The 50 tarps were rigged like a classic ship sail plan, and similarly effective. Not a single “sail” blew out in high wind. Modular wing sections vitally enable mega-scaling. The Megafly parafoil also comes in sections. Choked bypass flow helps with flutter-mode stability and gust resilience. The splayed wings of large birds, the multi-sail golden age of sailing, share those principles.
Dave Culp started the Blue Tarp Kite Village Power challenge. Let anyone do better, more power to them. Mothra was no lazy effort, but more work-kite sooner and cheaper than anyone else at that time, a prophetic flying machine.
The new Toyota Mothership concept closely matches Mothra aerotecture. The Mothership is emerging from US Tornado Alley, not just Japan, via OSU and Toyota’s Midwest network. Proposed final scale is beyond what any AWE player, except kPower, has diligently studied.