The Modern Kite

    Since the development of the Peter Powell kite there have been many other innovations. One style of kite that has developed is called the Flexifoil, basically a kite shaped like an aeroplane wing. Although very similar in design to a parafoil, it differs in that it has no fins or keels and instead has a spar running along the front edge of the kite, to hold it open. This kite develops incredible amounts of lift, and can fly in an arc across the wind at speeds well in excess of 160 kilometers per hour. As the speed of this kite increases, so does the amount of lift. Large versions of this kite easily drag people across flying fields, and a recent innovation has been to water-ski behind this style of kite, better known as Para-Sailing.

 Flex-foil Kite

    The most common style of stunt kite is based on the delta wing. Shaped like hang gliders, these kites make use of materials initially developed by the aerospace industry for high performance aeroplanes and spacecraft. Materials such as kevlar and spectra have properties such as very low stretch factors, and remarkable strength to diameter ratios. Kevlar is used in the production of bullet proof vests, whilst spectra is used in the tethers astronauts use when they work outside their spacecraft. These materials are also used in the manufacture of flying lines for high performance kites.

    A flying line made of spectra no thicker than ordinary sewing thread has a breaking strain of over 50 kilograms, and will stretch less than one percent of its length. A nylon line of similar breaking strain would be around six times as thick, and would have a stretch factor of about twenty percent. The spars used in many high performance kites are made from carbon fibre, a non-metallic material developed for use in Stealth aircraft, as it doesn't show up on radar. Many other uses have been found for these sorts of materials, as they have become more readily available and costs have been reduced.

• New uses for Kites
• Modern Quad Liners