Fig. 237. Double Hook. each edge over heavy picture wire, and at each corner the wire was twisted around a small solid ring of brass. The rings were now slipped over the hooks on the frame and then the cross stick was bowed back by fastening a wire to the rear hooks and drawing it taut. Professor Keeler told us to tighten this bowstring until the distance from the wire to the cross stick at the center was equal to one-tenth of the length of the stick. As our sticks were each 5 feet long we tightened the wire until the cross
Fig. 238. Connection at Corner. stick bowed out 6 inches, as in Fig. 239. The belly band of the kite was fastened at one end to the lower end of the backbone and at the upper end to a wire hook at the juncture of the two sticks. The hook was fastened to the cross stick by flattening the ends and running them under the cord used for binding on the cleats (see Fig. 240). A buttonhole was made in the cloth covering to let this hook project through. The belly band was just long enough, so that it could be stretched over to one end of the cross stick, as in Fig. 241, and at this point, that is, 30 inches
Fig. 239. Bending the Cross Stick. from the upper end of the belly band, a brass ring was made fast, to which the main kite string was tied. The kite possessed the advantage that it could be quickly taken apart and folded into a small space.
An Eight-foot Malay Kite.
Fig. 240. Belly Band Hook.
Our 8-foot kite was made in the same way only the sticks were 3/4 inch thick, 1 inch wide and 8 feet long. The cross stick was fastened 17-1/2 inches (two-elevenths of 8 feet) from the top of the backbone and it was bowed back 9-1/2 inches (one-tenth of 8 feet). The wire in the hem of the covering was a double thickness of the heaviest picture wire obtainable.