Went Kite Flying This Past Weekend

[John Rogers]

Back in the late 1980's and 1990's I did some kite building and flying. The idea was to make them large and easy to fly. Since I had my quadruple by-pass surgery several years ago the heart doctor said to get some moderate exercise and I remembered the kites I had piled in the garage. The last time I flew this one was in 1995 and it took me a while to figure how it went together but as with most delta kites it fly's easily. It has a 34 foot span and uses 1.5 inch aluminum tubes as spars.

[sand_man]

Sheeesh! That's a beast! Do you need a license to fly something like that

[pwd72s]

Bring it to the west coast next June?

Lincoln City Summer Kite Festival - Lincoln City, OR

[Tidybuoy]

That is one big kite. Looks like fun!

[John Rogers]

Loads of fun! I used to call the San Diego region FFA since it weighs over 35# but not necessary any longer they said. Here are a couple stunt or two line kites I made in the beginning of my building. The "green guy" won People's Choice kite at Sun Fest in Ocean City MD back in 1992 or so?

[Seahawk]

Goddamned Hippy.



Where was the picture taken that has the CBB in the background...32nd Street?

[cabmandone]

I use one of the quad line stunt kites. It was difficult to figure out coming from the ones like you show above but once I got the hang of it, it's a load of fun.

[scott540]

flying kites is awesome. this is my small 2.5M foil while on vacation in Florida. my wife and taught our whole group to fly. everyone thought it was so cool

[Scott Douglas]

The pic in the OP looks like it could do double duty as a hang glider. Sure would hate to get hit with that thing.

[RKDinOKC]

When my nephew was in college he sold kites. Call his company Neon Sky. He would spend his weekends at a local lake selling kites, teaching people to fly, and flying his own.

We used to phone him and ask if this was the Neonski residence.

[vonsmog]

When I was in high school my dad's cousin made a box kite so big that he had a steel cable for the string! Had it up in the air with like 1000 feet of line on it and a large tanked kerosene lantern in the middle so it could be seen at night. Had a system to wind the line in or out like a winch. He put it up for Halloween. Thing was in the air for a week and the first night neighbors were calling the police to report a UFO in the sky! Made the news and everything. Later he was told not to fly it anymore at night or leave it up for long periods of time.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by John Rogers

Back in the late 1980's and 1990's I did some kite building and flying. The idea was to make them large and easy to fly. Since I had my quadruple by-pass surgery several years ago the heart doctor said to get some moderate exercise and I remembered the kites I had piled in the garage. The last time I flew this one was in 1995 and it took me a while to figure how it went together but as with most delta kites it fly's easily. It has a 34 foot span and uses 1.5 inch aluminum tubes as spars.

How is it you fly something like that without it lifting you off of the ground or dragging you down a field? When I was about 13, a guy in my neighborhood made a kite in the traditional asymmetric diamond shape that was about 6-7' tall. He flew it and had to lean back against the pull and was a pretty stout guy (per the memory of a kid from over 30 years ago). That thing looks like a quick gust could pick you up and redeposit you 100 yards down wind.

[John Rogers]

Very good question. Delta kites can either be a "floater" or a "puller/lifter" depending on where the line attaches. We are lucky in San Diego as one of the designers of modern delta kites lived here before he died. To make a floater the line attachment is a bit towards the nose, the spreader is a bit shorter which gives the wings that curve you see in the third picture. Plus I weigh a tad over 200# and had two long stakes about 30 feet behind me with the line attached to both of them.

I did build a Cody War Kite that had a 25 foot front wing span and at the time it was the largest in the country. It was staked with 3 four foot long stakes, 5000# test dacron line and could lift about 150# of weight. There were several times we lifted people a bit and then 3 or 4 of us would pull the kite down. I sold it to a fellow in GA who owned a kite shop and the shipping cost was a tad expensive!

[Rickysa]

Don't need a new hobby...Don't need a new hobby...Don't need a new hobby...Don't need a new hobby...

watched some vids of the Cody...that is just too cool

[RKDinOKC]

Founder of the company I work for told me when he was in his teens he was a real nerd. Him and his friend built a big Cody War kite. They tied themselves to a tree to no get drug off. The neighborhood bully rode up on his bike and started teasing the about being tied to a tree. The friend distracted the bully while the founder tied the kite to his bike. They then let go of the kite line. Said it drug the bully for a city block before he let go of the bike and the bike kept going. Said they never had any problem with that bully again.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by John Rogers

Very good question. Delta kites can either be a "floater" or a "puller/lifter" depending on where the line attaches. We are lucky in San Diego as one of the designers of modern delta kites lived here before he died. To make a floater the line attachment is a bit towards the nose, the spreader is a bit shorter which gives the wings that curve you see in the third picture. Plus I weigh a tad over 200# and had two long stakes about 30 feet behind me with the line attached to both of them.

Ah, so there is some level of safety involved. That makes sense. Does the attachment point and being a lifter or floater also change how easily the thing gets up and hangs? Or how much wind you need for it to get up? Sorry, my kite experience is super low.

I did build a Cody War Kite that had a 25 foot front wing span and at the time it was the largest in the country. It was staked with 3 four foot long stakes, 5000# test dacron line and could lift about 150# of weight. There were several times we lifted people a bit and then 3 or 4 of us would pull the kite down. I sold it to a fellow in GA who owned a kite shop and the shipping cost was a tad expensive!

Wow, crazy! Very cool!

[RKDinOKC]

Seen guys flying big stunt kites in a harness tied to the bump of their truck.

[John Rogers]

In the notes I had gathered over the years the info for how to make different mods of some various kites such as a delta were given to the fellow who runs the San Diego Kite Club website. The arthritis has gotten pretty bad in my hands and fingers I can't sew very well and Rick does well. The various dimensions are all percentages of the width and height. Here is something else I made invented by a fellow in Europe named a 'Bole after the large cup the French use to drink their morning tea or coffee. The old fellow standing there is 6 FT tall!

[rattlsnak]

That thing is huge! Bigger than most small airplanes!