By Leslie Hunt
FIG. 38.
TRIANGULAR BOX KITE COMPLETE
Box kites give the boys and girls a chance to show their skill. They are not hard to make, but those that are carefully made fly ever so much better than those that are carelessly put together.
The Triangular Box Kite does not have as good a rating as the other box kites. There is more weight per unit of lifting surface, since a clumsier arrangement is required to keep the sides taut. But triangular box kites fly very well, and they offer wonderful possibilities as keels for figure kites.
Prepare three sticks 1/4 by 1/4 by 26 inches and make sure that they are straight and sound. Prepare six sticks 1/4 by 1/4 by 15 inches and sharpen them as shown in Figure 36. Make sure the lengths are exactly the same.
FIG. 36.
SKETCH OF THE DISTENTION STICK FOR THE TRIANGULAR BOX KITE
Cut two strips of thin firm paper 8 inches wide and 47 inches long. Lay the two papers on the floor parallel to each other, the outside edges being 25 inches apart. Make the ends even, so a stick laid across the ends will be at right angles (square) with the edges. Glue the sticks to the paper as shown in Figure 37.
FIG. 37.
PERSPECTIVE AND END VIEW OF THE METHOD OF ATTACHING THE STICKS TO THE PAPER OF THE TRIANGULAR BOX KITE
Be sure to keep the long sticks at right angles to the strips of paper and not to let the papers slip on the floor. Let the kite dry a few hours, join the ends of the paper as shown in Figure 38, and attach a bridle at point "A." Kites made as above are not collapsible.
The Triangular Box Kite made from the above directions presented an effective surface to the wind of about one half the edges of the "V" and about one half the back wall; all told, about 360 square inches. It weighed 1.20 ounces per square foot. It was an excellent kite for flying in a strong wind.
