite. The corners should be reinforced with circular pieces of paper pasted over the ends of the sticks.
The flying cord is attached to the points A and B of the frame. There is no cross cord. The kite will fly at right angles to the flying cord. It is easily started flying from the ground by laying it with the head toward the operator and pulling it up into the wind.
