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Soft Single Skin Kite
Soft single skin kites are the least complex of all the power kites. The best known design is the NASA Parawing or NPW. For more, see rogallo wing. This is a very simple kite with mixed performance. It has excellent pull, but is slow to maneuver and suffers from a limited wind window. Its simple construction and forgiving design make it very popular among hobbyists and some traction enthusiasts, especially ski- and sledge-borne expeditions across both Arctic and Antarctic lands, but its drawbacks make it unsuitable for high efficiency and many water-borne sports. There are also soft single skin kites designed to be used on sailing ships as a free flying spinnaker substitute. There are significant advantages to having the spinnaker catching wind further above the surface of the water than is normal. This design was tested in the 2002 Louis Vuitton Regatta by the Oracle Americas Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Power Kite
A power kite or traction kite is a large kite designed to provide significant pull to the user. Types The two most common forms are the foil, and the leading edge inflatable. There are also other less common types of power kite including rigid-framed kites and soft single skin kites. There are several different control systems used with these kites which have two to five lines and a bar or handles. Foil kites consist of a number of cells with cloth ribs in each cell. It is the profile of these ribs that gives the kite its aerofoil shape and enable it to generate lift. The most common type is the ram-air foil, where each cell has a gauze-covered opening at the front, meaning air is forced in during flight, giving the kite its stiffness and enabling it to hold its profile. Some ram-air foils are closed-cell, where a one-way valve locks the air inside the cells, giving some increased water relaunch capability. Leading edge inflatable kites (LEIs) are made of a single skin of f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rogallo Wing
The Rogallo wing is a flexible type of wing. In 1948, Francis Rogallo, a NASA engineer, and his wife Gertrude Rogallo, invented a self-inflating flexible wing they called the Parawing, also known after them as the "Rogallo Wing" and flexible wing. NASA considered Rogallo's flexible wing as an alternative recovery system for the Mercury and Gemini space capsules, and for possible use in other spacecraft landings, but the idea was dropped from Gemini in 1964 in favor of conventional parachutes. History Rogallo had been interested in the flexible wing since 1945. He and his wife built and flew kites as a hobby. They could not find official backing for the wing, including at Rogallo's employer National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), so they carried out experiments in their own time. By the end of 1948 they had two working designs using a flexible wing — a kite they called "Flexi-Kite" and a gliding parachute they later referred to as a "paraglider". Rogallo and hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kite Flying
A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the face of the kite so the wind can lift it. Some kite designs don’t need a bridle; box kites can have a single attachment point. A kite may have fixed or moving anchors that can balance the kite. The name is derived from kite, the hovering bird of prey. The lift that sustains the kite in flight is generated when air moves around the kite's surface, producing low pressure above and high pressure below the wings. The interaction with the wind also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind. The resultant force vector from the lift and drag force components is opposed by the tension of one or more of the lines or tethers to which the kite is attached. The anchor point of the kite line may be static or moving (e.g., the towing of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sailing Ship
A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships carry square sails on each mast—the brig and full-rigged ship, said to be "ship-rigged" when there are three or more masts. Others carry only fore-and-aft sails on each mast, for instance some schooners. Still others employ a combination of square and fore-and-aft sails, including the barque, barquentine, and brigantine. Early sailing ships were used for river and coastal waters in Ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean. The Austronesian peoples developed maritime technologies that included the fore-and-aft crab-claw sail and with catamaran and outrigger hull configurations, which enabled the Austronesian expansion into the islands of the Indo-Pacific. This expansion originated in Taiwan BC and propagated through Island Southeast Asia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually nylon, and are often brightly colored. They may be designed to perform best as either a reaching or a running spinnaker, by the shaping of the panels and seams. They are attached at only three points and said to be ''flown''. Nomenclature Informal names for a spinnaker are ''kite'' or ''chute'' (owing to their resemblance to a parachute in both construction and appearance). Boats may have more than one spinnaker, differentiated by a letter to indicate symmetric (S) or asymmetric (A) and a number to indicate size (with higher numbers indicating smaller size), e.g. ''A1'' would be a large asymmetric sail and ''S3'' would be a smaller symmetric sail. Operation A spinnaker is used for sailing with the direction of the wind. Symmetrical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, sunglasses and books. Louis Vuitton is one of the world's leading international fashion houses. It sells its products through standalone boutiques, lease departments in high-end department stores, departmental stores, and through the e-commerce section of its website. For six consecutive years (2006–2012), Louis Vuitton was named the world's most valuable luxury brand. Its 2012 valuation was US$25.9 billion. In 2013, the valuation of the brand was US$28.4 billion with revenue of US$9.4 billion. The company operates in 50 countries with more than 460 stores worldwide. History Founding to World War II The Louis Vuitton label was founde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Americas Cup
The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sailing (sport), sport of sailing. It is the oldest International sport, international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match racing, match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known as the defender) and the other from the yacht club that is challenging for the cup (the challenger). Matches are held several years apart on dates agreed between the defender and the challenger. There is no fixed schedule, but the races have generally been held every three to four years. The most recent America's Cup match took place in March 2021. The cup was originally known as the 'R.Y.S. £100 Cup', 1851 America's Cup, awarded in 1851 by the British Royal Yacht Squadron for a race around the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. The winning yacht was a schooner called ''America (yacht), America'', owned by a syndicate of members fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
