How to Make a Rocket Kite

Flying a home made kite is a really satisfying experience

Although the 'traditional' rocket shape is simple cylinder with a dome or point on top, it's actually surprisingly difficult, especially for beginners, to make a round kite which flies well. In addition, the really important thing about a kite's shape is how it appears to the person on the other end of the string. Bearing these two factors in mind, this kite design takes the traditional box kite form and makes certain additions, giving the kite the appearance of rocket when viewed from the ground.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Hacksaw
• Scissors
• 3-foot-by-3-foot sheet kite material (silver tissue, or newspaper painted silver and red/orange tissue for the streamers)
• Four 4-inch-by-18-inch and four 4-inch-by-7-inch kite struts (dowel, bamboo cane, plastic rods, anything light)
• 8 bamboo skewers
• Masking tape
• String
• Kite string (lightweight string of any kind)
• Cotton Reel
• Paints and small brush (optional)

Instructions

1. Tape the shorter struts together to make two X shapes. Keep in mind that you are making a box shape with the four long struts making the long edges and the X shapes supporting the box. Lay two of the long struts on the floor parallel. Stand an X shape up about 3 inches from the end of the two long struts. It should be straddling the two struts with the end of one arm touching one strut and the end of the arm touching the other. Tape them into place. For extra strength you can cut a grove in the end of the X piece arms to help it fit snug against the long strut. Repeat at the other end with the other X.

2. Repeat the above process with the other two long struts, making a box shape. Stand the box up on its end. Wrap string around all the places where the struts are joined and then wrap the string with tape.

3. Run string once around each end of the box level with where you have joined the X pieces to the long struts. Tie it in place.

4. Make the rocket fins at one end by taping a bamboo skewer onto the end of each of the four arms of the X piece, extending the length of the arms. For strength give a 1 1/2 inch overlap between the skewer and the X piece arm and use plenty of tape. Bend the skewers back towards the end of the long strut to make a the curve of the fin shape and tie it into place with a short bit of string (the string forms the back of the fin shape).

5. Make the nose of the rocket at the other end. Tape a bamboo skewers onto the ends of each the long struts, extending their length. Again make a 1 1/2 inch overlap and use plenty of tape. Bend the free ends of the skewers in towards each other to make a dome shape and tape together.

6. Cut two long strips of the kite material 3 inches wide; you are going to wrap this around the box shape. Start at the fin end of the rocket. Take one piece and tape the end to one of the long struts between the end of the long strut and the X piece. Wrap it around the frame once, tucking it through the frames of the fins and taping it in place at the same point as the other end is attached. Cut off any excess. Tape over where the ends of the strip come together and put a strip of tape along each edge of the material to avoid tears.

7. Do the same on the other end and run a strip around the skewers forming the point of the rocket, being careful to leave a hole at the tip about 2 inches wide for the air to pass through. Cut pieces of material the same size and shape as the fins and stick these into place.

8. Cut strips of the red and orange material and attach these to the ends of the long struts at the fin end of the rocket to make streamers. Decorate the body of the kite now using paint to add windows or lettering to the rocket.

9. Attach a length of kite string 18 inches long to the nose end of one of the long struts, making small holes in the material to poke the string through. Tie the other end of this string 3 inches in from the other end of the same strut. In the middle of the length of string, tie the main kite string which is best to keep wrapped around a cotton reel for ease of use. The kite is now ready to fly

References

• Further kite making instructions