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Product: Kite
Rocket Kite   (+9)  [vote for, against]
Gets to altitude quickly

The most annoying thing about launching a kite is, the wind at the ground is often just barely enough, or even too little, while the wind at altitude is just fine. So, this Idea suggests attaching a simple rocket engine to a kite, to loft it to the altitude where the wind actually is. We may actually want a rather modest-thrust rocket engine, compared to what is typically put in model rockets, because kites are typically somewhat more fragile than rocket bodies. On the other hand, a kite might be designed to be folded at launch, and unfolds when the rocket thrust ends (note its vector) and the wind thrust takes over (different vector).
-- Vernon, Jan 15 2016

Hostoric rocket kite launch... attempt https://www.youtube...watch?v=BxxbMfYY9Bw
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 15 2016]

Not quite what [bs0u0155] suggested Drone_20Kite_20Service
[Vernon, Jan 16 2016]

[+] autobun.
-- FlyingToaster, Jan 15 2016


Hmm,elasticated double skin mylar kite filled with hydrogen with remote release mechanism.
-- not_morrison_rm, Jan 15 2016


Somebody is trying this exact idea out. [link]
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 15 2016


Great idea, apart from the "kite" part.
-- 8th of 7, Jan 15 2016


Why would you want the rocket thrust to end?
-- pocmloc, Jan 15 2016


Attach a couple of powerful brushless motors and you won't need any wind.
-- bs0u0155, Jan 15 2016


[bs0u0155], are you going to post that as a separate Idea ("drone kite"), or shall I?
-- Vernon, Jan 15 2016


+ bun if the rocket falls off after its ascent...
-- xandram, Jan 16 2016


Love it.
-- blissmiss, Jan 16 2016


[xandram], model-rocket solid-fuel motors are mostly made of heavy paper, a tube with a ceramic nozzle at one end. They don't weigh so much that the emptied-of-fuel motor needs to be discarded at altitude. Obviously you would want to replace the motor at ground level, to be able to use a new engine to loft the kite again, but why encourage littering?
-- Vernon, Jan 16 2016


Not so much littering, more encouraging small heavy smouldering items falling out of the sky at high speed with no warning.
-- 8th of 7, Jan 16 2016


[8th], those exist already, and are called "meteors". Exhausted model rocket engines are a very poor imitation.
-- Vernon, Jan 22 2016



random, halfbakery