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Different Types of Kites

Kites are made of think materials such as paper, silk, orother thin material spread over a framework. Kites requireflexible tails for lateral and directional stability becausethey have only one plane surface. Popular kite makingdestinations are China and other East Asian countries. Thispractice of making kite is centuries old.

Alexander Wilson of Scotland first tried to use a kite in1749. He used it to store meteorological data. Lighteningwas studied by Benjamin Franklin in 1752, with the help ofkites. In 1893, Lawrence Hargrave, an Australian, used boxkite to carry out the studies related to meteorology andaerodynamics. To make experiments, Alexander Graham Bellused tetrahedral kites. Kites are of many types:

Bowed kites are stretched to form a bow like a JapaneseRokkaku kite. This improves their strength to a point wherea tail is not required.

Foil kite are soft kites consisting of numerous cells spreaduniformly in which some or all are open at the front forenabling air to inflate the kite taking on an aerofoilsection. Some kites are made, for use on water, havinglimited air inlets present in the centre of the foils'leading edge. This allows the air to go in and water out.Internal hole in the sides of the cell help the entire kiteto inflate. Thus this kite gets inflated very slowly incomparison to other kite having open fronted foil.

Stunt kite are of special type as these fly high into thesky on two lines. The flyer can enjoy acrobatics such asflips and twirls while he is flying the kite. Stunt kitescan fly with the maximum speed of 100 MPH.

Airfoil kite has an airfoil shape to lift the kite upwards.It is also known as parafoil kite. These kites have chambersfilled with air that provide shape to the kite at the sametime lift the kite up into the sky. They do not use theconventional frame of sticks that is rigid. The name"parafoil" is given because they have "parachute" and"airfoil". The absence of frame allows them to be foldedand stored in packs. Power kite is a classic example ofairfoil kite.