The American Kitefliers Association is a world-wide organization devoted to the advancementof kiteflying . Its quarterly magazine, Kite Lines,is published by Verve Enterprises, Inc ., for AKA,with editorial and business office at

7106 Campfield RoadBaltimore, Maryland 21207, USATelephone : (301) 484-6287

° Verve Enterprises, Inc . 1977Reproduction in any form, in whole or in part,is strictly prohibited without prior written con-sent of the publisher.

Founder: Robert M. IngrahamPublisher-Editor : Valerie GovigAdvertising and Promotion Director: Melvin GovigConsultants : Design, Kelly Matthews ; Publishing,Douglas Boynton and Michael Stanley

Typography : Head CompositionPrinting: Collins Lithographing and Printing Co .Editorial Advisory PanelWilliam R. Bigge

A. Pete lanuzziLt . Col . Bevan Brown Nat KobitzWyatt Brummitt

Arthur KurlePaul Edward Garber Curtis Marshall, M .D .Melvin Govig

Robert S . PriceEdwin L. Grauel

John F . Van GilderGary Hinze

Chapters of AKA are active in Baltimore, Seattle,Long Beach, Rochester, NY, Clarkston, WA,Hawaii and New Zealand . Ties are maintainedwith other far-flung and international groupsalso . Write for contacts .

Correspondence and inquiries regarding member-ship/subscriptions or contributions should besent to AKA at the address of the publisher.Membership/subscription dues : One year (4 issues),$6 ; two years (8 issues), $11 ; three years (12 issues),$15 . Single copies @ $1 .50 are available from thepublisher or fine kite shops throughout the U .S .Postage outside U.S ., $1 per year additional .Special air mail rate for foreign mailings, $5 peryear additional . Subscriptions always begin withthe next issue, unless current issue is specified .Back issues are available for $1 .50 ($1 .75 outsideU .S) . (Back issues of Kite Tales, predecessor ofKite Lines, are available from Robert M . Ingraham ;see Classifieds for address and list of issues pres-ently available .)Change of Address: Attach or copy mailing labelin letter, giving new address . If mailing label iswrong, please correct it .Advertising rate sheet and information is avail-able on request of AKA at the address or tele-phone of the publisher .Contributions are invited from kite enthusiasts .Articles, captioned photographs (preferablyblack-and-white, 5'x7" or larger), reports,clippings (see Classifieds), letters and othermaterial relevant to kite interests should besent to AKA at the address of the publisher .Articles should be typed .Contributions used become the property of KiteLines. Return of unsolicited material cannot beguaranteed unless accompanied by ample stampsand envelope, self-addressed . Accuracy of con-tents of Kite Lines is the responsibility of indi-vidual contributors . Diverse views presented inKite Lines are not necessarily those of the editoror of the American Kitefliers Association .Closing Dates for advertising, articles and newsare Jan . 1 for Spring, Apr. 1 for Summer, July 1for Fall and Oct . 1 for Winter .Postmaster : Application to mail at second-classpostage rates is pending at Baltimore, Maryland .If undeliverable, please send address changeForm 3579 to Kite Lines, 7106 Campfield Road,Baltimore, MD 21207 .

ContentsVolume 1, Number 1, Spring 1977

Paul Garber : Man About Kites at the Smithsonian/ 18Profile by Valerie Govig, Photographs by Anneke Davis .Fascinating recollections of America's foremost kite scholar .

"The Kite -A Fantasy in Flight"/ 24Story and Photographs by Paul Edward Garber.A great exhibit in New York's glamourous World Trade Center .

"Painting in the Sky"/ 25By David M . Checkley, Photographs by Jean Louis Bloch-Laine .Another stunning exhibition, this one in a Parisian mansion .

Making it with Marconi/ 28By Maxwell Eden . A new enthusiast shares his secrets of success .

A Modified Marconi/ 30By Dr. James Duffin . Some alternatives and sophisticationsto consider if you're bent on making a Marconi jib kite .

Hot Item in Kite Building : The Glue Gun/ 31By Arthur Kurle . Here's a handgun that shouldn't be banned .A tool of special use described by one who's been there .

The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basket-WeaveMark Two Gentleman's Flying Machine/ 35

Creation of Rowland Emett . An incredible "Thing" in Cleveland .Heart-Stopping Kite Festivals of Japan/ 36

Story and Photographs by Tal Streeter. Impressions of thegreat kite villages of Japan-Hamamatsu, Shirone, Hoshubana .Also tour information on Hamamatsu by Dave Checkley, page 39 .

Talking Tails/ 54Some fliers converse on the subject of kite tails -and raise at least as many questions as they answer .

De met%Letter from the Editor/ 7Letters/ 8Design Workshop/ 13

By Ed Gravel. An Outrigger Kite .Kites Past/ 13

By Professor Clive Hart . Tracing Japanese Kite Customs .Ultimate Questions/ 15

Kite Categories : Can We Divide and Conquer' By Wyatt Brummitt .What's New : Kites, Books, Sundries/ 41News from Here and There/ 47Flying with the Old Pro/ 56

By Bob Ingraham .Kid's Corner/ 58Classifieds/ 59Kite Calendar/60

CoverPhotos by Anneke Davis catch Paul Garber at the Smithsonian's newNational Air and Space Museum (see story on page 18) .Top left: Garber in his office, recounting his experiences with kites .Lower left: Garber says, "I knew Lindbergh . He and I were good friends ."Top right : Garber beneath the Wright Brothers' craft flown at Kitty Hawk .As a boy, Garber saw Orville make test flights . Garber says : "You know, priorto the Wrights, for 250 million years there were wings in nature . Then wehad power and rudders, but never three-axial control . That is their invention ."

Letter from the Editor

It's a New MagazineAfter 12 years of devotion to editingour magazine, Robert M . Ingraham hasretired and passed the editorship overto me .Bob will continue to contribute, of

course (see page 56), but he will be ableto relax, and we wish him the good lifehe so greatly deserves . We owe himendless gratitude for maintaining themagazine and organization throughthick and thin -more often thin . Ourfeelings extend to his wife, Hazel,whose behind-the-scenes work asExecutive Secretary made it possiblefor Bob to stretch himself to coverthe numerous roles that fell to him .We thank both Bob and Hazel Ingra-ham, and we doubt we will ever stopthanking them, for the debt is beyondmeasure .

It's a new magazine, as you see! OnceI was uncorked I could not go back intothe old bottle . Ideas began to flow,insisting on expression, demanding aformat and a personality that wouldfit them . The old Kite Tales served uswell, but we think the change is salu-tary, a vital sign . A publication thatgrows and changes can best sustain thelife it reflects . We hope you like KiteLines enough to tolerate a few bumps inthe road as the reins change hands. Andwe hope the new magazine succeeds .Working on a first issue of a new

publication is both frightening and ex-hilarating . It draws out the creativejuices but at the same time confrontsan editor with some of the fundamentalquestions of journalism -before theanswers are really available . Who arewe talking to? How much can we as-sume the readers know? What are theirneeds and interests? Who else shouldbe reading us and how do we attractthem?Without yet having run a survey of

our membership, and with no clearpicture of our audience, I simply imag-ined what it might be : a range of ages,an assortment of incomes, a variety ofoccupations, a gamut of experiences .There seems to be only one trait incommon : intelligent, intense interestin kites . Though we cannot assume thatevery reader already knows a greatdeal about the subject, we believe hewants depth and accuracy and careful

judgment in these pages. We imaginehim or her to be a glutton for infor-mation, an appreciator of wit and wis-dom, and a dreamer of high dreams . Itwill be a pleasure to work for suchreaders .

What about the Association?Many members didn't realize that Bobdid it all ; he was the Association . Sincemost people are satisfied not to be in-volved, it was possible, though in-creasingly difficult, for Bob and Hazelto hold the fragile craft steady in allwinds . Through 12 years we have sur-vived as a group, a nucleus, a com-munity that can now become respon-sible for assuring its own future . Ibelieve Bob entrusted me to take overthe quarterly because he knew I wouldcare about the organization as much asabout the magazine itself, and that Iwould have the general welfare of allkiters -manufacturers, sellers, fliersand enthusiasts alike-at heart . I sin-cerely hope to live up to that faith .Bob was also aware that the organiza-tion's chance to flourish could be great-est based in Baltimore, site of AKA'slargest chapter, the Maryland KiteSociety. I recognize that I've taken onnot only a magazine but all the un-solved problems of the American Kite-fliers Association. With help fromeveryone, we can, I believe, get it to-gether-incorporate AKA, elect aBoard of Directors, shape our goals .Reader, consider this letter your

personal invitation to suggest themachinery, bylaws and steps to takethat will enable us to operate as a realorganization. Though the magazinewill be situated in Baltimore, fromwhich active manpower will be drawn,the Association's representation shouldbe as wide as possible . Also, as EditorI am looking to a panel of Advisorsto evaluate technical materials and givegeneral guidance to the publication .The contents need no longer dependsolely on the background, responsesand resources of one person .

I hope too that all of you who havecontributed in the past to the pages ofthe magazine will continue to send. i nyour reports, studies, letters and photo-graphs. We hope new members will beinspired to write and that there will

be a correspondent from every clusterof active kitefliers in the country.

What Else is New?Another change must be announced .We need to raise the subscription/duesfee to $6 for one year beginning withthis issue of Kite Lines. We are startingfrom scratch in all respects, and thatincludes finances . Naturally at thismoment we are working on a very closemargin and we need all the help youcan give us . We are asking everyone,no matter when he last renewed, torenew again now . We will of course ex-tend the time you presently have onthe books . You will not lose an issue .And you will be recorded as a CharterSubscriber of Kite Lines, a very specialperson to us for as long as we live . Alsowe are making two- and three-yearmemberships (never before offered)available at lower rates : $11 for twoyears and $15 for three . The latter isan especially big bargain, saving you $3over the single copy cost and in effect"freezing" the old $5 annual rate -areal hedge against inflation . Also, neworders will bring you a bonus in theform of a copy of the new AKA Annota-ted Kite Bibliography, the first in whatwe hope will be a series of special ser-vices to members. See the enclosedorder blank, "A Little Puff about theAmerican Kitefliers Association ."

It's a new year! It's a new magazine!It's a new organization! There are somany opportunities for involvement,new programs and good times stretch-ed out before us . Send us your thoughts,kiteflying friends . Write. Call . We de-pend on you. You are very much wantedand needed in the breezy, exciting,beautiful world of kites .

Windily yours,

LettersStudying Kites in FranceI have found the address of your Associationin the book Kites which appeared in Francein the Editions Gallimard, and let me saythe School of Fine Arts of Clermont Farrandis preparing a two-year experiment onpaper kites subsidized by the Secretariat ofState for Culture. (The attached articlefrom the journal La Montague treats ofthis experiment .)

I should be obliged to you if it would bepossible for you to let me know of allinformation resulting from your own ex-perience in this field which would be usefulto us, and also if you would send us someissues of your magazine Kite Tales, for whichI should be grateful to you .

On my part, I would keep you informedof the progress of our experiments byaddressing to you in return all relevantdocuments .Thanking you in advance, please accept

my best sentiments .Mr. Andre Selliez, Documentaliste

Ecole Regionale des BeauxArts de Clermont Ferrand

11, rue Ballainvilliers63000 Clermont Ferrand, France

To the best of our schoolbook translating ability,the attached article states that all workshops ofthe school (which appears to be a teacher train-ing institute) will work on kites for two years,exploring their aesthetics, aerodynamics andphysics. Local industries will be involved, too .An outdoor city event is planned to encourage"a feast in the heart of men ." (Had we but Sec-retariats of Culture, industrial support and two-year intensive training programs -what couldwe not do!) Those of you who are involved in"higher education" with kites may want to re-spond to this inquiry. Polish your French orfind a French friend and send Mr. Selliez yourcurriculum outline and tips from your experi-ence. When you later receive "all relevant docu-ments, "please share them with Kite Lines . (Seepage 25 this issue, for information on the recentParis kite exhibition.)

Control Kite Dither in EnglandAt present I am in England till April 1977 .The big increase in kiteflying interest hereappears to have been started by PeterPowell and his control line kite . This typeof kite is very popular. Where there is anopen space and reasonable weather some-one is sure to fly a control line kite .

I have seen at least half a dozen differentmakes using the same principle . The mostunusual is the "Flexifoil" made by the KiteShop in London . In appearance it is notunlike the multicell parafoil but it has notriangular fins. A glass fibre rod is passedhorizontally through the bottom leadingedge and flying lines attached to the ends

of the rods. When flying it assumes an up-side down U shape -the stronger the windthe deeper the U . This type of kite is ex-tremely fast, so fast that the flying linesscream .

Another type is made by the FrisbeeCompany, the flying disc people . It is alsocalled a Frisbee. Made out of plastic andglass fibre rods it resembles a Peter Powell,but performs differently.The Dunford [Flying Machine] kite

resembles the Conyne in shape, has a vent,but no triangular section in the middle .Most impressive to me are the Powells flownstacked with their plastic tube tails tied tothe kite centre. Performance of all thesekites is difficult to describe, but they aredefinitely all different . Some are familycars, others sports cars and there is the oddfull blown racer amongst them .

I attended the British Kite Fliers twice-yearly get-together at Old Warden Airportnear Biggleswade on the 10th October.There I saw kites which I never knew evenexisted. To name a few : Brogden's Kite

- a six-wing diamond shape kite with

dihedral . All six wings are adjustable . Rus-sell Hall's Kite-a very pointy Rogallowing with two triangular penants at therear. The Flare Kite resembles a Conynewithout triangular keel and vent . Downthe middle are two sets of triangular fins .The cross-spar is bowed . It flies in ex-tremely light winds like the delta does .

My name is on the waiting list at the KiteShop in London for a Flexifoil . They havea thousand on order and at $30 apiece theremust be money in the kite game as well .Besides, they sold nearly their entire stockby Christmas .

W.B . van GraanKrugersdorp, South Africa

writing from Chelmsford, Essex, England

Nihonjin Wa Dekimaso Ka?When I was seven years old, I flew for thefirst time my own hand-made kite . I couldnot forget my excitement at that time andhave been flying kites for 52 years sincethen .I am very proud of my "original kite,"

because it is the only one in the world . WhileI am running my tile business, I teach kite-making at workshops with the YMCA,YWCA, elementary and junior highschools, and many residential quarters .

My schedule of all Saturdays and Sun-days is filled . The Musashino City Edu-cation Committee asked me to teach 3,000boys and girls of 15 schools .

In order to have more friends who enjoynature through kiteflying, I published TheKites of Creativity : How to Make 33 Kinds ofMasterpiece Kites. Twelve thousand copies

NEW LIFE MEMBERSAnonymousJoseph ArenaCharles BernsteinDr. Myron BernsteinWilliam R. BiggeLt . Col . and Mrs .Bevan H . Brown

Wyatt BrummittDr . Floyd

Cornelison, Jr.Thomas E . CowlsWood and Virginia

EllisDale FleenerPatricia Y. GilgallonPaul Scot GilgallonPat HammondEdward HanrahanHugh A. HarrisonAl and Betty HartigJohn HastingsRobert HieronimusGary HinzeA. Pete lanuzziRobert and HazelIngraham

Richard F . Kinnaird, Jr.Nat KobitzTheodore T. KuklinskiTed ManekinManistee AviationCurtis Marshall, M .D .Robert S . PriceRogallo FlexikitesWilliam A. RutiserDr. John H . SeipelCharles A . SotichBernard A. SpaldingTal StreeterJohn F. Van GilderCleveland J . Wall

LIFE MEMBERSGregory A . ApkarianJohn C . ArmaninoGuy D. AydlettClifford BantelWilliam R . BiggeWyatt BrummittKenneth BryanJ . H . BuggJohn F . CarrollLincoln ChangThomas W. DietzSister Mary AnnLenore Eifert

Douglas FalesJohn D . ForbesPaul Edward GarberAylene D . GoddardEdwin L . GrauelHugh A. HarrisonEugene HesterHenry H. HowardDomina JalbertTony JohnstonMrs. David JueBen KimTheodore KuklinskiOswald S . MarkhamCarol MasterLt . Col . Joseph O'BrienLt. Raymond ReelGordon ShuteCharles SipleRobert SmithWilliam E. TempleDr. Alfred ThelinThomas TroyerArthur VashMike WrightHarold WriterWill YolenTony Zeigler

Letters(Continued)

of the first print were sold out within amonth, and the second print is selling prettywell .

Up until now quite a few kite books havebeen published in Japan, but all of themmainly introduced kinds of kites . My bookis the first to introduce my new "originalkites ."

It would be my great pleasure if my bookcould be translated into English for theU .S ., Canada, Great Britain and othercountries. Also it would be my greatesthappiness if I could teach kite-making tothe boys and girls of western countries . Iam looking forward to having someoneinvite me for those purposes .

Takeshi NishibayashiTokyo, Japan

Introduction to Mr. Nishibayashi's book byProfessor Tsutomu Hiroi of the Tokyo Peda-gogic University, a noted kite author :Mr. Nishibayashi, as a member of the

Kitefliers Association of Japan, has shownhis skill in kite -making at "The Sky Fes-tival ." We often observe that Mr. Nishibay-ashi's Korean kite alone, even when the windscarcely blows, flies several hundred metershigh on the ascending current .When I was at the university in Denver,

Mr. Nishibayashi skillfully flew his life-size Swallow Kite, consisting of small piecesof bamboo and paper, and he greatly con-tributed to international friendship .

His original kites introduced here inthis book look easy to make. However, theyhave hidden subtle secrets . This is a veryenjoyable workshop book, through whichMr. Nishibayashi shares the pleasure ofkite-making and the secrets of his originalkites with many more people .

Kline-Fogleman QuestionedShortly after the last issue (Nov . 1976) ofKite Tales came out, I found the enclosedarticle on the Kline-Fogleman airfoil thatDr. James D. DeLaurier sent me some timeago. Dr. DeLaurier is an active kiteflierand an AKA member. To quote briefly froma letter which accompanied the report :"Our tests showed it to be a poor per-

former in its normal attitude (step under-neath), but that it was considerably better`upside down.' I speculate that there's a`trapped vortex' which gives an effectivehigh-cambered airfoil ."

I hope you take the time to try to gothrough the report . It is not as technicalor mathematically complicated as its im-posing cover sheet would seem to indicate .

Keep up your fine job in producing KiteTales . I read it from cover to cover. Eventhe advertisements are interesting . I always

look forward to the new ideas that EdGrauel is coming up with from his vastexperience .

Charlie SotichChicago

The report referred to is AIAA Paper No . 74-1015 "An Experimental Investigation of theAerodynamic Characteristics of Stepped- WedgeAirfoils at Low Speeds, " by JD. DeLaurier andf M. Harris. The seven-page paper is out ofprint, but is available in photocopy for $5 or onmicrofiche for $2 from the American Instituteof Aeronautics and Astronautics, TechnicalInformation Service, Attention : Library, 750Third Ave., New York, NY 10017.

A Generous Boomerang ReturnItems in Kite Tales about boomerangs havebeen forwarded to me and I'd like tocomment .

Kites and boomerangs complement oneanother in a most pleasant way . Paul Garber,the Smithsonian's kite expert, for example,always carries some boomerangs in his vanto throw when the wind is down com-pletely. And he is so impressed with boom-erangs in general that he has been goodenough to have me join him in giving jointpresentations on kites and boomerangsat such places as the Goddard Space FlightCenter.Boomerangs parallel kites in many ways :

they are cheap to make, aerodynamicallychallenging, of ancient origin, and charm-ing to fly.

As an enthusiastic flier of kites on theWashington Mall each spring, I'd like tourge other fanciers to enlarge their sportsboundaries to include boomerangs-thedevice that works best in perfect calm, andthus the ideal balm for a frustrated kite-flier on those temporary occasions whenhe can't get his equipment into the air .

On behalf of the Smithsonian Institution(for which I teach an annual boomerangmaking and throwing workshop), I'd bemost pleased to offer readers of this pub-lication a free plan for a boomerang thatdoes return. And can be caught . You'll see .If you want a plan, write me .Wishing everyone many happy returns,

I amBenjamin Ruhe

1882 Columbia Road, N.W., Apt . 37Washington, DC 20009

Are Tails a Drag?I can understand your distaste for tails .I view as more elegant a design which willremain stable without a tail, but city flying,with the currents caused by buildings, andmy desire to test fly prototypes not de-signed for cities have forced me to con-sider tails closely.

My experience with drogues began whenI got sick of telling children that the carp(Japanese koi streamers) they had boughtwere not kites and could never fly . I didn'tthink it would hurt much to use them asdecorative tails, and the kids were muchamused. I find the effect pretty, and since

the carp are available in sizes from sixinches up it is simple to balance wind speed/kite size/drogue size .Troubled by the extreme drag of drogue

tails at good altitudes, I analyze this interms of a threshold effect which onlyoccurs with drogues in normal wind speeds .I am going to skip all the math and assump-tions (in von Karman). At an air speedwhich differs for each drogue, the air flowthrough the drogue changes suddenly froma smooth (laminar) low friction/low dragone to a turbulent high friction/high dragone . This can be avoided by using droguesof large diameter, but the visual effect ismuch like a kite towing a garbage can .

People seem confused about the verydifferent effects of increasing tail lengthand increasing the length of a tail towingline . Tail length has a direct linear relationto the drag the tails produce, and to thestabilization of the kite (also to the weightof the tail system, but I assume we are notdealing with duffers who use a heavy tailto ballast a poorly designed or rigged kite) .Increasing the length of a tail tow line (aswith a drogue) increases neither the dragnor the leverage exerted by the tail . Thelever arm we are considering is defined bythe point of bridle attachment and thepoint of tail attachment . Inserting a pieceof string into that system does not affecteither the length of the lever arm or thedrag appreciably . If a tail is to have moreeffect it must either have more force, ob-tained by increasing tail length or area formore drag ; or more "leverage," which canonly be obtained by lengthening the rigidlever arm, i .e. adding a boom to the aft ofa longitudinal spine .

There is, however, a non-leverage effectof drogue and pony-tail line length . Theair directly aft a kite is highly turbulent,and any tail type is whipped by these winds .Too short an attachment line will put thetrailer right into this turbulence, causingthe kite to yaw and pitch . Too long a line(city fliers beware) and the trailer mightfall into a different wind current and pullthe kite out of the sky. I usually use linesabout 1½ times the length of the kite butthis is only a rule of thumb .I hope I have clarified rather than

confused .Phil Liloia

PhiladelphiaTails are an easily tangled topic. For furtherdiscussion of them, see the article in this issueon page 54.

Bridles : Seek and Ye Shall FindBeing a newcomer to kiteflying (I've onlybeen at it about 3 1/2 years), I was mildlysurprised at Gary Hinze's rather compli-cated but undoubtedly accurate suggestionsfor bridle setting on rectangular kites (KiteTales, Vol. 10, No . 4, page 31) .With your permission here is a simple

technique which works for many single-plane, tailless kites including rectangulars,rokkakus, sarugas, Eddys, Nagaski fighters

and buka kites, to name a few .After tying a two-point bridle to the

frame, tie the flying line to it in such a waythat it is tight but can be moved to a newposition .* Simply slide the flying line downto the point where both legs of the two-legged bridle are equal . If the kite is pullednow it will shake from side to side withoutrising . One-sixteenth inch at a time, movethe flying line up the upper leg of thebridle and pull it after each 1/16 th inchmove. At the first position it stops shakingback and forth and rises smoothly, securethe flying line permanently because you'vefound your spot!

As critical as this point is, this techniquelocates it easily. Any increase in the angleof attack by further shortening the upperleg will only' decrease the kite's best flyingangle and if carried too far will cause thekite to spin . It is also interesting to notethat this is also the point at which the kiteis most maneuverable .I first found this technique when ad-

justing a 28x20-inch bowed rectangularkite and have since found that it applies tomost shapes .

Wayne M. SchmidtMather AFB, CA

*Pete Ianuzzi, aficionado of knots, suggests forthis a "lark's head" knot attached to a loop,either of cord or preferably a ring (curtain ring,washer, etc.) as in illustration :

†lanuzzi's way : put a drop of glue on it .

Any Indian Fighters in Texas?During a recent stay in Pakistan I becameinvolved in kite fighting . Do you have anyinformation on groups, clubs or points ofcontact that share the same interest'

Richard J. Crites1901 Boland St .

Copperas Cove, TX 76522We are sending Mr Crites the addresses of thefew we know who are specifically interested inorganized kite fighting: Stan Ah mad of Chicago,Tom Joe of Long Beach, Vic Heredia of SanDiego, and Dinesh Bahadur of San Francisco .Since all of these are far from Texas, we'realso sending him the address of Richard Rob-bertson, one of the mostest kitefliers in Texas .Other enthusiasts near Mr Crites are encouragedto respond -and tell Kites Lines if anythingdevelops .

It's All RelativeIt would seem that some kitefliers are wor-ried about the new metric system . Yet noth-ing could be simpler.

In kite design and kite building the pro-portions are more important than the nameyou use for your measurements, be theyinches or centimeters, yards or meters .

When I make up my mind to make a kite,I look into Kite Tales or any of my kite booksfor a plan . If I want it smaller than the plan,I halve the measurements ; or I doublethem if I want it larger. I take length orwingspan or whatever and try to figureout how large I want, my kite to be in units .These units may be half-inches, inches,feet, centimeters or whatever.

I know that six inches is half a foot . Iknow that one centimeter is about half aninch. So if measurements are given in cent-imeters in the plan and I use inches I'llget about twice as large a kite ; and so on .

It all boils down to taking your yard oryour meter (depending on which part ofthe world you are in) and seeing how bigthat kite so-many-units high will be, andthen using the same units for all of yourmeasurements .The second immediate problem is deter-

mining the cord strength . Again, one kilois about two pounds . Considering safetyfactors and the variability in actual (textile)strength vs. advertised strength of all mono-filaments, cords, twines, etc ., we can safely(enough to satisfy our needs) consider twopounds to be equal to one kilo . So a 20-lb . twine is a 10-kilo twine .The third measure is wind speed . When

we go to the field wind speed may varygreatly from one location to another. Thewind speed predicted by the weather bu-reau will be what they measure at theirnearest station. Yet this speed will not in-clude turbulence, variation at higher al-titudes, thermals, etc . Only you in the fieldwill know whether you have too much ortoo little wind . Yet for estimating purposesone mile equals about two kilometers . Sowind traveling one mile per hour will bethe same thing as wind traveling two kilo-meters per hour. A five mile-per-hourwind is about a 10 kilometer-per-milewind .

Easy isn't it? Let's review :1 inch =±2 centimetersI mile =±2 kilometers1 pound =±l/2kilo

Unless you are scientifically minded,or a purist at heart, the above equivalentswill really do . I make and fly my kites bythe above equivalent conversions .

Cesar A. QuinonesArecibo, Puerto Rico

The point about proportions as the fundamentalconcept in converting to metric is quite correct .However, "rules of thumb" can have hangnails .The 2.54 cm per inch translation is correct so2.5 is closer than 2 and no more difficult to workwith . If you use the Quinones rule and youhave kilometers on your speedometer, you'regoing to get a ticket .

Readers are encouraged to reply to letters, andwe will route them to appropriate parties when-ever possible. Address your letters to Kite Lines"Letters, " American Kitefliers Association, 7106Campfield Road, Baltimore, MD 21207. Allletters become the property of Kite Lines . Theeditor may edit letters for publication .

0

Design Workshop

By Ed Grauel

It is a pretty generally accepted factthat, to fly reliably, a flat kite musthave a tail . Also there is good evidencethat the flat kite is the only generic typethat requires a tail for functional pur-poses. But little known is that the taildoesn't have to be attached to the kiteitself, or that it doesn't even have to bea tail in the strict sense of the word .

Introduce yourself to the use of out-riggers attached to a kite, from whichare suspended streamers on cords fromoutriggers .

The kite itself can be made in variousshapes and sizes as long as it has twomasts for attachment of the outriggers .I use a 24 x 24 in . overall size with sidesof 14 1/2 and 18 in ., a base of 6 in ., and a1/4-in. spreader 8 in . from the top. Theoutriggers are 36 in . long and are at-tached to the 3/16 -in . masts 10 in. fromthe top of the kite on the back . Slots

Kites Past :Historic Notes

TRACING JAPAN'S CUSTOMS

By Clive HartProfessor of Literature, University of Essex, England

Few kite-flying nations have been sopossessed as the Japanese by the desireto build larger and larger kites . In the18th century fliers were already havingto borrow ships' tow-ropes in order tohave lines of sufficient strength, andin the early 19th century some youngpeople in Okazaki formed a society forthe further development of the kite .Throughout the 19th century kites in-creased in size until, towards its end,the master kite-maker NagajimaGempei developed a new construction-al technique which resulted in theamazing wan-wan kite of Tokushima (onShikoku). Up to 150 men might beneeded to launch and fly one . Muller[in Der Papierdrachen in Japan, 1914]describes . . a wan-wan, made in 1906,

which was 20 yards across and flew atail 480 feet long . It weighed some 55hundredweight and needed a 35-legbridle. Such kites could not, of course,be built and owned by individuals butwere the property of the whole popula-tion of a district, who were summonedto bouts of kite-building by the ringingof temple bells. The wan-wan, whichwas bowed back to produce stability,was constructed of bamboo spars 12inches in circumference, and wascovered with hundreds of sheets of aspecial tough paper. Launching, ofcourse, was not easy. The kite wasplaced against a large trestle and a teamof men heaved on the line . Such kiteswere so big that once they were launchedit was often impossible to bring themin, in which case they were left to fallof their own accord when the windeased, though this usually destroyedthem .

approximately 1/2 x 3 in. for the out-riggers to slip through are attached3 in . below the spreader at the perim-eter of the kite .

A simple method of attaching theoutriggers to the masts is by the use ofplastic tubing slit halfway through thecenter to permit bending. Half of thetube is slipped on the masts, leavingthe other half open for sliding on theoutriggers . If 1 1/4-in . pockets are sewnfor the masts, it will be necessary to cut1-in wide openings in the pockets toallow the tubing to come through .

The streamers are 6 ft . long x 3 in .wide and three of them are attached toeach outrigger by cords about 5 1/4 ft .long. A four-legged bridle is attachedat the points marked X on the diagram .

The outrigger kite will do some dip-ping and wandering back and forth,which makes it a lively, attractive andunusual object in the sky . In the sug-gested size it has a wind range of 8 to20 miles per hour.

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Kiteflying festivals are still held inJapan, but they were once much morecommon and more spectacular. Mullerdescribes the festivals which were heldin his time (ca. 1910), after the fliershad been driven out of the cities intothe fields by the many networks ofpower-lines which had begun to coverthe country. He found tens of thousandsof people delightedly taking part .Booths were set up around the contestarea and large quantities of food andsake were consumed .*

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*Japanese kite festivals are by no meansextinct; see page 36 .

°1967 in London, England, by Clive Hart .Excerpted by-author's permission from hisbook, Kites : An Historical Survey, pub-lished by Praeger (now out of print .

SPRING 1977 KITE LINES 13

Ultimate Questions:Studies,Theories,Tests

KITE CATEGORIES :CAN WE DIVIDEAND CONQUER?

By Wyatt Brummitt

Kites - kinds of kites, combinations, andpermutations of kites -are increasingspectacularly . The question thereforearises, what are the truly basic kites?

The answer, I suspect, depends prettymuch on one's attitude toward kitesand kiting . To those of us whose plea-sure is in the sight and feel of a kitecavorting in the blue, it might be ade-quate to settle for just two types-kitesthat fly and kites that don't . Over-simplied?

Okay, so how about establishing twoall-embracing categories-flat andnon-flat kites? In other words, two-di-mensional and three-dimensional .Probably still too simple, because itignores many of the aerodynamic prin-ciples which govern or affect the flightof kites .Approaching the matter in terms of

behavior or function we might establishanother pair of "basics": first, kiteswhich fly against the wind in a per-manent stall and, second, those kiteswhich fly on the wind, in the mannerof a glider or an airplane . But thatbecomes absurd when you recall howoften you've seen a staller climb righton up to the zenith and a soarer puffand struggle in its effort to gainaltitude .

Or we might get a bit more technicaland attempt to categorize kites in termsof their basic aeronautical stance, soto speak . Many kites, for example, havea bird-like positive dihedral whileothers, such as the sleds, maintain anegative dihedral, almost a scoopingaction . But what do we do, then, withthe flat kites which, by definition, haveno dihedral at all? Because there area lot of such kites, any attempt to class-ify kites in terms of dihedral, temptingthough the idea may be, simply cannot

get off the ground .Let's back up, therefore, and con-

sider the more or less time-honored kiteclassifications . First, of course, wouldcome the ancient and honorable . . .

Flat KiteUnder this head come all the pri-

mary two- and three-stick kites, thediamonds, the squares, the stars, mostof the Orientals, and many others ; theyall require stabilizing tails . Even thepopular swishing cobra must be in-cluded here, for a cobra is nothing buta flat kite whose tail has gone to itshead . But what about a rigid, square-celled box kite, flown flat? It's flat,certainly, but must we ignore those ver-tical sides of the cells, the sides whichserve to keep the kite aimed into thewind and contribute materially to itsstability? They perform very much askeels do, but I wouldn't have the gall tocall a box kite a keeled kite . Wouldyou? The next category most of usagree on is that of the . . .

Bowed KiteThe classic bowed kite, of course, is

the Eddy. It has a small, fixed degreeof positive dihedral and more or lesspocketing . It requires no tail . But doesa flat two-sticker become a bowed kitewhen the counteracting forces of tetherand wind drive back the wing tips?And is a delta-wing, with its firmlyestablished positive dihedral, simply abowed kite? A third, generally recog-nized category is that of the . . .

Box KiteFrom Hargrave on, the box kite has

meant a rigidly framed combination ofcells, cells which may be square, rec-tangular, triangular, etc ., in cross sec-tion . But do we also include Mr.Conyne's classic kite? Possibly, if theconstruction is rigid . But what if the

whole shebang of triangular cells andoutboard wings is flexibly built, as isthe usual case today? We know that thepull of the line and the lift of the wingscan be, and are used to maintain theConyne conformation . But wouldHargrave agree? Next comes a modernor contemporary kite, the . . .

SledIt is an outstanding example of the

air-scooping, air-embracing kind ofkite. It has negative dihedral and itsdownward-stretched laterals serve,quite clearly, to provide directionalstability. I am tempted to call the sledan aerial catamaran, but I fear that'snot quite relevant. It is relevant, how-ever, to observe that the sled is ex-tremely popular (a) because it is sosimple and (b) because it has alreadyfathered several variations on itstheme. The Grauel Bullet, for example,is a biplane sled, with certain othermodifications and innovations. Othervariations are almost certain to appear .So the "purity" of the sled, as a basickite type, may well be threatened .Everyone agrees that there is one greatmodern kite which has established andstill stands in a class by itself . . .

The ParafoilYet even the Parafoil, as it takes off

and climbs, is in effect an air-scoop,a sort of biplane sled . It is only afterthe Parafoil has attained a fairly highangle (relative to its pilot) that theaerodynamic qualities and virtues of itswing design become effective or useful .The "purity" of the Parafoil concept,incidentally, is threatened by recentdevelopments which involve variationsin the design and placement of theairfoil cells . Another air-clutcher anda blatant case of negative dihedral isour old friend . . .

(Continued)

KITE CATEGORIES(Continued)

The ParachuteHistorically and functionally, the

parachute's raison d titre has been toretard the speed of a falling object .But it has been clearly established thata parachute can be rigged, vented, andtethered so that it will rise, kite-like,even attaining a remarkably highangle. If we grant that it is a kite atall, we must also grant its shirt-tailrelationship to sleds, parafoils, and allother examples of negative dihedralconformation . To me, the most inter-esting and beautiful of kite forms is . . .

The ParawingTechnically, I suppose that the

granddaddy of this group of kites isMr. Rogallo, the only kiter I know whohas a big wind tunnel practically uphis sleeve . Rogallo's basic kite is theproduct, in a special sense, of thematerial from which it is made, i.e .,Mylar. ® For Mylar holds a crease, andthe creased center fold becomes a firmkeel, with the wings on either side heldonly loosely in position by the shroudlines. In flight a Parawing frequently

assumes the aspect of a skinny gull justabout to swoop down to dinner. TheParawing itself, I confess, is not myidea of the greatest or the most beau-tiful of kites, but the family of bird-like kites it has fathered . . . well, Idote on them . The family resemblanceis clear, for there's that firm back-bone and the out-stretched, positivedihedral wings . True, the wings-asevolution marches on-have becomelonger and shorter and variouslyshaped, and the body has grown aventral fin. Even so, my much-loveddeltas and boxed deltas must, fromtime to time, bow gracefully beforethe family portrait which has M .Rogallo at its center. A kite categorywhich very much needs further andintensive r & d is that of . . .

The RotaryBut it is necessary, at once, to split

the rotaries into two sub-categories :those with a horizontal and those witha vertical axis. A kite whose rotor spinson a horizontal axis, a la Guy Aydlett'sbig film spool, owes some ancestralduty to Herr Flettner and rather moreto M. Bernoulli . And a kite whose

rotors whirl on a vertical axis is clearlyrelated to Senor de la Cierva and hisautogyro . Further to complicate things,the autogyro's rotating blades are,themselves, perfect Bernoulli airfoils .

So where are we? We have consideredsome eight kite categories . Thus :

Flat kites

ParafoilsBowed kites

ParachutesBox kites

ParawingsSleds

RotariesAnd, in establishing those eight cate-gories we have further complicated thesituation . Because we have shown thatno one category is "pure" ; inter-rela-tionships are many, confused and pro-liferating. From the point of view ofthose orderly souls who find delightin clearly defined classifications - well,things look bad, and they're gettingworse .

Others of us may find pleasure inthe fact that while a name is only a

name, a kite - thank God - is a kite .

Wyatt Brummitt is the noted author of theGolden Guide to Kites, still the basic refer-ence on the subject. Though he attemptshere to untie a longstanding knot, heanticipates rebuttals and controversy.

Profiles

Paul Garb¢rMan About Kites at the snirnsorda,

By Valerie GovigPhotographs by Anneke Davis

The $40 million dollar building is hugeand breathtaking. The newest orna-ment on the Mall in Washington, DC,is the Smithsonian's National Air andSpace Museum. Thousands havepoured through it every day since itopened July 1, 1976 .

Paul Edward Garber, 77, retired butactive Historian Emeritus who was thefirst curator of the Museum, takespride in the edifice . But he has onecriticism : "It isn't big enough ."

The growth of flight and space tech-nology is reflected in the range of ex-hibits and films on hand here-morethan enough to fill a day if you're inWashington . Visitors should expectto spend time here-and not regret aminute of it. The wonder : that manhas done so much in a span that ismerely a lifetime . And if any one mancan be said to represent this era, it mustbe Paul Garber.

Yet there are gaps in the display -and kites are one of them . No one ismore aware of that than Garber, whoselife has been entwined with kites, andall things aeronautic, from his young-est days .

"My first recollection of a kite waswhen I was five years old," Garberbegan. We were talking in his smallcarpeted office (opposite the aerospacelibrary on the Museum's third floor) ."I was just five ; it was on my birthday."At a beach party in Garber's nativeAtlantic City, NJ, his uncle presentedhim with a deltoid kite bigger than hewas on which "Paul" was painted insmall red letters at the top, but then(in Garber's words), "across the widestpart of the kite, from port to starboard,was his name, which was in i , middlename-E-D-W-A-R-D, in lettersabout a foot high! Below that was agreat big number 5 ." His uncle wrap-ped the string around Paul's chubbylittle fingers and turned him loose,"but I wasn't going to let go! Off I tod-dled across the beach, with this kitepulling me - I was heading for Europe!Just as I was thrashing in the surf, myuncle caught me and carried me back,kite, string and all ."

If you don't know Paul Garber youmight think this was just an isolatedincident, but it's one of a series of ex-periences with kites and aircraft thathave never failed to excite him . Eventoday as we talk among the mementos

and organized clutter of his cozyoffice, Garber's eyes light up with boyishenthusiasm . A short, stocky man withgraying hair, Garber's manner mixesgentle dignity with zesty, self-effacinghumor. He speaks with amazing totalrecall of everything he has experi-enced, a tremendous fund of know-ledge, and a highly descriptive style .Warming to a subject that is central tohis life, he folds his hands and looksup, into the clear sky of his memory :"Then it was in 1909 that I saw

Orville Wright fly. By that time, we'dmoved to Washington . This particularmorning in the newspaper I'd seen anaccount of Orville Wright flying atFt. Myer, VA . So I asked mfather ifI could have some carfare-' I think itwas 50 cents round trip-and as I gotout of the trolley car I could hear thissound. And here came this airplane .Well, I'd never seen an airplanebefore ." Garber's hands are moving ."It was like an enormous kite that hada noisy engine in it and two propellerswhirling around and two men sittingin it. It came and flew overhead andthen turned and went to the far endof the field and then came back again .I just stood there, transfixed ."Then I met a photographer, and I

offered to carry one of his bags . Well,that got me a little closer to the air-plane, after it landed . I later learnedthat the photographer was WinfieldScott Clime. I didn't know then whoOrville and Wilbur were or whoCharlie Taylor [their mechanic] was,but I realize now that those were thepersons I was seeing .

"Once in a while I hear of someonewho has seen those same flights that Isaw, in July, 1909. The airplane was

purchased on August 2nd by the U .S .Army. That became the first militaryairplane in the world . And we have itnow downstairs in our exhibit . Occa-sionally when I'm in that part of thebuilding I look at it and recall my firstsight of it .

"Later l made a model of that airplaneand tried to fly it. I can't say that itflew, but it lost altitude slowly! I wishI had asked Orville Wright more ques-tions about control. There is still muchto learn ."Another boyhood memory stems

from the days when his family livedon Connecticut Avenue near the homeof Alexander Graham Bell .

"He would walk by, six feet tall, witha white beard, black coat, very im-posing . One day I was out front-wehad a big yard - flying a kite . Well, Dr.Bell came along and said, `That kiteisn't bridled properly.' He pulled itdown and had me hold the kite whilehe rebridled it, and sure enough whenhe launched it again it flew better.Then he patted me on the head ."

Garber's interest expanded fromkites to model airplanes, and he starteda club for model airplanes and kites ingrammar school .

"This continued throughout my highschool time, because persons kept want-ing to join this club, and it becamequite popular."Then in 1915 I made a glider-a

man-carrying glider. It was a copy ofthe model of Octave Chanute's gliderwhich was in the Museum . I never hadmuch in the way of spending money,so when my friends were going to themovies, I'd sort of say goodbye to themand come here to the Museum, andsee the displays . One of my friendswas a son of a regent of the Smithson-ian, so when I was with him we couldsometimes get behind the scenes andgo to some of the shops, which I alwaysenjoyed. Mr. Maynard, who was theCurator at that time, let me see this

Paul Garber talks to Kite Lines in his office .

model of a glider (and I saw it as a po-tential kite) and take the dimensionsof it . And it did fly as a kite ."

Then it occurred to Garber that akite larger than four-foot size wouldbe much more fun-for taking rides .So he made it five times larger, 20-ft . span ."And that was quite a summer pro-

ject. I made it of split barrel stavescovered in red glazed chintz in my littlebasement shop - we were living on 24thStreet-and when I had it finished Itook the parts out in the front yard andassembled it, and then got my friendsto help me carry it over to a big emptyarea with a steep descent at Californiaand Massachusetts Avenues ."So having a good wind and my

friends and all the neighbors' clothes-line I could collect, I then backed upagainst the trees as far as I could, withthis glider on my shoulders, holdingon to the two struts that I had builtinto it . Then I called to the fellows tostart running, and they pulled me, andI rose as a kite would rise . And as Ibegan to rise these friends of mine wereso astounded they stopped runningin order to look, and without them run-ning there was no further lift, so theglider just sort of settled back on itstail-and I settled back on mine!" Wechuckle ."And that sort of broke things up .

But I repaired it in the next couple ofweeks and then we tried again .

"Again we had a good wind, and Isaid, `For goodness sake this time keepon running.' So they did. And I rose,oh I'm sure it was about 10 miles high,but probably all of 40 feet if that . Andthat way I was kite-lifted across thefield. Then when they got to this rathersteep bank, they sort of fell down thatand it gave me a bit more Dull, so I

glided above their heads and across thestreet, over the trees, and landed in thefield on the far side .

"Well, that was a lot of fun! So wedid that I guess about a dozen times,in maybe two or three weeks ."

The thrill of flight, especially rarein that day, had fixed itself in Garber'slife. Soon after that, Garber was inWorld War 1, and afterwards he enteredthe Air Mail service, when it was justbeginning .

His Air Mail stories are a chapterto themselves out of the Garber port-folio. Though he learned to fly, he wasnot one of the regular pilots, but says,"They used to call me Chief Slave,because I'd turn my hand to 'most any-thing . It was a wonderful group ."When the Air Mail started flights be-tween New York and Chicago, requir-ing Garber to move, his father becamequite ill, and Paul returned to Wash-ington . When his father became better,in 1920, Paul began his career at theMuseum .

"I started here in a very low capacity,"Garber confides, "what they called aPreparator. The salary was $700 a year!My job was to repair and prepare ma-terial for displays . But my heart wasin aeronautics. Whenever I hadfinished an assigned job, I would gooff on the making of somethingaeronautical ."Garber was working on a temporary

three-month appointment, and whenhis assigned work was done he con-tinued without pay making a scalemodel of Leonardo da Vinci's orni-thopter from the master's drawingsin the Smithsonian library . As he stoodon the ladder displaying it, a "niceold gentleman" came along and asked,"What's that?""Well," Garber said (imitating his

own breathless elocution), "Sir, thisis a scale model of the ornithopter ofLeonardo da Vinci who was a greatItalian genius, pioneer of all science,lived 1452 to 1519 and had many wideinterests, a great varied wonderfulmind-a wonderful artist- ." Heshowed him how the model worked,gave his name, and explained thathe was out of a job and doing this vol-untarily . "I'm proud to have workedhere," he said . Then he went back tothe shop, but before he could leave,the Chief Clerk, Mr. Harry Dorsey,came in .

"He said, `You're Garber?'"I said, `Yes .'"`Been working here without per-

mission for several weeks, I under-

stand .'"I said, 'Oh, yes, Mr. Dorsey, but

I'm leaving now, just leaving rightnow, Mr. Dorsey, I'm sorry.' I thoughtsure I was going to get fired or put injail or something .

"So he said, `You sign up for the CivilService examination for this positionand you see the Treasurer, and he'll payyou. And meanwhile your temporaryappointment is extended until you'vetaken the examination .'

"`Oh,' I said, `You mean I can stillwork here, Mr. Dorsey?'

"`Yes .'"`Well, ' I said, "how in the world

is that?'"He said, `That's the Secretary's

orders .'"I said, `The Secretary? You mean

the head of the Smithsonian Institu-tion, Dr. Charles Doolittle Walcott?'

"`Yes, his orders .'"I said, `Goodness sakes, how did he

ever hear of me?'"He said, `Well, he told me he'd been

downstairs talking to you aboutLeonardo da Vinci for the last halfhour!'

"So that's how I got my job . I washired for a temporary appointment forthree months and I've been here 56years!"

Garber has worked in all phases ofMuseum operation, and in all gradeson the way up, meanwhile completinghis college education in order to movefrom sub-professional status to profes-sional and curatorial .During this time, he was married,

and as his three children were growingup he taught them how to make kites .This activity hasn't waned, for he hassince become a grandfather to nineand a great-grandfather to five chil-dren. Garber became the Boy Scoutsexaminer for the aviation merit badge .He stresses, "The number one require-ment was that the applicant shall havemade a kite that will fly." Garber alsoauthored the Boy Scout book of 1931,Kites and Kiteflying.When World II came along, Garber

was called into the Navy as a Com-mander. Aboard ship he noticed thatthe gunners were not getting goodpractice at handling and aiming theirweapons before enemy attacks occur-red. All they had for target practicewere clouds . Garber thought that akite could be an excellent target, es-pecially if it were controllable to simu-late aircraft maneuvers .Accordingly, he worked on a dual-

line Eddy design which could be flown

by any sailor with a bit of training todo loops, dives and figure eights . Intest flights before director of the Spe-cial Devices Division Captain Luiz deFlorez, Garber wrote the name Luizcomplete to dotted i, in a kite perfor-mance across the sky . The project wasapproved .Stenciled with Japanese Zeros, Navy

Target Kites were mass-produced un-der Garber's supervision, and issuedto all ships in all stations . Over 350,000of them were made, and Garber spentmost of the war time on that assignmentexclusively. Only a few of those kitesremain today as collector's items .Garber takes pride in the marksman-ship skills the kites honed, and in oneincident where lives were directlysaved . Gunners on a carrier were sta-tioned in their bays at target practicewhen the ship was suddenly attackedby real airplanes . Because the gunnerswere already in position, they wereready to respond quickly as they nevercould have done had they awaited acall to general quarters .At the end of the war, General

Hap Arnold and Senator JenningsRandolph had an idea that thereshould be an Air Museum . Arnoldgave orders to preserve one each ofall significant aircraft of World War II .Garber recalls, "I knew JenningsRandolph, so I helped a little bit inthe wording of the public law thatestablished this Museum . That wasPublic Law number 722 of the 79thCongress, signed by President Trumanon August 12th, 1946 ."

Garber became Curator, Head Cura-tor and then Senior Historian . Thoughofficially retired at the age of 70 byCivil Service requirement, he stillvisits his office in the Museum almostdaily . He has important work tocomplete .

One of his projects is the Smithson-ian kite collection . Although there areno immediate plans for a Museum kiteshow, Garber has been encouraged tocontinue collecting and to draw up aproposal as a basis for a future display .Garber has been collecting kites

since he first arrived at the Museum,in 1920, 14 years after Prof. Langleydied. Langley had been Secretary ofthe Institution and was himself inter-ested in kites as a means of developingman-carrying aircraft . Many of the in-novators in aviation history made kitesto test various aerodynamic features .Garber, looking back, relishes oneparticularly lucky day ."When 1 first came here, I found,

over in [ Langley's ] old shop, severalkites, not complete . One was a veryunusual triangular box kite cell, butthe top surface had an airfoil, so he wasusing kites as a means of testing the liftof curved surfaces . Another one was anoctagonal cell . Another one was a tri-plane, with extreme stagger-one of hisexperiments ."

More recently, Garber has soughtout the rare and significant delib-erately.

"I got in touch with the WeatherBureau and they gave me what I guess

was just about their last kite in stock ."It's a 1921 model .Showing sleuthing talent, Garber

searched for kites by William A . Eddyof Bayonne, NJ ."I wrote to the Bayonne Chamber of

Commerce and they told me his daugh-ter's address in California, and shegave me some kites for the Museum .After repair, we will have an originalEddy kite."

For the Museum, Garber has acquiredkites from Turkey, Korea, the Philip-pines, Japan, Ceylon and other places .An Air Force pilot friend flying overViet Nam discovered and acquiredfrom a farmer in war-torn fields amagnificent 64-in . bird kite weighinga mere 8 oz ., with shapely, flexiblebamboo body, intricately painted wingsand silvery foil beak and talons . SeveralChinese kites in the collection were inneed of repair. An artist who had volun-teered for the task recently died ."Time is such a problem with me,"

Garber remarks . "I have so many thingsto do ."

He is called upon to lecture, advise,preside, attend endlessly . When theAlexander Graham Bell Museum wasbegun in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Garber

was asked to help . His valuable reward :16 original cells from an early Belltetrahedral kite for the Smithsoniancollection . Recently Garber lent 22kites to the display in the New YorkWorld Trade Center. He has alwaysbeen active in his church, and nowserves as President of the Early Birds,an organization of pioneer pilots whoflew solo before Dec . 17 . 1916 (prior tothe First World War) . Garber is de-veloping a series of films on the historyof flight, including a segment on kites .He is also writing some books alongsimilar lines .

But Garber is most prominent in hiswell-known public role as Director ofthe Kite Carnival, an annual springtimecompetition on the grounds of theWashington Monument sponsored bythe Smithsonian Resident Associates,the National Capital Parks Commis-sion and the DC Recreation Depart-ment. This event was begun in 1967,and is simultaneously the most grati-fying and most consuming activity theGarbers perform . Yes, Garbers-plural . For if it were not for his wifeIrene, it is doubtful the program couldbe nearly so successful .

It began this way. One summer after-noon in 1966, the Secretary of the Smith-sonian, S. Dillon Ripley, was walkingwith Paul Garber on the Mall and re-marking on the beauty of the placewhile regretting its disuse . He askedGarber for ideas on how to bring peopleoutdoors to this matchless area . Garbersuggested a kite contest -a carnival ofkites ."Good," said Ripley. "You're

in charge!"That was the start of the Garbers'

great annual labor of love and a modelof well-ordered kiteflying . That firstyear there was also a display before-hand of over 60 kites hung above theelephant in the National HistoryMuseum. The display included severalhistoric kites, but over 30 of them werebuilt especially for the occasion by theGarbers . In this duty Mrs . Garber grad-ually became as dotty about kites as herhusband . Buttons (as Mr. Garber callsher, and she's apt to wear a hat coveredin both the pin-on and the sew-on kind)was practically buried in kite materialsas she churned out kite covers at thesewing machine for months before thedisplay . Perhaps her finest hour in kite-making arrived when she fashioned acopy of Benjamin Franklin's kite, madeas authentically as possible like the kiteBen made from a silk handkerchief.Buttons hand-hemmed the cover all

around . When Garber asked her whyshe hadn't used the sewing machine,she replied that the sewing machinehadn't been invented when BenFranklin flew his kite!

The same attention to detail appearsin the Kite Carnival, planned by theGarbers every season to be improvedover the year before . The dates vary tofit around the Cherry Blossom Festival,but on successive Saturdays in Marchand sometimes April, there is a lecture,a workshop and then the competition .The activities have made the Garbersfamiliar figures in the media in Wash-ington every spring .

The ripple effect of a good kite dayis not always detectable on the occasionitself . Just one example of permanentkite victim is Craig Stratton, who builta kite for the Smithsonian that workedso well he decided to make a businessout of it . The Stratton Air EngineeringCo. today is one of the big successstories in the proliferating field of kitemanufacturing .

For all its scholarly standards-orperhaps somewhat because of them-the Smithsonian's atmosphere is gener-ally larky. Joy prevails .

"I want to emphasize fun," Garberstates. He recalls one of the funniestkites they ever had, called Grandpa'sUnderwear-with arms and legs andtrap door hanging down in back, flap-ping in the breeze .

Yet the largest measure of cheerradiates from Garber himself . On asmall platform in the center of thescene, microphone in hand, he

comments appreciatively on most ofthe kites as they take turns flying,announces lost children, streams forthan unlimited supply of historic anec-dotes, makes decisions in problemcases, and sometimes, when the moodstrikes, breaks into song (usually theold chestnut variety) .Here is a man with so many "wings"

pins he couldn't wear them on hislapel, so he let Buttons attach them tohis watchband. You would think hewould be ready to take a rest . Whowouldn't feel satisfied with a life of 56years' service to the Smithsonian .' Inaddition . Garber has received manyhonors, including a citation and medal"For exceptional service as Flyer,Historian, Collector, Conservator,Educator. In recognition of half a cen-tury devoted to the increase and dif-fusion of knowledge of the history offlight ." The certificate is signed byS . Dillon Ripley and dated 28 February1969. Eight years ago .Garber once was asked how long he

planned to keep on directing the KiteCarnival .

"Just as long," he said, "as I can bewheeled out there to do it ."

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The Kite - A Fantasy in Flightthe twin towers of New York'sWord rode centerwith the rapture of the heights

Story and Photographsby Paul Edward Garber

In the lobbies of the tallest structures oflower Manhattan, there opened onDecember 10, 1976, an impressive dis-play of about 150 kites in a wide rangeof sizes, types and nationalities, form-ing a colorful, beautiful and educa-tional exhibit .

Many of the kites were suspendedin the wide, high spaces extending fromthe ground floor to the 75-foot ceilings,while others were on the walls or in

cases arranged about the mezzanine .Several films on kiteflying were shownin alcoves . The labels and photomon-tages provided a very informativebackground as well as a current appre-ciation of the wide range and manypractical uses of kites .

Most valuable items were several ofDr. Alexander Graham Bell's originaltetrahedral kites which were lent by theBell Museum at Baddeck, Nova Scotia .That Museum was constructed on theestate of the renowned pioneer of thetelephone, airplane, and countlessother inventions and processes, as il-

lustrated in the Museum built in theform of an elongated tetrahedron . Thekites displayed at the Center showedtwo four-celled types, one being of tri-angular cells and the other of tetrahed-rons; and two wide-span shapes eachassembled from many tetrahedral cells .Another original kite was a Navy

Target Kite developed by Garber dur-ing World War II as a ship-to-air gun-nery device, maneuvered by its flierto imitate the evasive actions of enemyairplanes .Most impressive were several large

10 to 25 foot diameter Guatemalan kites,very colorful with their multiple ar-rangements of triangular markingsradiating in concentric circles from thecenter. These are made by the nativesof that nation as a tribute to the dead,constructed by the heads of familieswith the help of all members, and flownover the graves of the departed on AllSaints' Day.

At the conclusion of the flying, thekites are burnt on the graves, the risingsmoke carrying the prayers of themourners heavenward. Fortunately forthe viewers of this exhibit, the kitesshown were not consumed . They arevery deserving to be preserved, repre-senting hundreds of hours of devotedefforts .

(Continued on page 26)

Above: Colorful Guatemalan kites and a whalesnake kite humanize steely New York .Upper right : Snakes and splendors on display .

By David M . CheckleyPhotographs byJean Louis Bloch-Laine

The Festival d'Automne a Paris pre-sented what is undoubtedly the bestkite exhibition staged to date at theFondation Salomon de Rothschild inParis, from Sept . 15 to Oct . 24, 1976 .The show covered some 500 square

meters and included over 250 kites fromFrance, Germany, Holland, England,Japan, India and Southeast Asia .

The Festival d'Automne a Paris is anannual program sponsoring a largevariety of cultural events, includingboth the performing arts and visualarts, such as performances by outstand-ing orchestras, soloists, and actinggroups as well as exhibitions of paint-ings and sculpture. The budget for thekite show was approximately $40,000 .

One feature of the exhibition was adisplay of unique long-tailed kitesmade by French artist JacquelineMonnier, and a superb audio-visualpresentation showing the flying of herkites, photographed by Louis Bloch-

Laine and with a soundtrack by GuyNoel . Mlle . Monnier makes squarecloth kites with separate tail streamersin the same material, about 15 in . wideby about 80 ft . long, which undulate inthe air like dragon kites . One series ofher kites, for "painting in the sky," in-cludes 15 to 20 identical kites with sub-tle variations of the same colors whichare flown together with remarkablebeauty. Others are done in primarycolors superimposed with painting andcutouts filled with clear plastic .

The kite exhibition was organized byMme . Dominique Pallut, who is re-

sponsible for all exhibit planning anddesign for the Festival d'Automne . Herprincipal collaborators were artistsJean-Michel Folon, Guy Selz andOlivier Mourgue, all of whom lent theirextensive personal kite collections,Jacqueline Monnier, and AKA memberTom Van Sant from Los Angeles . VanSant's major contribution was a hugeand spectacularly painted centipedekite, which was exhibited in the largeentry hall of the Rothschild mansion .Mme . Pallut commissioned 10 con-

temporary French and German artists(Continued on page 27)

Seen in the Paris exposition :Above: A novel craft by Francois MonchatreUpper left : Kite by Sabine Monirys

Festooned above the lobby weremany cobra kites, including some inripply silk by Heloise Lochman, re-sembling hooded snakes with flaredheads and trailing bodies . One of thesewas described as "the longest kite inthe world," its body being in the formof a whale and 175 feet long .

Also on display were some of TalStreeter's kite sculptures, his noted"flying red lines ."Reproductions showed the ancient

history of kites, the earliest representa-tion depicting the dragon-like effigiesthat were flown by medieval warriorsas they charged against the enemy . Theone displayed at this show was about

NEW YORK KITE SHOW(Continued from page 24)

15 feet long, with a fearsome head thatsnorted smoke from its nostrils as itswayed from side to side .On a panel, a portion of a wing il-

lustrated the ideas of Leonardo daVinci for a man-carrying aircraft, whilenearby was a copy of the form of kiteused by Benjamin Franklin in hisfamous test to show the electrical simi-larity between nature's lightning andman's chemical batteries .

Just about all shapes of early flat-and-tailed kites were shown, includingthe round-topped "pear" kite and thethree-stick "barn" forms . William A.Eddy's deltoid kite, Silas Conyne'striangular-celled winged kite, andFrancis Rogallo's Flexikite were in-cluded. Box kites included those offorms originated by Lawrence Har-

grave of Australia and Samuel Potterof Arlington, VA .

Many nationalities were represented .In front of an ancient print of Chinesekiteflying was a Garber reproductionof one shown in that picture, and near-by were grouped many examples ofcontemporary Chinese kites .An exhibit labeled "A Tail of Three

Cities" presented kites that had par-ticipated in the kite contests held an-nually in Canada, Bermuda and Wash-ington, DC, adjacent to a display ofwinners in a competition sponsored bythe Go Fly a Kite store, held in NewYork's Central Park . Japan was includedin a group of kites made by Teizo Hashi-moto, the last kitemaker in Tokyo . Thai-land kites shown were the male and fe-male forms used in "girl-catching" con-tests ; and the famous Oriental story ofthe thief who tried to steal the goldenfinials from the top of a temple by ris-ing to their height on a huge kite, wasillustrated by a spread-out picturiza-tion of that robber holding to the kitewith one hand as he tried to grasp theglittering ornament with the other . Afamous use of kites to pull carriageswas shown by a realistic drawing copiedfrom the contemporary account ofGeorge Pocock's "Char Volant" and anexample of the "arch top" kites he used .The most impressive exhibition of

the maneuverable kites of India wasa demonstration at the opening of theexhibit by Dinesh Bahadur, proprietorof the Come Fly a Kite store in SanFrancisco. In a hall about 100 x 50 ft .where the Westfield, NJ, band hadbeen playing selections for the en-tertainment of the large crowd thatattended the opening ceremony, Mr .Bahadur, standing on a central plat-form, handed a two-stick diamond-shaped kite to his lovely wife whostepped back several feet and held itby its lower point high over her head .Then with a flick of his hand, her hus-band jerked the kite into the air, letit fall a few feet, jerked it again and fedout more line, and within seconds, byrepeated jerks and darts the kite wasflown back and forth from near-misseswith the balcony, higher and higher,remaining aloft for more than a minute .This expert set a world record for suchindoor kiteflying, which now standsat more than an hour and a quarter.

Films shown in the gallery included"The Kite," a 15-minute IBM filmabout a boy who makes his own kite ;"The Master Kiteman," a 12-minuteMurray Mintz film featuring DineshBahadur, shown by courtesy of Barr

Impressive kites in the New York World Trade Center show included a smoke-puffing facsimileof a medieval dragon windsock and some original Alexander Graham Bell tetrahedral kiteslent by the Bell Museum of Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

Films ; and "Icarus MontgolfierWright," a 20- minute film about flighthistory, shown by courtesy of PyramidFilms .

Persons associated with the displayincluded Dr. William J . Ronan, Chair-man of the Port Authority of New YorkCity ; Mr. Guy F. Tozzoli, President ofthe World Trade Centers Association,Inc .; and Ms. Micki McCabe, Educa-tional Consultant to the World TradeCenter. She was chiefly responsible forthe design and coordination of theexhibit, and made many visits to othercities and museums to obtain significantkites and learn about kitemakers andfliers. The result was one of the bestexpositions on the science/art of kites .

Several cities have expressed a wishto borrow this exhibit, so it is pos-sible that those who did not see theshow in New York before it closed onJanuary 9, 1977, may have an oppor-tunity to enjoy it in their vicinity .It has also inspired an exhibit in Aprilat the Maryland Science Center in Bal-timore's new Inner Harbor. For fur-ther information, contact Ms . McCabe,P.O. Box 183, Greens Farms, CT 06436 ;or Anne Kurtz, Maryland Science Cen-ter, (301) 685-2370 .

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PARIS KITE DISPLAY(Continued from page 25)

to make kites for the exhibition, withno ground rules except that theyshould fly. The designs ranged fromintricately constructed sculptures toboldly painted flat kites in a widevariety of materials .The Festival also ordered a number

of large Sanjo hexagonal kites fromkitemakers in Shirone, Japan . Thesewere about seven feet tall, and wereexhibited in the entry hall and hungfrom the ceiling in the exhibit area .AKA member Tsutomu Hiroi assistedwith the Japan portion of the exhibi-tion, having arranged for the Shironekites and providing photographs andother graphic material . Hiroi visitedFrance during the summer to attend akitefly and to work with Mme . Pallutand the exhibit designers .

One section displayed a number ofEnglish kites made by Nick Morse,Dave Turner, Gabriel, Charley Hul-bert, David Pelham, Peter Kouesi, SeanRawnsley, Mark Cottrell, Elsie Rose,Tony Paine and Brookite, Ltd . Theonly U.S. kites exhibited besides TomVan Sant's were a couple of parafoilsby Domina Jalbert .

9 Drawing by Folon from the Festival d'Automne, Paris

I was bitten by the "kite bug" this pastsummer and I understand it is incur-able, especially when contracted at30 years of age ; the victim is then doom-ed to years of joy!

In response to readers interested inthe Marconi jib kite, I gladly share myexperience . It resulted in a first prizefor most original kite at the 1976 NewYork City Kite Festival .

By Maxwell Eden The instructions concerning theMarconi in both Newmans' Kite Craftand Pelham's Penguin Book of Kites areshort of being clear ; however, the di-mensions given by Pelham are mostreliable . Another variation (keelaftward) of the Marconi was written upby the late C. L. Strong in the "Ama-teur Scientist" section of the April 1969issue of Scientific American . Clive Hart's1964 Your Book of Kites also containsinstructions for building a Marconi,possibly the first written .

Pelham and Newman recommendusing wooden dowels for the spine andspar, 54 inches and 72 inches respec-tively, no less, which must be bowed .Assuming the authors meant for uskite builders to use 1/4" diameterdowels (if the craft is to be bowed with-out breaking) and that such dowelscould withstand the strain of the Mar-coni in flight, then I would like toknow where wooden dowels of thoselengths and diameter can be purchased .They're certainly not available in thenortheast. Both books also fail to men-tion that a kite like the Marconi theyillustrate, with a high aspect ratio(wider than it is long), needs a tail ordrogue for stability . Another problemwas framing fittings . I solved my Mar-coni problems this way :

FramingFiberglass rod is expensive and not theeasiest item to find, so I bought twosafety flag poles, the kind put on bikesto make them visible at night . Yes,these poles are fiberglass, 1/4" diam .,relatively cheap and virtually indes-tructible . These poles (rods) come inabout 8-ft . lengths, so they have to becut to size . Be careful : fiberglass rodsare glass; don't breathe the dust cut-tings. Cut them wearing a filter mask(like painters use) and preferably out-doors. Use a hobby razor saw or a fine-tooth hacksaw. Score the area to becut all around about 1/8-in. deep andthen saw completely through . Thisavoids splintering and makes a niceclean cut . A special thank-you forinformation about safely cutting fiber-glass goes to fellow kiteman and friend,Caleb Crowell, technical advisor ofWill Yolen's Complete Book of Kites andKiteflying; and flier of Indian fighterkites .

FittingsAttaching the bowstrings, bridle andother lines, such as the cord for makingthe fine jib adjustments, was anotherproblem. I discovered that the upperinner core of a solid air freshenercalled "Renuzit" (similar containers

Eden says, "Of course, you may experiment with any dimensions, but this flies beautifully."

Innovate

can be found on other brands) can bepulled right out of its plastic housingto find a new home, fitting snuglyover the 1/4-in. diam . fiberglass rods .With suitable holes made in this plasticcap, you can then easily make all yourattachments . An alternative to can-nibalizing a bunch of air freshenersis to use the metal guide replacementsused on fiberglass fishing poles . Thesemake excellent points to secure allyour lines. This method may meanmore work, but the finished productwill be well worth it .

SailsMy mother did all the expert sewing onmy Marconi, using a straight stitch onthe Tyvek' fabric, and setting a widestitch to prevent perforation . Tyvek isa spunbonded synthetic in variousgrades, well-known to most kite-makersbecause it is light, strong, stretch-resistant and almost impossible to tear .It is available through the larger kitestores, from L .G. Striegel (advertisedin Kite Lines), as scraps from manu-facturers of disposable clothing, andlastly, direct from DuPont's Spun-bonded Products Division. (DuPont isa last resort for a lone kite-maker,since the division is geared to handlinglarge quantity orders .)

And now what for a reel?Having built the Marconi, I needed areel that could handle this strongpulling kite. What spins freely on itsaxis, is strong, inexpensive (better, free)and can be adapted to make a kitereel? I experimented with plasticspools and the like, but none were tomy satisfaction . While rummagingthrough my tool-box one day, I founda slightly damaged pedal from my 10-speed bike. It works reasonably well,but it still helps to have a friend aroundwhen you want to haul her in . Abraking system to slow down or stopthe kite from taking out more line ismissing; I haven't come up with oneI like. Maybe you AKA members havesome suggestions .

EDEN'S TIPS ON ASSEMBLY

• A small V must be cut in top of main-sail for easy tying of nylon cord frombottom of spine to intersection ; thisgives uniform shape in flight (see brokenline on mainsail top view) . Strip ofcloth tape bisecting mainsail preventscord from cutting through Tyvek .• Tyvek must be hemmed and tipsreinforced with cloth tape ; then in-sert grommets through tape to facilitatetying of jibs and mainsail to rods . Re-member to add about 1/2 in. to all mea-surements on the Tyvek for seams .• Since the Tyvek sections are easilyremovable, you can dress the framewith other fabrics (cotton, rip-stopnylon, etc.) like a suit with severalpairs of pants .• Rubber ring washers are rolled overboth spine and spar. Plan before put-ting on so that order of insertion intobalsa block along with plastic tips isin sequence . Washers aid in keepingrods from moving out of place in flightor in a fall . Washers should be fit snugagainst the balsa wall, and cloth tapeadded for an inch or so after washers .This indicates proper setting, easilyvisible if adjustment of rods is nec-essary on the flying field .• Plastic tips are necessary for everyline attachment. They are placed asfollows :-on mast- on each end of both spine and spar-two on the lower half of the spine,

one 6 in . from the intersection and one

13 1/2 in. from the bottom .These last two will require you to drillthrough the plastic retainer so that theywill slide down the rod . Once in place,they will not move. Holes can be madewith a sharp nail all around the plasticretainer (four equally spaced is suf-ficient) for tying guidelines, attachingmainsail and jibs and finally for thebridle, which should be about twice aslong as the kite's width and meet in aloop approximately 1/3 of the way downfrom the front of the spine .• The spaces between the jibs are mark-ed at 3 in., but these are approximate .As long as they are equally set on bothjibs you will not have balance problems .

EDEN'S LAST WORD : FLYING

Finally, this kite pulls fairly stronglyuntil it adopts a steady attitude of about60 degrees. Have someone with youwhen you set sail . Leather gloves are amust. Bon voyage!

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Eden tells us this reel is "strong and suitable for light to heavy pulling kites ."

A Modified MarconiBy Dr. James DuffinAssociate Professor, University of Toronto

I was intrigued by the Marconi kite andbuilt one in 1970 when I used to kitewith a group at the round pond, Kens-ington Gardens, London . I am still fly-ing this kite .

It is modified from the original intwo ways . First, the rudder is suspendedbelow the kite rather than above inorder to avoid the awkward structure ofa vertical stick ; and second, the jibs areextended to overlap the mainsail in thefashion of a genoa jib on a sailboat .

The material used was nylon cloth sothat the jibs could pocket and shapethemselves into a full-bellied sail al-though careful attention had to be paidto matching the cloth bias symmetric-ally. The jibs were hemmed and rein-forced with cotton tape with a framingline of non-stretching linen cord (up-holstery thread) sewn in .

At each jib corner, I sewed in a metalring firmly attached to the framing line .The mainsail was made in one pieceand attached to it was a tube of widecotton tape extending the length of thekeel. The framing line for the mainsailwas threaded in one piece with bothends left free at the after end of thekeel . Rings were sewn into the outercorners of the mainsail .

The keel and cross strut were madeof duraluminum tubing 1/4-in . outerdiam . and 5/16 -in. outer diam . respec-tively, but appropriate wooden dowel-ing would do just as well . The crossstrut is made in two halves which fitinto a 6-in . long center piece of 5/16-in .inner diam. tubing bent to form the di-hedral . In this way the kite can be dis-assembled and rolled up on its keel .The outer ends of the cross struts areslotted to receive the rings from themainsails and jibs as was the forwardend of the keel .

To give the kite its correct shape andkeel curve, assemble the kite and thentighten both the forward keel fasteningof the jibs and the after keel fasteningof the mainsail framing line until thecorrect keel bowing has been achievedwith symmetry, and then tie perma-nently. The free jib ends are tied tocotton tapes which are fastened to thekeel tunnel, and these may be adjusted

to suit wind conditions .The bridling and rudders shown in

the drawing work well, but I am surethat many other designs could be used .The rudders are hung from the keel bytheir corners only, with free-floating1/4-in. wooden dowels sewn into theirleading edges .

This kite flies very well in low windsand the jibs are in effect a delta wing .Theoretically at least, the jibs are sup-posed to direct air flow across the uppersurfaces of the mainsail and provideextra lift .One difficulty in flying may be en-

countered, as with the deltas, andthat is a downward glide forwards withjibs flapping . This can be avoided bymaking sure that the keel is correctlycurved and the jibs are not fastened tooloosely. Another way is to make surethe flying line is kept taut, ready fora corrective jerk .I made another Marconi with a 6-ft .

span and only 1-ft . keel at one time,and although it flew well it always hada diving tendency which meant con-stant vigilance .

Those who are tired of flying deltasas a low wind kite may find this Mar-coni an interesting alternative .

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When the hot glue gun became avail-able to home workshop hobbyists sev-eral years ago, it was not hailed as agreat new advance for wood workers .The nature of the glue itself and thevery short working time it allows makeit useful for joining only rather smallpieces of wood .These very shortcomings, however,

make the glue gun highly useful to thekite builder, especially if your tasteruns to complicated kites with lots ofsticks .A glue gun consists of a handle, an

electrically heated melting chamberwhich is thermostatically controlled,and a nozzle which has an automaticcheck valve. Glue, in stick form, is fedinto the gun, as needed, by thumb pres-sure, from the rear. Guns are availablein most hardware stores for $5 or $6 .Glue sticks (a special grade of polyethy-lene) cost about $2 .40 for 60 sticks .

The biggest single advantage in usinga glue gun for kite building is the savingin time it allows . Hot melt glue doesnot dry or cure as glue usually does ; in-stead it hardens as it cools ; and thistakes less than a minute . As an example,a rigid Conyne (French war kite) whichhas 15 sticks and 12 joints can be builtin about an hour and a half, includingthe covering!Actual construction goes something

like this : Plug in the gun and wait forit to heat (about two minutes) . Squeezea small amount of glue onto the end ofone of the sticks to be joined and im-mediately touch it to its mating stick ;hold in place about 20 seconds until itstarts to set . During this cooling periodthe sticks may be wiggled or aligned toexactly where you want them. Whenthe glue has hardened enough to holdthe stick, go on to the next joint. Youwill find the glue is very tacky anddevelops strength rapidly as it cools .

Continue on in this way until all thejoints are lightly glued together. Thengo back to the first joint and add moreglue. Use more glue this time, but notenough that the first application isre-melted . After the third time around,you will have neat, slightly flexible,and strong joints . If you want to get

fancy, you can use the nose of the gunto re-melt a little glue on the surfaceand smooth out any lumps or roughspots. Also, any excess glue can beremoved at this time with a small pieceof clean stick .This re-melting capability is an

important advantage ; broken sticks canbe replaced easily in just a few seconds,and likewise, if you are an experimenter(aren't we all'), sticks can be quicklychanged or moved. You will find thatthe ability to build quickly, togetherwith the new-found freedom to changethings, will alter your whole approachto kite building .

A few words of caution :• Sooner or later, if' you use a glue

gun very much, you will get some hotglue on your skin (most guns dribblea bit). If this happens, you almost cer-tainly will get a first or second degreeburn. The only defense is to cool theglue immediately ; you can't wipe it offfast enough to do any good . You cansave yourself by dunking your hand ina bowl of cold water which you havehad the foresight to keep handy onthe work bench. Because of the burnhazard, glue guns are not suitable foryoung children to use .

• Glue guns are definitely not life-time tools ; I have worn out or brokenthree in about four years . The easiest

way to break one is to drop it on ahard floor. To obviate this, wrap thecord around something so that if it fallsit can't reach the floor .

• If you should leave your gun plug-ged in for several hours without usingany glue, you may find that at the nextuse the glue has become thick or stringyor both. If this happens, run some freshglue through the gun (maybe as muchas a whole stick) until the glue clearsup and runs freely again . Throw thestringy stuff away.

• Be careful about storing kites invery hot places (attics or car trunks) .The glue will not melt but will softenenough that cold flow (warm flow?)of stressed joints may take place afterseveral hours .

• Don't buy any but the simplest andcheapest . Fancy guns, which boast fea-tures like three heats, or speciallyshaped glue sticks, or trigger feed, arenot worth the extra money .So up and at `em, glue gunners ;

there's a whole new world out there!Bring on those big tetrahedrons and50-element dragon kites!

0ART KURLE is an engineer who makesinnovative, prize-winning kites. His best-known design, the Four-Masted Schoonerappears both right side up and upside downin the Newmans' book Kite Craft .

HotKite Building:

By Arthur Kurle

The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basket-WeaveMark Two Gentleman's Flying Machine

Creation of Rowland Emett

"TECHNICAL DATA: The machine is constructed of cane wind-breaks from little-known French vineyards and the wings aresupported upon willowy saplings : all major control surfaces arecovered with wild silk, suitably tamed . Power is provided bya Wandering Hot-Air Brazier and a swarm of underslung silverbutterflies provide a trivial lift to the nose section . There is afull-time Auto-Pilot F .R.E.D. (Freehand Remembering EmpiricalDoodling system) and the co-pilot Rover in a combined pet-pod and windsock . The rudder provides a First Class dickey-seat for Cirro Cumulus 11, the pilot's personal pleasure cat .Main wheels retract into semi-buoyant shrimp-like nacelles andEiffle' Altimeter gives those three heights every well-foundpilot should know -Canal level, Our Chimney, and Milky Way ."

From as far as 70 miles . people come to Cleveland's RandallPark Mall to see and chuckle over Rowland Emett's"Featherstone-Kite," on view till August . Emett has been calledthe British Rube Goldberg, but his talents are in fact far morewhimsical and satiric . He creates both drawn cartoons and theirsculptural counterparts that whir, clink, puff, whistle and makea mockery of all that is sacred in the Victorian past and thecard-punching future . Fantasticator Emett calls his antic workssimply "Things," though turning that wit into machinery can bethe work of as many as 15 craftsmen who weld, forge and gluehis pieces of social commentary out of such antique componentsas doorknobs, bathtubs, lamp shades, Victrola horns, soupstrainers, wicker and wiring . Among his spooferies are the in-credible whatchamacallits of the 1968 movie "Chitty ChittyBang Bang," and the Forget-Me-Not computor, now at theOntario Science Center, Toronto, which does everything exceptcompute, and contains an eeny-meeny-miney-mo system withwoodpeckers as keypunchers. During a recent visit to Cleveland,Emett invited to lunch a boy and girl he found laughing to-gether, watching the moving mockeries. The two are now en-gaged, and as a memento of their meeting, the boy gave thegirl a print of Emett's sketch (reproduced here courtesy ofRowland Emett, through Lillian Daniels of Joseph Horne Co .) .We who love kites can see that the relationship of the Feather-stone-Kite fantasy to real kites is tenuous ; but we can alsosee that the invention, as an expression of the feathery spiritthat flutters at the heart of kiteflying, is genuine . Is there atrue kiteflier among us without lunacy?

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Watch the world's largest kite rise intothe sky with the awesome grace of agiant ocean liner? See the traditionallyquiet, reserved Japanese with theirhair down? Enjoy the utter pandem-onium of an ancient Japanese festival,religion, and sport all rolled into one?Learn the meaning of the phrase takokichi and immediately turn into oneyourself? The key to these riddles willbe found on a visit to Japan in May andreveal a little known aspect of Japaneseculture sure to fascinate new as wellas experienced travelers to the Orient .If you plan to be in Japan in April

for the cherry blossoms, be sure to stayin May and June for the kite festivals .If you miss the cherry blossoms, by allmeans go especially for the kites .

HAMAMATSU

The Hamamatsu City (on the PacificOcean side of central Honshu just twohours south of Tokyo) kite festival onMay 3rd, 4th, and 5th is beyond adoubt a kite enthusiast's ultimate fan-tasy come to life .The visitor catches the excitement

and festive spirit immediately as hesteps off the Shinkonzen Bullet trainat Hamamatsu Station . People millingaround outside the station wear brightfestival happi coats, a man with a tamemonkey entertains the children, andpeople chatter together in anticipation,lining up for buses which will takethem to the kiteflying arena .

Though not immediately visible, thekitefliers raise a cloud of dust andpandemonium which infects the wholecity-no small feat considering Ham-amatsu is a city of 500 thousand and thetako kichi, kite crazy visitors, swell thepopulation to more than a million .They come from all over Japan, fromall levels of society. The Japanese Im-perial family has attended past festi-vals as have royalty from abroad .Businessmen, clerks, millionaires,noodle-makers, Europeans and Ameri-cans (though foreigners are only ahandful in number) will have comefrom afar. All are drawn by what mustseem to the uninitiated rather far-fetched stories of unfettered behaviorcentered on (who would believe it?)toy kites . Transformation from noodle-maker or millionaire, however, isnearly certain, for those who arrive inHamamatsu drawn only by curiosityare guaranteed to depart the city asfull-fledged kite fanatics .c Tal Streeter 1977

For the festival activities, the city isdivided into 49 districts, each districtsponsoring kites and a flying team of50 men . Team members range fromeight-year-olds just learning the trum-pet signals (necessary to be heard overthe arena din) to the district's strongestyoung men who race violently forward,pumping up and down on the longkite line, bodily running their kitesup into the sky where the winds arestrongest, to the older team members,men in their sixties who supervise thelarge, complicated reels on wheeledcarts which let out and take in asneeded the thousands of feet of kiteflying line . Each team will have asmany as 75 kites paid for by subscrip-tions and contributions from familiesof first sons born in the preceding year.

Two hundred and fifty years ago theHamamatsu kites were flown as con-gatulatory symbols given by Shintopriests and friends to families blessed

with firstborn sons . The kite's flightwas noted then as a kind of divinationor prophesy of the tiny baby's future .At some point in time now lost in thecity's history, the young men who flewthe kites in congratulatory displaystook to fighting their neighbor's kites .This kite fighting, today highly forma-lized and held in a natural amphi-theater, Nakatajima, right on the Paci-fic Ocean, is what we have come towatch .

To describe Hamamatsu kiteflyingaccurately would require some kind ofexcited babble-like overlapping ofwords for it is hard indeed and perhapsmisleading to sort out the confusionthat greets the Hamamatsu festivalvisitor's eyes and ears . The kites areall of identical size and construction,bamboo and paper, square with roundedcorners, a bamboo pole running up themiddle, which one man grasps pre-paratory to flight holding the kite high

over his head . Only the kite's brilliantlycolored dye decorations identify eachdistrict's kite. The kites range in sizefrom three to 14 feet square (the smallerones are flown on windy days and thelarger ones on calmer days) . Teammembers wear short happi coats dec-orated with the distinctive districtdesign and colors to be found on theirkite . All 49 teams are packed togetherin the flying arena (about the size ofa football field) at one time . Addingto the confusion on the flying field areswarms of photographers, districtfriends and families and tako kichis, thelatter, in a virtually hypnotic trance-like state of pleasure, drawn from thesurrounding arena bleachers right intothe heart of the festival kiteflying likebugs trying to get inside the glass of abright light bulb .The staccato commands of trumpets

pierce the din and shouts of encourage-ment echo through the dust and tur-

moil. Tabi-socked feet pound the groundchurning up a low-hanging cloud ofdust out of which a tangle of flyinglines emerge, their kites suddenlydarting, climbing upward . Team mem-bers are evenly spaced out along theflying line holding it with a deter-mination that squeezes the color out oftheir tightly clenched fists . Once in theair, kites are maneuvered into positionto try to cut each other's string (tuggingback and forth on the main flying lineoverlapping an opponent's lighterbridle at the kite's face will break itand set the kite free) or escape to aless threatened position more favor-able to turning the tables on an ag-gressive attacker. On the ground, teamline-men suddenly tumble backwardin a jumble as their attacked kite is cutfree of its flying line and flutters lan-guidly downward, no longer engaged inbattle and now nearly lifeless, floatingto and fro like an autumn leaf falling

from a giant tree . The loser's free lineis swiftly rewound onto the reel as thekite team rushes off to replace its lostkite with a new one . Each team will fly50 to 75 kites depending on their skilland luck during the three days of theHamamatsu festival .

SHIRONE

Another kite festival battle takesplace on the Northern side of Honshudirectly opposite Tokyo on the JapanSea in the rural town of Shirone (pop-ulation 33,000) . Two styles of kites areflown and fought here ; one is large andone, by comparison, is small . Thelarger kite is known in Japan as o-dako,the giant kite .

The giant kites of Shirone are flownin a festival beginning on June 6th andlasting six days through June 11th .Three hundred of these giant 22-ft .high x 16 1/2 ft . wide rectangular kites,joined by another thousand smaller,eight-foot-high hexagonally shapedkites duel in Shirone's clear sum-mer air during the six days of the fes-tival .

The kites are lofted from either sideof a wide man-made canal by opposingteams who pluck each other's kitesright out of the sky, their rope lineswrapped around each other in a battlewhich leaves the downed kites help-lessly entangled straddling the canalwaters-into which they finally fallcompleting their brief lives . The finalvictor in this unforgettable battle be-gun far overhead in the sky is deter-mined by a noisy, exuberant tug of waron the ground . The kite teams (11 al-together) are joined by the festival au-dience stumbling over each other tograb the kite rope, pulling for all theyare worth. Finally one poor brokenkite-sometimes which one is difficultto determine-decides enough isenough . Bamboo ribs cracking sharply,it separates from the main flying lineand is yanked across the canal waterstoward the shouts and cries of thecontest's victors .Interestingly enough, neither Shir-

one nor Hamamatsu keep official re-cords of these kite victories and de-feats . They long ago found that feelingswere too easily bruised when reputa-tions were on public record and todaythere is more happily some latitudefor heated discussions as to whose teamis the best .

In Shirone the kite action is dispersed,taking place on either side of the Naka-

nokuchi Canal between two bridges alittle more than a mile apart . As con-trasted to Hamamatsu kiteflying whichhas been rigorously regimented withelaborate and precise equipment andseparation of flying responsibilitiesinto distinct components, Shironekiteflying is relatively simple and in-formal. Fliers will hand their flyingline to a bystander, allowing him toenjoy the feel of the wind - the kite faroverhead never stops communicatingto the hand at the other end . Kite-flying in Hamamatsu is a kind of ex-clusively male sport while at Shironea young girl may be seen in the midstof the 8 to 12 member flying team run-ning off at full tilt down the canal path,pulling their kite behind them, alldropping in exhaustion at the far bridge .The giant kite feels like a heavy

anchor one is trying to force bodily tofly up into the sky . The legs cry out inpain as if they are running in slowmotion sinking deep into wet sand, theheart is deafening in its pounding .The flying giant, however, is rewardingbeyond belief; a huge object slowly,majestically rising into the sky, largeenough to block out the sun, beautifulenough to evoke a collective sigh fromthe Shirone audience which may beheard for miles around . The kite-fliers knew the giant kite would flyagain as it had every year but even theyare unprepared for that moment offlight, the reality of their magnificento-dako floating above them in the sky .

HOSHUBANA

There is yet one more kite exper-ience a traveler to Japan's central is-land might seek out in the spring andearly summer. In this festival only fourkites are flown and although they wereonce fighting kites, they now no longerduel in the sky. All of the four kitesare o-dako, giant kites . The two largestare the largest kites in the world andthey have flown above the tiny villageof Hoshubana every year for almost acentury.An hour north of Tokyo on a trip

through lovely rural countryside sce-nery you may join the crowd of visi-tors-100,000 and not too large byJapanese standards - flowing into thetiny, normally sleepy, time-worn farmvillage of Hoshubana, coming to gapeat the awesome sight of the flight ofthe world's largest kite . Hoshubana'senormous bamboo and paper kite is 48ft. high by 36 ft . wide . Including itsbridle and flying line it weighs nearly2,000 pounds and requires the carefullycoordinated team work of 50 men tosuccessfully launch it . The sight is nota bit less impressive, and is certainlymore exciting than the launching of agreat ocean liner. Amazingly, given thefact that not even the great Japanesekitemen can command the winds, theHoshubana o-dako has flown on eitherMay 3rd or 5th, the two days of thefestival, every year without interrup-tion for nearly a century .

Preparations for the festival willhave involved at least one member ofeach of Hoshubana's households (itspopulation is a little over 2,000) fromas early as January. Bamboo "parent"bones, the strongest bones of the kite,are saved from year to year, but re-quire periodic replacement. Smallerbones are freshly cut and integratedinto the main structure, lashed togeth-er as a kind of huge shoji paper screenframework. Fifteen hundred sheets ofspecially handmade paper are thencarefully pasted together at their edgesto form the one single sheet of paper-larger than most billboards-whichforms the kite's surface . All the moreunusual and a testimonial to thestrength of Japanese handmade paper,the kite paper's thickness is roughly theequivalent of a bond typing paper. Anelderly and slightly built calligraphymaster wields a huge brush almost asbig as himself, dipping its bristles big-ger than a horse's tail into tubs of ink,swirling the brush with bravado toform the vigorous calligraphic char-

acters over 20 feet high which decoratethe kite's surface . Two giant kites areflown together to spell out a completemessage, "Year of the Rat" or similarlegend decided upon by the officialo-dako association .Next the paper is attached to its

bamboo frame and two hundred sep-arate bridles are positioned across theface of the giant kite, tied at regularintervals through the paper at thejunction points of parent bones . Thewhole kite is then lifted vertically ontoa supporting structure, a scafford es-pecially designed to provide the kitemakers with a platform for making de-licate adjustments to the complicatedbridles with the kite in an uprightflying position . If the bridles arenot exactly symmetrically aligned fromside to side the kite will never fly up(a principle which applies to normal-sized kites as well) .

Now the kite is ready to fly . As Iimagine it must each year, a hushcomes over the noisy crowd of cele-brants. Breaths are sucked in andmouths drop open in wonder as the 50-man flying team runs with the kiteline diagonally down the slight slopeof a dry riverbed embankment . Thegiant kite moves ponderously, slowlyupward, finally to hover in completedisregard of the laws of gravity andnot too far above so that its size asviewed from the ground is still awe-some. If there are truly things one mustsee to believe, the Hoshubana o-dakomust surely be one of them .The Japanese welcome visitors (and

visitors to Japan are always treatedlike special guests) to their kite fes-tivals . For the incurably romantickite fancier, a visit will beginpleasurably when the plane touchesdown at Tokyo International Airport,Haneda, "winged rice paddy," andquickly soar up into the sky again onthe back of a proud, gaily coloredJapanese kite. While in Japan, the skystill begins at the feet and reachesout into space, a Japanese kite singingwith excitement to the earth-bound ofthe sky, ancient times, and eternity . 0THE STREETER . FAMILY has traveledthroughout Southeast Asia and lived inboth Japan and Korea. Tal went to Japanexpressly to study traditional Japanesekite-making and while there made andexhibited large kites in Tokyo's most pres-tigious art gallery, the Minami Gallery . Hisbook The Art of the Japanese Kite is aclassic in its field and is now being trans-lated into Japanese .

MORE READING ONHAMAMATSUNational Geographic Magazine has sched-uled a 12-page picture story on theHamamatsu Kite Festival for the April1977 issue (to be mailed in mid-March) .The article was photographed byDavid Harvey of Richmond (also akite enthusiast), who spent three weeksin Hamamatsu last April and May withDave Checkley researching the back-ground material and taking picturesof the kitemaking and kiteflying . TheHamamatsu Kite Festival is probablythe largest and oldest event in kiting,haying a 400-year history and attract-ing one-and-one-half to two millionvisitors annually .

D. C .

KITES ELSEWHEREIN THE PRESSSpring regularly brings editors outlooking for kite news . For 1977, thewestern edition of Better Homes andGardens for April will carry a story onkite activities in the west . AmericanHome in its March issue will publishan article on kiteflying . These areknown to Kite Lines at press time ; othersmay develop .

Dave Checkley of Seattle is organizinghis fourth group tour to the HamamatsuKite Festival for 1977, probably leavingthe West Coast (Seattle, San Franciscoor Los Angeles) by Pan Am Airlines onApril 30 and returning on May 14 . Thegroup will fly to Tokyo via Honolulu,stay there overnight, and proceeddirectly to Hamamatsu (midway be-tween Tokyo and Osaka) for the three-day event on May 3. 4 and 5 . Sixtyneighborhood teams of 50 to 150 meneach fight with huge kites, up to 150square feet .The last day of the festival always

falls on Boy's Day, May 5, which is oneof the most colorful holidays in Japan,as all of the houses are decorated withcoi, or carp, to celebrate the boys inthe family. It is also an ideal time tovisit Japan, as the weather is usuallybest before the summer rainy season,and before the hot weather sets in .Following the Hamamatsu Kite Fes-

tival the group will travel to othercities and villages in Japan to visit

local kitemakers and have a firsthandlook at regional kite designs . They willalso attend a kitefly as guests of theJapan Kitefliers Association. Last yearJKA staged a big event at Tamamagawa,near Tokyo, with over 2 .000 kitefliersfrom all over Japan demonstratingmany different types of traditionalJapanese kites as well as a numberof new designs .

Details of the tour are not completeat press time, but the price will pro-bably be less than $1,000 for the twoweeks, including air fare from theWest Coast and return (discount onconnecting fares from other U .S . andCanadian locations), hotels, and trans-portation in Japan . So as not to imposeon the Japanese hosts, the group will belimited to 30 persons . If you are in-terested in joining the tour, block outthe first two weeks of May on yourcalendar and write for more informa-tion to Dave Checkley . The Kite Fac-tory, Box 9081, Seattle, AVA, 98109 .

Dave Checkley

Hamamatsu: How to get there

What's New:Kits. Books, Sundries

KitesBy Mel GovigThis issue's assistants :Pete Ianuzzi and Rick Kinnaird

TWO OCTOPUS KITESWe had the pleasure to test two flyingdenizens of the deep blue skies made ofmodern materials : the black-and-whiteTyvek 'Octopus from the San FranciscoKite Factory ($9 to $11 retail) and theMylar® Octopus from Mylar Star ($3 toS5 retail . A similar product is made byQuicksilver Kites, but it was not flown .)

Both models are shortened, slit-tailedversions of the familiar Mylar dragons,and fly with the same characteristic., activity," perhaps a degree more ac-tive because of the shorter tail and theloss of lift you get in the first 30% or soof the tail . The heads and bridles areexactly the same in construction as thedragons ; both models tested have two-point bridles on a framework of a singlehead-circling bow and upright centerstick. The Tyvek model had an extracross-piece in the head, probably dueto its larger size, and the "sticks" werevinyl tubes .

Of the two kites we sampled, theMylar was the better performer ; lighterand narrower relative to its tails, itflew on very light winds and got muchmore flutter in the air from the tails .Both kites launched easily, from thehand in a five mile-per-hour breeze ;or in lighter winds with the help of afriend or by laying the kite face downon the ground and tugging it up . TheMylar octopus flew steadily in a threemile-per-hour breeze . The Tyvekoctopus barely held its head up in afour mile-per-hour breeze and pro-bably requires five miles per hour ormore to fly well . The Tyvek model wetested was not very well balanced andwent into a sharp left spin when theline was pulled in or the wind gustedover ten miles per hour.

Both kites have a music of their own,with the rustle of eight tails cracklingin the breezes . I believe a youngsterwill find these exciting and easy fliers .Both come assembled, ready to fly, inan attractive, handy carrying bag . In-structions were limited but so was theneed for them .

THE CORNER KITECarol Rogallo's new "Corner Kite"(about $30 retail) was a pleasant sur-prise. Designed by her dad, FrancisRogallo, this kite looks like a crossbetween a TV antenna and a markerbuoy, and that's appropriate . Originallydesigned to be a radar corner reflector,it was developed as a distress signalfor the Navy under Rogallo patents .Rather than design a kite that wouldlift a corner reflector, Rogallo deviseda radar reflector that flew as a kite .This non-metallic, nylon rip-stop

version shows its ancestry. Here is afive-foot box kite that flies in a fouror five mile-per-hour wind, folds up toabout 2 ft . x 4 in ., can be coaxed intothe air when ground winds are onlyfour or five-miles-per-hour if you letout a good long line and have a friendlaunch it by tossing it in the air . It is notan active kite . It flies in a straight lineinto the wind and drifts gently backdown its own flight path . The CornerKite is not a hard puller (has a one-point bridle) in moderate winds .

It is quite beautiful, horizontal in theair, and not at all like a TV antenna .There are good printed assembly in-structions. Each kite is numbered seri-ally in production (we flew number 18) .This kite was built as a novelty, foraficionados, but in fact a novice couldfly it .

SOME NEW FIGHTERSFighter kites are my special love, andI like to fly and compare them . TheKung Flew Kite (retail about $3 to $5,Ampac International, San Rafael, CA)was fun to fly. Come Fly a Kite andothers have similar models under othertrade names, so the type is available .Its distinction is its bamboo Indianfighter sticks (the old) combined with .5mil Mylar cover (the new) .

In flying fighter kites, the secret isto endure, and have your kite endure,

long enough to learn how to fly it . TheMylar cover assures that . The printedinstructions with this, and most fighterkites sold in the U .S., are very goodand will reward the patient flier with awhole new world of kiteflying fun .

For those of you who have not flownthe one-line maneuverables, the secretto their flight is that on a light line theyfly like flat kites without tails : theyspin. But a slight tug on the line andthey sweep into a sharp dihedral (V)and dart off in whatever direction theyare pointed, even straight down. Toperform well, the kite should spinwithout losing altitude and move outfast when pulled (and stop quicklywhen slacked) . Kung Flew did thesethings well in breezes from two to tenmiles per hour.

The model I had to test had a poorlybalanced spar, so it would usually spinonly one direction. In comparison, thewell-known Vic's Fighter Kites aremore carefully made and will spin will-ingly in either direction . They aremuch more predictable and thereforeeasier to learn to fly, although theymight not be quite so fast as the KungFlew and other classic Indian fighters .

Another group of Mylar fighters (byseveral manufacturers) is plagued bya design problem that makes them slideoff to one side and hit the groundunder certain conditions . These aremade with a fiberglass spar and rattancenter stick without any bow in it .

Kung Flew and other fighters are notfor little kids . But the Mylar coveredfighters open this special sport to teen-agers and older kids .

THE BETTER BUILTSThe popular Gunther keel kites fromGermany have been copied for U .S .manufacture by Go Fly a Kite in NewYork City. The Better Built kites in-clude an Eagle (retailing at about $5)and a Biplane (about $4 retail . Thereare also two other models at about $3and $4 retail, which we did not test .)These kites have the same high qua-

lity of workmanship and materials astheir German parents . Plastic con-nectors and pre-cut sticks make as-sembly quick and easy (although thelittle sticks in the tail can be lost easilyunless you secure them with a rubber

What's New(Continued)

band when not assembled). Keel-guid-ed, they are very easy to launch andfly, although the two flew very dif-ferently .The Biplane has the same general

shape as the Schmetterling kite, andflies very easily and stably. Unlikemany deltas made of vinyl, it seems tohave very little trouble at groundlevel .

The Eagle was a little more ticklishto get up, probably due to its highaspect ratio . It tended to take greatpendular sweeps before it rose highenough to settle down and took an oc-casional spiral loop when it reachedflying altitude. The Biplane has a verysteady backward glide on a slack lineand can be "pumped" up to flying windlevel so long as there is enough wind(two miles per hour) to keep the kitedownwind .The printed designs are bright and

colorful and only slightly less realisticthan the Gunthers on the ground, butvery bird-like and plane-like in theair. There are assembly instructions butno flying instructions, though for theBiplane instructions are probably notneeded. For the "Buy America" move-ment, Better Builts look like a wel-come addition .

THE WRIGHT FLYER KITE KITBy William R . Bigge

The market for kits seems to be quitedistinct from that for kites . There seemto be plenty of people out there who likethem and support the kit industry as itcontinually produces new items .

Stratton Air Engineering is almost alonein manufacture of kite kits. Their kitesare generally of good quality and not ex-pensive, considering their "ingredients, "though builders must willingly contributetime also .

The appeal of kits may be that they com-bine the pleasure of personal handcraftwith a sure result. Depending on the kit,the crafter may be called upon for con-siderable innovation and expertise . Thecommon standard is that the more the kitguarantees a result, however complicatedor time-consuming, the better it is .It's something of an achievement to

build a Stratton kite. Enough so, in fact,that most kite contest judges look twiceat a Stratton before dismissing it as a merekit kite; usually the maker has invested alot of sweat and gray-matter equity in it.

No spurner of these kits is Bill Bigge,who has made and flown Strattons before,though his original airplane kites are hisspecialty. For this report he spent about20 hours making the new Wright Flyerkite, plus about one hour flying it in thearctic conditions of mid-winter Washing-ton, DC. This kit retails for about S11 .50in most kite and hobby shops.

General CommentsStratton Air Engineering kits are fortrue airplane kites and are of someinterest on that basis . This kit is notas difficult to make as the most chal-lenging model airplane kits, but it isa lot harder than usual for a kite . Iwould recommend it for adults or pre-cocious youngsters only.

The picture on the kit box shows akite with many differences in detailand is less helpful than one wouldexpect .The large number of plastic con-

nectors is impressive but confusing .The fact that the first drawing for thebottom wing center shows the wrongconnectors does not help confidence .I think double-checking of all open-ings of all connectors in a given sub-assembly should precede any gluing .A drawing of the plastic "tree" withall items identified as to final locationwould have been helpful .

Even though all the wood is supplied,it is still worthwhile to select the flaw-

less lengths for the outer wing panelspars, the only use that seemed at allcritical .

Paper gussets are probably adequatewith lap joints as used here . The foldedpaper pilot adds to the appearance .It is explicitly stated on the plan thatthe covering must remain porous forbest flight stability . Such frankness iscommendable. The greatest object-ion with Silkspan" use relates to sen-sitivity to weather. A number of other-wise flyable days are wet enough thata paper kite should not be flown .

AssembleThe wing centers are shown beingassembled right side up . This is lessconfusing but actual assembly is moreconvenient upside down .

Pre-cutting the paper for the outerwing panels worked quite well, althoughI would somewhat prefer to trim thepaper after covering either the innerrib or outer rib .When cutting the paper for the

elevator I think it is worthwhile toleave enough margin that the papercan be attached to the vertical edgeof the outline, so it does not have tobe pulled down between the ribs .

During construction of the centersection, it can be tipped onto its front,the spars and struts made perpendi-cular and the assembly left to dry.

For the elevator control threads, itis much easier and seems more satis-factory in several ways to tie an ad-justable loop around the assembly foreach pair of threads . Adjust for a slighttension and for parallelism, then glue .Later, remove top and bottom of loopif desired .

I made a few errors . For one, I gotglue into the rudder post supports .This probably reduced the frictionsomewhat when the post was made tofit. To keep the rudder aligned againstflight loads and moderate landingshocks I added a line tied around thebottom of each rear interplane strutand running around the bottom ofthe rudder. It is tight enough to keepthe rudder from turning when itshouldn't but allows adjustment . Itcan also be slipped off the rudder toavoid fatigue between flights .

For the hinge pin, which is not act-ually shown on the plan, I used an1/8-in. dowel, sanded to snap throughthe elevator control arm and cut toabout 1/16-in. thickness to be boundand glued to the elevator control stick .

The friction ring provides too littlefriction for my taste . The friction is

What's New(Continued)

readily increased by inserting a stick -possibly tapered-opposite the ele-vator control stick, thus deformingthe ring .In order that the wings can be

readily attached and removed andalso set either with or without dihedral,it is necessary to do some filing of the12 fittings . This should be done withenough care that the two wings on eachside are interchangeable .

Flying ItThe Wright Flyer may be more criticalthan some of the Stratton Squadronline because of a lack of sweepback . Itis rugged, though, and as somewhat ofa scale model, its free-flight glidingability may be highly valued by some .The center of gravity seems a bit

far back for a stable glide . This maymake it more manageable as a kite,especially with the elevator adjustmentprovided .

I flew the kite easily with a singleforward tether instead of the three-leg bridle specified . Two-, three-, four-or (with elastic leg) five-leg bridlescould be rigged to give a variety offlight characteristics . The single for-ward tether naturally gives a low maxi-mum line angle but it is in some waysthe least critical. If you like elasticbridles this kite should benefit fromone in terms of high maximum lineangle and low tension variation .

At a scale of 0.12 a full-scale speedof 35 miles per hour translates to a4.2 mile per hour "visual" scale speedor a dynamic scale speed of 12 .12 milesper hour. The reference to "very scaleperformance" could be misleadingbut most builders probably do not careor perhaps even know about dynamicsimilarity. It is just as well that thethree-dimensional wing loading ismuch lower on the kite ; I would notlike to have to be a pilot 2 .9 times asquick as one of the Wrights .

Giving slack when it rolls as muchas 30 ° or so seems to make the kitefly reasonably safely. It tends to turnaway from the operator when it isbanked and the line is slacked .

The Wright Flyer has a very interest-ing appearance. More than once dur-ing my flying it was identified by aspectator as a Wright design . Thoughsomewhat more work to make and flythan other Squadron kites (the builderis well advised to make another Strattonkite first), the Wright Flyer is a specta-

cular kite . I referred several inquir-ies to the local kite shop. These kitsmust be popular, too . at the Smith-sonian National Air and SpaceMuseum gift shop, near the originalWright Brothers Kitty Hawk craft .

BooksBy Valerie Govig

TEACHING KITESBlown Sky-High, by Margaret Greger,illustrated by Joan Slattery Newcomb(Richland, WA, 1977), 88 pages, S3 .50 .

For seven years Margaret Greger hasbeen "committing kites in the class-room," and she knows there is no sub-stitute for real hands-on experience .Her book is not intended to be allthings to all people, but rather to zeroin on the problem of achievable, suc-cesful kitemaking in group settings (ofwhich the school is the prime, but notthe only example) . Thus the kite de-signs she offers are deliberately sel-ected and modified to be as simple aspossible without sacrifice of sureness .The only deviation from this standardthat I could find was her sled, whichcould have been simpler .

Kite Lines was privileged to see thisbook in manuscript. There are 14 kitesincluded, a good variety, some of themnew to me-the Vietnamese kite, theStapled Sled, the Dutch kite . Fabrickites are a strong point, and the in-structions for these are standardizedand simplified .Suggestions also are included for

relating kites to the curriculum inmath, science and art . Despite thisseriousness, the fun of the flying comesthrough. The author's cheer and senseof humor sneak in throughout the book .

The illustrations (by an expert kite-maker) are nicely done, and the dia-grams are clear and accurate (no smallnor common achievement) .

Teachers and other adults who at-tempt the daunting task of workingwith children and kites simultaneouslywill find this book The Answer. Butthey may not find this book . It is self-published and will not be on yourneighborhood bookstore shelf. How-ever, it is timed to be out before theMarch crush . May it find its specialaudience . (See Kite Lines Classifieds)

This issue's test models were supplied byThe Kite Site in Georgetown, DC, for theOctopi and Corner Kite, and Go Fly a Kite,New York City, for the Better Builts .

ARIZONA

The Rev . Kenneth Edward Seim,valued member of the American Kite-fliers Association for the past severalyears, died suddenly on Nov. 6, 1976,at his home in Sun City, AZ, at the ageof 67 .

A Doctor of Theology and founderof the Colonial Church of Edina, MN .he held many important positions inreligious organizations . After retiringto Sun City in 1972, Dr. Seim becamewell-known in the community as akiteflier. He built many kites and dis-tributed them generously to those whoexpressed an interest . A photo showinghim flying a huge delta kite with hisdaughter, appeared in one issue ofKite Tales .Dr. Seim was an early member of

AKA and wrote frequent letters withhelpful information .

Survivors are his wife, Joyce TenneySeim ; two daughters, Sybil AnnRombauer and Sarabess Mercer ;mother, Mrs . Emma Linder ; a sister,Aileen Benthin ; and five grand-children .At the request of Mrs . Mercer, we

are including a short poem written bya colleague of Dr. Seim's :

Beginning new lifeIn eternal timeThe Lord gives His greetingTo Kenneth Seim.`Here you can fly with all My mightFor I am the sky, you are the kite . "

CALIFORNIA

Louis Denozv reports from San Diego abouthis experiences:

My 3-ft. Eddy wouldn't fly straight,so I thought I would experiment withweights. I added a ball of putty, about1/2-in. diam., to the end of the hori-zontal stick that needed pulling down .It didn't seem to do very much .

Picturing a kite as somewhat similarto a sailboat, I put the putty on thebottom of the vertical stick (addingweight to the keel) . Unbelievably, thismade the' kite very unstable . Itwouldn't fly upright and wanted todive to either side . Since by now alllogic was destroyed, I next put theputty on top . You guessed it, it becameextremely stable and well-behaved .

Next, with Vic Heredia, we triedweights on one of his small, well-bal-anced fighters . You would think that aball of putty about 3/8-in . diam . on theend of the horizontal member wouldcripple such a kite's flying ability . Itflew only about 15 0 off to one side . Vicsaid that certainly destroys the theoryof mending kites : that a patch put onone side of a kite should be balancedwith an equal amount of material at-tached to the other side .

Next we put the putty on top of thespine . The kite became so stable itwould hardly fight -that is, it almostrefused to turn from the upright posi-tion when the line was slacked off. Andwhen the putty was put on the bottom,and the line was slacked off, the kitespun like a top .

How can these results be explained?Why does a kite fly up? If a kite werenot aware of gravity it would fly inany direction . Yet when you add weightto the "keel" it becomes less stable .These experiments suggest that anykite tail should have wind resistancebut should be as light as possible .

In further experiments, to what limitcould I keep adding weight to the top?Would the kite finally get overbal-anced? Or would it get steadier andsteadier until the weight was too muchfor the kite to lift?

The Long Beach chapter of AKA isbusy preparing for its 51st AnnualKite Festival, still the oldest in the U .S .A group of kitefliers from Japan is ex-pected, and new plans made for theweekend of April 22, 23 and 24, 1977 .Saturday is the main day, and will in-clude competitions somewhat ex-panded from those in previous years .Booths will be set up for a display ofmanufacturers' and retailers' kites ("thelargest and only display of its kind") .On Sunday there will be kite fightingbetween teams from northern andsouthern California .

FLORIDA

Ray Fahrenbruck, 77, is a long-timeAKA member of Madeira Beach, FL,who shuns the rocking chair . He playstennis several times a week, practicesarchery-and (you guessed it) makes

and flies kites .A retired machinist . he has designed

and crafted many fine reels and gradu-ally built up a collection that oughtto take a prize for "largest kite reelcollection in America ." He selects hisratcheted steel winch to hold the lineon "Big Blue," his crowd-drawing12 x 24 It . delta . The spars of this kite

Ray Fahrenbruck dwarfed by "Big Blue"

The Fahrenbruck kite reel collection

"If I had wheels on both ends of this dollyI believe I could ride on it on a smoothsurface . However, I could go only in thedirection the wind was blowing ."

(Continued)

News From Here & There

News From Here & There/Continued)are Calcutta bamboo and the cover isreinforced plastic . He flies it on 650 ft .of 420-lb . test braided nylon line .The latest Fahrenbruck kite is a

plastic foam rotary, which Ray flieswell in light breezes .

Archery combines well with kite-flying. Uppity bystanders or low-downkites offer convenient targets . Whenyou're 77 you should be able to do any-thing you want .

MAINE

Kitty Corti of Maine is doing some-thing a bit unusual - selling kites froma van . It is not the first traveling shopwe've heard of ("It's Time to Fly a Kite"operated this way in Beverly Hills),but Kitty is having problems unique toher Maine locality. As reported in theMaine Sunday Telegram, she can onlywork when the weather is nice, thewind is good and she can get a townpermit .

Because she sells from a van, she islegally an itinerant peddler, and Mainetowns, she's learned, have old ordi-nances against peddlers . As delightfulas the services are that she provides,the towns have been incredibly stuffy .As the story says : "The Selectmen ofWiscasset refused her a license ;Scarboro said 'no,' and Northeast Har-bor, Kennebunkport, Old OrchardBeach, Boothbay Harbor, Camden,Bar Harbor and others either refusedto answer her applications or deniedher permits ."

The towns are missing not only kitesbut Kitty's van, a transformed old postoffice route truck with driver's seaton the right, decorated brilliantly toher design (Kitty's an art teacher, too) .There's a desk built in, carpet under-foot and of course kites from floor toceiling. Her license plates, the finish-ing touch, read KITES. She has trav-eled about to Maine's fall foliage fes-tivals in hopes that the exposure willgradually create acceptance from thetown fathers . Everyone else gathersaround and smiles over Kitty's van .Ed Anderson

MARYLAND

The Baltimore City Fair is the bigannual urban event in its area . Lastfall it saw kites for the first time whenthe Maryland Kite Society was invitedto handle a booth . This they did forthree full days, a manpower challengebut a great opportunity for kites togain friends ; visitors to the Fair reg-ularly number over a million .

The Society's space was decoratedwith a large collection of kites, includ-ing Curt Marshall's 24-ft . delta-Conyne hovering above . Photos andBill Kocher

slide showings were included, andseveral craftsmen made kites throughthe weekend .

The Society was encouraged to sellkites, though they usually avoid com-mercialism, so they stocked up quickly,then "stocked down" afterwards . Theover -stocking resulted in meager pro-fits, but at least it gave people a goodtime .Joining the kiters were children of

the William S . Baer school for handi-capped children, who made sleds, dec-orated them with the wheelchair symbolof access for the handicapped, and soldthem to pay off their new special bus -the very bus that brought them to thefair. That was a profitable venture, andadded to the good feelings .

Busiest of all were Rick Kinnairdand Mel Govig ; one of the two was onhand at all times . Their hardest taskwas keeping kites safely up in an areawith so many people strolling about .It was done without incident but will

An overgrown tetrahedron I made acouple of years ago . It flies well butrequires a 15-to 18-knot breeze tosustain it and is a headache to transportto the flying field ."

Fahrenbruck kite collection

Ray Fahrenbruck's precision -made rotary

A large kite display draws attention forthe Maryland Kite Society at theBaltimore City Fair last fall .

Kitty Corti and her vantasy kites

News From Here & There(Continued)

be one of the aspects to improve whenthe Society takes part in future fairs .

In mid-October the Society had anenjoyable fall fly and meeting inBurtonsville, MD, with slide showingand a buffet at the home of the graciousRobert S . Prices .The Windsor Hills Neighbors Fall

Fly was held at Baltimore's LeakinPark after a week's postponement dueto rain . Turnout was smaller thanusual, but the day was much enlivenedby a surprise visit from Dale Fleener,who came all the way from Massachu-setts to be there . In fact, he had comethe week before, was rained out, andreturned again the next week. Dalepulled out a great assortment of color-ful kites and staked them to the groundfor flying -putting on a veritable one-man show . After a good day's flying theSociety bunch gathered at the Govigs'for dinner and talk .

Plans are now underway for the 11thAnnual Maryland Kite Festival, to beheld April 30 on the now-completefield in Baltimore's Inner Harbor .The site is adjacent to the MarylandScience Center, with which the Societyis working on pre-Festival programs .Once again, there will be large cashprizes, Maryland medallion awards("gold," "silver" and "bronze") andthe option for distant competitors toship kites to the Society for proxy fly-ing. Write for details to Rick Kinnaird,3206 Greenmead Road, Baltimore,M D 21207 .

OHIO

Charlie Sotich of Chicago reports the ac-ceptance of a kite in a model aviation meet- a big event at that. He and William Biggeparticipated, and both are double-disciplesof' model aviation and kiting, as well aslong-time AKA members. Says Charlie :The National Model Airplane

Championships were taking place inAugust, 1976, at Springfield, OH . Thecontest director asked Bill to find outabout the wind drift several hundredfeet up. There was no obvious driftnear the surface .

Bill's Janus [ kite] flies both forwardand backward. When the line is woundin it tows the kite up . If tension is re-duced on the line, the kite glides awayand can pull out more line. Over a mileof line was measured out and the kitewas out of sight in the morning hazefor much of the flight .

The kite reel has a 3-ft. circumfer-ence and a revolution counter on it sothe length of line out is always known .This unique kite is really an outstand-ing flier.

(Plans for the Janus will appear in afuture issue ofKite Lines .)

WASHINGTON

Jack Van Gilder reports for the WashingtonKitefliers Association in Seattle :

We had a successful meeting of theW.K.A. at the Pacific Science Centerin mid-October. We reviewed asummer's worth of slides and madeplans to contribute some expensivebooks to the Seattle Public Library inmemory of deceased member TonyToledo. We are still exploring pos-sibilities for a kite movie .The annual W.K.A. New Year's Day

fly-in was held at Golden GardensPark, and weekly Sunday afternoonfly-ins are still attended, thoughsparsely. Seattle weather has been veryunusual this year ; fog and calm .Lately John Dusenberry and I have

been flight testing our two differentversions of kite trains. Dusenberrvis doing his with open-keel deltas, small24-in. tissue paper models. He's usinga snap swivel attachment between eachkite and light, twisted nylon line withthe keel reinforced by a line glued rightinto the kite, the line running straightfrom the apex of the keel to a pointdirectly below the crossing of thespreader bar with the spine . A loop ofline includes the spreader bar so thatthe next succeeding kite line is directlyatop it .

I'm using a "Bill Lee Special" tissuepaper delta . This kite uses exactly one20 x 30-in . sheet of tissue paper, threepieces of matchstick bamboo (fromcurtain shade) and an 1/8-in. dowelfor spreader bar . 44-in . wing spread .

My bridling system didn't work toowell with twisted nylon line, so Iswitched to braided to take twist out .There is a slot in the kite cover nextto the spine and under the spreaderbar, reinforced with tape, throughwhich the main line continues fromkite to kite . I'm using a 12-in . 12-lb .braided nylon line bridle from themain line to each kite, each bridle hav-ing a 1-in. bamboo stick at the endwhich is slipped through a holepunched in the keel of each kite, like abutton and buttonhole . Each succeed-ing length of main line is joined to theone above with a tillerhitch . Realizingthat each knot is like a link in a chain(the weakest link controls the strengthof the chain), I am resorting to theBrute Strength method : 100-lb. line .

I have a triangular cardboard boxout of which my kites spew . The boxis needed for ease in transportation(it has a suitcase handle) and for pro-tection from the wind while I let outand retrieve the kites . So far, with 30kites, it has been easy to handle . I'maiming for 100 by spring .In March we're going to be plenty

busy. The 12th and 13th will be ourannual exhibition at the Pacific ScienceCenter. We exhibit about 150 kites anddemonstrate kite-making for craftingyour own, on the spot . Then on March19th is the annual Seattle Center KiteContest .

Near Seattle, in Bellevue, WA, a kiteshow will be on view in March at thePanaca Art Gallery. It will include skypaintings by Pat Friddell and kites byJoan Slattery Newcomb (illustrator ofMargaret Greger's new book, reviewedthis issue on page 45) . Most kites willbe fabric, but some will be intenselydecorated paper.

(Continued)

Bill Bigge, his reel and Janus

Jack Van Gilder in mid-train at theW.K.A. New Year's Day fly.

Here From Here & There(Continued)

WISCONSIN

The death of John H. Ray at the age of 72was reported in Kite Tales, Vol. 10, No. 3.Some further information about him hasbeen penned by Bob Ingraham :Along with the glamour and satis-

faction that my efforts have producedin organizing the devotees of kitingover a large share of the world, havecome great sadnesses, and the passingof John Ray is one .

I first met John at the end of a kitestring next door to Ed Grauel inBorrego Springs, CA . He showed methe prototype of a kite reel he had de-signed and asked me if I thought itwould fill the need of the average kite-flier. I assured him so .Marketing began after an intensive

search for the finest materials avail-able, an indication of the character ofthe maker who abhorred shoddinessand would affix his name to nothingshort of perfection within his capabilityto provide it .

It is my privilege now to continuemarketing of this reel which I trustwill extend an appreciation of the fineproduct and good name of John Rayto many more kitefliers for a long timeto come .

NATIONAL KITE DAY : MAY 8

Ready with your Yeas and BoosSeveral things are good and several

things are not-so about this date .• Not-so : The date is Mother's Day,and even if we privately do wantMother to go fly a kite it's a doubtfulchoice for public promotion . It can besaid that any date is arbitrary-butsome are more arbitrary than others .• Not so : It was planned by Kiteworld,the kite distributing company in SanFrancisco, and lacks wide adoption ;it's essentially the San Francisco Nat-ional Kite Day .• Not-so : It came about in a hurry andsuffers from the limitations that eventhe best efforts do when rushed .•

Good: Early May weather is usuallysuitable in most places .• Good : The plans have a good startin California, where the National ParkService and U .S. Coastal Commissionhave made arrangements to host kite-fliers on their lands . Also retailersdoing business with Kiteworld havebeen encouraged to plan for the day .• Good : It is definitely a good idea . Theleast we can do as individuals that dayis get out and fly our best kites .

JAPAN: LATEST WORLD RECORD

AKA received a press release from Tokyothat 1,585 kites were flown from one linebay seven Japanese, breaking the worldrecord by 150 kites . We wrote to LarryHoffman, AKA member in Japan. for de-tails, and here is his report :

Tsuyoshi Odawara, 40, YjoshitomoYoshimura, 40, Shinosuke Toba, 41Yoshio Harada, 51, Katsuhiko Kitano,43, and Morihiro Okada, 34, made upthe team that constructed the train kiteand flew it with the help of TakeshiNishibayashi, 61 . All these chaps arefrom the Tokyo area . They had about300 more kites to run up but due towind conditions decided not to. It took2 1/2 hours to put out the 1,585 kitesand an additional 2 hours to retrievethem all! Bamboo sticks, 1 x 1 mm, wereused in a diamond design. The verticalstick of each kite measured 30 cm andthe horizontal 25 cm . Spacing was onemeter between each kite. Coveringwas polyethylene and overall pull with1,585 elements out was between 80 and100 kgs. I don't have anything on theline used but for the most part theJapanese kiters use nylon . The dateof the event was 19 November 1976 . 0

In July of 1974 in Nags Head, NC, a group ofMaryland Kite Society friends gathered to talkafter the local kite contest. A tape recorder wasset out to catch the discussion . On hand were .Stephen John Bernstein Valerie GovigSylvia Bernstein A. Pete lanuzziLt . Col. Bevan Brown

Arthur KurleThough the subject of kite tails was explored,it was by no means exhausted. We print theexchange here to stimulate further thinking .

VG: Do you agree with Will Yolen [ noted kite-flier and author] in his contention that any kiteis improved with a tail sometimes? That's whathe told me once .BB : Is this t-a-l-e or t-a-i-I?VG : T-a-i-l.PI : Well, you can face the fact that almost anykite will fly steadier with a tail on it,SJB: I think it'll look prettier, too, with a tail wig-gling around .PI : A tail on a kite will not necessarily make itfly better, but it'll sometimes make it fly whenit won't fly without it .VG: You would kind of agree, then, Well, somepeople are very dogmatic about some kindsof kites not being appropriate with tails, likeEddy kites .AK: Well, I've got a kite that I can adjust thestring angle just by adding a tail, but it doesn'tmake it fly better. Doesn't add any stability at all .BB : I think if you're going to be a purist andinsist that it isn't an Eddy kite unless it'll fly with-out a tail, you're essentially trying to provewhether or not you built the kite properly . I thinkwhether or not you put a tail on it, or what kindof a tail you put on it, is a function of a numberof things . One is : making it fly the way you wantit to fly. And another is : making it look the wayyou want it to look I think it's part of thecharacter of the kite . . . When I make a kite,I'm trying to do something . I can see what Iwant, and if I want it to be there, it's there fora reason .PI : Also, any kite can fly without a tail and there-fore it's a challenge to skill, ingenuity and abilityto make it fly without a tail . By putting a tail ona kite that can be made to fly without one, youare getting the job done using a crutch . Nowthere's nothing wrong with that, but it's a chal-lenge to your skill to make it fly without it .SJB : The question was, will any kite fly betterwith a tail?SB : I don't think that's a true statement .PI : You can even put a tail on a sled kite whenwind conditions are bad and the sled is tendingto spin and dive and . . with a tail on it,it'll steady down and fly.VG: Well, extreme wind always puts you to atest . It probably isn't suitable for the kite, butyou might make it sort of marginally satisfact-ory a little while longer -with a tail .BB : A tail is sometimes kind of a brute forcesolution to something that you might be ableto do by some other way-by finesse-whichmight include - making another kite!AK: I think you could sum up this whole thingby saying that : some kites have to have tails ;some kites are sensitive to tails (and are im-

proved by the right type and weight and dragof a tail),. and others-don't care!SJB : On those that don't care-how can youreally tell? Suppose you built an Eddy kite thatflies perfectly without a tail and you put a tailon it Now who here can say that it doesn't flybetter with a tail?BB : If you can't tell the difference- If . . . likePaul Garber says, that's part of me up there inthe sky, then what's up there is what I want itto be,SJB : Yolen may be a little teasing .BB : Oh, he is And he's trying to provoke adiscussion . .AK: I could, in effect, smooth out ground tur-bulence by using a long tail . It essentially putsthe kite up higher where the kite's smoothingout the bumps,PI : If it flies well without a tail and you add atail to it, it probably is not going to fly as wellbecause it's going to drag more . The angle isgoing to decrease, it's going to take morewind . .BB : See, that's something we haven't talkedabout, the performance characteristics . . . Ifyou talk about the flat kite . . . it's going to besomebody's estimate, what kind of tail it takesfor that size of kite . . .SB : The experience we've had on the flat kite,the one we flew today, the dragon kite [a cen-tipede] -that tail is almost the answer to howthat kite flies . And it's amazing how many timesit's been lengthened and shortened and -BB : The conditions -SB : Exactly-BB : And it's very sensitive to whether it needsdrag, or whether it needs weight, or a com-bination thereofAK: Particularly your flat kites can be very sen-sitive to tails .SB : And a small kite is apt to take an extremelylong tail .SJB : Wind velocity versus length of tails -BB : It's hard to standardize on somethingother than steady wind .VG: What is the purpose of a tail?SB : Drag, lift .BB : Appearance-to achieve a specific flightcharacteristic .AK: Air anchor,VG: On this question of drag versus weight,are there different kinds of drag? Do you some-times want just weight? . . .AK: Damping. Damping is right, and drag isright, but the weight is detrimental always, Ithink .PI : Well, the box kite we saw flying today, thebarrage type, the fellow [ Rick McClanahan]had a little lead weight at the back end of it,not on a string but just mounted right on theback. He changes the size of that dependingon the weather conditions .BB : That changes the center of gravity relativeto center of lift and that's another matter .AK: Does this change the angle of the dangleon the tail, or what?BB : Changes the angle of attack on the kiteitself .AK: What's that got to do with the tail?

PI : Well, I'm just saying that it's weight,VG: Bob Price [expert box-kite maker] seemsto think that the rear cell of a box kite is com-parable to a tailAK: Sure Sure it is .BB : Relative to the front .SJB : No, that's not a tail, that's part of the kite .BB : I think we ought to define a tail as beingsomething that's attached to the basic form,and extends out behind, and is normally flex-ible . The kites that don't need a tail havesomething that gives them inherent stability,lateral stability and directional stability . Now .,lateral you can get with dihedral; directionalyou get by a keel effect or some sort of rudderor drag -type effect, You can get that alternativelywith a tail, with the damping effect,VG: How do you know when you need a tail,or when you have enough? Do you have anyrules for how long a tail should be?SB : The type of kite that you're making de-termines the length of the tail . And then whenyou get the kite up, you sometimes have madea horrible mistake and you have to bringit down and either lengthen the tail -BB : But how do you tell when it's too long ortoo short?SB : By the way it'll spiral and come right downinto the ground!BB : Instability means you need more .SB : Exactly.BB : What I do, if I'm in doubt, is put on some-thing that I think is too long, or maybe tooheavy and then I start taking it off until it justbegins to get a little bit lively .SB : It is better to take off than to add .SJB : Something empirical about it, right? . . .PI : It's exactly cut and try, try and cut . And it'sall subjective by what it is you want .' . .VG: Well ., you don't have a rule though-somekind of ratio to the width of-?PI : There's no such thing, practically . . . It de-pends entirely on the style of kite and theweather conditions .BB : Right, and of course the type of tail you'reusing, because if you use crepe paper, whichis very light, you need long or several ; if youuse Christmas streamer type, which tends tobe maybe heavy, you don't need as much .VG: What materials do you prefer for tails?AK: Crepe paper is far and away the one singlechoice for kite tails, I think .BB : I disagree . The day after Christmas, hitthe department stores and buy all that goodChristmas tinsel, the streamers . It comes ina variety of weights and sizes and it's very pretty

. because we like to use tails for effect .VG: Those plastic leis are great as kite tails . . .terrible as leis, but good as kite tails .AK: If you need a lot of drag, you can get theparty streamers, they're in bundles, fringedstreamers, with a cord center that you hangfor garlands .BB : You say paper ones of these as opposedto some of the Christmas decorations .AK: Oh, always paper. Christmas decorationsin my judgment are way too heavy. Comparedwith what you can do with a correspondingpaper tail, it's not worth it . Something I've dis-

covered that makes a good tail is foam pack-age filler, the peanut-shaped pieces of plastic,that you can string together with needle andthread .BB : Which gets back to the earlier point . thatyou can get by with drag and not weight, andthe lighter you can have it to get the drag . .to get the desired effect . the more efficient yourkite's going to be . . . it'll fly in a lighter breezeif you can do it with drag instead of weight,because the weight-carrying capacity of thekite becomes a limit.AK: Your tail has appreciable weight . You intro-duce another factor that you don't necessarilywant, which is changing the angle of the kite .BB : You should be able to do that better withthe bridle .PI : One thing not to use as a tail for a kite-I've tried several times using Styrofoam® cupsstrung on a string . They're hard to string, theydon't work quite right, they dance all over . . .so I've heard of people using them, but I don'trecommend them .BB : I have used them, but not totally sat-isfactorily .SB : Another beautiful effect in kite tails is rib-bons-packaged ribbons, colored ribbons .They twirl and they do beautifully in the wind . . .SJB : The big disadvantage is they're expensive,very expensive .SB : That's the only objection .AK: We're talking about an entirely differenteffect there, decorative effect rather than . . .BB : Aeordynamic effect .SIB : . . . We go to remnant centers and usecloth . On one of our kite tails we had beautifulscotch plaid taffeta . It's been one of our mosteffective ones, and it's colorful

.VG : Rag tail, do you think it's a good kind?AK: If it can handle the weight, there's no prob-lem, but if it can't handle the weight then a ragtail is bad .SJB : That's one thing about rag tails, if theypick up moisture they are going to be reallyheavy, that's why polyester type material is, Ithink, preferable to anything like rag tail of cot-ton or something like that, and is much sturdier .If it falls on the ground where it gets wet youwon't have any problem .VG : It's an amazing thing that the Bermudakite has extremely long - usually a pair of longribbon rag tails . Actually, they're tied at intervals .Well, it's a longer tail for the kite . . .AK: Yeah, but that's right . The Bermuda kiteis a brute force kite, it has a lot of lift, which isbalanced out by the stability of the long tail,and you don't care ; you've got steady winds inBermuda .BB: Also, the design itself, the planform, is alittle bit long on the front and actually goes con-trary. If you're going to build a kite to try to flywithout a tail you would make it, say, wider onthe front, narrow in the back, so it has morelift in the front, which means it takes a lot ofcompensating to overcome that, becauseyou're purposely making it fly what would benaturally upside down .VG: A Bermuda is sort of a barn door upsidedown . . .

AK: Yes, this is a kite that absolutely has to havea tail, it will not fly any other way That's why Icall it a brute force kite .VG: What about bow ties? Do you have anyopinion on bow ties or bunches of paper atintervals along a string?AK: Far inferior to a streamer type tail, I think .You get lots of drag but you don't get any sta-bility You don't get the same order of stability .The damping effect is nowhere near as good .SJB : You don't think it's worth the effort .AK: No . . . for visual effect, maybe, but streamertails are better.VG: I think the one thing about them that I findobjectionable, very much so, is the miserabletangling you get afterwards .BB : One way to get drag is to put somethingout at the end of a string or ribbon or streamerthat has drag, for instance a bow tie . But some-thing that's uniform, say a streamer that's uni-form all the way, would tend to be much betterfor damping . The bow tie would be like theStyrofoam cups, you don't get the dampingeffect when you've got groupings of drag inthe plane . . . You've got the drag, but it doesn'thelp you because it doesn't produce the rightside effects, and the main function of the dragis to provide damping, and that gives up thedamping .PI: Now there's one time when you do use thebow tie type of tail-when you don't have any-thing else . To make a bow tie, all you need isstring and a few pieces of paper, and it willwork - it will work .BB : But I think you are definitely giving up oneof the functions .VG: Long strips of newspaper, that's kind ofcolorful, especially from comic pages, verycheap .AK: Not very strong .VG: But it's a quickie, if you want a quickie .PI : And bow ties always end up acting like pro-pellers and winding the string up to a fare-thee-well .BB : Which brings us into talking about usinga snap swivel .VG: What about the general care and manage-ment of tails? Do you have a tail kit, or bag,or bank you draw upon?AK: You can just wad the whole thing up into afist and that's it . It doesn't hurt it to be crushedas long as you don't overdo it . The only thingthat's difficult about it is getting it damp on dewygrass .SB : They will fade and become dreary lookingand detract .AK: Oh yeah, in that situation they are dispos-able after a couple of minutes .SB : Another thing about these tails, you canhave a series and then have snap hooks onthem so that if you want to unsnap a certainsection to make it shorter it's very easily done .AK: I do that quite frequently . I make maybethree different length tails out of crepe paper,with snap hooks, put each one in a separateenvelope, just stuff it in, you know .SB: We roll ours and then they unroll easily.SJB : Crepe paper, we just tear it apart, butwith the cloth tail, you do use the snap buttons,

every six or eight feetSB : Well, when you've gone to the trouble ofgetting this beautiful scotch taffeta . you're go-ing to keep the tails as long as possible there-fore the care you put into them is different .SJB : Always use pinking shears . then theydon't unravel at the edgesBB : We usually have, say, gold or silver or greenof the Christmas streamer type, and in differentweights, and we just put the snap swivels onand we just pick one out of the bag . you know .And we have some others to make new oneswhen we need it to match the kiteVG: Someone out on the field today went tothe trouble of sewing hems on the sides of histail strips . He was that fussy about the ravelingthat he said he'd encountered with previoustails he'd made .AK: I found that storing fringed paper tails andalso Christmas tree streamer type tails-youcan do it very nicely in a coffee can with a re-placeable plastic lid .SJB : Cellophane bags have a bad habit ofcrunching everything .AK: Yeah, you could put about 25 feet of tailin one coffee can ., even if it's a really bulky one .SJB : You're still talking about crepe paper tails .AK: No . . . fringed paper garlands that theyuse for room decorations .PI : One material that doesn't work too well fortails is ripstop nylon .AK: Yeah, it's too slick . Another thing thatdoesn't work very well at all is just plain plasticstrips, they're much too low on skin frictionPI: Well, that depends . I've got a kite that wasmade in Germany which has a piece of very,very light red plastic about 30 feet long . . .works great .AK: You could probably do as well with about10 feet of crepe paper . .BB : With less weight .PI : Well, the weight is very small ; the tail be-comes part of the kite .AK: I've got some comparisons on crepe paperIt's always cheaper.BB : Unless you count the gas to go buy some .VG: This reminds me of a kind of philosophicalquestion . Where do you draw the line betweena kite's body and its tail, in the case of, for in-stance, cobra kites . . .BB : If it has lift and supports itself I think youcan consider it part of the kite . In a cobra kite,if it's held flat on, it essentially is part of the kiteand that is actually a lifting surface as well .AK: It stabilizes the kite so that the vital portionis actually flying and the tail is streaming andstabilizing the direction .BB: It has drag, but it's not taking up the liftingpart of the kite ; I agree with that .PI : I think you're trying to split peas andbananas and it doesn't really make any dif-ference. The thing on the end of a cobra kiteis a tail, but it happens to be part of the kiteand that's all there is to it .SB : The whole body is its shape and propor-tion that comes down to this long ending tail,and . . . I agree, it is not a tail, it is actually a partof the kite .

(Continued on page 58)

By Bob IngrahamFounder, American Kitefliers Association

For the benefit of new members ofAKA, it might be well to retrace thehistory of the Association and pub-lication in order to explain the changeof management which, I hope, willvastly increase membership and cir-culation of the world's only existingmagazine designed and now in pub-lication solely for followers and de-votees of the kiteflying sport .AKA was organized on a limited

basis, with only nine members, in Oct-ober 1964.* The entire project thenwas a hobby interest with no growthrate of any proportion anticipated orany intention entertained toward mak-ing the overall operation a commercialproject .To make the embryo association

cohesive and enable members to shareideas concerning the flying of kites,kite building and personal relation-ships, I suggested that a small quarterlymimeographed publication be pre-pared by the founder and mailed toeach member. This was done . Thecharter members each contributed $2for the first year to defray the cost,and thus began the first issue of KiteTales, then known as the National Kite-fliers Quarterly Review . The next andall subsequent issues became known a,,Kite Tales.AKA and Kite Tales continued as a

hobby endeavor for the next six yearsand grew with a rapidity that chal-lenged the limited facilities of theheadquarters in Silver City, NM . Whileyearly subscription rates and duescontinued minimal until 1970, theoverall costs of publication, correspon-dence and record-keeping far exceededgross income and it became necessarythen to continue the publication of

*For the record, the first memberswere : Benn Blinn ; George M. Endicott ;Robert M. Ingraham (Founder) ; F. C .Jewell, M .D . ; Francis M . Rogallo ;Walter Scott; F Rankin Weisgerber; WillYolen; and Anthony Zeigler (italicsdenote deceased) .

Kite Tales by offset printing it and ac-cepting advertising. The magnitudenow established required more effortthan the Silver City operation couldsummon, and future demands certainto be placed on just two people, bothin the senior citizen category, madeit mandatory that a change be made .

In choosing a successor to becomethe editor and publisher and to estab-lish the American Kitefliers Associationon a more formal basis, Valerie Govighas been uppermost in our minds .Publication of any magazine in spe-cialized recreational pursuits requiresan intense and knowledgeable interestin the subject matter. While AKA isreplete with those highly knowledge-able concerning kites and kiteflying,few have the rather unusual and highlyimportant requisites of editing andjournalistic training which Valeriepossesses in addition to a love for kitingand all that it entails . I would not goso far as to say that there are none inthe Association with such capabilitiesand qualifications, but our experiencehas been that any who do have nodesire to become involved with anoperation that requires their entiretime and energies .The relinquishing of this cherished

task, despite all its magnifying com-plications and seemingly insurmount-able problems, is not without pain anda diminishing of our pride in accom-plishment. For 12 years we have beenin touch with practically the entireworld. We have made literally hun-dreds of personal friendships andreached out from our remote head-quarters into virtually all corners ofthe globe . The membership of AKA,despite the common concept of kitingas kid's stuff, is of the highest culturaland intellectual level . We have con-tributed in a small but relatively im-portant way to the socio-economicfactor of the world and take pride inthe fact that our efforts have made avalued impact upon modern society .To all those who have so loyally

supported AKA and Kite Tales in thepast, we urge that they continue to aidthe new management equally so thatit may continue the climb to the degree

of success that we hoped for, but wereunable to accomplish. The magazinewill henceforth be published in a regionthat offers opportunities and serviceswe required but never had . The con-sequence was a limitation placed onour ambitions which precluded furtherupgrading of the overall program. Weare certain that the improvementsforthcoming will be of benefit to theAKA membership and to commercialkiting activity .

No dictation is being made to thenew management regarding editorialpolicy or mode of operation . The onlycontingencies are that all commitmentsbe honored as they now exist and forwhatever period of time . We are aidingin every way possible to expedite thetransition and will continue to servein every way possible to perpetuateand heighten the monument we erectedto the cause of man's interest in flightas expressed with kites .

To begin with we ask that all mattersof business pertaining to membershipin AKA and the publication of KiteLines be addressed to the new head-quarters in Baltimore which is con-tained in this issue. Such communica-tions as do continue to reach us inSilver City will be speedily relayed tothe Baltimore office .To what and where for me now?

First of all I am going back to my orig -inal research in kites and kite building,something long neglected . And I'mgoing to complete a book on kiting,also way overdue. I hope I may getaround a bit and fly kites with peopleI've known a long time and continuemy interrupted ambassadorship in theinterest of kiting and AKA . And we'regoing to do this until they pull thecurtain across our stage and turn upthe house lights . You see, there's onething we are avoiding and that's beingremoved from the stage by the hook .And that was pending . We just didn'tknow when .

Robert and Hazel Ingraham

Flying with The Old Pro

TALKING TAILS(Continued from page 54

BB : Well, I imagine it can be both .SB : Well, technically it is .BB : It's not impossible for it to be both .SB : It's a split decision . reallyBB : I'm saying, in some cases the distinctionbetween the kite and tail is not really relevant .VG: Something that bothered me once wasthat a well-known kiteflier was out flying a greatlong Mylar" dragon . I prefer to call those thingssnake kites because it distinguishes them fromthe stack-of-plates dragon, Well, anyhow, hewas claiming for all the press to hear, and itwas spread throughout the land on AP that hehad the largest kite in the world Well, he hadone of these dragons that went on forever andin that long dimension it was a very large kite,but it was not, in my opinion, either an area oractual kite body large enough to qualify . be-cause it was really primarily tail . So I was kindof offended by that, but the press is alwayspicking these things up . . .SB : When you have a dragon kite that's 20 feetlong with all its disks, but in addition to theend of that last disk you have a long tail . . .where do you distinguish somewhere alongthat dragon's body is the tail? We consider thepart that we've added . . . to be the tailSJB : You bring up a point . Now if the dragonkite is properly designed, properly graded to-wards the end where the disks diminish in size,you don't need a tail . TheoreticallyBB: I don't think that's a necessity .AK: You don't need a tail anyway .SJB : Only to this thing : If you have same sizedisks going all the way back, the tendencymight be that the end disks are going to lift ontheir own, which is the problem I'm having .If they diminish in lifting capability as they go,then . .AK: Have you ever seen a dragon kite flying ina really stable condition? They fly like this [ hold-ing up arm at sharp angle] .BB : Theoretically, they should fly up like that,It's seldom that you get one rigged well enoughor a steady enough breeze, especially, to whereit will all actually lift, an even lift .AK: In a properly flying dragon kite, the tailstreams at a considerable angle to the bodyof the kite and it's purely decoration, no sta-bility at all .VG: Well, one last question : Is the drogue aspecies of tail, or the tail a species of drogue?BB : I'm not going to get into that one!SB : Again, this . . . can be answered both ways .BB : Like needles on the head of a pin . . I don'tthink that you have to make that kind of dis-tinction . . . A drogue has drag and a little bitof weight, but it does not have, maybe, thesame kind of damping characteristics that youget with an even tail . It's a variety of a tail whichhas grouped drag at the end, like a bow tie,essentially . . .PI : A drogue is really a very large Styrofoamcup, and you can use it to provide the forcesyou need to stabilize a kite, but there's lotsbetter ways to do it . For instance, my parafoilhas a drogue that comes with it, and there'smuch better ways to stabilize a parafoil thanwith that drogue . But nevertheless, I've gotit and I use it occasionally .BB : Part of the use of a drogue, for instance,on parafoils, is . . . not really because that'sthe best way to stablize it ; it's consistent withmaterials and the design of the kite . The choicewas not really made on the most efficient wayto stabilize it .

0

Kid's Corner

The Drawn Dog Kite

Some of the best places for kite-flying won't always have kites forsale nearby.

If you are a real "pro" and arenot particular about the way thekite looks as long as it flies -youcould forage for a kite . It's likeforaging for food in nature's wilds .There's adventure in seeing whatyou can do with common, every-day, not-special materials whereveryou happen to find them . You doneed string to start with .

Here's a kite that is probably thevery simplest you'll ever make, theBrown Bag Box Kite . It's not prettyand it's not a specatcular flier, butit does work .

Find a brown bag -the square,stiff type, like a lunch sack or gro-cery bag . That's all you need . Tearoff the closed end, and fold a neat,even hem on that end. Straightenout creases and wrinkles as bestyou can .

Cut a piece of line about twicethe length of the bag . Attach eachend of your string (with tape if youhave it, or if not punch holes andtie through) at each corner of oneof the wide sides (see drawing .)At the exact middle of the line, tiea loop, then tie your flying line intothe loop .

Test fly your kite . If it seems toneed a tail, or if you just like tails,you can add one to the back on thesame side the string is attached to .Tail could be foraged paper napkinstrips or a short piece of papertaped or tied on .

Fly away!

V.G.

Kids, we hope you will come to this Corner every issue. Send yourquestions and ideas to us! Have you ever made a foraged kite your-self? Like at the beach out of reeds and scrap plastic? Or out ofwrappings and straws from a fast-food place? Show and tell! Writeto Kid's Corner Kite Lines, American Kitefliers Association, 7106 Camp-field Road, Baltimore, MD 21207

Services and products are listed as a service and listingdoes not imply endorsement by the American KItefliersAssociation . Publisher reserves the right to reject any adnot in keeping with publication's standards, and toabbreviate to save space . Rates : 200 per word, $2minimum . Post office box numbers and telephone num-bers count as two words, abbreviations and zip codes asone word. Check or money order, made payable toAmerican Kitefliers Association, must accompany copyand be received prior to closing date (Summer issuecloses April 1) . Send to : Kite Lines Classifieds, 7106Campfield Road, Baltimore, MD 21207 .

WANTED

BACK ISSUE Kite Tales Vol . 9, #3, unwanted or extra?I'll pay $2 .50 + postage . Write first : Ao Loo, 7 SundelAve ., #2, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6M 3K2 .

WANTED : Early copies of Kite Tales, Vol . 8, #1, or earlier .James C . Loomis, 521 Morningside, San Antonio, TX78209 .

CLIPPINGS : News and articles of kite interest are activelysolicited by AKA . First person to send an original withname and date of source will receive a small reward .Later duplicates received will be returned if sender sup-plies stamped, self-addressed envelope . Send clippingsto American Kitefliers Association, 7106 Campfield Road,Baltimore, MD 21207 .

INFORMATION on rare kite materials sought for ex-change by AKA. Reliable suppliers of bamboo, aluminumtubing, fiberglass rods, Tyvek", Mylar", nylon rip-stop,plastics, rice paper, glues, tapes, line, fixtures, etc ., areencouraged to write and/or send samples to AKA, givingfull details of sizes, grades, colors, prices, etc . Send toAmerican Kitefliers Association, 7106 Campfield Road,Baltimore, MD 21207 .

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

SHOP FOR SALE : Heavenly Body Kites, Key West, FL .Largest, most successful and longest-established shopin Florida . Call (305) 294-2833 .

FOR SALE- KITES

NEW KITE with twirlers that lift and stabilize for mostwind conditions, $2 ea . or $12 per doz . + ship . chgs :600 single, $1 doz . lots . Stulken Mfg ., 501 11th St .,Imperial Beach, CA 92032 .

KITES-Here's our '77 line of high performance, rip-stopnylon kites . Try the unique FLARE, 36x24" with con-trasting keels and drogue-sort of a flying wing, 4-12m .p .h . winds, $12 . The ZEPHYR, a square soaring kitewith a keel on the diagonal (36"), $10 . Or a 36" FRENCHMILITARY KITE with a drogue for $17 (also in solid orprint cloth) . Indian reels with 500' of 20-or 30-lb . testline, $3 . All items postpaid ; kites with flying tips, swivel ;collapsible . Brochure on request . Order from : KITESKITES KITES, P. 0 . Box 828, Silver Spring, MD 20901 .NO cash or CODs please . Maryland residents add 4%sales tax . ENTER OUR CONTEST. For details see our adelsewhere in Kite Lines.

SCOOT" : Two-line controllable Rogallo-type kite . Fliesin 8-30 knots + wind, not a toy, over 5-ft . wingspan,made of aluminum and heavy sailcloth . Send $34 .95 forkite, 120-lb . control lines with handles and instruc-tions -complete and postpaid to : Scoot-1, 8131 CroydonAve ., Los Angeles, CA 90045 .

FOR SALE -MISCELLANEOUS

FILM : "How to Fly a Kite," 3-min . black/white 16mmmovie in "silent" style . Lightly educational, definitelydelightful . Prints postpaid, ea . $25 . Order or inquire :TLM Productions, 8 Charles Plaza, #1807, Baltimore, MD21201, or call (301) 332-1619 .

SLIDE SHOWS : Two educational 80-slide shows, "AllManner of Kites" (about 14 min, on history and varieties)and "How to Go Fly a Kite" (about 9 min, on flyingtechniques, contests), to show separately or in succes-sion, with synchronized tape cassettes . Rentals are $15ea . or $25 for both for 3 days, including ship. one way.

Rentals may apply to purchase prices of $45 per show or$75 for both in trays with tapes . (Also available withscripts instead of tapes at $40 ea . or $70 for both .)Write for Order Form to Maryland Kite Society, 3206Greenmead Rd ., Baltimore, MD 21207, or call (301)484-4861 or 655-9320 .

AKA EMBLEM PATCHES now available direct from AKA .Washable, red-white-and-blue, 2 1/2", $1 .75 ea . (2for $3 .25, 3 or more $1 .25 ea, all postpaid . (Foreignorders add estimated postage .) Send check or moneyorder to American Kitefliers Association, 7106 Camp-field Road, Baltimore, MD 21207 .

NEW BOOK : Blown Sky-High by Margaret Greger, i ll .b y loan Slattery Newcomb . Based on author's extensiveexperience with classes and groups of all ages . Simplekites, designed for success . How to go about committingkites in the classroom . The basics of fabric kite con-struction . For children, adults, and adults working withchildren, Illustrated procedures, 14 kites-deltas, sleds,Orientals, and others too exotic to classify, constructedof paper, plastic, and fabric . Saddle-stitched paperback .$3 .50 + 500 ship . Blown Sky-High, Dept . KL, 1425Marshall, Richland, WA 99352 .

LIMITED NUMBER of kite books : World on a String, JaneYolen, $5 .95 ; Kite Craft, J . & L Newman, $4 .95 ; CompleteBook of Kites and Kiteflying, Will Yolen, $9 .95 . Pricesinclude mailing at book rate . Send check or money orderto : Bob Ingraham, P . 0 . Box 1511, Silver City, NM 88061 .

BACK ISSUES of Kite Tales magazine beginning withVol . 8, #4 and extending through Vol . 10, #3 only. $2 ea .including mailing . Order from : Robert M . Ingraham, P. 0 .Box 1511, Silver City, NM 88061 .

KITE PLANS, $2 or $7 .50 for complete kite, ready to fly .Standard delta design with 2 improvements that makethe kite fly higher when the wind gets stronger Has allthe good qualities of conventional deltas and none of thebad qualities . Easily made from plastic garbage bags orplastic drop cloths, wood dowel sticks, and adhesive tape(cellophane and cloth) . See U .S . Patent No . 3963200 fordescription . Plans include 2 brackets which make onekite . Extra brackets are 300 per pair + 200 postage perorder . The $7 .50 kite is handmade in Los Angeles by anative American, using 3-mil . thick polyethylene, wing-span 68", length 34" . Rolls up and fits in a 2" tube, 48"long . UnrolIs to fly with no loose parts and no dangeroussharp metal hooks . Repair service : free advice or $2 .50for replacement . Orange polyethylene sheet is availableseparately, 36" wide, 3-mil . thick, for 45C per yard or $1for 7', + the following postage : $1 shipped folded flat,or $2 shipped rolled up in a tube . 4' can make one kite ;7' can make 2 kites . Bennett Arnstein, 3049 W. 8th St .,Los Angeles, CA 90005 . Call (213) 388-3517 (eves . andweekends) .

Super Kites, book by Neil Thorburn, $2 .50, 4738 Elm-hurst Dr ., San Jose, CA 95129 .

KITES, KITE KITS, fighter kites, Scoots, flying lines, reels,building materials, cloth and books, For product andprice information write Kite Kraft, 8131 Croydon Ave .,Los Angeles, CA 90045 .

RETAILERS LISTING

Above & Beyond, 1510-G Walnut Square, Berkeley, CA94709 .

The Ben Franklin Kite Shoppe, 423 Whalley Ave ., NewHaven, CT 06511, and Factory Square, Mystic, CT 06355 .

Cape Cod Kite Company, Shopper's Market Mini-Mall,High School Rd . Ext ., Hyannis, MA 02601 .

Heavenly Body Kites, Harbor House, 423 Front St ., KeyWest, FL 33040 .

High as a Kite, 201-131 Water St ., Vancouver, B .C .,Canada V6B 4M3 .

Higher than a Kite, 209 Osborne, Winnipeg, Manitoba,Canada R3L 1Z4 .

The Kaleidoscope, 3295 Rochester Rd ., Troy, MI 48084

The Kite Farm, 728 University, Madison, WI 53715, (608)255-1018 .

The Kite Kompany, Inc ., 33 W. Orange, Chagrin Falls,OH 44022, (216) 247-4223 .

The Kite Shop, Jackson Square, 542 St . Peter St., NewOrleans, LA 70116 .

The Kite Shop, B St ., Hampton Beach, NH 03842 .

The Kite Shop, Carol Hamilton, 973 Grand Ave ., PacificBeach, CA 92109 .

The Kite Site, 1075 Wisconsin Ave ., N .W., Georgetown,DC 20007, (202) 965-4230 .

The Kite Store, 848-A Yonge St ., Toronto, Ontario, CanadaM4W 2H1 .

The Kite Store, Eric Gibson, 69 Neal St., London W .C . 2,England .

Kiteworks, Beach Road, Box 2010, Vineyard Haven,MA 02568 .

ANNOUNCING : Go Fly a Kite of NY and Hani Dzubas ofKiteworks, Vineyard Haven, MA, are opening a new storeon Newberry St ., Boston, MA . See us there! Kiteworkswill be a division of Go Fly a Kite in Vineyard Haven,Martha's Vineyard, MA, open May 15-Sept . 15,(617) 693-1453 .

Let's Fly a Kite, 13763 Fiji Way, Fisherman's Village,Marina del Rey, CA 90291, (213) 822-2561 .

Riverwind Kite Works, 612 N . 2nd St ., Lacledes Landing,St . Louis, MO 63102, (314) 421-0299 .

Vancouver Crafts & Kites, 2936 W. 4th Ave ., Vancouver,B .C ., Canada V6K 1R2, (605) 731-7822 .

Windy City Kiteworks, Ltd ., 2828 N . Clark St ., Chicago,IL 60657,(312)348-1630 .

WHOLESALERS, MANUFACTURERS ANDMAIL ORDER BUSINESSES

Airplane Kite Co ., 1702 W . 3rd St ., Roswell, NM 88201 .

Delta Wing, 1011 Chester, S.E ., Grand Rapids, MI 48011,(313) 645-0362 or 356-1427 .

Explorers, 21 W . Micheltorena St ., Santa Barbara, CA93101, imported kites, reels ; wholesale only .

High Roller Kite Spool, P. 0 . Box 73, Sausalito, CA94965, (415) 332-2150.

Keoki's Kites, 897 Main St ., S . Glastonbury, CT 06073 .

The Kite Ranch, Sky Puppets, Rt . 1, Box 890, Franktown,CO 80116 .

Kite Specialties, RR 1, Box 157, Bloomington, WI 53804,(608)723-7112 .

Kites International, 1000 E . Northwest Hwy ., Mt .Prospect, IL 60056, (312) 394-0900 .

Kites Kites Kites, P. 0 . Box 828, Silver Spring, MD20901 .

M . W. Management, Ltd ., Import-Export-Wsle ., P. 0 . Box86670, N . Vancouver, B .C ., Canada V7L .

Sky High, Inc ., 160 N . Northwest Hwy., Palatine, IL60067,(312)359-7993 .

Ultra-Kite, 904 Century Bldg ., Pittsburgh, PA 15222 .

Whimsicalli Kites, 4113 Padre Blvd ., P. 0 . Drawer 488,Pt . Isabel, TX 78878 .

Classifieds

MarchIDomina C Jalbert files patent for first parafoilkite, 1967 .

3Alexander Graham Bell born, 1847

529th Annual Mission Bay Kite Contest andParade, Ocean Beach Park. San Diego, CA .Sponsors San Diego Park and Recreation DeptOcean Beach Recreation Council and KiwanisClub Contact : Don Hodo, 4726 Santa MonicaAve, San Diego . CA 92107 . tel (714) 488-9525

68th Annual Kite Carnival, non-competitive fly-ing on two successive Sunday afternoons inMarch, Royal Park South . Parkville . Melbourne,Australia . Contact Paton Forster. Secretary.National Gallery Society of Victoria . 180 St KildaRd Melbourne 3004 . Australia tel (Melbourne)62-7411 .

123rd Annual Kite Exhibition (March 12-13), andkite-making demonstration indoors, with ad-mission fees ($2 adults, $1 children through 17,or Science Center membership card), at PacificScience Center. Seattle . WA. Contact, John VanGilder. Washington Kitefliers Association, PacificScience Center, 200 2nd Ave . N . . Seattle . WA98109, tel (206) 938-0550Plaza Camino Real Kite Day, Plaza Camino Realshopping mall, Carlsbad, CA . kite-making andfighting demonstrations conducted by Tom JoeSponsor and contact Plaza Camino Real, (714)729-7927

(A mid-March Saturday) Annual Sea RanchKite Fly, on meadows near lodge, Sea Ranch,CA. Sponsor and contact : Sea Ranch Associa-tion, P 0 Box 16, Sea Ranch, CA 95497 . tel :(707)785-2444 .

1910th Annual Oahu Kite Flying Contest, withhundreds of kites, many trophies, at KapiolaniPark, adjacent to Waikiki, Oahu, HI Sponsors,Honolulu Dept . of Parks and Recreation, KJMBTV and Radio and Hawaiian Electric Co . Con-tact Don Fujii, 1201 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu,HI 96814, tel, (808) 524-1257 .

7th Annual Radio Hauraki Auckland KiteFestival Auckland Domain, New Zealand, withthousands of kites and people Contact : C . PCroft, 19 McCracken Ave . . Hamilton, New Zea-land ., tel : (New Zealand) 64-399

4th Annual Seattle Center Kite Contest, atSeattle Center. Seattle, WA Contact : MartyDimock . Seattle Center. Inc, Seattle WA 98109 .tel . (206) 625-42312nd Annual Palm Springs Kite Festival, RuthHardy Park, Palm Springs, CA Sponsors : OurLady of Solitude Church and The Fun Factory.Contact Mary Jane Miller. The Fun Factory. 278-A N. Palm Canyon . Palm Springs, CA 92262,tel (714) 325-2894

2049th Annual Zilker Park Kite Tournament, ZilkerPark Kite Field, Austin, TX Sponsors AustinExchange Club . Park and Recreation Dept andRadio KOKE Contact Richard S Robertson .5401 Shoalwood Ave, Austin . TX 78756, tel .(512)453-7174 .

6th Annual Gunston Hall Kite Festival, a non-competitive fly, Gunston Hall Plantation . Lorton,VA $2 adult admission fee, children through 16free with adult and kite . Contact. Louise Stock-dale, Gunston Hall Plantation Lorton, VA 22079 .tel (703) 550-9220

5th Annual New Orleans Kite Festival, withthousands of people, Audubon Park levee, NewOrleans . LA. Sponsors : The Kite Shop-Jack-son Square and WRNO Radio . Contact : SallyFontana, The Kite Shop-Jackson Square, 542St Peter St ., New Orleans, LA 70116 . tel : (504)524-0028

2647th Annual Carmel Kite Festival, CarmelMiddle School, Carmel, CA Sponsors : CarmelRecreation Dept. and Carmel Lions Club Con-tact, Pat Cunningham, Carmel Unified SchoolDistrict, Drawer U-1, Carmel, CA 93921 . tel :(408)624-3342

15th Annual Kite Contest, Brackenridge Park,San Antonio, TX Sponsors : KITE Radio andCity Parks and Recreation Dept . Contact PhylisRobinson, City Parks and Recreation Dept .950 E . Hildebrand . San Antonio, TX 78212, tel(512) 828-8111 .

11th Annual Smithsonian Kite Carnival, withmany trophies. Washington Monument groundsWashington, DC. Sponsors : Smithsonian Resi-dent Associates, National Capital Parks Com-mission and DC Recreation Dept Contact : TinaParker, Smithsonian Resident Associates, Smith-sonian Institution . Washington . DC 20560, tel :(202)381-6725

Spring Kite Festival, a non-competitive fly.Venice beach at Washington. Venice, CA . Spon-sor and contact : Lets Fly a Kite (c/o Gloria Lugo),Fisherman's Village 13763 Fiji Way Marina delRey, CA 90291, tel: (213) 822-2561 .

272nd Annual Takoma Park Kiteflying Contest,Takoma Park Recreation Center, Takoma Park .MD Sponsor and contact Takoma Park Dept .of Recreation (c/o Belle Ziegler), 7500 Maple

Ave Takoma Park . MD 20012, tel . (301)270-4048April212th Annual Outa Sight Kite Flite, SouthparkShopping Center, Charlotte, NC Sponsor Char-lotte Parks and Recreation Commission Con-

tact: Joyce Hoyle P. O. Box 4008. Charlotte. NC28204. tel (704) 374-28843rd Annual Nashville Kite Flite, SteeplechaseArea, Percy Warner Park, Nashville . TN. Spon-sors : Horizons . Ltd. and Metro Nashville ParkBoard Contact : Natalie May. Horizons . Ltd .2224 Bandywood . Nashville, TN 37215 . tel : (615)297-6896

Annual Super Kite Saturday, kite-making, dis-plays demonstrations, film and contest, JoslynCenter, Torrance, CA . Sponsor : City of Torrance .Contact Torrance Park and Recreation Dept .,3031 Torrance Blvd . . Torrance . CA 90503, tel(213)328-8362 .

37th Annual Amelia Earl Memorial Kite Fly,campus of Illinois Institute of Technology . 31stand Federal, Chicago . IL . Sponsors IllinoisInstitute of Technology and Radio WOUI Con-tact : David Dixon . 3241 S Federal, Chicago,IL 60616, tel (312) 567-30882nd Annual Sunshine Kite Festival, on sandsouth of Redondo Beach Pier Redondo Beach .CA. Sponsor . Sunshine Kite Co Contact : RandalJoe. Sunshine Kite Co 233-B Fisherman'sWharf. Redondo Beach . CA 90277, tel (213)372-0308Great Pacific Rim Kite Festival, Vanier Park,Vancouver. B C . Canada Contact : High as aKite (c/o Marcia Madill) . No . 201 . 131 Water St . .Vancouver. B .C . .. Canada V6B 4M3, tel (604)687-8041 .

4(Sometime between April 4 and 8) 5th AnnualAll-City Kiteflying Contest, Franklin Park .Spokane, WA Sponsor : City of Spokane ParkDepartment Contact : Doug Carter. Room 501 .City Hall, Spokane, WA 99201, tel : (509)456-2620

Good Friday, traditional kiteflying day inBermuda

6th Annual Great Delaware Kite Festival, fea-turing a kite duel with former Lt . Gov EugeneBookhammer, Cape Henlopen State Park .Lewes, DE Sponsor: Lewes Chamber of Com-merce, Contact . David Wood, Lewes Chamberof Commerce, P O . Box 1, Lewes, DE 19958,tel . (302) 645-6536 .

9South Coast Village Kite Festival, a non-competive fly. Costa Mesa, CA . Sponsor and contact : Come Fly a Kite . South Coast Village .3850 S Plaza Dr., Santa Ana, CA 92704 tel(714)545-2849

10High as a Kite Fly-in, Stanley Park, VancouverB C_ Canada . Contact : High as a Kite (c/oMarcia Madill), No . 201,131 Water St . . VancouverB.C . Canada V6B 4M3, tel (604) 687-8041 .

16Wilbur Wright born . 1867 .

(Tentative date) Dogwood Arts Festival KiteContest, Knoxville, TN . Sponsor: Wendy s OldFashioned Hamburgers . Contact, Ed Sear, AdComm, Inc . 320 Cedar Bluff Rd . Suite 215Knoxville, TN 37919, tel, (615) 690-0472 .

22Welcome Boband Hazel Ingraham Dinner, BixbyPark Clubhouse, Long Beach. CA. Sponsor LongBeach Recreation Dept Contact, Maria SharpeLong Beach Recreation Dept . . 155 Queens WadLanding, Long Beach, CA 90802, tel . (213 :432-5931

2351st Annual Long Beach International Festivalof Kites, April 22-24 program, with retail display booths . on beach at foot of Junipero, LongBeach, CA Sponsor Long Beach RecreationDept . Contact: Maria Sharpe Long Beach Recreation Dept . . 155 Queens Way Landing, LongBeach, CA 90802, tel : (213) 432-5931

4th Annual Freeman Park Fly-In, Idaho FallsID Sponsor and contact : Idaho Falls Parks an(Recreation Dept . . Box 220 . Idaho Falls, I D 83401tel (208) 522-3653

Rankin Lions Club Kitefly, Rankin, TX . Sponsorand contact Rankin Lions Club (c/o HerbFrederick) . P O. Box 503. Rankin TX 79778tel . (915) 693-2283

24Long Beach Team Kite Fight (Southern CA vsNorthern CA) . on beach at foot of AlamitosLong Beach. CA Sponsor and contact : LongBeach Recreation Dept . (c/o Maria Sharpe)155 Queens Way Landing . Long Beach . CF90802, tel : (213) 432-5931

11th Annual WIND Radio Kite Fly, Grant ParkChicago, IL . Sponsors : WIND Radio and ChicagoPark District . Contact : Jill O'Mahoney, WINERadio . 625 N . Michigan Ave . . Chicago . IL 60611tel :(312)527-2170 .

3011th Annual Maryland Kite Festival, withmedallions and large cash awards . Inner Harbor .Baltimore . MD Kites may be shipped in advanceSponsor and contact : Maryland Kite Society (c/oRick Kinnaird) . 3206 Greenmead Rd . . Baltimore,MD 212077 tel (301) 655-9320

3Hamamatsu Kite Festival, May 3-5 . Hamamatsu .Japan . For further information see pages 36-39

(Or May 5) Hoshubana O-dako Festival,Hoshubana, Japan For further information ., seepages 36-38 .

5Boys Day in Japan . where fish kites fly from roof-tops one for each boy in the house .

National Kite Day : Fly your kites!

National Kite Day Fly, with $1000 for largestkite, other big prizes Polo Field, Golden GatePark. San Francisco, CA Sponsor and contact :Come Fly a Kite, Inc and Kiteworld (c/o DineshBahadur) . 900 North Point . Ghirardelli SquareSan Francisco, CA 94109, tel : (415) 411-2965 .

(Or May 15) 3rd Annual WIBA-FM Kite Fly,Warner Park, Madison, WI . Sponsor and con-tact: WIBA-FM Radio (c/o Minnie Murphy),2651 Fish Hatchery Rd . Madison. WI 53713,tel : (608) 274-5450

9(Tentative date) 3rd Annual Bushnell Park KiteDay, Downtown Hartford, CT Sponsor and con-tact, Greater Hartford Kite Society (c/o Tim Wolf) .50 Castlewood Rd ., W. Hartford . CT 06107, tel :(203) 521-0181

11David M . Checkley files patent for paper bagkite, 1973 .

14(Or May 21) 9th Annual Great Boston KiteFestival, with hundreds of kites and many prizesbut essentially non-competitive, Franklin Park,Boston, MA Sponsor and contact : Committeefor the Better Use of Air (c/o Gil Fishman), 23Arrow St ., Cambridge, MA 02138, tel: (ClaraWainwright) (617) 646-5194

154th Annual Kite Day, a non-competitive fly. SilverSprings Park . Stow OH Sponsor : Parks andRecreation Dept Contact : Tom Troyer. 4174Kent Road, Stow OH 44224, tel (216) 688-6041or 688-1708Southern CA Team Kite Fighting Tournament,Redondo Beach Pier, Redondo Beach, CASponsors and contacts Redondo Beach Parkand Recreation Dept. . 415 Diamond St, Re-dondo Beach . CA. Sunshine Kite Co . (RandalJoe) . 233-B Fisherman's Wharf . RedondoBeach. CA 90277 . tel : (213) 372-0308

21Two Feet in the Sky Kite Fly, Venice City Beachat Washington . Venice, CA Sponsor and con-tact: Two Feet Ahead (c/o Ron Kay) . 13163Mindanao Way, Marina del Rey. CA 90291 . tel :(213)822-8230 .

25G . T Woglom first experiments with five kiteslifting a basket of homing pigeons . 1895

-_2nd Annual Kite Meet, Robert Savitt Park(Sandy Beach), Juneau . AK. Sponsor and con-tact. Juneau Parks and Recreation (c/o JamesDumont), 155 S . Seward, Juneau, AK 99801 .tel : (907) 586-3300

30First photograph from a kite in America is takenby William A . Eddy . 1895 .