Dave,

I always envy your builds. I have learned so much from your work with KFM steps and kites.

What electronics are you using on that micro ifo? Is that red pcb a brushless esc for 1s?

I second the recommendation of using nanotech batteries. The discharge rating is typically greater than the Parkzone or Hobbyzone branded ones that come with most Vapor/Champ/SU/P51 micros.

The micro saga continues.....
The version 2 micro-kite has flown...with its COG at 70mm, it is perfect in some ways but lacking in the roll... It flies very slow and gentle.. loops are fine, but I didn't dare roll it..it was floating round just a bit faster than a Vapor at less than half throttle , very smooth, but the cold, zero degrees here, was again lowering the power from the tiny lipos.. full power at home had given me good vertical , but in our unheated venue the vertical was not possible..
conclusion .. if you want something very nice and easy , a bit more aerobatic than a Vapor, this version 2 will do nicely.. however please go with the geared micro SU type of motor setup, and not a brushless on 1 cell, for better performance.. or alternatively use a heavier small 2 cell setup to uprate its aerobatics

On its first flight it suffered a midair, colliding with a much bigger 2 cell 3D model that was wizzing round. and it crashed to the concrete floor... but it all bounced with the frame intact and I was able to right it and then fly on with only some damage to the covering..see the pic..
Funny was, that the 3D model flew on , then within a couple of seconds its prop disintegrated in a loud buzz...and it then crashed...
So effectively I won that round....lol... with no damage to my kites frame, and a flyable model, despite it being now tatty...
next time I must remember to take some tape...

The version 3 model will not be built, I think it will be too slow and gentle for me... I am going to a smaller, slimmer and faster shape to get more aerobatic ability .. a version-4
But Ive decided on the build I will use 1.5mm rods for the spars and outer curves.. they are more damage resistant

Next some lighting for the v2 micro, as its been recovered ... gosh! the expense...lol ....a bit of a plastic bag... I must remember to try an Asda supermarket bag...lol .....they are free
It took a while to remove the old film, that uhu does stick it well ..then it took a while to remove the old glue still on the rods... recovering and shrinking is quick enough...

I am now working on an 'all flying' surfaces model like the Carbon Traveler uses..but for micro size and a single wing rather than biplane.. a set of ballanced, all flying, surfaces should be possible... the popular tiny vapor already has its fin and elevator all flying

Although this is a "plane" rather than pure flat kite. Any CF and fabric build to me will always be a kite

Originally Posted by KenChin

And we have LIGHTS !! Ready for maiden this weekend...

Hey Guys!

I been following this topic for the past 3 days and managed to complete reading... Really inspired me to build my own RC Kite for the nite.

Just a little intro about myself. I'm from Singapore and i'm very very new to RC.

Ken!

I love your design. Can i actually use your design to build my 1st Kite. Hope you don't mind having me using your design.

Most of us are glad that our designs are liked and used... its only that some modelers try to restrict their design when they are selling kits or RTF models...But that never stops a determined modeller...after all ,you are only building your own model of a design..and thats no different to scratch building a model of a full size plane
...

[QUOTE=Jefte;23914299]Dave,

What electronics are you using on that micro ifo? Is that red pcb a brushless esc for 1s?

yes its a little 3A brushless esc which has to be soldered in..

Originally Posted by Vaporisatuer

Hey Guys!

I been following this topic for the past 3 days and managed to complete reading... Really inspired me to build my own RC Kite for the nite.

Just a little intro about myself. I'm from Singapore and i'm very very new to RC.

Ken!

I love your design. Can i actually use your design to build my 1st Kite. Hope you don't mind having me using your design.

Thanks vapor. Since your aren from singapore. I suggest you buying some connectors from rotor hobby under their rc kite section they used to sell. It will help alot in your builds. They also have the ripstop covering.

I will try to update my plans once i get back home. Away for cny shopping in JB.

Thanks guys for the respond... I will try to get those material from rotor .

Dave,

Are you saying that a geared SU/p51 motor is superior to a 1s brushless?

What do you mean by "all flying"?

On the micro models and using 1 cell, the brushed and geared motor setup does a better job in general than the brushless on direct drive... they have good performance and run for longer...
I was surprised.. it seems like I was taking a step backward after going to bigger brushless with such outstanding results...
I bought a selection of tiny brushless motors.. and they will only run for a fraction of the time compared to the brushed setup and the power is not as good..
To get the brushless going well it is best to go to 2 cells... or use a high kv with a gearbox...But you are still stuck with shorter flying times....

On larger models I would never use the old brushed motors... brushless is just so good

All flying..... The whole of the flying surfaces move....perhaps all moving is a better description
there are no fixed areas on the tail plane, wing or tail fin... the full surface is moved in relation to the body of the model..rather than moving an aileron, elevator or rudder

see the picture above...which shows the wings and tail plane in their moved positions

The little micro kite that suffered a midair had its wing recovered and now it has lights...
The AUW is 40.5gms... whilst I am flying this with just a 1 cell lipo and a 5gm motor the frame is stiff enough and plenty strong to go to 2 cells and a 10gm motor... it would of course have to fly a lot faster, at the moment it floats around about half as fast again as the Vapor.. perhaps twice as fast with full power..Its a lovely smooth flier..

Originally Posted by davereap

On the micro models and using 1 cell, the brushed and geared motor setup does a better job in general than the brushless on direct drive... they have good performance and run for longer...

Interesting finding, thanks for sharing. I wonder if this is why 1s helis tend to use brushed motors and only move to brushed on 2s (i.e. the Blade 130x and new Brushless MCP X)?

The tiny brushed motors are knocked out in thousands and are often found in phones so are cheap.. but not so long lasting..however they are good enough...

Wow have a look at these videos. Found a couple more with GFK designs. Well done

Aerial Maneuver Demonstration (2 min 37 sec)

GoFlyKite 1.8 Meter Flight (2 min 54 sec)

The first video really shows how well the most simple of the kites flies..this is likely a goflykite pro3 ...... the Simple design...easy to build and super to fly

The second video is what inspired me to start this thread... pretty and gracefull...it was from the goflykite website but had different music....