Jean (aka kayakjazz) and I saw the most extraordinary demonstration in a park near Fisherman's Wharf Sunday afternoon.

Some people were flying kites, and I saw the most amazing kite and flying skill demonstration I have ever seen.

Attached is a crude drawing showing sort of what the kite looked like. The triangles weren't flat -- they were elaborately shaped triangular airfoils, connected by strings. Each airfoil had a long (15--20 feet?) streamer attached to it, and I would guess the whole kite was perhaps 12 feet long. The control strings were much larger than the interconnecting strings, and when the flier was working the kite hard, say a strong climb into the wind, he would be leaning back at about a 30 degree angle against the pull of the controls. I would estimate perhaps as much as 50 pounds of pull. Winds were about 10-15 MPH, with gusts to 25.

Each control string was connected to a handle -- looked like a piece of 1" PVC pipe, about eight inches long -- and the flier was playing with and teasing a group of little kids who were chasing the kite. He would swoop it down over them, dragging the streamers across their backs as they dove flat to the ground because they just *knew* that the infernal contraption was going to hit them. His control was exquisite. He could (and did) swoop the kite down towards the kids, then pull it up and instantly bring it to a dead stop, hovering over their heads, with the streamers dangling down just inches out of their reach. I saw him fly it in complete 360 degree circles around where he was standing. He would drop the kite apparently dead, flat on the ground, and the kids would run towards it and just before they got there, he would twitch the controls and the kite would shoot straight up into the air, maybe 40--50 feet in the blink of an eye. He would do loops, rolls, bring it diving straight down towards the ground at (I would estimate) 40 MPH, airfoils rattling audibly and ominously, to the point where I was positive it was going to smash itself to bits, whereupon he'd pull it out of the dive, run it flat along the ground maybe three inches above the tips of the grass, then zoom just about vertically straight up until it looked like it was directly over the his head.

He could do anything with that kite that you could do with a string-controlled [powered] model airplane.

It was absolutely *incredible* to watch him, and Jean and I stayed there, fascinated, for the better part of an hour while he flew it.

If I lived in a place with more wind than we have here in Fairbanks, I would happily pay $200 for one of those kites, if I knew where to find one. A google search for "kite" gives too much information -- the kite business is much bigger than I would have imagined.

Have you ever heard of such a kite?

tanstaafl.

Here is one with five sections
http://www.prismkites.com/nexus-5-pack.htm

I would bet the one you saw was homemade.

That's quite an engrossing story! The further I read into the paragraph, the faster my eyes *blazed* across the screen, rushing *anxiously* and *fearfully* to see the next exploits of the curious kite and the skillfull controler. I actually felt like I was there!

I had a kite like that once. Well, similar. OK, not really. The only similarity between that and mine was that mine also had streamers and two strings with which to control it. I think I paid about 60 dollars for it. It was _very_ fun to fly. The level of control that you have allows you to do so many things you just don't associate with 'kiting'. Well, I didn't. My entire knowledge of kites until I bought that one was limited to the one-string variety. I don't think I could exhibit the skill that the person you mention had, though. I remember crashing into the ground often.

Stunt kites! A former empegger (Rob Vreeland) was a champion trick flyer. If you think that display you saw was amazing, you should see a group fly acrobatic show... where you have 4 guys flying stacks like that and doing a show similar to a Blue Angels precision flight or a hot tricks demonstration where they can make the kite flip flop, spin, fade... and all kinds of other craziness. I'll see if I can dig up some videos.

OH... then there's Revolution kites. Quad line controls... like a puppet in the sky!
http://www.revkites.com

You could also do fun stuff like this with kites:
http://www.brett-schulz.com/albums/album11/loren07.mov

OH... and Matt's link to Prism is a good place to get started... they make some awesome kites.

hahaha
AWESOME!
Was that you?

Oh, kite trains! I've always wanted to fly one of them.
I currently own just one kite, but over the years I've had a few. My current on is like an areofoil parchute and hence can take alot of abuse

Once about ten years ago I put a compact camera in a kite and triggered the shutter with a model airplace RC servo - nothing like Patrick's model plane work, got some intresting pictures out of it, I wonder where those are now...

Quote:
OH... then there's Revolution kites. Quad line controls... like a puppet in the sky!
http://www.revkites.com

I have a Revolution, and I can tell you it's a blast! Fabulous control. I have a few other two line stunt kites: a couple old flexis and a hawaiian. In a stiff breeze, they can give you a serious workout. Some people pull themselves on carts with them, or do dune jumping. (I think we have a board member who does this stuff out west.)

Though I would never chase kids with one - if you slipped just a bit, you can do serious injury with the kite or strings - that stuff can cut.

-jk

When I was growing up I had a stack of Peter Powell stunt kites - seriously heavy duty, PVC kites with fibreglass spars. The pull from even one would lift you off the ground in anything above a force 5, and living in Orkney, force8 and up is normal daily wind.

The solution - we attached a pulley to the fence, and once the lines were out to full extent, pass a cable round the pulley and hook each end to one of the control handles. That way the fence took the strain while we could control the kite.

With a stack of 3 kites I could get over 12 loops in a row, hover inches above the grass, hedgechop at speed and generally scare the tourists/cattle/passersby.

I hope this experience means my learning curve for kitesurfing will be pleasantly easy....

I saw a guy in Kittyhawk, NC fly a stack of kites so large he had to harness himself to the bumper of his car. At points his feet would lift off the ground and he was suppported in tension between the kites and the harness. Needless to say, he was in some serious good shape.

I've got a stunt kite (your basic single delta), and it is a lot of fun.

-Zeke

I just saw a guy out on the Potomac doing this stuff on what looked like a cross between a surf board and snow board. Very cool to watch.

-jk

Every weekend at the Seaside beach (No. County San Diego) there is a group of kite-surfers. Absoultely amazing. So much more air than than with a windsurfer.

--Nathan

Perhaps I should bring some of mine to Amersfoort this year. Not that I have a stack - I don't like stacks except perhaps of flexifoils. Not sure if my insurance covers international flying (but damn sure it doesn't cover deliberately flying at kids - a carbon fibre main spar travelling up to 100mph would probably go right through one of them and the sail would get all dirty).

Rob

deliberately flying at kids

The way he flew it, there was no chance of actually hitting them. Those streamers were pretty long, and the kids frightened easily -- they would drop to the ground when the kite itself was still 10-15 feet above them, then he'd hover and drag the streamers across their backs.

It was a truly impressive demonstration of technology and skill!

tanstaafl.