Fantastic Flier

Dylan Nguyen’s love of kites comes from his mom, PV, who used to make her own from bamboo sticks and newspaper when she was a kid growing up in Vietnam. Dylan, 17, his brother, Cardin, 14, and their parents live in West Linn, Oregon, and all fly kites together. Dylan says he’s been flying since before he could walk. But when he turned 7, he decided to take his kite flying to new heights.

Dylan Nguyen’s love of kites comes from his mom, PV. She made her own from bamboo sticks and newspaper when she was a kid growing up in Vietnam. Dylan is 17, and his brother, Cardin, is 14. They live with their parents in West Linn, Oregon. All of them fly kites together. Dylan says he was flying kites before he could walk. But when he turned 7, he took his kite flying to new heights.

The kites most people are familiar with are single-line kites. As the name implies, these kites have only one string attached. Sport kites have two or four lines, giving competitors greater control to perform tricks. For instance, when Dylan is using a kite with four lines, called a quad-line, he holds a handle connected to two lines in each hand. Moving the handles changes the angles of the lines, as well as the amount of tension, or stretching force, on them. This sends the kite sailing in different directions and allows Dylan to pull off all sorts of cool tricks. “I can control a quad-line so it can fly forward, backward, hover, and spin in the air,” he says. “I can fly really close to someone and even land on their hand.”

Most people have seen single-line kites. These kites have only one string attached, as their name shows. Sport kites have two or four lines. That gives competitors greater control to perform tricks. For example, Dylan may use a kite with four lines, called a quad-line. He holds a handle connected to two lines in each hand. He moves the handles to change the angles of the lines. This also changes the amount of tension, or stretching force, on them. As a result, the kite sails in different directions, and Dylan can do all sorts of cool tricks. “I can control a quad-line so it can fly forward, backward, hover, and spin in the air,” he says. “I can fly really close to someone and even land on their hand.”

No matter how good a person is at flying kites, a kite would never get off the ground without airflow, explains John Anderson. He’s an aeronautical engineer—someone who designs and studies aircraft—and the curator of aerodynamics at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. To keep a kite aloft, “there has to be airflow both under the kite and over the top of it,” he says.

Airflow isn’t the only thing a kite needs to soar. A kite cannot fly flat. It must have an angle of attack with its nose angled upward (see Kite-Flying Physics). This way, the airflow underneath the kite exerts more pressure than the air moving over the top of the kite. This pressure difference pushes the kite skyward, says Anderson, and “presto, you’ve got lift!” This upward force works against the downward pull of gravity.

A kite often looks like it’s floating stationary in the sky. But to stay up, a kite must be moving forward. The kite needs a pushing force called thrust. To propel a kite forward, a flier can be standing still, but they must apply tension by pulling on the kite’s strings. This also maintains the kite’s angle of attack and helps it overcome the slowing force of drag, explains Anderson. Drag occurs when air molecules push against the surface of a moving object. Unlike a traditional single-line kite, multi-line sports kites can be maneuvered so they fly vertically in the air. This steeper angle of attack means a sport kite’s surface catches more wind—so much so, says Dylan, that “I’ve been pulled down the beach!”

A kite would never get off the ground without airflow, explains John Anderson. As an aeronautical engineer, he designs and studies aircraft. He’s also the curator of aerodynamics at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. To keep a kite in the air, “there has to be airflow both under the kite and over the top of it,” he says.

A kite needs more than airflow to soar. It cannot fly flat. It must have an angle of attack with its nose angled upward (see Kite-Flying Physics). This way, the airflow underneath the kite pushes more than the air moving over the top of the kite. This pressure difference pushes the kite skyward, says Anderson. And “presto, you’ve got lift!” This upward force works against the downward pull of gravity.

A floating kite often looks like it’s not moving in the sky. But to stay up, a kite must move forward. The kite needs a pushing force called thrust. To push a kite forward, a flier can stand still. But they must pull on the kite’s string to apply tension. This also maintains the kite’s angle of attack and helps it overcome the slowing force of drag, explains Anderson. Drag occurs when air molecules push against a moving object’s surface. Multi-line sports kites can be steered to fly vertically in the air. A traditional single-line kite can’t do that. Because of this steeper angle of attack, a sport kite’s surface catches more wind. It catches so much, says Dylan, that “I’ve been pulled down the beach!”

In addition to flying kites, Dylan is also part of a robotics team at his school. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, he and his team members used the school’s 3-D printers to make face shields for frontline workers to help protect them from catching the virus that causes Covid-19. 3-D printers build up layers of material to make solid objects. Dylan also learned to sew so he could make masks to donate.

Now, Dylan puts both skills to use in designing, building, and repairing his kites. “When I’m flying, I might see a problem with how the kite behaves or a part might break,” he says. “I’ll design an improved part and print it out on the 3-D printer. It’s really gratifying when the new part works better than the original.”

Besides flying kites, Dylan belongs to a robotics team at school. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, he and his team members turned to the school’s 3-D printers. These printers build up layers of material to make solid objects. The team used them to make face shields for frontline workers. This helped protect the workers from catching the virus that causes Covid-19. Dylan also learned to sew. Then he made masks to donate.

Now, Dylan uses both skills to design, build, and repair his kites. “When I’m flying, I might see a problem with how the kite behaves or a part might break,” he says. “I’ll design an improved part and print it out on the 3-D printer. It’s really gratifying when the new part works better than the original.”