Photo 1991 poster

Hexagonal Train
48 sails (1 yellow sail and Pilot missing) 1987?
127.5 x 146 cm each sail, overall length 94m
68.6 sq. metres
Weight: 25 kg

Notes...

From a Hamburg Collection.

Spar pockets need attention and spare spars cut.
Facsimile pilot made Autumn 2019 and flown on Blackheath in May 2020.
A Black Peter Lynn 2 Square Metre pilot kite may be used for initial test flights.

Sylt, Germany, 1987

Launch sequence with secure anchor; a truck! Thanks to Karin Gurezka for the images.

John Mitchell recalls owning a jacket from Scheveningen with an image of the train on the back. Peter had not approved it!

We had suspected that the fixing points were a safety release if the sails were overpowered and this proved to be the case when we attempted to set up the sails in a strong breeze at Cardigan, June 25th 2022.

In preparation for attending to the central bridle points the set was untied on the lower edges and folded back to the first unbroken bridle point.

The felt pads on some of the centre fittings had not been noticed previously!

Some of the centre fittings look fragile.

50 spar pockets were sewn as at January 19th 2021 before the repair works commenced.
The pockets were shaped to provide the spar opening.
The folded dacron was trimmed after sewing either side by about 3mm.

Preparation for pocket repairs.
The main flying lines have been looped and secured.

The main tying bar is tied to the leading kite for transit.

Signature kite appears at the end of this set of sails.

One yellow sail is missing and so a white and grey version will be made, like the pilot kite, to replace the missing element.

An initial sketch started the build. Finding polyethylene sheet for the central fitting was not difficult!