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Foil kites are soft
kites A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...
based on the design of the parafoil. They consist of a number of cells running fore to aft, some or all of which are open at the front to allow air to inflate the kite so it takes on an
aerofoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine. ...
section. Due to the amount of power that these kites can generate, they can be used for a variety of different activities including
kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...
,
kite landboarding Kite landboarding, also known as land kiteboarding or flyboarding, is based on the sport of kitesurfing, where a rider on a surf-style board is pulled over water by a kite. Kite landboarding involves the use of a mountain board or landboard, whic ...
,
snowkiting Snowkiting or kite skiing is an outdoor winter sport where people use kite power to glide on snow or ice. The skier uses a kite to give them power over large jumps. The sport is similar to water-based kiteboarding, but with the footwear used in ...
,
kite buggying A kite buggy is a light, purpose-built vehicle powered by a traction kite (power kite). It is single-seated and has one steerable front wheel and two fixed rear wheels. The driver sits in the seat located in the middle of the vehicle and accelera ...
, kite-energy systems or
airborne wind energy Airborne wind energy (AWE) is the direct use or generation of wind energy by the use of aerodynamic or aerostatic lift devices. AWE technology is able to harvest high altitude winds, in contrast to wind turbines, which use a rotor mounted on a to ...
, and recreational kiting. Foil kites are flown with various line set-ups that includes 2-, 3- and 4-line systems; 2-line systems consisting of rings, wrist bands or bar compared to depowerable 4-line systems using a bar or handles. (See also:
kite control systems Kite types, kite mooring, and kite applications result in a wide variety of kite control systems. Contemporary manufacturers, kite athletes, kite pilots, scientists, and engineers are expanding the possibilities. Single-line kite control system ...
) In order to make them suitable for use on water some foils have limited air inlets in the centre of the leading edge, with valves to keep the air in and (hopefully) the water out. Internal holes in the cell sides allow the whole kite to inflate. These kites are naturally slower to inflate than an open-fronted foil. Foils are the most efficient of the
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 rig ...
s. The aerofoil section means that they can still provide significant lift when parked overhead, unlike
leading edge inflatable kite A leading edge inflatable kite (LEI) is a single skin kite with inflatable bladders providing structure. It is useful as a power or traction kite. These kites are flown using 2, 4 or 5 control lines and a bar. (See also: kite control systems) ...
s.


Development and history of foil kites

One of the first popular foil-based kites was the development of a two-line power kite by Ray Merry and Andrew Jones in the early 1970s in England which became known as the ''Flexifoil'' (and later the Flexifoil company). Merry and Jones also experimented with kite pulled vehicles, a concept which was further developed by
Peter Lynn Peter Lynn (born 1946) is a New Zealand kitemaker, engineer and inventor. He is notable for his construction of the world's largest kites (Guinness book of records holders), giant inflatable (sparless) display kites (the most widely known is the ...
and popular today in its current form as
kite buggying A kite buggy is a light, purpose-built vehicle powered by a traction kite (power kite). It is single-seated and has one steerable front wheel and two fixed rear wheels. The driver sits in the seat located in the middle of the vehicle and accelera ...
. The ''Flexifoil'' kite, still sold today as a 'Stacker' has a solid carbon spar in its leading edge to maintain its shape as it flies. The second-generation two-line parafoil was called the ''Sparless Stunter'', designed by Ted Dougherty. Development began mid-1985 and was available for sale in mid-1988. These parafoil kites were square in shape and had 6 cells. In September 1988 a 460-square-foot (43 m²) version was flown at the Ocean City Sunfest breaking the record for the World's Largest Stunt kite. In January 1989 the ''Sparless Stunter'' was introduced at the KTA show as the first totally sparless parafoil stunt kite. The Sparless Stunter saw a very brief history as kite technology evolved by May 1990 the first version of the original ''Quadrifoil'' was flown in competition at Wildwood, NJ. The first ''Quadrifoil'' was essentially two ''Sparless Stunter''s sewn together with a swept back shape. Later generations were refined into the widely known “classic.” Peter Lynn introduced a similar foil-based kite in 1991 for kite traction with the Peter Lynn ''Peel'' – this was a completely soft foil kite without any spars. The ''Peel'' was a popular kite traction kite in the early to mid-1990s and continued to sell into the late 1990s and was sold in sizes up to 10m². The Peel was also a two-line kite flown in the same style as the ''Flexifoil''. The next evolution on the foil kites for traction activities was the development of the 4-line foil kite. While 2-line kites require sometimes significant push and pull arm movement to fly (especially true the larger the kite), the development of the 4-line kite required less arm movement. 4-line kites are flown with two lines on each handle: a top line (or power line), and a bottom line (or brake line). 4-line kites can still be flown with push and pull arm movement, but if the bottom brake line is pulled in the bottom edge of the kite stalls and will cause the kite to turn on that bottom edge. This results in tighter turns with less arm movement – this is important if sitting in a
kite buggy A kite buggy is a light, purpose-built vehicle powered by a traction kite (power kite). It is single-seated and has one steerable front wheel and two fixed rear wheels. The driver sits in the seat located in the middle of the vehicle and accelera ...
. One of the first available 4-line kites was the ''Quadrifoil'', designed by Ted Dougherty, popular as a buggy kite in the mid-1990s. The ''Quadrifoil'' in its original design became known as the 'Classic' – the kite was rectangular in shape in contrast to today's more elliptical designs. Later evolutions of the kite were sold as the Competition (more elliptical in design – C1, C3), Q2000 range, and lastly the ''Competition X'' range (XXS, XS, XM, XL and the XXL). Although these were sold under the Quadrifoil brand-name by Active People, none of these were designed by Dougherty himself. Dougherty's next kite after the ''Quadrifoil'' was the ''QuadTrac'' built and sold by Skynasaur in the US in the mid-1990s. Following the success of the ''Quadrifoil'', Ray Merry (of ''Flexifoil'' fame) designed the ''Skytiger'' range of 4-line kites that was the dominant 4-line traction kite of the mid to late 1990s. This too was a rectangular design and a very solid and stable flying kite. The design was refined for more pull with the introduction of the 'Hi' series with an increased
aspect ratio (wing) In aeronautics, the aspect ratio of a wing is the ratio of its span to its mean chord. It is equal to the square of the wingspan divided by the wing area. Thus, a long, narrow wing has a high aspect ratio, whereas a short, wide wing has a low as ...
. Commonly available were the Hi-22, Hi-40 (3.7 metre) and the Hi-60 (5.6 metre). A Hi-80 and Hi-100 were also available although not commonly seen. The 'Hi' series was available in regular
ripstop nylon __NOTOC__ Ripstop fabrics are woven fabrics, often made of nylon, using a reinforcing technique that makes them more resistant to tearing and ripping. During weaving, stronger (and often thicker) reinforcement yarns are interwoven at regular inte ...
, or also available made from 'Icarex', a lightweight polyester material that allowed the kites to fly in much lower winds. In Europe in the late 1990s the kite buggy scene was becoming popular and there were a large number of traction kite designs from a large number of European companies. The designs took two different directions – those that were steady and reliable in most winds and typically resistant to '
luffing {{About, , the forward edge of a sail, Parts of a sail, other uses, Luff (disambiguation){{!Luff In sailing, luffing refers to when a sailing vessel is steered far enough toward the direction of the wind ("windward"), or the sheet controlling a s ...
' in gusty or unreliable winds, and those that were tuned to produce maximum pull at the cost of stability (known as 'race kites'). In the UK in the late 1990s, the 'Predator' kite designed by Peter Mirkovic of Sky Kites was the most popular and successful traction kite amongst people competing in buggy races, winning the majority of races at this time.AEOLIAN.CO.UK – Misc – Features – Mark Kingshott
/ref> By late 1990s/early 2000s a number of new companies entered the traction kite market that had prior experience with development of
paraglider Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...
s, and used this knowledge and experience for the development of traction kites.


See also

*
Bow kite Bow kites are leading edge inflatable kites that incorporate a bridle on the leading edge. They are used for the sport of kiteboarding. They can be identified by a flat, swept-back profile and concave trailing edge allowing the kite greater depo ...
*
Kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...
* Stunt kite *
Kite surfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wa ...
*
Kite landboarding Kite landboarding, also known as land kiteboarding or flyboarding, is based on the sport of kitesurfing, where a rider on a surf-style board is pulled over water by a kite. Kite landboarding involves the use of a mountain board or landboard, whic ...
*
Kite buggying A kite buggy is a light, purpose-built vehicle powered by a traction kite (power kite). It is single-seated and has one steerable front wheel and two fixed rear wheels. The driver sits in the seat located in the middle of the vehicle and accelera ...
*
LEI kite A leading edge inflatable kite (LEI) is a single skin kite with inflatable bladders providing structure. It is useful as a power or traction kite. These kites are flown using 2, 4 or 5 control lines and a bar. (See also: kite control systems) ...
*
Arc kite The arckite or twinskin kite is a type of traction kite designed and patented by Peter Lynn. It is a very stable, safe and secure type of powerkite. It can be used for all kinds of kite powered sports, for example: kiteboarding, landboarding, kit ...
* Parafoil *
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 rig ...
*
Windsports A windsport is any type of sport which involves wind-power, often involving a non-rigid airfoil such as a sail or a power kite. The activities can be land-based, on snow, on ice or on water. Windsport activity may be regulated in some countries ...
* Kite types *
Kite mooring 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 ...
*
Kite applications The kite can be used for many applications. Different kites such as water kites, bi-media kites, fluid kites, gas kites, kytoons, paravanes, soil kites, solid kites, and plasma kites have niche applications. Some animals, such as spiders, also ma ...


References


Parafoil kites at the Virtual Kite Zoo.


External links


Nautikites Blog (http://www.nautikites.net/blog/index.php?entry=entry091117-182426)
– The compared evolution of kitesurfing and other great air & water sports.
Extreme Kites (www.ExtremeKites.com.au)
– Leading Power Kite Information Portal, Forums, Videos, Reviews, News and Galleries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foil Kite Kites Kitesurfing