Copyright © Verve Enterprises, Inc . 1979 Contents Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without prior written consent of the publishers . the comprehensive international MONUMENTALITY in : A Symposium / 19 Lines is journal of kiting and the only magazine of its Why is bigger better? Or is it? Answers from 23 noted kiters cover kind in America . It is jointly published by many shades of gray-as well as the polarities . Included are theories, Fishergate Publishing Co ., Inc ., of Annapolis, practical advice and a suggested scale of size definitions . MD, and Verve Enterprises, Inc., with edito- rial offices at 7106 Campfield Road, Balti- Weight Watching Japan's Giants / 33 more, MD 21207, USA, telephone : (301) By A . Pete lanuzzi . The mighty are measured . Pocket 484-6287 . Kite Lines is on file in the libraries calculator in hand, Pete questions the weight claims for of the National Air and Space Museum, Smith- Japan's giants and compares area/weight ratios of 11 kites . sonian ; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Administration ; the National Geo- The Bedsheet O'dako / 34 graphic ; and the University of Notre Dame's By A. Pete lanuzzi . A tested American version for a giant Sports and Games Research Collection . kite you can make and fly-to startle the neighborhood . Founder: Robert M. Ingraham 200 Years of Kite Fishing Success / 38 Publishers : Fishergate Publishing Co ., Inc ., By Bill Trebilcock, Principal Keeper, Eddystone Lighthouse, and Verve Enterprises, Inc . 17 miles off Plymouth, England . Kite Lines documents the working Editor : Valerie Govig Business Consultant : Kalman Illyefalvi system at Britain's last lighthouse stronghold of kite fishing. Circulation/Reader Services : Judith Faecher For the Record / 40 Design Consultant : Weston Phipps Two new kite records are claimed and discussed in Kite Lines : Mechanicals : Cathy Pasquale (1) Bernard Stewart's kite-pulled boat trip from the shores British Correspondents: Ron Moulton and of Washington to his hometown, Victoria, B .C ., Canada ; Clive C . O . Rawlinson (2) Six-year-old Angus White's flight of a 24-foot delta Editorial Advisory Panel : in London, claimed as a junior record . His father, John White, Guy D . Aydlett A . Pete lanuzzi suggests a formula for the record and describes his kite, too . William R . Bigge Robert M . Ingraham Lt .Col . Bevan Brown Domina C . Jalbert The International Exposition of Asymmetrical Kites / 44 Wyatt Brummitt Nat Kobitz Announcing a new event to be held in Burtonsville, MD, USA, June 7, Wood Ellis Arthur Kurle 1980. Asymmetrical awards, of course! You have plenty Paul Edward Garber Curtis Marshall, M .D . of time to think this out (or conclude it's all bonkers) . Melvin Govig Robert S . Price Edwin L . Grauel John F. Van Gilder Gary Hinze Will Yolen Ray Holland, Jr. Departments Kite associations and clubs are located around the U .S . and the world . Kite Lines works for and with all of them and maintains an Letter from the Editor / 6 updated file on them . Write for information Letters / 8 about your nearest group . What's New / 12 Subscriptions to Kite Lines : One year Beautifully crafted kites from Sri Lanka reviewed . (4 issues), $9 .00 ; two years (8 issues), $17 .00 . Profiles / 36 Single copies of current or back issues are Louise Crowley : Free Spirit . available ® $2 .50 ($3 .00 overseas) from America's finest kite shops or the journal Story and Photographs by John F . Van Gilder . offices . Postage outside the U .S ., its posses- News from Here and There : Stateside / 42 sions and Canada is $1 .00 per year additional . News from Here and There : International / 46 Air mail rates for foreign mailings are $3 .00 Directory of Outlets / 43 per year additional for Latin America ; $5 .00 per year additional for Europe and Israel ; and Design Workshop / 48 $7.00 per year additional for all other The Super Conyne, proposed as a standard, by Arthur Kurle . countries . All foreign drafts must be in U .S . Swap Shop / 50 dollars through a U .S . bank or the post office . Classifieds / 50 Change of Address : Attach or copy mailing label in letter, giving new address . If mailing label is wrong, please correct it. Advertising rate sheet and information is Cover available upon request . Real greatness in kites : a giant at Sagamihara, Japan, Contributions and correspondence are always invited . Enthusiasts who contemplate sending at the moment of launch, a spectacle that few would believe substantial material should request our guide- if it were not for the camera of David Checkley . lines for writers and photographers . Return of unsolicited material cannot be guaranteed The scene was shot in May of this year on the kite tour of Japan unless accompanied by ample stamps and led by Checkley . Perhaps the picture partially answers some envelope, self-addressed . Accuracy of contents of the questions raised in our symposium on monumentality in of Kite Lines is the responsibility of individual contributors. Diverse views presented in Kite kites (pages 19 to 34) . But such a kite somehow stands apart ; Lines are not necessarily those of the editor, it is an answer that does not need a question . publishers, staff or advisory panelists . Closing Dates for advertising, articles and news are : Feb . 20 for Spring ; May 20 for Summer ; Aug . 20 for Fall ; Nov . 20 for Winter. Postmaster : Second class postage paid at Balti- more, Maryland . If undeliverable, please send address change Form 3579 to Kite Lines, 7106 Campfield Road, Baltimore, MD 21207 .

L from the Editor

What a weekend! We've just come back from the American Kitefliers Association's second annual meeting and kite festival, held in Manassas, VA . It was as memorable and successful an occasion as anyone could want and of course Kite Lines will cover it in a forthcoming issue . For now we have only the space this letter provides to explain the relationship of AKA and Kite Lines as it developed at the gathering . The chief outcome of the meeting was a general sense of harmony, brought about by the passing of a resolution, as follows : "The assembled members of AKA at the second annual convention and festival en- dorse and support Kite Lines magazine." The resolution does not bind either AKA or Kite Lines to any specific actions, but it serves to reflect the spirit of the members present . That and the changes which were adopted in the bylaws give both parties a great deal of freedom . The journal's relationship to AKA will be much as it is to any kite club, that of friendly reporter, in a spirit of coopera- tive independence . We would very much like to have your views as a reader regard- ing the directions your journal should take . Though Kite Lines is no longer the offi- cial journal of the AKA, we carry a public trust as the research and information center of the worldwide kite community . We are at least as committed to being res- ponsive to that community as if we were a volunteer organization . As authors of the original AKA bylaws, we of Kite Lines sub- scribe to those stated purposes . The future of kiting is our joy . As Wyatt Brummitt said, "The sky is big enough for all of us ." With a fresh spirit of cooperation in the air, we feel more optimistic than we have in a long time . The meeting brought about these good feelings . For that we kiters owe the meeting's organizers and participants our thanks . For those of you who have stood by in various degrees of anguish, feel free, as you may, to love or hate all of us. Your comments-by mail, by phone, by kite -are valuable to us, whatever you have to say. Your ideas guide us and demonstrate that you care . The vitality of kiting and its warm bonds of friendship cut across all boundaries of politics, creed, nation, age, sex and factionalism . It is that vision which guides this journal .

Letters

COFFEE STIRRERS TO THE RESCUE beautifully . Their main drawback is in the There are various ways of designing I have left for a while Israel and my good number of spars required ; these have to these kites-rigid with bowed cross spar, kite friend Alex Cohen and his family to be kept as light as possible, being so many, nonrigid with floating cross spar, rigid take up a post in the cardiac surgery de- and in strong winds some may break . If with straight cross spar held back by a partment of Montefiore Hospital where I you are flying in an airfield or on an open spacer, etc . I use the nonrigid arrange- work as a biomedical engineer . moorland, that is not too bad, but in semi- ment in mine. One of the troubles I found On arrival in New York we stayed at a restricted places it could be a disaster . was that the kite made with a straight hotel on 44th Street, close to Benihana of So I turned my attention to single sur- spine would frequently dive forward Tokyo . Walking past that famous restaur- face kites, such as the Eddy, Malay, Para- towards me, in the manner of a delta . I ant, we saw an advertisement for New kite or whatever you like to call them . I corrected this by making the spine angle York's Benihana/Go Fly a Kite Festival . have spent a considerable amount of time back from a point about 18 inches from Not having brought my kite collection and money on trying to construct one of the top . The total deflection is fairly from Israel, I raced up to the hotel room these which will fulfill the statements small-about three inches in a six-foot armed with coffee stirrer sticks and some made in many books that they are tailless . kite-and it means splicing the spine, but paper napkins lifted from a nearby pizza They are not . Possibly flown in steady sea- it is effective . place where we ate, and glue and thread side breezes or in a light wind on an air- This is the kite I use for real high fly- from the local 69-cent store . I quickly field, they may be, but flown in varying ing, and it works . For normal recreational put together a white Conyne about three conditions and particularly for high flying flying I use box kites . They are tailless, inches tall. expeditions they are totally unreliable . predictable and above all strikingly Came the big day and we were off up- Flown with a drogue attached they are interesting to watch . town to Sheep's Meadow in Central Park . more steady . A drogue needs to be as F. W. Coles The skies were full of beautifully colored small and light as possible to retain high Bingley, Lancastershire, England kites of varied shapes, sizes and types . angle flying, so I devised a kite which I The whole family was really excited hoped would enable me to use a light A PUZZLE AND A THEORY when we received first prize in the small- drogue, which would be more compen- Can you or any of your staff help me est kite class-dinner for two at Benihana's sating for different wind conditions . I did solve a vexing problem? and 10,000 yen . It was a great experience this by giving the drogue more leverage I have lost at least five good kites the and welcome to the Big Apple for all of us . on which to operate its drag by fixing a same way. It's this . Eliezer Astrinsky, Ph .D . very light spar rigidly across the bottom In trying to fly a kite over water off a Bronx, NY of the kite at the end of the spine . The dock with an offshore breeze, as soon as tail is then composed of two lines which the kite gets about 30 feet up in the air it AT THE STAGE BEFORE NOVICE connect to the drogue itself by means of turns over and comes smashing down into My son recently gave me a subscription to a swivel link, to prevent twisting . This has the water. Can you tell me the reason? your journal . I was so fascinated by the the effect that immediately the kite turns Harold Smith first issue d Kite Lines I received that I from the vertical it has to lift the drogue Portland, Ontario, Canada sent for all the previous issues and have much more than when the latter is simply been patiently reading them cover to cover attached to the spine by a single line . I Pete Ianuzzi has experienced the phenom- at every spare moment . I soon discovered normally use a six-foot kite and find that enon you describe and has this theory to that I was at the stage before novice. As a '/a-inch dowel 18 inches long works well explain it . In the warmer months the nor- in the practice of medicine, I learned that and adds very little weight . mal tendency is for the breeze to be for every fact I knew there were thousands When making these kites I abandoned toward the ocean in the morning and I didn't know. very early on the usual pocket arrange- toward the land in the afternoon . This is Eugene L . Lozner, M .D. ment for housing the ends of the spars . because the land changes temperature Tampa, FL They simply do not stand up to the strain faster than the water; in the morning it is upon them and eventually wear through cooler than the water but by afternoon it TALES FROM THE TAILLESS however well they are reinforced. Also is warmer. Warm morning air over the My interest in kiting lies mainly in the they put too much strain on a small area ocean rises and is replaced by cooler off- single-line high flying category . Nothing of the fabric and tend to pull the kite out shore breezes. This reverses in the after- pleases me more than to have my kite up of shape eventually . I use rings now, and noon, when the warmer air rises on the in the clouds, invisible, and my line look- the spars are attached by means of tapes, land and cooler breezes come onshore ing like the Indian rope trick . which are readily renewable when re- (creating that summer relief that has at- Now to do this it is necessary to have a quired . In making these kites, therefore, tracted vacationers since the days before thoroughly reliable kite, and my efforts I cut off the corners and fold back the air conditioning) . There is a time, for to make this seemingly simple article have material so that a small piece of dowel about an hour in the late morning (from been many and varied . can be inserted to take the strain of attach- Pete's experience), when the airflow is I have made quite a few box kites, ing the ring. The base of the kite is cut changing from sea to land . At this time, mostly winged ones, both triangular and back even more so that when hemmed it at the edge of the ocean, a kite will go up square, and they have usually flown quite will accommodate the 18-inch dowel . over the land where the air is starting to

Leas . . .Continued from page 8 children, 3 to 5 years old . Until this year I used the Minisled published in Margaret come onshore, but as soon as the air is Greger's new book, More Simple Kites. I over the land it will rise and circulate, bring in the almost-completed kite (some- coming down to the ocean, back to the times leaving the straws to be attached at land, up and down and in again-right at school) for the children to decorate . Fif- the meeting of the land and the ocean . A teen to 20 feet of string seems to be kite up 50 feet will experience this . It is plenty for this age group . The whole pro- best to pull in fast and get the kite quite ject, including flying, can be completed in high over the land again . If you want to about two hours . (Preparation time is an- see what is happening, pull the kite in other story-but it's a labor of love .) quickly, making it rise, and then it will go Carol Master up into the offshore part of the air and as Jamaica Plain, MA you let line out it will go out to sea and descend again . This can be repeated sever- We blush . The dimension on the sled's al times if it's your idea of fun . trailing edge should have been 13 inches ; the kite sides are parallel. Angled versions MINISLEDS IN THE NURSERY (a la Allison, Weathers, et al) work well, I enjoyed Mel Govig's article on kite mak- however, and the kite is forgiving enough ing with children (Kite Lines Winter 1977- in that size to work with a 12-inch span . 78). I am especially grateful for his methods In our experience, the sled in the article is of cutting many kites at once and attach- as small as a child can make without its ing the bridle with a piece of tape-they needing a tail to fly . have saved me a lot of time this spring! I would appreciate clarification of the sled proportions given on page 65 . Are the sticks angled as one would infer from the dimensions or parallel as pictured? If parallel, what are the correct dimensions? My own experience with classroom kites has been mostly with nursery school What's New: Kites, Books,, Sundries

7,i o

CRAFTSMANSHIP FROM SRI LANKA abundant fringes both on the tails and the small house . All the family members help From Great Winds kite shop in Seattle trailing edges of the wings . They fly nearly in making the kites . The father does all comes a seven-kite collection of hangable, flat on the wind and would probably glide the precision carving of the bamboo and flyable handcrafted kites from Sri Lanka into the wind if it weren't for all the fringe . the hand-painting of the designs . His wife (Ceylon by former name) . Common to all The hinged tail flap, spilling air and ruf- ties the knots and the children cut and these kites is a glassine paper cover of bril- fling its fringes, causes the whole kite to paste the appliqued papers . Then the kites liant colors, light weight and remarkable flap with dramatic realism . Our friend go off to the beach for individual testing. toughness . However, in their flight be- Curtis Marshall would call these kinetic After 40 years of kite making, the havior, they are three distinctly different kites . They achieve an angle of 35 degrees craftsman knows many subtleties . Convex types of kite . on occasion, but mostly about 25 to 30 curvatures add to lateral and pitch stabili- First is the cobra, further subdivided degrees-not kites to fly on long lines . Kite making in Ceylon : from top, the into two cobra kites . One is the Dancing The last kite in the collection is a small, craftsman splits and shapes the bamboo frames Cobra, a 15-foot version of the active flat eight-pointed star with tassel tail . It while his wife ties them ; the family group . "dragon" we have come to love in its flies as you would expect a small flat kite U.S .-made Mylar versions, with the char- with a long tail to fly, taking its charm acteristic 35- to 40-degree angle . The sec- from the stained-glass-window effect of ond is called the Serendib Serpent, a 65- the brilliant glassine paper . I suggest that foot streak of color that flies on a 10-knot you remove the tail and save it for hang- breeze at angles over 70 degrees with un- ing on the wall with the kite and fly with characteristic lift and little activity except a crepe paper or surveyor's tape streamer the progression of riffles that make it that won't tangle like tassels always do . look like the snake it's named for . The All of these kites fly easily, most of head on the Serendib Serpent is unusual, them right from the hand ; a novice could an elongated hexagon based on the fighter fly them . But an added element in appre- crossbow but with a rigid head stick and a ciating them is their origin . foot stick' that restricts the range of bow Ken Conrad of Great Winds tells us (and I presume the range of maneuvering) that since 1939, the kite maker has been of the flat bowed spar . The result is a crafting and selling his kites at one spot on design I plan to copy in making my next the beaches of Ceylon . British troops living -type kite . there before World War II are the source The Peacock and Flying Fish kites are of the Union Jack motif which sometimes basically oriental fighter kites with apron appears on these kites . Kite sales to the tails-a large frilly tail on the Peacock, a USA have helped this man feed and clothe smaller forked "fish" tail on the Flying his family, which includes his wife, mother Fish. Each is fitted with a foot-long back- and 10 children, who live very simply in a bowed tassel at its head . These kites gain all their lateral stability from the head tassel, without which they would be simi- lar to Indian fighters. They are absolutely rock stable in winds up to 25 knots and down to 5 knots. They float on a light line at about 40 to 45 degrees at 5 knots, settled to about 35 degrees in 25 knot winds. They cannot be made to dive, al- though at high wind speeds they will sometimes go into one of those frustrat- ing slow power arcs that seem to defy correction . But in a mild wind, launching these kites is like tossing a bouquet into the air and having it stay there like a movie stop frame . The third type, the Ceylonese Bird and Raven kites, differ only in their colors . They are bird kites with hinged tails and

THE SOARING WING IN FABRIC the Soaring Wing can fly at a high angle .What's. .Continued Newfrom page 13 Wind Mill Kites is now turning out a cloth and its best performance will be when the version of its Soaring Wing kite . The origi- wind is between 5 and 10 miles per hour . ty. Bowed cross spars, as in fighter kites, nal model in Mylar® was reviewed in this The cloth version is more permanent than add dihedral as needed . Tasseling is just space before, where the kite was noted the plastic one and is quite a good buy at enough to create necessary drag . The for its exceptionally high aspect ratio : six $33 . It's an interesting and novel addition centuries-old techniques and designs of feet wide by only one foot deep at the for the delta* collector . Wind Mill Kites, Ceylon live on, modified and improved widest part of the wing . The current model like many kite producers now, is adding by the care and knowledge the craftsman is made of rip-stop nylon stunningly sec- variety to its line and acknowledging the contributes from his own mind and hands . tioned and sewn . Like its predecessor, it excitement of kiting as a spectator sport . Whether or not you know all this, you is a bit tricky to launch and recover, but *The testers are divided on whether this kite is benefit from it when you fly one of these the flight is worth the effort for a skilled, a delta. In basic structure, the design seems an kites. There is no question that you are adventurous flier. Under good conditions, improbable delta (as a bat seems an improbable flying the work of a master. mammal) .

BASIC AND BELIEVABLE perience and tips plus basic plans to build litionist, etc .), as well as the list of "rea- Kites, Kites, Kites: The Ups and Downs 16 kites. Mitton's choice of materials sons to fly a kite." Appendixes include of Making and Flying Them, by Bruce H . (tissue, plastic bags, dowels, matchstick checklists for the kiteflier and kite builder, Mitton (Drake line : Sterling Publishing bamboo, crepe paper) is geared to the a bibliography and an index. Co ., 1978), 128 pages, pap . $5 .95 . budget kite maker . Refreshingly, almost Only one fault I found with the book : You have to like a guy who suggests as everything he's written comes, obviously, the bridling instructions are poor . the first step to building kites that you out of his own experience rather than This book adds hardly anything new take a dollar to the dime store (sorry it's from "research ." Other assets of the book to the literature . There are better books no use taking a dime anymore) and buy a are : good coverage of kite safety (includ- to build by, and writers with more depth kite and fly it. The premise is that if you ing some very illustrative pictures), plenty on the history and aerodynamics of kites . can fly a kite you can build one . Bruce of fine black-and-white photographs and Occasionally, though, a book comes along Mitton writes as one who can and does. a readable layout. The writing is fresh and that just breathes the author's love of What you get in his book is a practical, personal, especially in the amusing catalog kites . I found Bruce Mitton in all the unpretentious recitation of kiteflying ex- of "kite types" (the Runner, the Demo- pages of his book, and I liked him .

MONUMENTALITY in kites: a symposium WHY IS BIGGER BETTER? OR IS IT? KITE LINES ASKS SOME LEADING KITERS-AND GENERATES A FLURRY OF OPINION AND THEORY, AS WELL AS SOME CAUTIONARY STORIES AND SOLID PRACTICAL ADVICE . I N UNCOVERING THE CONTROVERSIES, WE FOUND SOME ANSWERS TO OLD PUZZLES--ALONG WITH A WHOLE NEW BATCH OF QUESTIONS!

G. WILLIAM TYRRELL, JR . WYATT BRUMMITT JOHN SPENDLOVE Huntingdon Valley, PA . Winner of Rochester, NY. Author of the Preston, Lanes., England. Kite de- Strongest Puller with his Golden Guide : Kites. signer and author of the celebrated at Ocean City, MD, 1978. (Above, "Monumentality" is a disease, a Kite Lines article, "Towards a John Stubbings assists him in NC .) tacit admission that excellence is Taxonomy o f Kites. " It's the only way to fly! not enough . Have you ever been flying a kite I have a 20 x 20 foot Jalbert, the I grant, and defend, the right of of, say, four-foot span and some biggest he's made, the same as the anyone to make a good, beeeeg kid comes up and says how BIG it kites sold to NASA-the biggest in kite-if it's not done merely as a is? Maybe that happens less with the world at this point. It's an- crowd titillator. Ed Grauel's Killer you in the U .S . than in these kite- chored with three-inch rope and Whale, for example, is a remark- forsaken parts in northern Eng- chain . At Ocean City, I had it tied able spectacle, simply because it land, but still-just what is big? to a 6000-lb . truck parked side- flies . Even Ed will agree that it Pelham in his Penguin Book of ways, and it dragged the truck! It doesn't fly as well as his more Kites says that below three feet is bottomed out the measuring scale . conventional-size kites ; it is, small, but doesn't give ideas for Guys were climbing the rope the almost by definition, a "sport," a other sizes. So how about a scale? better part of the day . I used to case of giantism . charge $200 a day to fly it with And this, of course, brings us John submitted some suggested banners at supermarket openings back to Mr. Einstein and relativity . kite size classes, six discrete cate- and such . But now it's a hobby . How big is BIG? I think of a seven- gories in all, with analysis for I'm a bit of an eccentric, so it footer as medium and manageable ; metric. We hope John will forgive helps . I wouldn't have it any others might regard it as much our liberties, but we found his other way . too small or much too big . idea too good to leave alone . After much debate among the Kite Lines too strong, I just "hang on ." staff, and an imaginary debate One of the thrills of a large kite with John Spendlove, we decided like my 100-foot centipede is the to print a version that incorporates overwhelming spectator interest his concept but allows for more and desire to participate . Ask for categories and also a bit more lee- eight volunteers to help you launch way between them . For example, it and you end up with 25 . different types of kites, though the same in their longest dimen- ALBERT F . RIEDERER sion, can vary decidedly in their Cornwells Heights, PA . Winner of impression of size . We hope publi- Largest Kite award at the Grand cation of this chart will stimulate National Kite Festival, Ocean City, discussion and possible future MD, September 23, 1978. refinement. What really got me into large kites was one year at the Ben Franklin fly in Philadelphia . Some students from Drexel University had a made with half-inch pine bolted with 1/." bolts and with 60 to 80 feet of Bob Price showing off one of his elegant hollow-spar box kites. tail . It took up the entire quad- rangle . I couldn't believe some- is why hollow spars become desir- as a small one is a real challenge . I thing like this would fly . I decided able in larger rigid kites. remember some years ago when I next year I had to fly a large kite . I don't see why there is any par- made an 18-foot turkey vulture I had flown Eddys since I was six ticular limit to the size of a kite according- to Hod Taylor's plans. I years old . A buddy and I got the that could be made to fly-it is entered it in the Largest Kite event Dan Lirot plans for a 30-foot delta just that landing and launching in our contest and it wasn't as and built it and flew it-and it would become very difficult . It is large as some that were entered, really got into our blood . Every more reasonable to fly en-train but it flew as no other kite around time I flew it it was as if it were using smaller kites. could fly . The wings flapped and for the first time . It drew a crowd the kite found its flying position and it totally involved the child- RICHARD S. ROBERTSON and stayed there . The spectators ren . You get a million kids around Austin, TX. Leading Texas kiter enjoyed watching the vulture fly you. I only spent $20 to $25 on it and the father in a family of seven much more than the kite that won . at the time . ROBERT S. PRICE active kiters. Flying a large kite is like catch- It's awe-inspiring . It does draw Burtonsville, MD . Physicist, leader I would really have missed an ing a big fish . The pull of the line attention, it draws interest to the of the Maryland Kite Society and enjoyable phase of kiting if I is both thrilling and challenging . I total love of kites . Also bigger builder of large box kites. hadn't made large kites . Making a generally tie the line to a car, tree kites are easier to fly once you get One system of classifying kites large kite that will fly just as well or backstop, but if the wind is not it together . But just the look on is by manageability, and in this their faces is something to behold. system there are two sizes of kite : Richard Robertson's well-made eagle and centipede kites . You don't even look at the kite! one that a single person can man- You look at the spectators . That's age in most circumstances and the reward . one that requires more than one person . To manage a kite I mean EDWIN L . GRAUEL to launch it, fly it and recover it. Rochester, NY. Kite designer and If the kite is sufficiently power- experimenter. ful, it can lift or drag the flier and While I have always felt that thus become unmanageable . My giant kites made more sense than feeling is that an 8-foot long box very tiny ones, I have never felt a kite is a comfortable size for one compelling urge to spend much person to manage . A 16- or 18- time on making or flying the mon- foot wing-spread delta is probably sters . The four big ones I have also in this class. built were made purely to deter- Another system of classifying mine how large these kites could kite size is by structure. One cate- go and still be handled satisfacto- gory of kites would include those rily by one person . kites made with simple, solid sticks But the interesting thing is that of common wood . Another cate- once these big fellows are in the gory would include those with air, they invariably attract more hollow wooden or bamboo spars . attention and more discussion There are kites with exotic mater- than similar kites in smaller sizes . ial spars-aluminum tubing, fiber- It has been my observation, glass, etc. Of course, there are both as a judge and as a competi- sparless kites, too, such as the tor, that large kites almost invari- Parafoil . ably win the prizes in most kiting The main reasons for building competitions (except for the kites larger than one person can smallest kite classification) . It's handle are to make the flying pretty tough to let the big kites, operation a cooperative, team representing many hours of work, affair, to develop lift for a special go away without a prize, even operation (such as a man-lift), or when things aren't exactly equal . to make the kite visible at a great So, if a purpose of kite flying is to distance . win awards, the larger the kite the The lift goes up as the square of better. a linear scale factor while the re- There are at least two other ad- quired section modulus of the vantages in making and flying gi- compressive members goes up as ant kites. First, the larger the kite the cube of the scale factor . This the more forgiving it is in over- coming construction errors and trap a mass of air which then adds poor workmanship ; and, secondly, to the effective mass of the kite, big kites make a fine group pro- such as the Parafoil . Second, a ject for planning, construction large area of sail behaves in a dif- and flying . ferent manner than does the small In summary, in my opinion area in any given turbulence situ- there is a time and place for giant ation . The large kite reacts more kites for a limited group of kite slowly and demonstrates an "av- enthusiasts who are willing to put eraging effect" with regard to up with all the disadvantages in small areas of turbulence within order to achieve the unusual . the air mass . This difference is not readily seen when a large kite and RICK KINNAIRD a small kite are flying together Laurel, MD. Local kite personality high in the sky, but becomes ap- and Captain of Kinnaird's Cody Rick Kinnaird and Carolyn Staples trim their Cody in a hotel room . parent when they are brought Kite Crew . down into the ground turbulence . If you expect to win a contest Often heard is an exclamation However, there can be a fine line At this time, the sail of the large with a big kite-you will not . I be- that it is "bigger than I am ." For of distinction when one considers kite would be seen to ripple in re- lieve that most judges are preju- most of us who build kites, know- certain articulated kites . sponse to the air currents, whereas diced against large kites because ledge that others appreciate our I like to look upon kite size, not these same air currents will toss they don't understand them . But effort constitutes a large portion in terms of actual sail area, but in the small kite hither and thither . you win in the hearts and minds of whatever rewards are realized . terms of whether it can be flown As to disadvantages, a large kite of the spectators . You do it for The builder of large kites also by a child, a single adult or a team . can be exceedingly dangerous . It the glory-you can't be ignored! feels the "bigger than I am" awe The latter category, of course, can injure the flier's hands, not The problem is the judges score for his own creation . An additional could also be one person, aided only with rope burns but also by large kites the same as they do reward is his appreciation that the by a power winch or even a car simple crushing action . It is usually much smaller kites and your error kite is a worthy adversary whose and pulleys . wise to use large diameter line in rate may be the same or less-in strength is pitted against his own. With the increasing interest in addition to leather gloves for pro- proportion . For example, a wavy Although the pull of the kite may the use of kites to lift payloads, tection. seam isn't such bad workmanship well be such that it could drag including cameras, thermometers One must remember that the kite in a really large kite . him along as the wind speed rises, and wind-speed measuring devices, can easily rise from a low speed When you're building a large one hopes his intelligence will ex- as well as wind-powered lamps, ground wind into a high speed kite, you spend a lot of time con- ceed that of a nonsentient kite so there has been an associated move wind at a few hundred feet . The ceptualizing final details, the trim that he will remain in control . toward increasingly larger kites . accompanying sudden increase in of the edges, etc . Once you set it The effort one expends in the fa- A large kite, when simply scaled drag on a large kite can reverse up you find ways that work a lot tiguing operation of landing a large up from a small kite, flies in an the roles of "flier" and "flyee," easier . In some larger scales (my kite may easily satisfy or even ex- altered manner. The greater the and the person who, a moment Cody, for example) the kite fights ceed his daily requirements for size, the more obvious the differ- before, thought he was in control, against itself. The problems are exercise. It can also satisfy all ence . This alteration in flight char- can find himself dragged into magnified in relation to size . You members of a team in that all acteristics results from two pre- brush, off a dock or into traffic, have to solve the relation between their physical efforts are needed dominant but interrelated factors . to mention but a few unsavory volume and surface area . If you to withstand the pull on the line . First, the inertia of the mass of possibilities . It is always wise to try to maintain the strength of A large kite is to be distinguished the frame and the sail cause a have a safety limit line attached the wood, the diameter increases from a kite train ; even though the slowing of the movement of the to a car or a tree . However, a line too much . aggregate area and generated pull kite and create a kind of majestic under heavy tension is very easily You've got to be in shape to fly of the train may be great, a train serenity . This slowing is perhaps cut and a sharp edge on car trim, it . I pulled a nerve (got "kite el- is still not a monumental kite . most apparent in kites which en- a fence pole corner or even a bow"), putting strain on my shoul- string from a small kite can part a der and chest muscles . Use a pulley Curtis Marshall, aided by Rick Kinnaird, readies one of his giants . 1200-lb . test line in a fraction of a and a strong, coordinated crew. second . The resulting "whip" of One man alone is good, but there's the suddenly freed heavy line can a chance you'll hurt yourself . be quite injurious . The crash of a large kite is po- CURTIS MARSHALL tentially dangerous as frame pieces Baltimore, MD . Well-known phy- can fly off even if an observer is sician and designer of large kites . sufficiently alert and agile to es- Monumental kites are not "bet- cape a direct hit . From this point ter" than small kites, they are of view, a large Parafoil is harm- merely different . Just as one per- less, but any large kite can injure son may prefer a kite which is so a bystander if a crosswind catches stable that it appears to be nailed it when the line is still at a low to the sky, another decries such angle and sweeps it across an area. performance and wants an "active" To guard against this unpleasant kite . The best kite size, then, is occurrence, it is wise to allow the that which pleases the builder and kite to rise to a high angle with a flier, but why does that relatively short line, and then to pay out small minority prefer kites of the line far above the heads of the monumental dimensions? onlookers . The sky is a big place . It usually Another dangerous aspect of encompasses slightly less than half flying large kites derives from the of all one can see . When a kite is possibility of a frame member flown at sufficient height to be breaking loose and falling like a above ground turbulence, it is ap- javelin . This is not an uncommon parent that, at 200 feet, a four- occurrence with experimental de- foot kite appears almost lost in signs but relatively rare when one this immensity. A large kite flying flies a proven kite design . at such an altitude offers more to With small kites, one tends to ig- the appreciative eye . nore the specific patterns of stress In addition, observers seem to in the frame and in the sail . This be impressed by sheer size alone . is justifiable in that the stresses are of low force, so that dowel volved in properly adjusting the strength and tape reinforcement bridle lines increases faster than exceed by many times the forces the number of lines . which will be encountered . How- It seems very plausible to me ever, with large kites and their that a kite can be made with a much greater forces, one cannot large number of sticks and bridle afford the extra weight necessary lines to a large fraction of the stick if one is to use a safety factor as crossings, the kite weight to be tremendous as those used in small more or less in proportion to the kites . Thus, one must calculate cube of the size, and that the size much more closely and try to stay be much larger than is usual, the not only within a relatively mod- kite perhaps launched with the est safety factor, but also to em- aid of a special structure in a ploy the heavy reinforcement only strong, steady wind . A kite that is at those exact places where stresses not expected to be able to land dictate their need . undamaged can be much larger A somewhat different aspect of than one that is . design enlargement is the impor- A further advantage of a large tance of flexibility . Whereas small Bill Bigge at work amid his compact clutter on the kite field . kite is that the drag of the line is frames can often be glued to rigid- proportionately less. This is prob- ity, large frames in most configura- enough to fly . ably insignificant for a very large tions must have flexibility designed ROBERT M . INGRAHAM For structural reasons, large kite-it is not likely to be flown in . When a large frame encounters Silver City, NM . Founder, Amen. kites may have such refinements on a long line anyway . More fun- excessive forces, it must be able can Kitefliers Association . as hollow spars, materials with damentally, a smaller kite which to flex. A rigid frame could, under Many kitefliers, especially in the better specific strength or stiffness, is as sophisticated structurally as a the same circumstances, simply beginning, think in terms of "big .' bracing, trusswork or multipoint larger kite can be reduced in crack . Heavy machined aluminum They want to build and fly a kite bridles . weight as the fourth power of the joints in a frame should be planned that will simply overwhelm spec A very large bowed rectangular size . Then the line diameter is re- whenever possible to give with the tators with its awesome size . (or circular?) kite with multiple duced as the square of the size, so stress, not to withstand the stress Big kites are not all that impress vertical and horizontal sticks and the line wetted surface is in the through brute force . ive once they are in the air . With multiple bridle lines can for struc- same proportion to the lifting sur- Carrying this approach some- no standard of comparison, they tural purposes be scaled as follows : face of the kite for the same line what further, one must even plot appear far from their actual size Suppose the kite is four feet length . The optimum wind is in the areas of stress within the sail . when in the broad expanse of the high and has sticks one foot apart . direct proportion to the size . The The required strength of both the sky . The effect is lost. (It has more than three bridle expected wind speed seems to be frame and sail, however, can be Kites in the monster category points-say about 10 or 12 .) A the basic determinant of optimum are difficult to build, difficult to materially reduced by multiple kite 32 feet high and weighing size, subject to constraints such as shrouding . Whereas a two- or three- transport, difficult and dangerous about 512 (!) times as much space, materials and workmanship . leg bridle would have to withstand to fly . would be aerodynamically similar . Reverting to an earlier question, perhaps 200 pounds pull at each Flying monster kites should That is, it would have the same one definition of optimum size of attachment point, a 40-leg bridle only be done in tightly controlled stability characteristics . To have a kite of a given design is : that size, would divide the load so that each circumstances, in remote areas far the same structural characteristics depending on materials or tech- attachment would have to with- away from buildings, crowds, it would have sticks four times nique, at which accidental asym- stand but 10 pounds or so . In addi- power lines, etc ., and by a compe- the diameter and two feet apart, metry becomes a threat at the tent crew. tion, the use of a great number of that is about four times as many same windspeed as structural carefully planned bridle points sticks . Stick cross-section 16 times overload . can be used to actually create the WILLIAM R. BIGGE as large, 4 times as many sticks, 8 desired form of the sail by judi- Germantown, MD. Physicist at the times as long, means stick weight GUY D . AYDLETT cious trimming of the length of National Bureau of Standards ant is 512 times as large . Charlottesville, VA. A leading apos-tle of rotor kites. each line. This is clearly demon- authority on measures in kiting . If the limiting factor is bending strated in the bridling of the A very large kite is visible for a load on a section of a stick be- A kite afloat in the blue-beauti- Jalbert Parafoil. long distance . It is more impressive tween bridle points (at stick cross- ful, mind-liberating . A BIG KITE Certainly, the larger the kite, than a smaller one. It provides it ings), then : on high-better? If so, to whom? the greater the cost, not only of many cases a focus for a group of The beholder? The creator? material but also of time . While fort . A very large kite that flies is The biggest and highest kite-a one might well be willing to con- an achievement . great fabrication flauntatiously struct a small inexpensive kite on A large kite is more capable of aloft in the welkin-does this cre- a throw-away basis, one takes a lifting a payload, such as a camera, ation of ultimate upmanship, this different attitude toward an en- than a smaller kite . A very large extravagant ego-extender/expand- deavor which occupies months of kite may perhaps be defined as er, justify the painstaking time work and an expenditure of a one so large that the payload de . consumed, treasure expended and hundred dollars or more . Paper creases with increasing size . In the perils assumed by its daring and dowels are fine for small kites, same vein, one may define a very The above is just an illustration creator? but the same design, when all small kite as one so small that the in whole numbers of the suggestion Yes! And no! items are multiplied by a factor of building time (or total cost) in that stick spacing vary with the In this limited space I list a few 10 or 20, would demand and justi- creases with decreasing size . cube root of the size and that the of the many positive and negative fy the use of more durable materi- A large kite is more likely to be stick diameter vary with the two- aspects of monumental kiting . als such as nylon, aluminum and structurally critical thirds power of the size . Judge them as you will. fiberglass. The cost obviously is . For geometrically similar kites, the stress in It turns out that the stiffness of (1) As far as I know, no general not increased by a mere 10 or 20 each part is directly proportional a stick section increases more than solutions have been found for the times but would well escalate by a to the size. The wind force re- the strength as the size goes up . Navier-Stokes Equations of fluid hundred times. quired for flight (proportional to This seems to mean that the bridle motion . For certain kinds of mo- For those who enjoy monument- the square of the stalling speed) h lines must be relatively better tion, special solutions become al kites with all their problems, proportional to the size . The max- matched . On the other hand, bri- known most usually as the result costs, dangers and joys, may their imum allowable wind force with dle lines on a very large kite should of patient accumulation and corre- difficulties be overcome and their out structural overload is inde- perhaps be even longer than pro- lation of empirical data-data ac- hopes satisfied. On the other hand, pendent of the size. Thus for a portional to the size of the kite . quired by direct experimentation for those who do not wish to be- given detailed design there is a The long bridle lines may have ap- and observation . As a fluid deni- come involved with these monsters fairly definite limit to how much preciable sag and stretch . It seems zen, a kite is subject to the same -don't! it can be scaled up and be strong likely that the amount of work in- laws of fluid motion as are crea-

tures such as flying birds, swim- Since so many people worked so ming fishes or human-fabricated hard for so long, and since the emulations of these living things . kite did fly, in our opinion, I al- Altering a fluid's relative velocity lowed the students to claim the with respect to an immersed body, record, locally . its density, its viscosity, or the physical size of the body contained TAL STREETER therein causes a subsequent change Millbrook, NY. Sculptor, creator in a dimensionless similarity cri- of kites and author of the book, terion that is well known to aero- The Art of the Japanese Kite . dynamaticks as Reynolds number. Larger kites are generally more (For more on this, please ask your expensive and time-consuming to friendly scientific reference librar- build and inconvenient to store ian for an elementary treatise on and transport and they require a fluid mechanics .) Briefly described, larger number of skilled fliers a large Reynolds number indicates working together as a team. These inertial forces tend to prevail in Pete lanuzzi and Rick Kinnaird handling o'dako multiple bridles. disadvantages add up surprisingly the fluid flow about a body ; con- to their specialness-that is, their rarity. The time, labor and uncer- versely, a small Reynolds number larger kite may very likely contain ANDREA BAHADUR is indicative of the prevalence of sufficient material to fabricate one tainty heightens that moment East Haddam, CT. Owner of Go . Most kites perform thousand of the smaller ones! when, almost to a person in my viscous forces Fly a Kite, Inc . at low Reynolds numbers. Since In conclusion : experience, everyone says it will Large kites are very spectacular, there is virtually no way an impe- Much can be learned from de- never fly-but it does . It goes up of course, very showy . The disad- cunious advanced experimenter signing, constructing and flying slowly and majestically and mo- vantages are getting them around can trifle with air density or vis- very large kites . But BIG-ness may mentarily blocks out the sun and and shipping them . They are usu- cosity, he must perforce hope for be extravagantly expensive, dan- invariably everyone is a little bit ally specially handmade and have high air density, low viscosity and gerous-and DUMB . awestruck by the improbability of to be put together on the site . high wind velocity on any day he this behemoth actually flying They are good for publicity, wishes his kite to perform at a A . PETE IANUZZI overhead . There is an intake of though. The news media people relatively high Reynolds number- Catonsville, MD. Diving engineer breath and, coupled with the kite always circle in on the big kites- or he can make a similar but larger for the U. S . Navy and indefatigable smile, which accompanies all kite and they are exciting to fly. kite . Assuming constant atmos- kite maker and flier. activities, there is just nothing pheric conditions, doubling all I wish that the people making quite like it . linear dimensions of the kite (not up kite contests would stop giving HARRY N . OSBORNE the angles!) will effectively double awards for the "Largest Kite ." Lynnwood, WA . Director, Needle DINESH BAHADUR its Reynolds number, quadruple They should, at least, be more Trades Department, Edmonds San Francisco, CA . Kite entrepre- its area and cause it to weigh eight specific ; for instance, "The kite Community College . neur and fighter champion in India . times as much if similar materials with the maximum wing spread" The Edmonds Community Col- I have about 10 very large kites, are distributed in similar locations . or "The kite with the maximum lege Kite Team was originally the newest a 350-foot-long dragon Unhappily, even though it con- projected area." After having seen formed at the end of 1976 as a in silk by White Bird Kites . tains eight times as much material- the sky wallowing that most of recreational outlet for students The large kites look fantastic ; meat, the big kite will be less rigid these monsters do, I would like to and faculty. Our attempt at the smaller kites are harder to photo- and much more fragile than its half- see the award go to the best flying world's record for large kites was graph . But I personally don't care size prototype-beware! Scientif- kite with a width or length of over in response to a challenge from a much for them . They tie in with ic investigation often commands a 10 feet, or something to that effect . local radio station . Countless man the American concept of power, heavy price and high risk . The prize for big kites should be hours went into the kite's construc- to draw attention and to drag (2) Besides satisfying the curio- given for the same qualities as the tion . As it turned out, we did not people across the ground. The big sity of Science, the big kite may awards for normal size kites ; that establish a world's record because kites in the kite festivals make serve the minions of Mammon is, workmanship, originality of de- of drunken spectators . Security news every year . But I like kites and the Military : big kites can be sign, beauty in the air, etc ., but was very poor. We will try again, to be delicate, peaceful, romantic. big advertising signs, can bring maximum credit should be given probably during the spring of 1980. Some people seem to need the big down or keep away formidable for a kite that launches smoothly, This time we would like to work kites for power, but there's no enemy aircraft, can be designed to climbs well, behaves in the air, flies in advance with knowledgeable style left . loft ponderous loads-or scientific at a high angle and is retrieved in people . One of the problems we packages . (But a train of small a neat and orderly manner . The encountered when we began our MELVIN E . GOVIG kites can assume the duties or idea of rewarding just plain BIG- attempt was a total absence of in- Baltimore, MD. Ardent and versa- good works listed except for the NESS, in my opinion, is a bad formation or guidelines. How do tile kite man . crosswind display of a single large practice . I believe that kiteflying you measure square footage? What Size alone seems to attract some sign-but perhaps a banner sign has reached a level of maturity type of kite is acceptable? How fliers, especially youthful ones . from a kite train might suffice .) where we can reward quality do you go about certifying the For myself, I believe display is im- (3) The "monu-mentality" virus rather than just monstrosity . attempt? portant and adds to the level of often tempts the faded, jaded "kite spectator appeal at any kite outing. champion" or self-anointed "ex- The ill-fated Edmonds Community College kite of 1977 . However, I dislike the large kites pert" to embrace BIG-ness with that either don't fly well or are the self-serving intention of mere- simply grotesque . How many times ly commanding the unwashed have we seen an otherwise fine multitude's naive awe and admira- kite day spoiled by a kite- and life- tion-Brobdingnabian balm for threatening monster made of the thinning pates of past panjan- khaki plastic and brown tape? Gal- drums wearing wilted laurels . lumphing across the sky, it clears (Please take notice : If this writer away the smaller kites and annoys is caught in the act of launching a fliers and spectators with threat- monstrously large kite-however ening sweeps, and usually finally furtively-be assured that the acti- crashes in a tangled mess. Ugh! vity-overt or covert-is purely However, I have been thrilled by undertaken in the finest spirit of super size (six-foot or larger) Ber- scientific enquiry.) Remember : muda kites, large well-built deltas a five-foot kite flying at 500 feet and large box kites. Love them! looks just as impressive as a 50- But more than size is involved . foot kite at 5000 feet! And the I cannot remember a more spec- We've all seen kites like this- A stack of three birds by huge, crude and dangerous Hod Taylor. The lead kite is a craft that can give our sport a 20-footer and the other two black eye (literally) . Mel Govig assembling his multihued Guatemalan-style kite . are 18-foot span . tacular (monumental) sight than anyone flying large kites . the demand . Jalbert's J-15 and my hands on at that time . I did Jack Van Gilder's train of 100 In testing some large kites which J-25 do well, too. They are a team- receive a lot of help from Scotty kites flashing in the sun and clouds we made for the Lawrence Radia- work thing, really, and it's a strug- at that time and Mrs . Scott of late at Ocean City, Maryland, last year. tion Laboratory (for lifting instru- gle, a thrill . People want a chal- years with material . Also I hold in memory a picture ments), we anchored the kite to a lenge with kites now . It was soon evident that I had to of an India with a section of telephone pole, over make them larger if I was to see silver ribbon tail at the Smithsoni- which were piled other sections of KEN CONRAD what the kites looked like in flight an Kite Carnival in the early 70s . pole . The kite was flying normally Seattle, WA . Owner of the Great above the 50-foot height that I This tiny kite with its 100 feet or until a dry tornado (dust devil) Winds kite shop in Pioneer Square . was flying them at that time, so so of tail drew pictures in the sky happened along, perhaps doubling For business reasons, I've stayed just naturally made them larger . I and held the crowd spellbound. the wind speed at the kite. We away from big kites . Customers now fly the larger kites up to 200 Finally, two-line control displays were not aware of it until we saw burn their hands on them, and so feet but very seldom above that . can be breathtaking, such as Steve the telephone pole section hop- on. However, in Hamamatsu, I I will not say that bigger is better Edeiken's Rainbow Stunters and ping across the field, dragged and really enjoyed the big kites and but I must say I have noted that it Andrew Jones's Flexifoils-very lifted in a series of rough bounces, ages old traditions . Spectators had is the large kites that interest the big displays I've been privileged to heading right for a highway with a sense of when the kites were go- spectators and draw the crowds . see-with kites of moderate size . heavy traffic . Our anchor had ing up and coming down and With the large kites, the flier must I love to be thrilled by a spec- been pulled apart spreading the would stay clear of the kites . I assume the responsibility for the tacular kite display. I rarely have overlying poles like jackstraws, don't see that kind of awareness safety of the spectators . We have felt that thrill at size alone . and the pull of the kite picked up over here . a standing rule that we will not the pole section to which it was put a kite up or keep it up unless RAY HOLLAND tied . Fortunately, it was not tied H. J . (HOD) TAYLOR everyone stays behind the kiteflier. Roswell, NM. Kite manufacturer very well . After about a 100-yard Austin, MN. Current President of While my eyesight is not the and experimenter. dash, the loop of anchor line the Essex Kite Group, England, best, I do get around very well, Large size demands respect . The slipped off the end of the pole and noted maker of giant kites. can make kites in a simple way by kiteflier has to know what he is and the kite relaxed and settled I have made a large number of using tapes and glues and do really doing or he can get in trouble . harmlessly to the ground . kites over the last 10 years, spend- enjoy my kiting, making between A large kite may be capable of These experiences taught me to ing all of my time during our four 70 and 100 small kites for the picking up a person-and that can respect large kites . months' stay in Florida each win- children each year. It bothers me be serious. Even kites that are not ter either working at the bench to have the newspapers harp on this large can cause trouble . They KAREN SCHLESINGER making them or flying them . my blindness in connection with require special know-how for New York, NY. Manager of Go Fly I became interested in kiting ob- my kiting activities . I actually launching . They can start up and a Kite store . serving the enjoyment Scotty have seven percent vision in the catch a gust and turn right back The trend in our store is to large (Walter Scott) was getting out of one eye that I can use . down, with- enough speed and kites. I have a 22-foot delta by his kiting activity. I started out weight to cause personal injury. I Maxwell Eden, custom-made and making five- and seven-foot kites JOHN F . VAN GILDER have been there . It was a large ex- very expensive . My 11-foot and of every kite that I saw pictured Seattle, WA . Insurance agent and perimental kite, and I dodged it, 12-foot kites can't keep up with in the kite books that I could get stalwart of the Washington Kite- but I tore a muscle in the calf of fliers Association . my leg getting out of the way . In my opinion, flying a very Also on a large kite you can get large kite is a lot of trouble . The a bad string burn or you can have Bad News : (a ) they tend to give the line wrapped around your you rope burns ; (b) they present hand or a few fingers, to keep it transport problems . The Good from sliding, and you will wish News: (a) the sense of accomp- you hadn't! lishment is vast (if successfully But if you respect them, large flown) ; (b) they usually draw a kites can be impressive. The drag crowd-good for the ego . of the line becomes relatively The Question : "Is the trouble e- small, the sag from the ground to qual to the return?" We have a fam- the kite is reduced and high flights ily joke about the city cousin visit- can be made . But if the kite be- ing my wife's farm as a child who comes too large it is an aircraft in was warned that he'd be spanked the eyes of the law. For years the if he rode the horse while wearing dividing line has been five pounds. An example of his good trousers. He did, they Any kite weighing this much or very successful scaling did and he stated, through tears, more comes under Federal Avia- up : a larger-than-normal "Yeah, Ma, but it was worth it ." tion Administration regulations . Rogallo Corner Kite constructed I think every collection should That should be looked into by as a single cell by "Rog" himself . have one . Weight Watching Japan's Giants A. PETE IANUZZI, POCKET CALCULATOR IN HAND, QUESTIONS THE WEIGHT CLAIMED FOR JAPAN'S LEGENDARY MAMMOTH KITES .

There is a story that has been the kite is that size, the men are If it is 65 feet in diameter, it will weights from two sources : (1) handed down from book to book 711011 tall-a possibility for have an area of 3 318 square feet . available published information, about a giant kite which was built Watusis but a bit tall for Orientals . (I am not quibbling about the loss from which I have taken average in Japan some time ago . The date Assuming the men are 511011 of area for the oval .) If this kite values for the sizes and weights of varies depending on which book tall, the size of the kite scales out weighs 8000 pounds, it will weigh these large kites, since there is you read, some putting the date as 24 by 35 feet. A kite 90 feet in 38.6 ounces per square foot, which considerable variation from book as early as 1909, others as late as diameter would have about seven is ridiculous . If we take the lowest to book (the exact values are not 1936. Apparently the kite was times the area of the monster in figure quoted, 1700 pounds, the very important ; after all, what is flown for several years in succes- the picture! Even if we accept the weight works out at 8 .2 ounces 1000 pounds more or less when sion and may have been the same figure of 65 feet in diameter, the per square foot, still not very you are discussing a kite that kite rebuilt each year . A good wan-wan would still be about four reasonable . weighs 8000 pounds?), and (2) guess is that it was a new kite times the size of the kite in the To get some idea of what one of actual measurements and weights each year built using some of the photograph . these kites might actually weigh, of large kites which I have flown parts from the previous year's kite . The size of this kite is very inter- let us assume a monster-type or know have been flown recently . A kite that big would almost esting, but I am puzzled by the weight of 3 .0 ounces per square As you can see, none of the kites certainly be badly damaged on fact that so many sources report foot . Then the wan-wan would in the second group goes above landing . the weight of the wan-wan without weigh about 622 pounds . That, as two ounces per square foot and This great kite was known as the giving any thought to the implied far as I am concerned, is an abso- these are not low-wind kites. wan-wan or the wan-wan-dako and results . The weight is given as a lute upper limit . My educated it was designed and built in the minimum of 1700 pounds and a guess for the actual weight of a city of Naruto on Shikoku island, maximum of eight tons, with sev- 65-foot wan-wan would be 250 to TAL STREETER REPLIES probably by the master kite maker eral reports at about 8000 pounds . 350 pounds, or a surface load of I cannot believe that the Japan- Nagajima Gempei. There is some The Guinness Book of World Rec- 1 .2 to 1 .7 ounces per square foot . ese are mistaken or exaggerating agreement from the various ords goes further, to nine and a Anything from 800 pounds up is the weight of their giant kites . sources that this monster was an half tons. I just don't believe it . sheer nonsense . This seems improbable as many oval-shaped kite, 60 to 65 feet in I have built a large, heavy kite . That photographed big rectan- of us have raised the question to diameter . One source puts it at 90 It is rectangular and 6x8 ft. i n gular kite mentioned with its 53- the Japanese on many occasions feet in diameter, but that size size, giving an area of 48 square man flying team would be 16.3 and have been reassured that the seems highly unlikely . feet . A wind of about eight miles ounces per square foot if it weights are correct . No doubt I make this last statement on the per hour is required to fly it and weighed 800 kilograms . At a rea- Pete Ianuzzi's question will serve basis of a photograph of another it weighs 5 .24 pounds, which is sonable loading of three ounces to urge the Japanese kite experts kite, the Hoshubana o-dako, which about 1.7 ounces per square foot per square foot, it would weigh to settle the matter to everyone's appears in several places . This pic- of area. Also for comparison, most 324 pounds . However, if it were satisfaction . ture shows a nearly unbelievable kitefliers know the Peter Powell 35 by 24 feet, which seems more The improbability of the giant rectangular kite propped up on its stunter kite . It is a heavy plastic likely, it would probably weigh kite's flight is in itself a keystone side, with its flying team of 5 3 men kite which flies best in strong about 160 pounds. That is still a of its appeal over the centuries. and a Shinto priest standing in winds, as at the seashore . It weighs pretty husky kite . As long as we don't quite believe front of the kite . The caption states about 1 .9 ounces per square foot . I have prepared the accompany- it, it's a heck of a lot more inter- that the kite is 36 by 48 feet . If Now let us consider the wan-wan . ing chart of large kite sizes and esting-don't you think?

The Bedsheet O'dako

By A. Pete lanuzzi stitch 22 pockets (as shown in sketches) . Use a stick (about 3/4 x 1,4 x 611) to check In an effort to make a big display without pocket size . It should fit easy . lavish investment of time or cash, six 4. At the intersections of all ribs and Maryland Kite Society members each longerons, mark the cover for four bridle made one or more large kites in the holes, as shown in detail drawing C . Japanese style using U .S.-available mate- 5 . Attach 21 bridles, each about 16 1 long, rials-king size sheets and pine sticks . We at all marked intersections, without sticks soon called this kite the Bedsheet O'dako . in place . A large, upholstery-type needle The original plan was to join the kites is good for this. Use a bowline knot if in train for a man-lift, but we found that you know it. Any knot that will not slip these kites, with all their bridles, were dif- will do. The loop should be about 3 11 ficult to link together. All the same, they from kite cover to knot . For the five loca- made a great show flown individually . tions at the top of the kite, tie bridles in I worked out the plans and ripped all the criss-cross format shown in the sketch . the sticks from pine for the big endeavor . 6. Transport the kite in stickless and tail- The sheets, on sale, were in the garish less form and assemble it at the flying site, mode, but made fairly striking kite covers. passing the sticks through the cord loops . 7 . Bow the kite on the back, using 20-lb . VARIATIONS test or stronger line, to curve at least 611 The Bedsheet O'dako allows for consider- deep at the top and about 8?? deep at the able variation in dimensions and materials. bottom, but the rib one up from the bot- For example, any size of sheet may be tom should be 10 11 deep (or deeper for used. Also, an artist might favor use of stronger winds) . solid color cloth sewn in sections or simply 8. Adjust the bridles in a wind-sheltered white sheets, canvas-like, to paint . area. It is easiest to place the kite upside down at an angle that corresponds with MATERIALS the normal flying angle (about 30 degrees). • Sheet for cover and extra fabric for the With the kite in this position, leaning two tails-about 4 to 6 inches wide and backward, it's convenient to adjust the about 30 to 40 feet long . Tails take about bridles . Adjust them to a uniform tension, a quarter of a sheet . to pull evenly on the kite when it is in its • Sticks of clear straight-grain pine or proper, bowed shape . spruce : 5 longerons, 7,,z x '/.I section and I like to handle the lines in horizontal of a length to fit your cover (about 10 layers, getting each row uniform, tying 3 feet) ; 5 ribs, /+e x 3 '411 section, length to fit those lines together, then doing the next cover ; and 2 diagonals, 1,4 x 3/41 1 . Note that row. After all layers are tied, I bunch the shape of the kite is determined by the them together and trim them so they are bridling and not by the sticks, which are about the same length . Then I tie all of flexible, serving mainly to tauten the cover . them together in one big slip knot . • Line for bridles : about 20-lb . test is adequate because there are so many of FLYING them. Cotton or polyester is recommend- Take your flying line and tie ed, not monofilament or anything elastic . a big loop on the end, then a • Flying line : at least 100-lb . test . lark's head knot around all the Clothesline is not a bad idea-it's stronger bridles just above the slip knot . than you need but it's good to hold onto . Attach two tails, using short pieces of string, to each side of the kite . By now, if INSTRUCTIONS you didn't bring any, assistants should 1. Start by drawing the design on the have materialized like magic . Have them back of the sheet (pencil works fine) . hold the kite up for launch . Walk out Find the center by folding . Measure in 6'/4 ii plenty of line (at least 150 feet) . Put on from the selvage edges and 5 1 1 up from the your gloves and fly! bottom . Then divide into four equal spaces. For transport, leave only the five ribs 2 . Hem the edges of the sheet, using two in the kite and roll it up in a neat package . rows of stitches for strength . On the top To keep the bridle lines from tangling and bottom, leave the original hem stitch- after flight, they can be braided together ing and add one extra row . with a chain knot (see sketch) before you 3. Remove stitches in pocket areas, then take the kite apart . A.P.I./V.G.

Profiles... Louise Crowley: Free Spirit Story and Photographs by John F. Van Gilder

My first impression of Louise Crowley that sit up there, kites that bring out the was "Free Spirit ." She had it written all patterns in the sky . She seeks the dance over her . She stood there, small, rumpled, and play of the clouds, the good tug on about my age (middle), Conyne in hand . the line, the restful relaxation of floating It was beautifully crafted and beautifully designs . painted with an Alaskan Indian design . "I'm lazy," she'll have you believe, We met in the Exhibition Hall of "and fighter kites are too much work . Seattle's Pacific Science Center . The Wash- They abuse the eye . Get tangled and bash ington Kitefliers Association spring kite the earth . Bother others' kites ." Still, she exhibition was in full swing, the room likes challenge . was full of people viewing kites, floor to Louise reports on the phone that she ceiling, and making kites all over the has finished a Russell Hall kite . Typical . tables and floor . There were a dozen im- She's not afraid to tackle anything-and portant things needing doing but at the it's a stable flier . Recently she made a moment nothing was more important fine-flying Professor Waldof - than to thoroughly examine this obvious- with nothing to guide her but a picture . ly well-constructed, well-designed kite . Another part of the Crowley style is Where did she get the design? "Well, a that she names her kites, in the manner of major in Anthropology should have taught Pat Hammond, San Antonio's Kite Lady, me something," was her reply . who was probably the first to claim that "Just wondered if you might want to naming kites makes them fly better . hang it up somewhere in a corner," she Louise likes to "personalize the relation- continued, a little uncertainly, thumbs ship" this way, using names like Pete (as hooked in rear pockets of well-worn jeans, in Peg-Leg) for her seagull, because it managing a slouch while her squinting reminds her of a Seattle pet by that name . blue eyes searched upward to the ceiling . Characteristic was her approach to Of course we wanted to hang it up . construction of her seagull kite . The pat- In the middle . tern just didn't seem right to her . She Over the next few months it came out looked up the facts about gulls and found piecemeal that Louise had been flying that the average female herring gull is 22 kites since she was a kid . Things had inter- inches, beak to tail feathers . Scaling up fered, of course, like raising a family . The the pattern in mathematical proportion, Opposite page : Louise children came all at once to Louise and she wound up with a seagull kite some 65 Crowley assembles her hand- George inches from wing tip to wing tip . And its sewn nylon double Conyne : Roger, now 29, Bruce, 28, and at Seattle's Gasworks Park . Kevin and Martin, 25 . Not much time for long wings slow the flapping motion so She's seen clipping a low-wind kites for some years . Things calmed down that the bird looks more natural-alive . panel into the kite (the section enough for making some kites with the Here are some of her other kites : is removable for high winds) . boys. Then came more interruptions, the "Nazgul," a character from Tolkien, is a Top, Crowley lifts her black plastic delta which found its way Alaskan Indian motif Conyne. protest meetings about this and that : the Detail to the left shows the arboretum needed defending, the neigh- home after dangling its broken string for engineering of the center strut, borhood shielded from high-density high- six miles before being hauled down by an which is wrapped at the joint. rise buildings, the shopping district kept honest man. A fiery colored Conyne is Above, Crowley's seagull "Aries ." Another, of every color in the kite, "Pete," scaled up and within bounds-that sort of thing . refined . One day Louise came back to kites rainbow, is "VIBGYOR" (an acronym for Right, "Venus," her with a vengeance . She was in the local the colors in spectrum order) . An octa- many-tailed star . kite shop and mentioned wistfully that gonal flat kite had less-than-sufficient tail two bucks was a lot of money just to see on its test flight, causing a sensational small swatches of rip-stop nylon just a kite show (the one at the Pacific Science crash earthward, and came up dubbed naturally look good when attached to Center). The shop suggested she use one "Venus," as mentioned in Velikovsky . each other with her machine-fine hand- of her kites to get in . "Take one in hand, Even the Great Dane papa-dog does well ; sewing . Given the materials, she could act as if you belong there and just barge it's named "Pycho," a great Danish astro- make 'most anything fly . in ." She did-it worked-and Louise has nomer . But his son is plain "Rowdy," "Line is a problem, though," she been busy ever since making kites . because he is . mourns. "There is just no substitute for A Crowley principle is that her kites Part of the Crowley philosophy is that good ." should be stable . Not everyone follows kiting need not be expensive. Her scroung- You can see that here in Seattle we this, and Louise admits, "Different strokes ing abilities are legend . She knows strategic have learned a lot from Louise Crowley for different folks ." Her preference is for dumpsters personally . "Unraveled plastic and we're glad to have her-our beautiful Conynes, double Conynes, deltas-kites party leis make the neatest tails ." And person, a Free Spirit of the skies . 0 for use as a communications medium . However, back to our fishing kite . I 200 have several of various sizes but all scaled up or down from the same standard kite which has been found to be the best in performing what we require . Years The kite I use in breezes from force 3 to 6 is four feet in length, a diamond shape, but with the two wings just over two- of Kite thirds of the way from tail to top . It's made flat and two bamboo sticks about 3 /e - inch thick are lashed together to form a cross . Then a light line is led round the Fishing edge, and the cover, in this case light duck canvas, is sewn to it . A bridle is fixed to the face (opposite side to the sticks) and sewn so it is made fast through the canvas Success and round the sticks . This bridle starts about four inches from the top and ends at the tail . The main line fixes to this, at which point a piece of line is also fixed about two foot odd . On each wing of the kite is a ring or loop of cord which this stray line fixes, when we set things up . It will from here be clearer if I rig up For 23 years, Bill Trebilcock, Principal Here round the coast of England we have Keeper of the Eddystone Lighthouse, 17 several lighthouses which are just tall miles off Plymouth, England, has been towers set on the largest rock of extensive kite fishing. Within minutes of launch, he reefs . These reef areas are by and large has his fish-usually a bass, sometimes a very good fishing areas ; but, as the first pollack, like the four pounder in the pic- keepers some 200 years ago found, most ture here. Trebilcock believes that Eddy- of the time one cannot even get a line in stone is Britain's last lighthouse stronghold the water and over the rocks . of kite fishing. The other towers now Looking down from 133 feet from the have "chopper pads "-platforms around gallery and seeing one's supper swimming the top for helicopters . As all good kiters past is a great spur to inventiveness . The know, helicopters and kites don't mix . early keepers went through many ideas Kite Lines is pleased to document the sys- before settling on a kite . Their kites and tem, as described by Trebilcock himself. line were a bit on the rough side, but they caught fish . Over the years the kites and gear have been improved, but basically the method and kite I use do not differ very much from theirs . Before I describe the set-up and method, I must point out that the problem we have to overcome is not flying a kite up but down . We want our kite to fly down from 133 feet to 20 feet above the sea and there be very stable but maneuverable . One big advantage we have, of course, is that whatever the wind we can always keep it behind us and have no other build- ings or power lines to worry about . The kite I mainly use for fishing I also use to pass both mail and small spare parts when it's too rough for the relief boat to come near . The largest package I've lifted was 25 pounds of weight hoisted off the boat's deck and carried about 400 yards back to the lighthouse . So you can see TREBILCOCK'S RIGGING METHOD that kites are to us on this station not only a means of getting our supper but as if I were going to fly. Standing on the the fish out in the air . A quick retrieve stormy breeze you need to wear gloves gallery or walkway round the lantern, and the kite goes higher and keeps the and to be fit . back to the wind, you will appreciate we fish well clear of the rocks . This story will start its journey to can launch and fly in the wind to our right The favorite method is to use a feather America by kite as at the moment the or left as the wind comes past . We will de- lure or spoon when the kite is at 20 feet . weather is too bad for a boat to get near . cide to fly to the right . To start, our bait A very slow retrieve makes the kite fly An amusing story to end . goes on a 20-foot length of 30-pound test right, slow down to the left and quick re- Some 18 years ago, serving on Wolf nylon line . This goes to a swivel, then 90 trieve up . So one is able to work the lure Rock, a tower like this further down the feet of '/4-inch rocket line is fixed to the over about 50 yards . Again, a fish taking, coast, we had been having a lot of trouble tail end of the kite . The main line fixes to up goes the kite, self-striking . It will be with some new engines, so the chief devel- the bridle and the short length of line is obvious that slight alterations in trim and opment engineer of the company himself tied to the right wing and is adjusted so one can fly higher or closer from the came to stay for a few days to sort things the kite flies level, not rising or falling, water. The thing to watch, of course, is out . He made it obvious when he saw me and in fact acts much as a sailboat's main- any tide pull on the tail, which tends to get the kite out that it proved his idea of sail . If one were going to fly left, the stray upset the trim . Also, very gusty days it is keepers that they were all nuts . I said line would have gone on the left wing . better to fly, say, 40 feet from the sea so nothing, but prayed I'd get a bite, and To adjust the kite to fly steady, if over any upset can be corrected before the Jackpot! I was fishing with a six hook a 3 breeze, one needs to position a weight kite goes in. If the kite does go in, a long feathered trace, and first bite, five nice about 40 feet down the tail-about 8 steady pull until it surfaces, then a quick plump mackerel-and one red-faced engi- ounces for a light breeze to about 7 retrieve, and it will fly off okay . neer. Could he have a go? So I taught him pounds in a 6 to 7 breeze . When the kite I would give a word of warning about how, and couldn't get near the kite for is flying level and steady, I let out slowly . using this method from a tower, cliff or the rest of his visit (darn him) . He wrote As the kite gets to about 300 yards from bridge . Have a good heavy main line and me later and said that the therapeutic the tower, the weight of the main line watch that you don't get pulled over, as effect of his kiteflying had done him the and extra wind drag bring the kite down in a 5 to 6 breeze the pull is quite strong world of good . I guess at least if you don't so at about 350 yards the kite is flying and a sudden gust or a big fish could pull catch fish it's exercise and fun, but it's steady about 20 feet above the sea with you over. The main line, of course, needs always a bonus with a nice fresh fish . the hook about 80 feet down . If I were to be heavy, as a kite in the water still sails Bill Trebilcock using just a fish bait I would keep flying like a sail boat and exerts quite some pull . Principal Keeper steady . A fish taking the bait upsets the I use a 1/-inch diameter cotton line and Eddystone Lighthouse trim and the kite flies up, usually bringing believe me for an hour's fishing in a Plymouth, England Kite Traction Record Established It is difficult to break a Guinness world record in kiting . It may be even more dif- ficult to establish an entirely new category of record, as for example was done when William R. Bigge flew the most kites from one line, 261, in 1974, creating a record that the Japanese have subsequently sur- passed extravagantly . One chap who has broached Fortress Guinness is Bernard Stewart, 28, of Vic- toria, B.C., Canada. He has reported to Kite Lines that on July 5, 1979, he and two crew members (Barry Hiebert and Shannon MacLeod) used a train of eight Flexifoil kites to pull a boat from Cres- cent Bay, WA (14 miles west of Port Angeles) across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Victoria inner harbor, a distance of "23 miles, not including tack- ing," according to Stewart, who took an indirect route (a crow-flies route would be closer to 20 miles) . In any case an interesting feat, it took 5 1/2 hours to accomplish in a 12-foot inflatable Zodiac boat and reportedly will appear in the next edition of Guinness as the new "long distance record" (properly the kite trac- tion distance record) . It is probable that the best such effort ever made was that of George Pocock of England in 1827 with his consummate in- vention, the Charvolant . Harry Edward Neal in The Story of the Kite said : Probably the longest single journey made by Charvolants was a 113-mile trip across the Brit- ish countryside. Three of the carriages made the trip, each carrying several passengers . They rolled over the high ground of Marshfield Downs, passed through Shippenham, Calne, and Marl- borough Downs at 20 or 25 miles an hour, an amazing speed in that day. I Pocock was not the first to employ kites for pulling ; the Samoans sailed their canoes between islands by kite z and Ben- jamin Franklin as a boy took a cross-pond swim by kite power . Ben speculated in his autobiography, "I think it is not impossi- ble to cross in this manner from Dover to Calais ." Over 150 years later, Samuel Franklin Cody³ proved him right by cross- ing the English Channel (in the opposite direction) from Calais to Dover on the evening of November 5, 1903 . The Amer- the proud efforts of Bernard Stewart . He ican-born cowboy, sharpshooter, show- is now planning to further establish his man, kite inventor and pioneer British record by crossing from Victoria to Seattle, aviator used a collapsible 14-foot canoe WA, "within the next three months-a pulled by a train of his kites . straight-line distance of approximately 75 Perhaps the very earliest known exam- miles ." And, evangelistically, he plans to ple of kite traction, though, was in the hold a kite tow race in the Strait of Juan birthplace of kites, China, across the China de Fuca on the first Saturday with suitable plains, according to Gordon Gillett of weather in May, 1980 . All interested kiters South Carolina . Gillett could be called are invited to enter and compete for a the contemporary dean of the tiny frater- substantial prize . Participants will be re- In a later letter, John gives further details nity of kite sailors . Six 10-foot Gordon quired to bring their own kites, boat, safe- of the type of kite Angus was flying : Gillett Tow Kites were purchased and ty equipment and extra kites ; chase boats It is a scaled-up version of one of my used by Briton Keith Stewart in a reenact- will be provided . For further information, standard Folded Keel Deltas . Instead of ment of the Cody accomplishment, cross- contact Bernard Stewart, 1615 Belmont sewing a separate keel on the bottom, I ing the English Channel . Stewart (no Avenue, Suite 207, Victoria, B .C., Canada make the kite from one piece of rip-stop, relation to Bernard) in his Amphi-Kat (a V8R 3Y9 ; telephone (604) 595-1369 . forming the keel by folding the material in 10-foot catamaran) traveled from Cap the middle . This, of course, also produces Gris Nez beach, France, to Folkestone, Junior Record Claimed a swept-back trailing edge . I make both a England He took 4 hours 20 minutes and John H. White writes to Kite Lines from narrow and wide versions as shown in my six-in-train steerable Gillett deltas to tra- London, England : sketches below . verse the distance of about 24 miles . The I wish to claim a world junior kiteflying The 24-foot kite flown by Angus is a Amphikiting, Ltd ., Co . has applied the record on behalf of my son Angus White three-times blow-up of the wide version system to its Amphi-Kart, a land vehicle who, at the age of 6 years 8 months, be- of my FKD . with balloon wheels for rough terrain . tween 12 :05 and 13 :00 hours GMT on Gillett has been experimenting with Sunday, October 29, 1978, flew my 24- kites as boat sails for about 14 years and foot span delta wing for 55 minutes en- became well known in 1977 from a Popu- tirely on his own. The only help he had lar Science magazine article . Gillett uses from me was to hold it up and launch it trains of four to eight deltas and concen- at the start and to wind up the line as he trates on management of kites as valid pulled it in hand-over-hand at the end of alternatives to conventional sails rather the flight . The wind was extremely light- than on record-setting for distance . He is about force zero to force one-so that planning instead to set a speed record next . constant tugging was required to keep the spring, aiming for 40 miles per hour . He kite airborne . Altogether, he let out about feels the potential is there-for perhaps 400 feet of 240-lb . nylon line and the kite 60 miles per hour . To him, this is more rose to about 200 feet . This took place significant than distance, which he says is on Clapham Common, South London, in only a question of "how long you can go the view of several other kitefliers who without being bored to death ." were also having difficulty in keeping All of which is to take nothing from their kites aloft due to lack of wind . I enclose a photo of Angus pulling the kite up during an earlier unsuccessful at- tempt to get it flying on the same day . Angus White, age 6, pulling up John White's The kite, which I call my Autumn Tints 24-foot delta, London, October 29, 1978 . Delta, is made from brown, yellow and red rip-stop nylon, obtainable in the U .K. in widths varying between 34 and 38 inches . Thus, it is about nine feet long in the center and the wing area is approxi- mately 108 square feet . I trust this letter will constitute a chal- lenge to other young kitefliers to do even better. Maybe we shall eventually hear of a 5-year-old hauling up his or her parent's 30-footer and still managing to stay firmly on the ground! Might I suggest a formula for compar- ing junior kiteflying achievements : Lincoln Park. It was a pleasure to watch entries, we felt it was more than adequate ILLINOIS this man fly his kites and to talk with him . for a first time effort . All concerned were We each received an autographed copy of pleased with the entire affair and have William E. Temple writes with good news : the master's book from Japan Air Lines . committed themselves to a second annual . As of July 4th, 1979, our group be- came airborne as a Chicagoland kite club . MICHIGAN MONTANA A number of us kitefliers have been kick- ing this around for a couple of years. We The 5/20 Kite Group's admirably active Art Foran sends word from Clancy, MT : advertised and had our first publicized season was climaxed by its outstanding At the Clancy school in June I gave fly-in at Shiller Woods Forest Preserve, in effort, the Detroit Kite Kaleidoscope, the first and second grades a kite fly . We the northwest suburbs of Chicago, and July 22 to 28 . The group's newsletter fol- had three bags of fun and Mary and I showed off for the public . lowed up with pictures aplenty and were run quite ragged for half a day . I flew a J-30 Parafoil that Dom Jalbert breathless prose, from which we quote : made for me some years ago . The wind The Detroit Kite Kaleidoscope-a was from 8 to 20 miles per hour so I had week-long parade of workshops, demon- to stake it out . I also flew the stars and strations and displays-culminated in a stripes on the line. We plan to fly once a colorful kite festival on Saturday . Boy- month at Shiller Woods and we have hopes did we have our hands full! of holding our first competitive fly in 1980 . Co-sponsored by the Renaissance Cen- In May, the WIND Radio-sponsored ter, the Detroit Free Press and the 5/20 kite contest at Grant Park drew a very Kite Group, Kaleidoscope proved to be large crowd and many experienced kite- the highlight of our summer activities . TV fliers . (There were also very many inex- and radio appearances by Hank and Nancy perienced kitefliers .) Charles Sotich won [Szerlag] and great newspaper coverage in the Most Unique category with a replica all provided the kind of publicity an Schoolkids fly in Clancy . Afterwards, they of Snoopy's dog house ; it flew well . Kathy event like this demands . The display itself wrote Foran more letters than he could answer . Temple and I flew 28 kites on one line featured 30 kites of various types-includ- and won an award . ing the Heggs' 50-foot delta and an histor- NEW YORK Later in the spring we had the honor ical Navy Target Kite (designed by Paul of meeting and flying with Professor Garber). Both kite shops in the area, The Jim Linnen sends news from the Long Is- Tsutomu Hiroi of Japan, here to partici- Unique Place in Royal Oak and Sky Line land Kitefliers Association : pate in' the Cherry Blossom Festival at Kite Shop in Detroit, donated kites as We had a great time here helping set prizes . Also, from Nantucket came Al up a kite fly in April for the Brookhaven Bill Temple flying a kite in Comiskey Park on Hartig with his contribution of Valkyries. National Laboratory at Upton, L.I ., NY, a snowy March 4, 1979 . The Chun King . The company asked Bill to test to see if wind The kite building demonstrations as well as part of their Energy Options Expo conditions were favorable there for a kite as the sale of sled kite kits were very turnout was super (about 300 people) . contest on Mothers Day . Bill discovered they popular parts of the entire production . I called the New York FAA for clear- weren't . "There were swirling winds that will Don't ask how we managed to assemble ance as we had a high flier event . It was . The game make a reel of a kiteflier," Bill said and pack 1000 kits! That episode still great! A large red delta took to the sky, effort, however, was televised nationally . conjures up overwhelming fatigue from climbing fast and furiously towards ze- all 14 participants . nith. It was a certain winner . All of a Saturday's competition brought out sudden it broke free from its line and 150 enthusiasts . Although morning show- started to drift away trailing a line seg- ers undoubtedly reduced the field of ment . The red delta continued to climb as we watched. The winner was announced : Part of the 5/20 Kite Group's display inside . the huge Detroit Renaissance Center . Plans the red delta, much to its owner's surprise for next year are already underway with We awarded the prize and expressed our a tentative date of middle or late June . sympathy to the owner (for the red delta was a beautiful kite)-when-a Parafoil owner who had also been flying high in hopes of first prize reported that he had the red delta's line segment fouled in his flying line and was reeling it in carefully . The kites gently came down from the sky and, wow, what cheering! It was so much fun to see these men so happy, and the crowd clapped and the judges all laughed and clapped. The Largest Kite event was also funny. Two brothers built an enormous Conyne

kite and had a flying line that could have ready expressed hope for a repeat at the pulled a building down . They went into 1980 trade show . an act, holding each other down as if the Thanks for operating the booth go kite were taking them up . Great show! mainly to George and his wife Orie Lee When we called for the kite and its owners Craig and to The Sky's the Limit and to come to the judges' stand, they gently Eureka-Paper Tiger kite shops in Dallas . landed the giant kite while the crowd The 38 exhibitors included : Airplane laughed so hard . It was a really funny Kite Co.; Eole, Inc . ; Gayla Industries, Inc . ; scene. A great time was had by everyone . Kro Flies Kites; Precision Formed Plastics, Inc. ; Quicksilver Kites ; Rainbow Stunt OHIO Kite Co . ; Rogallo Flexikites ; Spectra Star Kites ; Striegel Mfg. Co . ; Ultra Kites ; What's The Ohio Society for the Elevation of Up ; and others . Kites enjoyed a full summer, according to its newsletter, "Shoot the Breeze ." For WASHINGTON example, on May 28 members attended "Come on Down, " a downtown Cleveland The Washington Kitefliers Association celebration, where Mike Weletyk flew his continues its never-flagging pace of kite John Robertson shows a great spirit in Texas. kite train for the pleasure of all. He also activities, including-for just one example attracted a photographer from the Cleve- Further surgery on his right pelvic area -the Seafair Festival on July 28 . Warren land Plain Dealer and was subsequently last summer (1978) set him back again ("Stormy") Weathers of Oregon was there featured on the paper's first page on but he returned to the University of Texas and wrote to Kite Lines : Memorial Day. in the fall and joined the wheelchair Yesterday Joy Nagode, a local novice Also in the newsletter was the follow- basketball team and sang with the Long- kiteflier, joined me on a visit to Seattle ing OSEK story : horn Singers. and the Seventh Annual Seafair Kite Fly- President Tom Rask received a call John is one of the seven Robertson ing Festival. What a thrill it was to meet from the administrative staff of Franklin clan who have been active in Austin and John Dusenberry, J . C. Young, Bill Lee, University (named after Ben, of course) kiteflying circles for a number of years . Dave Checkley, Ken Conrad and the other in Columbus, OH . They were envisioning famed members of WKA. What a gang! I a huge kite for an unusual groundbreaking George Craig reports : feel a little guilty about running off with ceremony . Tom created an 8 x 8 foot The Southwest Modelers Show, Dallas, so many of their marbles, but they wrote Eddy kite with a Ben Franklin cartoon is one of the best-managed, most popular the contest rules, and according to their drawn on it . trade shows in the country . It draws to- rules, we won the marbles ; which means On the eventful May day, "the winds gether hobby manufacturers, suppliers, that of the four events we entered with rose to the occasion and so did the kite," distributors, wholesalers and dealers for a Winged Victory kites, we walked off with said Tom. A large wooden key was sus- weekend of exhibiting and demonstrations three firsts and a third . pended from the kite line along with a and is open to a very appreciative public . Joy started it off with a first in the small charge of flash powder . When the There are no sales . novice class. I acted as helper on the offi- key touched an antenna attached to a This year on June 2-3, the show had cial long line (high start) launch and she bulldozer on the ground, the powder 110 booths, displaying model airplanes, brought in a first . flashed and the bulldozer was started by boats, gliders, cars, trains-and last but The next event, also a timed-altitude remote control . BAM! ! ! A key unlocks not least, for the very first time in the that Joy and I both entered, was a string- tradition . The silver shovel is replaced show, a magnificent display of kites . En- tangling mess . But Joy, bless her soul, with a kite . Long live that kiting spirit . couraged by AKA and Kite Lines, spon- broke free and managed to place third, sored by Earl Page Realtors, Inc ., of keeping us in the running . TEXAS Irving, TX, and organized by George Craig In the "Most Beautiful" event, having of Jason Aerokites, the 8 x 30 foot booth nothing better to do, I entered a rip-stop Richard Robertson sends an update from displayed a beautiful collection of kites, nylon Winged Victory with the military his family in Austin : kite literature and kite accessories . colors and markings of the 1930s . At the In spite of the loss of a leg and a lung The kite booth proved to be a very end of the required three minutes, Winged to cancer, John Robertson, 21, continues popular event with other exhibitors and Victory was the most beautiful kite still to fly kites with skills acquired through the public . The Show Committee has al- flying . the last 14 years of participation in In the "Biggest Kite" event, I entered George Craig, Linda Ruth Holland (of Airplane Austin's annual kite tournament . Shown Kite Co .) and her friend Max Brinson under a 9 x 16'/2 foot Winged Victory and again here, he is flying a golden eagle with twin kites displayed at the Southwest Modelers Show . outflew the competition . As I recall, keels joined with a 13-foot wing span- Winged Victory was the only big kite still created in the Robertson living room. flying at the end of three minutes . No Struck by osteogenic sarcoma in the way did I out-purty 'em or out-big 'em, I summer of 1975 and the amputation of simply outflew them . his right leg, he went back to high school It is a little difficult to believe that we for his senior year between chemotherapy did so well ; the only reason I can think of treatments and lung surgery and graduated is that maybe Bill Lee, J . C. Young and a valedictorian of his class . He adjusted his couple of the others either didn't enter or tennis game to one leg and a crutch and had an off day . continued to play competitive doubles . News from Here & There continues . . . Largest kite was Ross Smithrin's red AUSTRALIA The Kite Fliers Association of South Aus- nylon square kite (about 12 x 12 feet) tralia (Adelaide area) held a general meet- with his hometown flag of Trenton, On- The Australian Kite Association continues ing with election of officers and a barbe- tario, sewn into the center . The Toronto to hold flies at Royal Park, Gatehouse cue on June 24, as reported in its news- Kitefliers' barrage kite took second and Street, Melbourne, on the first Sunday af- letter .. Graeme Blakey is the new president . Terry Wedge was third with a combina- ternoon of each month . The members Regular informal monthly kite days have tion Russell Hall/dragon, a great light- also put out a newsletter . Recently noted replaced advertised public kite days for wind kite . were the use of kites in the Australia the year . The new address of KFA-SA is William Pase of Ottawa won Best Council program of Artists in the Schools . 11 Linwood Avenue, Aldgate 5154, South Homemade with an impressive Professor The club often mounts workshops and Australia. A family membership is $6 .00 Waldof facsimile . He also flew a unique displays . The big event of the year is the per year, except when first joining, when longitudinal cruciform kite of deceptively Moomba Kite Fly day, usually held on it is $3 .00 (in Australian dollars). simple design and excellent flying charac- the first Sunday in March . teristics . Dr. James DeLaurier, longtime Helen Bushell, a prime mover in the CANADA kite enthusiast, was second in this class Australian Kite Association, has prepared with his aerodynamically sophisticated a second edition of the 13-page booklet, Garry Woodcock reports on the Canadian Mylar airplane kite . Four Standard Australian Kites . It is avail- National Exhibition Kite Festival of 1979, Best in the 100-year-old kite design able for one Australian dollar plus shipping held on August 26 : category was Ellen Kow's arch top, then from the Association, c/o Helen Bushell, Good weather and over a hundred en- Garry Woodcock's pear top, and third Secretary, 10 Elm Grove, East Kew 3102, trants, including many new faces, made was Ranjit Savundranayagam's colorful Victoria, Australia . this year's annual event a great success . tissue paper fighter . Young kitemaker Mike Sues won the Kites and their people at the Canadian National Exhibition Kite Festival : Top, two box kites made by William Pase (a Professor Waldof and an original inverted design) beside an airplane Smallest Kite trophy with his tiny 1 x ½-inch diamond. Garry Woodcock took kite by Jim DeLaurier . Below, pear tops, a Cody box and a colorful tissue craft wait to compete. second with a 24mm . Conyne, and Edna Kow was third, flying a teeny Malay . Runaway (literally) winner in the Open and 100-year-old-category time- flight races was Mohammed Zaib's marvel- ous double-winged tissue paper fighter . Largest kite in timed flight was taken by Bunton Savundranayagam, second by master kite craftsman Dick Kow and third by Stephan Podrabinski . The Kite Store's Ray Wismer and Jim Collins and Len Nieuport of the East Toronto Kite Club did a fine job of judg- ing ; Ken Lewis, as always, organized the event . Our new Toronto Kitefliers signed up quite a few new members on the spot, and Ken gave us promotional commentary .

In an earlier report, Garry announced the formation of the Toronto Kitefliers . Their first newsletter was published in May, and their home airfield is Humber Bay Park, where breezes always blow . The group held a kite making course in May for 60 playground supervisors of the Toronto Parks and Recreation Department . Club members have attended several kiting events in their area and Garry's kite Mountie (line climber) is a mascot for the club. Membership in the Toronto Kite- fliers is $2 .00 a year, $1 .00 for new mem- bers (with The Kite Store in Toronto pay- ing the other $1 .00) . Address is c/o Garry Woodcock, 1055 Shawnmarr Road, # 68, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5H 3V2 .

Kites in Malta compete at ENGLAND JAPAN a national fly in September . Right, first place winning green Another new kite club has emerged in A sequel to the story on the death of caterpillar in flight . Below is Alfred Darmenia Gay, Secretary England . In fact, it has been active for Shingo Modegi (Spring 1979 Kite Lines) of the Malta Kitefliers Group, a : over a year . It's the Northern Kite Group came to us from his son, Masaki Modegi, he prepares to fly his eight-mete and it counts on its roster such notable via mutual friend Dave Checkley : Thai snake bearing a tail lettered to kiters as Martin Powell, John Spendlove Last Thursday (November 9, 1978), advertise the sponsor of the competition, and Richard Hewitt . Mike Ware is Chair- we held a memorial service for my father . "Coolie Squashes." Bottom, in the junior division, brothers Patrick, Robert and Shirley man. The club's new newsletter reflects One hundred fifty people came . After- Mifsud proudly show their playing card kites the members' year-round community- wards, we had a special memorial kite fly minded activity and varied kiting tastes . in honor of my father by Harumi pier The N.K.G. may be reached c/o the Secre- (near the center of Tokyo, on Tokyo Bay) . tary, Martin Powell, 213, Manchester Road, We were very moved when a certain Mr . Rochdale, Lancashire OL113 RB, England . Yoshida gracefully flew his kite to some funeral music being played . IRELAND We decided to award him the Modegi Cup until the next contest . Tony Horan sends word of the Irish Kite- Dave Checkley added some words fliers Association : about Shingo Modegi's legacy, the Tokyo The Association grew out of two kite- Kite Museum, now run by Masaki : flying championships organized by the Tokyo's first kite shop dealing exclu- four companies listed below [Aer Lingus, sively in kites and kite books is now an Irish Raleigh, Japan Air Lines, Jurys Hotel adjunct to the kite museum in an upper Group] . These championships were held floor of the Taimeiken restaurant build- in October 1977 and May 1978 . Following ing. Masaki Modegi sells kites here year- the very good response to the second of round and carries a full assortment of fine these, a meeting was called by the four Japanese kites, kite-making kits (includ- companies and the I .K.A. was formed as a ing a new series developed by Professor result of this in July 1978 . Tsutomu Hiroi) and American kites, such We are extremely fortunate and thank- as Jalbert and models from The ful to have these companies as sponsors . Kite Factory, Seattle . They have backed us in many ways, The Taimeiken Kite Museum serves as including financially, with little return to the headquarters for the Japan Kite Asso- themselves . ciation, the large club founded in 1969 We have a small membership, 30-40 by Shingo Modegi. Enthusiasts who wish people ; however, we find that a great to join JKA may do so by sending a number of "regular" nonmembers turn money order for 2000 yen (about $10 .50 up at all our events, which is encouraging U.S.) to the Japan Kite Association, c/o and demonstrates the real interest there is Restaurant Taimeiken, 1-12-10 Nihon- in kiting in Ireland . bashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103, Japan . Over- I enclose a list of the association's seas membership includes subscription [monthly] activities for this year up to (by airmail) to JKA's biannual magazine, August . Our Championships this year which, although printed entirely in Japan- hardwood dowels . were particularly successful, with approxi- ese, contains many pictures of kite events Alfred passes along an interesting con- mately 120 competitors and about 2000 in Japan as well as drawings of kite designs . struction technique in the newsletter : spectators! Our sponsors donated four "I experimented with plastic tubing and "weekend" holidays as prizes for this MALTA I found out that held over the flame of a event. There were also numerous prizes candle the tubing could be `welded' at of t-shirts, posters and hand-painted Jap- The Malta Kitefliers Group has maintained any angle required . I then proceeded to anese kites . a regular schedule of four kite flies a year, cut pieces of tubing 2mm . long at a 60- We have produced one newsletter, often held at Ta' Qali airfield . Their an- degree angle and `welded' them to form which was a bit amateurish, to say the nual national competition was held Sep- the multi-angle joints for the corners of a least . However, we are at present prepar- tember 9 at Bahar ic-Caghaq, according to tetrahedron . At first I burnt one or two ing a second "very professional" one . We the newsletter prepared by Alfred pieces as well as my fingers but progress- also print a hand-out which we give to Darmenia Gay, the group's secretary . ively I got the plastic tubing hot enough kids at our fly-ins . Especially noted was George Attard's kite to fuse without it getting too hot and los- However "amateurish" the LK.A . train, the first to fly in Malta, consisting ing shape or too cold and not bonding at all . newsletter may be as print, it has good of 78 diamond-shaped kites . Other kites "I wonder if anyone else has tried this information and a fine writer, N . Corcoran, mentioned included the group's own red method of fixing spars together . Once the who describes the Dun Laoghaire Festival and white delta with black Maltese cross, `art' has been mastered there is no limit with the legendary Irish facility. The Irish a "Charlie Chaplin" kite, a multicolored to the variety of joints that can be pro- Kitefliers Association may be reached c/o caterpillar and a tetrahedron which "flew duced to suit different kites." (Write to the Tony Horan, 39 Herbert Park, Bray, well" and was made of drinking straws Malta Kitefliers Group at 2, Princess Anne County Wicklow, Ireland . and paper and stiffened with -inch dia . Flats, Ball Street, Paceville, Malta .) 0 Design Workshop

When I was a kid, the ultimate kite to The Super fected, but string angle and climbing build, after having progressed through the speed were greatly improved . usual two- and three-stickers, was the Although I still don't fully understand French war kite. Although the complexity Conyne the aerodynamics involved, something daunted many a young builder, those By Arthur Kurle I like this happens : The lower wing causes who persevered were always rewarded a slot or Venturi effect between the two with a stable, reliable kite that could be wings which gives the lower wing lift way launched from the hand and could be out of proportion to its size . There is a counted on to carry all the string the pronounced low pressure region between neighborhood could muster . the wings ; the covering on the triangular It wasn't until many years later that I cells bulges outward, rather than inward, realized that the war kite was a variation as is usual in the standard Conyne . I sus- of a design patented by Silas Conyne pect that air flow around the upper wing around the turn of the century . Silas's kite is augmented in some way ; at least the differed from the war kite by being com- upper wing seems never to stall . This latter pletely collapsible ; the wing stick was re- characteristic (not stalling) gives the kite movable and there was no rigid connection a phenomenal rate of climb . I have seen between the upper and lower longitudinal climbs so fast with this kite that it coasts sticks . Both versions are still popular today, through the zenith just from the momen- but I seldom run into the French war kite tum built up during the climb . name anymore; it is usually "rigid Conyne" I built a contest version of this kite or "standard Conyne" and rightly so . which won the "Best Use of Aerodynamic Hence, Super Conyne . Principles" award in the Smithsonian Kite I did some experimenting with the Carnival . I still have this kite ; it's a bit rigid version around 1970 with a view to seedy from about 25 hours in the air, but maximizing performance . I found that it still flies just as well as it did then . adding a supplemental wing made this I would like to propose this design as a good kite a great kite . Stability was unaf- fiducial or standard kite by which to judge two categories of kite performance : line Right, Art Kurle under his Super Conyne- angle and rate of climb . Both of these . Below, the kite itself, its paint directly under it categories are a measure of aerodynamic job a bit flaked from hours of flight . Note that the triangular pattern of paint on the lower, efficiency . Any subjective judging factors supplemental plane gives it an eye-fooling can be cancelled out by two (or more) three-dimensional photographed appearance . kites flown side by side in the same air . Spray painting or use of colored Mylar adds to Complicated scoring systems and measure- visual appeal . Art says the kite's construction is conventional but a bit time-consuming . ment techniques can be dispensed with ; in a side-by-side contest, the winner is immediately obvious . This type of elimi- nation competition would be interesting to spectators too, something like a tennis tournament . I am not suggesting that we do away with conventional scoring sys- tems, but it seems that kite festivals have a tendency to degenerate into beauty contests, with minimal recognition being given to flight performance. Let's put the innovators, the tinkerers, the flight tech- nicians back in the ball game .

MATERIALS CONSTRUCTION TIPS • Sticks (20) are 5/32 " square spruce, When applying the wing covering, do sugar pine or hard balsa . The small wing not pull the outline string in more than braces can be considerably smaller . Dowels half an inch . The upper wing covering or any sort of take-apart construction are should be loose enough that it hangs not recommended. down about 1 1/2 inches when the kite is • String for outlining the upper wing inverted . The upper wing covering passes and the trailing edge of the lower wing over the top of the cross stick and is not should be 12- or 15-lb . braided nylon ; do glued to it. not use monofilament . I use a glue gun The bridle should be made of 30- or for assembly* but standard gluing and 40-lb . test braided nylon line ; this weight assembly techniques will work well . Exact will minimize tangling . Adjust the three- symmetry is very important ; use a square part bridle carefully so that each part and tape to keep things straight and true carries its share of the load ; otherwise, as you work . the frame will bend in flight . Do not use a • Covering is 1/2-mil Mylar® . I do not two-leg bridle . recommend cloth or any porous material for covering ; performance will be compro- mised. If you can't find 1/2-mil Mylar, FLYING heavy kitchen plastic (freezer wrap) may This kite will not fly in light winds ; it be used, but it may give you some shrink- needs 4 1/2 knots. With 8 to 10 knots, it ing and/or stretching problems . will outfly anything in sight . You can get • For adhesive to apply the covering, I slightly better low-end performance by use Goodyear Pliobond ® . It's somewhat lengthening the cross stick to 42 inches . messy but very effective . When your Lengths more than this may invite insta- fingers start sticking together, clean up bility . The finished kite should weigh with lacquer thinner . about 41/z ounces . One last thing : this kite is a pain in the neck to fly-literally . It's because of the high line angle, but for kitefliers that's a nice kind of pain .