Janaury 2004: KAP is a new venture for me. Interest has been there for a whilst, but it was an article found on the BBC website at the New Year 2004 year that sparked the interest.

Following the links and doing a bit of research led me to some fascinating KAP sites:

http://www.gentles.milestonenet.co.uk/KAP/Gallery/2003/index2003.htm

http://www.steveirvine.com/kap.html

And a really good site to start from:

http://www.arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/

I decided to have a go at making a simple KAP rig for a disposable camera. 

The total cost was under £18, the most expensive part being the D/T timer at £14.

The design for my first rig was taken from http://education.ssc.nasa.gov/kap/kap.htm, a "Brooxes basic brownie box".

Here is the rig during construction, and during its first test in the garden, January 2004

Here is the first test flight of the rig using a 2-metre Rokkaku. The wind was a bit gusty, so the rig swayed too much. Also, the cross members broke, but this actually improved stability. Photos were all too dark to use, but then the camera was a few years out of date!

Here is a small Flowform with drogue I'm also experimenting with:

Early Photos!

Click here

Other interesting KAP sites

http://scotthaefner.com/kap/gallery/

http://www.dolphinazur.nl/kapnet/index.html

http://www.geocities.com/kites_site/index_eng.htm

http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/nelson/479/cradles.html

http://virtualskies.arc.nasa.gov/aeronautics/youDecide/camerasKites.html

The timer was obtained from:

http://www.freeflightsupplies.co.uk/

¦Copyright (c) 2004 John L. Williams¦