The Boy Mechanic

The cutaway is made of a small piece of board, a cigar-box lid, an old yardstick or a piece of lath, which should be about 6 in. long. Common carpet wire staples are used to hold it on the string. The under side has a wire bent into such a shape as to form a loop at the forward end over the kite string, then running back through the two staples at the one side and through two staples at the other side.

Wires Attached to the Traveler

The parachute should have a small wire ring fastened at the weight end so as to fasten in the carrier, and should be put between the two staples that are closest together on the under side of the carrier. A small nail or button—anything larger than the loop in the wire—should be attached to the kite string a few feet from the kite. When the parachute is carried up the kite string, the knob on the string will strike the loop of the wire on the carrier, which releases the parachute and allows it to drop. The carrier will return of its own weight to the lower end of the string.—Contributed by I. O. Lansing, Lincoln, Neb.