Powered Up – Build Your Own NASA Wing Kite
- Using NASA Wing kites for Big Game chute hunting in Baffin Island.
I learned how to kite on a NASA wing in Antarctica and couldn’t wait to get home and sew up a few kites on my own. Since then I’ve made roughly 20 NASA wings ranging from 2.3m speed demons to 30m monster trucks. My quiver has expanded into foil kites and hopefully an inflatable for next season, but for expeditions, NASA wings are still my workhorse of choice as they are light, simple, cheap and generate a huge amount of power.
I’ve resurrected an old “How to Build a NASA Wing” website which I just moved over to StraightChuter.com. Click here to see how it is done.
- NASA wing kites – small enough to fit in your pocket, yet strong enough to rip your arms off.
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Category: Snow Kiting
Awesome! Would love to hear more about kiting.
Hi Nick,
You’re in luck – the Labor Day weekend is all kiting, all the time.
Andrew,
Its interesting looking at this Baffin Island picture. There are no pressure ridges in the ice.
Halsted
Funny you should mention that Hacksaw as high-speed collisions with pressure ridges cut both of our Baffin trips short, or at least altered them. I’m putting a photo gallery up tomorrow, but the end result of a pressure ridge can be seen here:
http://www.straightchuter.com/wp-content/gallery/baffin-island-2002/97-bad_sled.jpg
So, a roll bar might not be a bad idea…..
Andrew, do you fly the NASA wings with 2 lines?
I built one of these a couple years ago from your instructions but didn’t glue the knots so the kite lost shape and I still have to fix it.
What really put a damper on the project though was the huge force of the kite and my fear of getting dragged – was trying this on land and in a fairly populated area (need to try this on snow instead). I ended up modifying the bridle to take 4 lines (added 2 rear barking lines) but the 4 lines added up to too much drag and the kite didn’t fly well.
Hi Terry – I do fly my NASA’s a two-liners. I’ve tried them as 4 line, but it seemed to add more complexity without much more control.
I’m glad to hear you were able to build one! Learning how, or most importantly, when to fly them is a big part of the learning curve. When I first started, we’d wait for a howling wind, then set our biggest kites as we wanted a “good ride.” Usually we just got dragged, threw the kite and spent the next few hours detangling the lines.
Cool kite, really! I wonder, is it possible to buy such NASA kite in a common sport magazine.
Baffin Island photo looks like an esoterical picture, beautiful place – but it must be extremely cold there!
I’d like to build a few NPWs to stuff in my backpack.
Can they be set up to use with a 4 line depowerbar or do they only work with handles?
Have you ever built a 9b version or high aspect version?
http://users.telenet.be/claeskites/index.htm
sorry, left l off end of the url
http://users.telenet.be/claeskites/index.html
Hi Don – I’ve looked at the plans for a 9b, but never built one for no particular reason other than I already know how to build the NPW 5’s.
They can be flown as a two handle, four line kite, which is more popular with the stunt flying crowd. For expedition use, I prefer a single bar and two lines, as I try to get it locked into travel mode, then park it in one position and hopefully rage away. The four lines give much more control, but are harder to fly.
I was checking out your kite design for your nasa wing model. I know it can be made in many sizes but you dont give any measurements for the fabric. I am totally new to kiting and so have no idea as to what measure to use. Could you make a suggestion. Also so I know how many yards of fabric to order. I would like to use the 3/4 oz nylon as it is available from a local sail shop.
Is this the best model to learn with??