KITE FLIGHT DYNAMICS

• In 1899, Wright brothers were developing their theories for the control of an aircraft
by using wing warping, they built a small maneuverable kite to verify their ideas.
These experiments led directly to their successful 1903 aircraft.
• By understanding kite flight dynamics, one can learn fundamentals of airplane
aerodynamics because a kite is very much like an airplane except that kites produce
no thrust.
• kites have a solid frame normally made of wood or plastic, and this frame is covered
by a paper, plastic, or cloth.
• Kites depend on surfaces to generate the aerodynamic forces necessary for flight and
use rigid structures to support the surfaces and transmit the forces.
• In flight, the kite is connected to the flyer by the control line and the flyer can feel
the tension in the line created by the aerodynamic forces on the kite and weight of
the kite. Aerodynamic drag is overcome by constraining the kite with a control line.
• The line is connected to the kite by a string bridle. The place where the bridle
connects to the line is called the bridle point and the kite pivots about this point in
flight.
• The bridle point can be adjusted to change the flight characteristics of the kite. That
is angle of attack can be changed.
• Surface of kite deflects the wind downward and creates the aerodynamic forces of
lift and drag on the kite.
• Surface area of kite is the frontal projected area of all of the surfaces of the kite.
• The span is the widest distance from side to side.
• The ratio of the square of the span to the area A is called the Aspect Ratio AR of the
kite. This parameter is very important in the determination of lift and drag of the
kite.
• Airplane wings typically have a very long span and have a high aspect ratio. Kites on
the other hand usually have a small span and are low aspect ratio aircraft. High
aspect ratio aircraft have a higher lift to drag ratio than a low aspect ratio aircraft
and are more aerodynamically efficient.
• The center of gravity is the average location of the weight of the kite, and the
weight force acts through this point.
• The center of pressure is the average location of the aerodynamic forces on the
kite, and the lift and drag act through this point.
• The bridle length-b is the length of the string from one end attached to the top to the
other end attached to the bottom of our kite.
• A knot is used to attach the control line to the bridle at a spot called the bridle point.
• The knot length-k is the distance from the bottom to the knot along the bridle string.
• In flight, the kite rotates about the bridle point. A kite's stability is determined by the
magnitude of the forces and the distance of the cg and cp from the bridle point.
• control line produces a gentle curve under its own weight.
• some kites fly stable which have a single control line.
• some kites are maneuverable which have a multiple control lines.
• If the wind speed increases, the lift and drag increases because the aerodynamic
forces depends on the square of the velocity.
• So, the kite moves vertically up. A new stable flight condition at a slightly higher
altitude is established in which the lift balances the weight and the vertical
component of the tension in the control line.
• If the wind speed decreases, the kite achieves a new stable flight condition at a
lower altitude.
• Because of the change in the aerodynamic force, the kite also rotates about the
bridle point to balance the torques in new stable condition.
• Net torque about the bridle point is a function of the angle of attack. Above is the
plot of net torque versus angle of attack for different designs.
• At certain Angle of attack which makes the net torque equal to zero, kite does not
rotate about bridle point. Designs A and B never attains zero torque.
• In flight, the kite experiences small changes in the angle of attack due to
turbulence in the air.
• In design C with positive slope,if the torque increases with a slight increase in
angle of attack, the increased torque causes the angle of attack to increase, which
causes more torque, which causes more angle of attack. And the kite rotates out
of control.
• In design D with negative slope,if a small increase in angle of attack from the balance
point causes a negative torque, the kite returns to the balance point condition.
• For a balanced, stable design, the torque versus angle of attack plot must cross the
angle of attack axis, and have a negative slope.
• To launch(1) the kite, we have to create a lift force which is greater than the weight
of the kite by creating the enough relative between the wind and the kite .
• As the kite rises during launch (2), we can usually stand still and the kite will fly just
fine. This occurs because the velocity of the wind normally increases as we increase
altitude.
• kite will cruise (3) at an altitude where all the forces and the torques are balanced. If
the forces are changed, the kite moves until the forces are in balance once again.
• If we pull the control line, we can slightly increase the velocity of the kite. The
increased velocity increases the lift, which causes the kite to climb (4).