QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE WORLDWIDE KITE COMMUNITY F I I" TM SPRING-SUMMER 1992, VOL. 9 NO. 2 FRENCH KITING RTXERDfl WORLDWIDE, I KmsFon SCIENCE FLY i ABOVE CHRISTMAS ISLAND S~GALLERK RYING ARTBY GEORGE EERS Send for Free 80 Page Color Catalog of Kites Get the kites you 1 want from Into The Wind, America's leading mail order kite company. We're known for our unmatched selection and fast service, and we guarantee your satisfactio~l wit11 everything you buy. Rctlul sales only. Specializing in Sport Kites 57 different models 21 pages of Sport Kites shown in full color All kites are performance rated. Full range of line, accessories and spare parts Plus Everything for the Single Line Flier Hundreds of kites to choose from Kitemaking supplies and tools Kite packs, wind meters and kite lighting systems ~estselection of kite line anywhere !- Into The Wind 1408-C Pearl St., Boulder, CO 80302 Call toll free: 1-800-541-03 14 durable ply, complete with line ;5gymore ;:: 2 areat for festivals and groups *Shipping not Incltlded. Add $2.00 &&iq for fW Idte, 40C for each oddi- ttonal upto 10. FM moreman 10m, oar- (303) 433-9518 4 / KITE LINES / SPRING-SUMMER 199" Volume 9 Number 2. ~vring-summer1992 Contents Worldwide-Worldclass: The Biennial Summit in Thailand / 26 A real trip around the world happens on a grand field In Thailand Dazzling art, lnventlve soft kites, a banquet to l~veIn h~storyBy Me1 Gov~g The Great International Natural Fibers Kite Festival / 30 What happens when 30 of the world's leading kitemakers are marooned on a prltoner- of-war Island Story and photographs by George Peters Andr6 Cassagnes: The Ingenious Kitemaker / 34 Called by some "the father of French kit~ng,"Andre Cassagnes 1s revealingly proflled and photographed by Pierre Fabre Two Miles Above Christmas Island / 38 Discoveries both scientif~cand offbeat result from wlld k~tecapers in the Equatorial Pac~f~cStory and photographs by G Wllllam Tyrrell, Jr Third Annual Great Kite Lines Stunt Kite Survey / 52 New ways of comparing, more help in choosing-our latect survey, compiled and annotated by M~chaelGraves Letter from the Publisher / 8 Letters / 10 What's New: Kites / 13 Two new rokkakus: the Flip-Flop from Carlisle Kiteworks and a beauty from Maurizio Angeletti; plus flying fish from New Tech Sports and the Conic Kite by Professor Waldof. What's New: Books / 17 A very mixed bookbag: Drachenreise by Ruedi Epple-Gass, The Ultimate Kite Book by Paul and Helene Morgan and The Fighter Kite Book! by David Gomberg. ASIC YOUR DEALER Design Workshop / 20 FOR MORE DETAILS The Heart-Shaped Kite by Shannon McGinnis. Tips & Techniques / 23 Fine line adjustments with cotter pins, a dandy candy-dropper, and a way to flip out with your kite. In the Wind / 25 Sky Gallery / 62 The brilliant flying colors of George Peters, Boulder, Colorado. Kite Lines Bookstore / Insert Back Issues and Reprints / Insert Classifieds / 64 Directory of Outlets / 65 Pocket Kite Calendar / Insert NEW JERSEY 08732 USA Andre Cassagnes of Vitry-sur-Seine, France with one of his ring kites, the beautiful I phone (908) 506-0461 FAX (908) 506-0388 1 and technically remarkable "Couronne (Crown) Andre Cassagnes" (CAC). These - - EXCLUSIVE WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTOR three-dimensional kites measure up to 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter. Some fly facing the wind, some fly flat. Photograph by Pierre Fabre. (Story, page 34.) 6 / KITE LINES 1 SPRING-SUMMER 199? Yoc're in control with a Skynasauro I sport kite. Perform an amazing I variety of maneuvers. Screaming power ~ dives. Multiple loops. Heart-stopping ground sweeps. Graceful figure eights. Skynasaur Inc. hb, aeen bringing you qualit) and value in sport kites for over 13 years. We pioneered the concept of a LIFETIME WAR- RANTY in sport kites. With 11 models and over 15 different accessories to choose from, Sky- nasaur Inc. has what you need to keep flying. Meet the nex~yclleration of sport kites: ttlG ClassicTMseries. The Skynasauro ClassicrMseries is designed to give you spectacular perfor- mance at a great price. Acornbination of both standard and uniaue features make these kites extremely accurate;9 = * -LelJ- responding sharply to d -J&t-a@~vm~42~~>~~5~-~$<$- 2: - -5 -= %- * each a .*&&> - %&.~~~~~~~zT;zTT2Fw&*r~*=<:-= &&-*:%y$>=#-*----vs--x ---" *$aT& G Tip? 1 For a color catalog and the location otff:: : -+=a%*- dealer nearest you, call or write today. %3&~&V==K~ mF mmBs ~cI,, ----... s..- 7-1c c"-..+ c+ I -,,,e>,,~~n rn ~nnv~c-,,~ Letter from the Publisher How to Use Our Kite Research Library i the course of work here at Kite Lines, We have been providing services like research. Please don't let us be too gener- vye inevitably collect kite books, videos this since 1977, and we can't seem to keep ous for our own good. We have a maga- and publications from all over the world. ourselves from it, even though doing so is zine to put out. And we have to be able to When we moved some time ago, we a burden that weighs down the magazine. buy new bookcases from tiqe to time. discovered that our collection just would Meantime, we -&Icontinue to use this not fit onto our old shelves anymore. We Library and our other files to bring you the had to buy (yegods) four large new book- best-researched kite publication available. cases. Now we have room for our many And I guess we will keep answering all the treasures, which we believe may consti- letters and phone calls that cross our desk in tute the best kite library in the world. a steady stream, covering everything from We have original volumes of Woglom's patent researches to world records to the Parakites (1896), Marvin's The Mechanics latest one about the FAA regulations. and Equilibrium of Kites (1897), Garber's Would you believe: although the regs Boy Scout kite manual (1931), Choe Sang- are printed and freely obtainable from Kite Su's The Survey of Korean Kites (1958), great Lines, the problem seems to be that many old Scientific American magazines and the bewildered kitefliers, certain other pub- famous May 4, 1962 Life magazine with lishers and even a few local offices of the Will Yolen's article, "How I Got So High FAA itself don't understand them. The regs on Kites," as well as oddities and foreign are hard to read, but our friend Theodore books in numerous languages. Edward O'Bear waded through them and The books are not only tidier now but came up with the text in the box. more accessible. We have chairs, a table, a We hope you will come visit us and use VCR and a photocopier nearby, and our our Research Library. But if you can't Library is open for research. It serves Kite come by, we hope that in your requests Lines, of course, but it is available to sub- for help you will be sensitive to our limit- scribers as well. ed capacity for providing personalized 8 / KITE LINES / SPRWG-SUMMER 1992 We're not just handing another line. The best kite line in the world just got better. In 1992, kitefliers can look forward to ultra light Spiderline (12#,25#, 45#, 65#) bulk lengths, and pre-sleeved line. Now guaranteed flaw free! the orzginal Spectra fiber kite he CATCH THE WIN# LINCOLN CITY, OREGON 503-994-9500 FAX 503-994-4766 SPRING-SUMMER 1992 / KITE LINES / 9 I Letters Our G Retail Family Less More More Than A Toy Scrapbook My wife and I became friends with a boy who had been having troubles and was about to move away to live with other rel- atives. We had the boy visit us before he left. He became enraptured by my kites and he helped me give a workshop for Cub Scouts (using your reprint for making sled kites). Despite my protest that I didn't have a good flying site in this valley, he nagged me to fly kites with him. So I got permis- sion from a farmer with a hilltop hayfield and we had one of the best days of my life, flying almost from dawn to dusk. Conditions were absolutely perfect. The boy was able to fly all of my kites and he was especially taken with an old-fash- ioned barn-door kite, which I call Uncle Mac after the man who taught me to fly. From his new home, the boy wrote a very happy letter. He is living next to a big flat soybean field. The farmer had given him permission to fly kites there. One rel- ative had given him a subscription to Kite Lines as a going-away present; another had given him a stunt kite. The last thing he said in his letter was that his new kite was named Uncle Bill. As you can imag- ine, that reduced me to blubber. I guess you've heard a lot of stories like this that show kites mean so much more than toys or technical devices. -William G. Wing one to display and Nawowsburg, New York, USA one to sell. You can re- book order on Monday." read: Kites for Everyone by Nicest sale ever made: "A Less Than A Jalbert? Margaret Greger and Stunt young Canadian woman Couldn't help but write after my Kite L Kites by David Gomberg. insisted that her souvenir of Lines' arrival yesterday. I had advance Store: Kite Kraft Favorite flying spot: Swan Frankenmuth had to be an notice of Stretch's thing on a new kite Valley Jr.