Tag Archives: Fighter Kite

The Zen Fighter Kite

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A simple new fighter kite design that I created to build from cellophane floral wrap.

The front side of the first Zen Fighter. No bridle yet.

This week I decided to design and build another fighter kite. I recently found some new clear floral wrap to use as a sail material. It comes in a variety of colors and using it as a sail material gives a kite a stained-glass look in the sky. The sail material can be found on Amazon. It’s called Shareluck Colored Cellophane Wrap Roll. The other materials needed are clear packing tape, loose leaf page reinforcements, bamboo for the spine, round graphite rods (.05) for the bow, and contact cement.

The back side of the Zen Fighter.

I designed the Zen Fighter to be small and simple. I will use a 3 point bridle to make it easy to adjust the balance. I didn’t use battens on the sail to keep the look clean in the sky. I don’t expect it to be fast like many other North American fighter kite designs. Since I designed it for use with cellophane, this will not be a high wind kite.

Once I’ve bridled and flown the Zen Fighter, I will post my impressions of the kite’s performance, and also post the plan!

The Firefly Fighter Kite Plan

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A look at one of my designs, and the plan to build one.

The Firefly Fighter Kite. This is a small fighter that files well in winds from 4 to 12 mph.

I designed the Firefly Fighter over 20 years ago. This is a western style fighter kite, small and quick. I wanted a swallowtail kite with a different look to it. Something that was the inverse of an Indian Fighter with its distinctive triangular tail. Of course most western designs are variations on the classic diamond kite shape, and while swallowtail kites aren’t uncommon, I liked the result. The battens support the swallowtail points, and that helps the sail to remain tight. The trailing edge has a gentle curve. I didn’t want too many straight lines, but it can be built with straight trailing edges too, and that doesn’t affect the performance of the kite much. I usually make this kite out of Mylar to keep it light. It wasn’t designed to carry cutting line, though it probably can. It flies very well in a wind range of 4 to 12 mph. Over the years I’ve built the Firefly using Orcon (as in the photo above), mylar, paper or cellophane wrap that florists use. The plan can be scaled up slightly, but will require a stiffer bow and battens. All the details are on the plan. Just click the link below to learn how to build a Firefly.

The plan for the Firefly can be found here:

http://www.fighterkitecentral.com/plans/Firefly-Tom%20Humphrey.pdf

The Firefly is a joy to fly in a calm breeze. For fighter kite enthusiasts out there, I hope you will build one and enjoy it as much as I have! To see me flying this kite, see below:

Flying a mylar Firefly, Magnusson Park, Seattle WA. I had built the kite the night before.
There WAS a very light wind that day!

I hope you have fun building and flying your Firefly Fighter!