Please find attached some jpegs of a Strato-Spool I made for our son who is an
aerospace engineer and loves to fly kites. I designed it based upon the one
you illustrated on your web site, and I wish to thank you for posting the
information.
I made some modifications since the kite Brian will be flying will be rather big. Inside spool diameter is still 5", but the outside is approximately 10". I did not make an extended arm to the spool -- when letting the kite out the extended arm is not balanced and can cause shaking. I figure the extra spool diameter would provide the leverage needed for re-wind. I did add a 1/4" acrylite plate to the spool that bears the grinding from the brake pads. On the first Strato-Spool I made the brake pads dug into the painted wood -- I'm now adding a 3/16" acrylite plate to my first Strato-Spool.
This large kite Strato-Spool can be heavy to hold after a while, so I designed a post that can be "screwed" into the ground and attach the Strato-Spool to it. The kite flyer will still need to hold onto the Strato-Spool while it is attached to the post, but the weight will be on the post. The screw device can be purchased at a pet store (they are used to attach a dog leash) and embedded into the oak post. I made a "handle" near the bottom so that it could be easily screwed into difficult soil. The attachment for the Strato-Spool and post are bed fasteners which can be purchased at Rockler Woodworking store. Also, I attached a "rifle swing" (reasonably priced at Walmart) to the Strato-Spool that can hang around one's neck or be used as a belt instead.
The braking system is the same as you illustrated on your web site, but I inserted a 7/16" compression spring between the spool and Strato-Spool arm so that the spool is always away from the brake pads until the brake is applied.
As of today this large Strato-Spool hasn't been tested, but I can provide more information when Brian does fly it and inform you if there need to be any modifications.
Bob Hosler
Carmel, Indiana
November 2006
