With some great input from Schietwedder and Kitexpert I finalized my design! Plan is to first make a 5m2 for stronger winds on HF, TT or buggy, and later on a larger more racy model ~11m2 for lower winds. :) Area flat 5m2 AR 6.3 Span 5.6 m 41 cells Airfoils: 17% thick @ 27.6% chord, 1.4% camber in t...

Very much impressed! Looking forward to the gopro footage

As a beginner I recommend starting with a 9-11 m2 in about 13-18 knots. Such a rather small kite requires quite some wind to get going at least on a TT, which could be dangerous. Id start in the ligther wind with an assistent to help launching.

For the lower skin I made the following design. 4 rows for the bridles and also various straps on the billowed surface. I used the ideas on the latest commercial models here and there. lowerS.png Also applying H ribs on the center cell and 75% finger ribs on the other cells I have now quite some int...

:argue: come on! Can we go back to R&D please :lol: Imo all of you had your points, both Kitexpert and Foilholio helped me a lot allready at least. Thanks!! So may we proceed in peace and harmony please :allbegood: How about this question. On most foilkites the towpoint center kite is at about 18% c...

Fully agree Schietwetter, also for me it is all about passion to understand and get it right. And i think, since a lot of professionals are far ahead and show how it is done, the diy community should be more open. Discussing ideas and sharing designs is the way forward I would say.

A few cells less would also be fine I think indeed. Reason to stick with so many is to stay close to some commercial bridles. But I may go for some fewer and use Surfplan indeed. The strap on the upper skin may also be discarded yes. I figured it plays a similar role to maintain the original span wh...

My plan is to build a small free ride HF foilkite which may also be used in somewhat more wind on TT. Using Surfplan I aim for: - Flat area 5m5 - AR 6.3 - 49 cells - miniribs - no d-ribs - straps on lower skin at A,B and C level but also one on the upper skin, just above D level. - 3-4% billow on bo...

Thank you for your explanations! Bit by bit i also start to understand how things should be done to come to good perfomance. Interesting journey especially nowadays with all the innovations towards the olympics! Find it a nice challenge to establish a state of the art diy foilkite in Surfplan to sha...

Very nice to see, looks professional even! Also nice this thread is alive again, was just reading through it these days in my diy learning process. Thinking about my next project in Surfplan and seeing your 12 makes me wonder. How do you introduce the 3-5% billow? Is it a manual thing you add to the...