This is my Zephyr Delta that was invented and patented by a fellow flier friend of mine, Ed Grauel. This was the first kite I ever built.

Ths is the 3rd kite that I built.... This rokkakuis 45 inches tall by 40 inches wide. I forget what the sail area is, but who cares. This was also my first attempt at applique. I wont tell you where all of the mistakes are if you promise not to look for them :)

This is my favorite of the kites I have built (my fourth!) This is a 23 square foot (or so that's how it worked out on paper) Double Parasled. The plans were taken out of Kitelines, Fall 1994. I didnt want to build anything near as big as the original, (144 sq ft) so I decided to go small for the first one. Next one will probably be either 36 or 64 sq ft. We will see next spring. It pulls amazingly well for such a relatively small kite.

This was a spur of the moment build that went along side of the Double Parasled. It is called a Circoflex. I first saw an AMAZING one at Ocean City Kitefest two years ago. I got the plans from the fellow who had one made out of a silver mylar material. This one is 7 feet in diameter, and sparred in 1/8 inch fiberglass rod. Big mistake. The fiberglass is too fragile (sneeze on it and it kinks, but not breaks). Next time I will go for carbon. It was very inexpensive to build. Even though you cant tell it so well from this particular picture (I have more to scan) it is a medium blue transparent material. This particular kite took me approximately 3 hours to build from start to stop. (Yes! Even bridling! AWESOME!) My future plans are to build a small one to fly inside of it, and maybe a bigger one to go outside of this one, in different colors.

It was orginally designed in Europe by Helmut Schiefer and Ton Oostveen, and I got the plans from Mike Dallmer. If you are interested in the plans email me and I can see what I can do for you. aquarius@frontiernet.net

Speaking of Ocean City, I picked up this Cahtherine's Wheel from The Kite Loft right on the boardwalk. I just had to do it. One of my winter time plans is to build a smaller one of these, and maybe a larger one. I have to be sure that I will have a large enough kite to build one of the larger ones though. This one (I am not sure how big it is) is just about right for my double parasled, but any larger and it would over power it and drag the line out toooooo far.

This is my 12.5 sq ft flowform that I picked up from Scott Richardson. This is my kite-that-will-fly-almost-anytime-there-is-wind. It's great. It has more pull than the 8 sq ft (duhhh!!!) and it about equals the 16 sq ft, but it is more stable in the sky. Yet another wintertime project is to build another one.

This is the very first *REAL* kite that I bought myself. It is a Team High Fly Pro/Am. I picked it up here in Rochester from a friend. This is by far one kite I will never get rid of for a few reasons: It *always* flys, especially in wind its not supposed to, even though it is 3/4 oz ripstop and framed in Beman Carbon Strong 14 sticks. Nope..no wrap, no Icarex, but it flys in almost no winds if you work it right. It tracks on rails and is very easy to fly (I taught about 12 people to fly on it from June to September alone!) Its only downfall is it is strictly a team/precision kite. No trick ability at all, unless you are maybe.... Dodd Gross? :) It is still an excellent flyer, and it was my first *sniff*

Here is my nowind/indoor kite. A friend of mine built this one for me. Isnt it cute? ;)

Last but not least is my bermuda. I picked this up in a local toy store in Buffalo. It is 36 inches in diamater and flies very well when it wants to. My only qualm is that it has to be tweaked depending on the wind conditions, but by tweaking, I can extend its wind range. I added the 2nd set of tails for dramatic effect. I also built a clone of this particular kite just to see if I could. I did that (it was my 2nd kite even) and that is where the 2nd set of tails normally live. It looks really cool to have both of the bermudas in the air at the same time. They just kinda dance around and those long 30 foot tails just swish around in the breeze. Tres cool.

For a (not so) new addition to my kite bag, I made this crossedeck from plans by Carl Crowell. I took this kite to the AKA Grand Nationals, 1998, held in Ocean Shores Washington. Though I didnt place in the Cellular category, I did place third overall for Novice Kitemakers. Scary, I am now considered a Master kite builder. I still have a hard time realizing that.