top of page

the Abyss...
... the alien from the deep sea ....

While browsing Marcus aka Tiggr's homepage I came across the following pictures... Immediately the desire to build this wonderful kite grew.

DRA_ABY_Konst_001.jpg
DRA_ABY_Konst_002.jpg

In the absence of a blueprint, I set about making sketches, calculating dimensions and thinking about how to build such a bird and then of course fly it.

​

I then set the following key data for my construction:

 

keel length          1.50 meters
span     approx. 3.20 meters
organza veil:     10 meters long

​

Interconnects:

​

Connector wing top edge: 130 degrees Kitehouse Eddykreuz
Connector wing lower edge: 120 degrees Kithouse Eddykreuz
with the different angles, the buoyancy should be guaranteed analogous to a Rokaku.

​

confirm:

keel -  6 CFRP as and
Wings - 8-piece merging into 6-piece GRP tube, so that they remain more flexible.

​

Cloth:

for one I got a very thin and transparent parachute silk
on the other hand I still had white and blue Chikara in the closet.
I was able to shoot blue organza very cheaply in the bay

​

Scale:

One part of the bridle is sewn as 4 triangles to the fuselage
on the other hand, it should be a scale made of 3 lines, as can be seen in the 2nd picture.

​

Here is the construction drawing with corrections and ideas.

DRA_ABY_Konst_003.jpg

The first thing I did was hemming the 25 meter long and 1.45 wide organza with white hem tape on both sides... what a job. lay the organza neatly in a double-folded satin hem band and secure the whole thing with a pin... man, man, man.

​

But it worked and it went through the machine faster than I thought. One night I was through with the story and my organza was lined.

​

Now for the tricky task. I had to cut 10 meter pieces. Well that's still possible. But then I had to cut the fabric lengthwise, diagonally.
And that in my apartment where the longest possibility is 3 meters in the hallway. Good advice was expensive there. I then made a small arithmetic example and marked points on the fabric at a distance of one meter. Calculated the slope of the diagonal for each meter and then measured the corresponding width, marking this on the fabric with masking tape.

​

Then it got tricky. How do I get a straight line? I had the incline. The solution was called banisters at the top, it was flat and straight and there was also space to hang down. Then draw a line with a thin crepe and separate the fabric with the scissors. It was actually quite easy :-)

​

Here the fabric in the box (sorry for the bad picture)

DRA_ABY_Schle_001.jpg

Now came the linkage. I had received the sticks and the Kitehouse connectors have also arrived in the meantime. They are great connectors that can sometimes withstand a little more force than a normal eddy cross.

​

At first I thought I had to tension the fuselage and wings with separate rods.

DRA_ABY_Rippe_003.jpg

The upper part of the linkage the gray tubes are 8mm GRP for mobility

DRA_ABY_Rippe_005.jpg

The lower part of the linkage the blue tubes are 6mm GRP for mobility

But I quickly gave up on the double connectors and double rods. The load would be far too heavy.

​

After about 80 cm, the wings will then transition from the 8-gauge GRP tube to the blue 6-gauge GRP tube and the whole thing will then be tensioned on the outside with arrow nocks in a matching color.

 

First I built the middle part. The thin parachute silk is very difficult to process. She likes to stretch. So you have to be very picky about the desired direction of travel.

 

First the dragon's nose

DRA_ABY_Bauch_001.jpg

You can see very well how transparent the material is in contrast to the blue Chikara stripes.

And the bottom part is already done.

DRA_ABY_Bauch_002.jpg

The blue stripes are repeated here as well.

I then played with the different transparencies on the grand piano and hope to get the effect of stylized feathers. The blue stripes can also be found in the wing.

DRA_ABY_Fli_006.jpg

An attempt in which the leading edge does not run in a pocket but is held in loops. So the fiberglass tube in light gray and blue becomes part of the design and is meant to be seen.

DRA_ABY_Fli_002.jpg

The inner part with the 8 GRP tube as a leading edge

DRA_ABY_Fli_001.jpg

The middle  Leading edge with the 6 GRP tube and again the blue stripes as tabs

DRA_ABY_Fli_003.jpg

The tip of the wing, the distances between the loops are getting narrower and narrower.

 

Here the left wing is already sewn on and you can also see the sewn-on "claw" made of organza.

DRA_ABY_AUFli_007.jpg

The blue and white  Corners on the belly of the Abyss are part of the 4 point scales.

​

With a flash you can see the different whites and guess how the bird will look in front of a blue sky in the sunlight.

DRA_ABY_AUFli_0010.jpg

The next step will be the right wing and then I have to think about how I can attach the organza veil or rather the organza veil so that I can remove it again. Let's see maybe with Velcro.

​

So keep checking back to see how things are going.

​

At the Kite Festival 2019 in Malmsheim I was able to discover these pretty kites. A colleague had released them into the air right next to our camp.

​

Malmsheim_1.jpg
Malmsheim_2.jpg
Malmsheim_3.jpg

© 2022 by Harald Bertsch.

bottom of page