Papillon 4 (Custom)

The second home made kite, based on Didier Ferments's Papillon 4 design, with my own sail design and some additional things in the structure that seemed reasonable to me.

The shape is very striking - very much like a butterfly (or 'papillon' in French) - and looks very graceful both on the ground and in the sky. There isn't a leading edge as such - it flies equally well up or down.

At the time of constructing the Papillon I always intended to return to it and build an improved version using what I learnt in this version. I have seen some beautiful single line Papillons modeled to look like real butterflies. Maybe one day I will manage to build one of these.

Made: March 2003