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How to vent your kite by Christiaan

Dutch kite flyer Christiaan van Oosterhoudt documented how he turned a standard quad-line kite into a vented quad-line kite. This restored making-of shows the process in 16 steps: cutting, fitting the mesh and finishing the sail.

We translated the page into French and English, added captions, and sometimes reorganized the order for clarity. See also his full making-of of a Revolution kite.

The kite before modification
The kite after modification – now vented
Christiaan van Oosterhoudt in his workshop

Steps to vent your kite

Section titled "Steps to vent your kite"

The steps may look simple, but they require precision: laying the sail flat, making clean cuts, and so on.

Preparing templates for the vents
Placing the templates on mesh and cutting with a cutter
Collecting the cut pieces
The plan including the vents
The sail not yet vented
Flattening the sail on the plan
Using weights to match the plan and stabilize the sail
Checking the mesh position on the sail against the plan
Running a thin bead of glue around the future vent edges
Placing the mesh on fresh glue
Letting the glue dry
Sewing the mesh edges
Flipping the sail and trimming with small scissors
Vents completed
Result on one wing
Final result: the vented kite

Go further

Section titled "Go further"

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