Kiting Magazine Vol 9 No 5
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The Journal of the American Kitefli rs Association AKA American Kitefliers Association 1987 Officers and Executive Committee Regional Directors President Corresponding Secretary Region 1: New England Region 7: Northwest Central Robert Price Jewell Price CT, NH. MA,ME, RI, VT lA, IL, MN, WI 3839 Dustin Road 3839 Dustin Road Carl Poehler AI Hargus. III Burtonsville, MD 20866 Burtonsville, MD 20866 9 Vine Street 4705 W. Byron 301/421-9620 301/421-9620 Melrose, MA 02176 Chicago, IL 60641 617/662-6999 312/545-9572 First Vice President Recording Secretary W.D. (Red) Braswell Wendy Norwitz Region 2: New York State Region 8: Mountain 10000 Lomond Drive 13785 Brighton Dam Road Jerry Gorsuch AZ, CO, /D, MT,N D , NE, Ntv Manassas, VA 22110 Clarksville, MD 21029 380 Grimsby Street NV, SD, UT, WY 703/36] -2671 301/854-0132 Staten Island. NY 0306 Brian Volkman 718/351-7461 Second Vice President Treasurer The Kite Store 1415 Larimer Square Bill Goodwin Bill Bigge Region 3: Penn-Jersey Denver, CO 80202 4500 Renn Street 13020 Well House Court NJ, PA 303/477-9549 Rockville, MD 20853 Germantown, MD 20874 301/460-7299 301/972-1051 Scott Spencer 3601 Elmertown Avenue Region 9: Southwest Third Vice President Director-a t-Large Harrisburg, PA 17109 AR, KS, MO, OK, 1X Wood Ellis Margo Brown 717/652-8470 Michael G. Freeman 6212 N. 18th Road 6636 Kirkley Avenue PO Box 12039 Region 4: Mid-Atlantic Arlington, VA 22205 McLean, VA 22101 Wichita, KS 67277 DC, DE, MD, WV 703/241-4066 703/893-3886 VA, 316/721 �3848 Pete Ianuzzi 1908 Old Frederick Road Past Presidents Baltimore. MD 21228 Region 10: Pacific Northwest W.D. (Red) Braswell John F. (Jack) Van Gilder 3011744A754 AK, HI, OR, WA,BC Manassas • VA Seattle. WA Doug Hagaman Region 5: South 4413 1 23rd Avenue SE AL,FL, GA,LA,MS,NC,SC, Bevan Brown Miller S. Makey, Sr. TN Bellevue. WA 98006 McLean, VA Grove City. OH Charlie Henderson 2061746-7378 3044 Anthony Drive Margo Brown Decatur. GA 30033 Region 11: Northern Calif. McLean. VA 404/292-0649 Monterey Co. & North Bob McCort Region 6: Northeast Central 801 Carson Avenue Founder Sponsor Members IN, KY,MI, OH Mantexa, CA 95336 Robert Ingraham Red Braswell Fred Bell 209/823-3212 315 N. Bayard Street Wood Ellis 1640 Westwood Avenue Silver City, NM 88061 George Moran Columbus, OH 43214 Region 12: Southern Calif. 505/538-9083 Hod Taylor 614/231-1559 South of Monterey County Don Schlosser* Honorary Members 8051 Dawn Circle Melvin and Valerie Govig La Palma, CA 90623 714/821-8784 Region 13: International AKA Mailing Address: Adrian Conn 1559 Rockville Pike 344 Dieppe Street Rockville, MD 20852 Windsor. Ontario Canada N8S 3V2 519/948-8819 *tentative--appointed subject to Board confi rmat iOI1 September 19871 Volume 9, #5 1987 Convention, Hotel and Auction forms are on outside dust cover of this issue. In this Issue President's Corner 2 Features--Adventures in kitebuilding 3 Kite plans and designs by Neil Thorburn and H.B. Alexander A windmill kite 1987 Convention updates New information on registration, guidelines, fees, guests 7 A challenge for Best New Event 9 Auction items and challenges 10 Competition rules 11 Calendar of kiting events 12 Turbulence 14 Letter to the Editor section News from around the country National Kite Week date 2 Kiteflying contests--Piccolo Spoleto, Myrtle Beach, East Coast Stunt Kiting 15 An invitation to compete for Kite Capital of the World 17 Member-merchants list 18 Regional Reports 19 Regions 5, 10 and 11 report in AKAMinutes 20 The flexifoil kite shown on the cover was designed and built by Bill Goodwin of Maryland. Photo by Bill Goodwin. President's Comer member's status. After an issue is mailed, notices will be sent to each member whose membership will terminate before the next Dear Fellow Members and Kitefliers, Kiting mailing list is made. People who fail to renew in time As I have said before, when I mess up, I will say so. will not receive the next issue and, except for postal error, it During the past year, AKA has not been se nding out notices of will be their responsibility to renew. impending expiration of membership (renewal notices). It was Preparing and mailing the cards may be more work than hoped that the plainly-stated "renew date" on the Ki ting mailing sending out reminder letters, but it will reduce confusion and it label would suffice. Some people responded, others didn't. To the may cost less in the long run. latter, I dispatched an untimely reminder that renewal time was For those who can afford it, I recommend a multi-year past. They usually received a last issue of Kiting during a membership: Pay for three years and sit back and enjoy it. There 45-day grace period. is already a membership running to years into the future, not to The reason for using this system was to share the burden of mention the life members and several other categories that cover notification with the members, reduce work here and save on several years. Don't ask me what happens when the dues are mailing costs. During the year, from June 1986 to June 1987, the raised! system worked fairly well with few complaints. I don't know how Though the Board of Directors shall determine the dues, they many members were lost because of the system. After the last have little incentive to do raise them. I suggest that it would batch of about 200 reminder letters were sent, there was a sudden be proper for the membership, at the Annual Meeting, to direct spurt in the rate of response and comment. I, too, felt that the them to do so (if a motion to that effect were passed). The Board system as not as effective as it should be. Therefore, a new would then have to take action or explain non-action at the next notice card was designed and printed. Some of you already have Annual Meeting. Of course, the Board could take independent received the new cards. The cards are a botched printing job action at their Annual Meeting. It is hoped that we will have but were accepted to save about $30. adequate data to make a rational decision at the convention. Now for the mess up. I am not sure that everyone has On the other hand, what has rationality to do with this received July Ki ting who should have. I think there are a organization?! few people in this class whose renewal dates were around Let's go fly a kite, or at least work on one. June 1. Anyone who thinks they should have received that issue but didn't, please let me know. In the future, there will be less uncertainty about a The movie kite was taken aloft by a handful of weather National Kite Week balloons (As of this writing, the film is called "Likewise. "). set for March 20-27, 1988 AKA has chosen March 20-March 27, 1988, National Kite Week. The dates were selected after an informal nationwide poll found that two periods were thought to be most suitable for this event: Kitefliers selected October, while the general public preferred March. The March dates were chosen to insure as much involvement by the public as possible, with the dates set as late as practicable for the benefit of AKA's northern members. Implementation will be mostly at the local level, with help from AKA as necessary. It is hoped that some people "out there" across the country will develop logos, slogans, etc. AKA gets a shot at the silver screen Nobody ever quite figured out what film it was, who the actors we re or whether we would make the cut, but a number of AKA members turned out recently at the Jefferson Memorial Scholarship fund established in Washington, DC to participate in a movie in which a kite A scholarship has been established in the memory of contest plays a crucial role. The photos below show the Raymond Reel, an active kiteflier and AKA life member, who "kite" featured in the film, which has something to do with passed away on July 14. Reel suffered a stroke last December a group of youngsters whose kite aerial photography shots and later developed pneumonia. get mistaken for satellite pictures and, naturally, are Reel was active in many community organizations and wanted by the Russians and FBI, who get tangled up in the often worked with local schools and museums to help spread plot somehow (they were the ones in the dark, three-piece the adventure of kiting. He frequently astounded many by suits, sweltering elegantly in 100-degree heat). The flying kites inside school auditoriums. kitefliers were asked just to look as if they were flying The college scholarship in his name will be awarded to kites, but of course, on our shot at fame and fortune, there a student showing exceptional interest in science. Contribu was simply no wind. tions may be sent to Lori Melroy, Route 8, Box 271, Lenoir City, TN 37830. 21 AKA Kiling September 1987 Kite plans The Lighter Side-- Kites from the Outer Skies By Ne il Thorburn Gentle reader-- Construction of this kite is fo r iron-willed kite builders with their own opinions of how it should be put together. The plans have been su bmitted to several wel/ known kite builders. Each expressed a di fferent opinion of this or that detail or concept; the builder is expected to use his/ her ingenuity in constructing this kite.