Eliminator building
Download the Foilmaker programme from www.foilmaker.co.uk
Download the Eliminator plans from http://fly.to/vtol
Use Foilmaker to print the plans for whichever size you are thinking of building.
...or e-mail me and I will post you a set of plans for whichever size you are thinking of building.
Stick the rib pages together to give you a rib template.
Materials: You are going to need
Cardboard for your rib template, as you are going to be cutting over 20 ribs, all the same size. I get mounting board from my local picture framer, and he lets me dig through his off cuts pile where there is quite often a long narrow piece that is just right, and if the template is longer than the board, just stick an extra piece on the end!
Fabric; Chikara is highly recommended, water resistant, with good resistance to ultra-violet degradation, and it comes in a good range of colours! As a rough guide, take the size of your kite and multiply it by 3.5. The answer is about how much chikara you will need. This does err on the side of caution, and as you build more, you will be able to give more accurate requirements, but for now, its an easy way to help you succeed. If a certain pattern is important to you, you will need to do the maths yourself!
Mesh for the vents; the rib template will tell you how wide the mesh should be, and the plans will tell you the span, so you can work out how much you need from that. The price for mesh depends on the kite you are building, but £2.00 should cover it.
Dyneema for bridling; the plans will tell you how much you need for the bridles, but allow extra for the loops and knots etc. Possibly as much as 20% more. Also allow (number of ribs x width of bottom skin) metres for the strengthening line you are going to sew into the kite along each rib. I use 75kg for my bridles and have not yet had any problems.
Sewing machine, preferably electric, although there are some hardy souls out there who still use the hand cranked ones! It does not need to be technical (not much call for buttonholes and embroidered names on an Eliminator) and most household ones are fine. If someone local cannot lend you one (aunt, gran, mum, neighbour etc.) try second hand shops and charity shops, there are usually machines about that are not expensive. Practice! Practice lots! More practice ~ getting the idea? Get to know your machine, so you can tell when something is wrong. Lots of us have sewn a seam without realising the bobbin had run out! (at least I don't think I am the only one?) Get used to filling the bobbins, get some spare bobbins so you can just swap them out and keep going, get used to how to thread the machine correctly. If you find you are spending a long time trying to thread the needle, and the thread is the correct thickness, don't bugger about, get a needle threader, it makes life so much easier and quicker. I tend not to mess about with the small reels of thread and just get the big (5000yds) cones.