Monday, May 8th, 2006
Parachute Kite: Test Flight #2
(See previous kite preview and first test flight report).
Winds were 10 to 15 m.p.h. for our second test flight.
What Improved:
The mechanism which releases the parachute held together with no unintentional chute releases. Wearing leather gloves helped immensely with handling the string reel in a smooth not-burning-my-hands manner. This combination got the kite airborne much better than in the first test flight.
What Remained the Same:
The numerous parachute strings get tangled after each flight with themselves, the doll and the release mechanism. The chute should be redesigned with fewer strings. Period.
I had a difficult time keeping the chute airborne for a significant amount of time. There was no telling when the chute would dive quickly to the ground with a wind change or dip. To compensate, we began releasing the chute as soon as it reached a good height, even though we would have preferred enjoying flying it as a kite for longer.
In a Nutshell:
The idea of Little Miss (at 22 months of age) enjoying running after a falling parachute proved foolish. When the chute releases there is moment of freefall as the chute is in flux, crumbling into a ball, before it reopens. Accordingly, the parachute must be flying high before it is released, which means I am usually a great distance from the parachute when it falls. What about Little Miss? She’s near my feet, too far away to be interested.
The idea of a parachute kite is cooler than its execution, at least for a toddler. In the future, I’ll bring a regular kite with us to the park as a backup.
