Our Kites Are Multiplying Like Rabbits

This past week I scored some new kites on Ebay. Three, new-in-package, Sutton 4 flowforms were up for bids and I won two of them. Sutton flowforms haven’t been in production since around 2010. They were made by Air Affairs in Pennsylvania and came in several different sizes. Though I believe the largest sizes were only made by custom order. One of the first kites my husband bought was a Sutton 16, a mid-size flowform. My two Sutton 4s are the smallest of the Sutton family of kites.

Saturday night I made tails for the two Suttons and got them ready for an inaugural fly at the regular weekly kite fly at Fort Macon State Park. As usual, the wind was low and it was doubtful that the little guys would fly. But the weather was the best it has been in quite a while so it was a day not to be wasted. Brett, from the Kites Unlimited kite shop, arrived and together we got them up long enough for me to get some images. Then I packed them away, put up a Skate and sat back to enjoy the peaceful beach and visit with other kite fliers.

Brett Flying While Took Photos — Brett Flying While I Took Photos

My husband joined me later with a kite he had bought a couple of days before, a Malay Diamond by Into The Wind. It is a very large diamond kite which comes in two color variations. John chose the one entitled “Sunrise”. It should be no surprise that the other one is entitled “Sunset”. The wind was still low when he got there but this kite went up like a dream and hung in the sky like it was anchored there. So easy and so beautiful. In higher winds, we have a rainbow streamer tail to add to it for greater stability. Not needed today.

Malay Diamond - Sunrise — Malay Diamond – Sunrise

As the afternoon approached, the wind picked up and I was able to fly the Suttons. They flew very well with a little more wind. We ended up with quite a nice display in the sky. All kites flying calm and steady. And we fliers relaxing on the beach, enjoying the beautiful, beautiful day.

Fair Winds All

Celebrating The Earth With Color In The Sky

The Carolina Kite Club joined Fort Macon State Park in celebrating Earth Day. Local groups and organizations set up demonstrations and exhibits concerning ecology, conservation, animals and nature in the visitor center. The club put up a display of kites and banners on the nearby beach, all of which were easily visible while driving into the park and walking about the Fort. Quite a few people walked down to the beach to see the kites close up and talk to the fliers.

Large flowforms, power sleds and deltas dotted the sky. Many of which had long tails which added to the display. Because it was a special occasion, the park ranger brought one of his trucks onto the beach to be used as an anchor for some extremely large inflatable kites. We were able to launch a large gecko, a smaller trilobite and a large crab.

Gecko, Trolibite and Crab — Gecko, Trilobite and Crab

All of this was a major feat as the wind was not in our favor. The weather predictions were for 10 to 15 mile per hour winds. What we got were 5 to 7 with periods of no wind at all. I gave up trying to fly my collection of Xelons and flew a couple of Skates, a Dunston-Taylor box and a Fled. All low wind kites. Some stunt kites were up for a while but no one flew anything for long.

The sky remained cloudy all day and toward the end of the event, it tried to rain a little. Just enough to make us all take the kites down and pack them away. As the last of the large kites were being stuffed into their bags, the wind jumped up to around 25 miles per hour. The sand was swept across the beach with such force it looked like clouds skimming the surface. We were thankful that there were no kites up, especially the very large ones, as they could have easily broken loose and been lost.

All in all, it was a good event. Kites were up and we got to visit and catch up with some of our out-of-town club members who came to add to the “color in the sky”.

Fair Winds All

Things Are Looking Up

It was a little on the chilly side but we had wind. A light wind but wind. Something we haven’t seen too much of in the past couple of months. Because it is technically winter, there aren’t a lot of people on the beach. Mostly fishermen. And that’s a good thing because we don’t have to be concerned about people waking into our kite lines as we anchor out the single line kites. There were four fliers on the beach and a variety of kites in the air. The largest was Blackfoot’s Magic Gourd by Premier. The wind was l little light for this kite and it settled to earth a few times but I hadn’t flown it in quite some time and couldn’t resist putting it up. The second largest was the Powersled 24, also by Premier. This is currently my husband’s favorite. The rest of the kites in the air were smaller kites that the local kite shop owner was testing out. They probably will be included in this years offerings at the shop. Mostly they flew pretty well.

I tried to put up my three-stack of Goblins. I trained these together this past October and haven’t had a chance to fly them yet. Either there was no wind or I didn’t have them with me when the wind was up. I thought sure today was the day. So I took them out of the bag and spent the next twenty minutes untangling and re-attaching the train lines and bridle. How things can get so tangled when all they’ve done for months is sit in a bag is beyond me. Finally I was ready to go and had my helper give me a launch. Well, the flight lasted about ten minutes. There just wasn’t enough wind for a three-stack. I put a lot of work into that ten minutes and ended up waling backward for about 75 to 100 feet. Nothing was going to keep those kites in the air. So, back in the bag they go for another day.

Probably the most interesting part of the day was watching the men working on getting an airplane kite in the air. The kite shop owner worked on his a bit and got it flying pretty well. So my husband thought he could get some help in getting his in the air. Now he has been dying to get his airplane to fly for a couple of months with little to no luck. So the two of them started working on it. They were soon joined by the other flier on the field. Now you have three men and two airplane kites, one that will fly and one that won’t. And all of them too stubborn to give up making the one kite fly. Watching this made for an entertaining morning. “Boys” and their toys. Did the kite eventually fly? No! We have a lemon.

Don, John & Chris — "Boys" and Their Toys

It was a good morning that lasted into the afternoon. Three hours on the beach. A day many would envy. I’m smiling.

Fair Winds All

Is This January Or June?

The weather the past two days has been more reminiscent of spring or early June than January. Temperatures rose to the seventies and the sky was a clear, gorgeous blue. There was even a heavy fog in the mornings both days. So glad I didn’t have to go anywhere early. After not flying for a couple of weeks, we couldn’t let these days pass by. After completing the things we needed to do (note the word need), we went to the beach and did what we wanted to do. Put some kites in the air. Both days we didn’t get out until after 3:00 but an hour or so flying is better than no flying at all.

Contrary to what the weatherman said, the winds were very light on Tuesday. Luckily I had my sure-fire, light wind kite, the Chiroptera. It wanted to fly before I even got the line hooked up. It took off and rose straight up and stayed there fluttering in the sky. The wind was a little gusty so at times there were some mid-air acrobatics, including a couple of complete roll-overs, but it always recovered and rose again.

So from the very new to the vintage, the second kite that I put up was the Joel Scholz Butterfly. This kite is not supposed to be a light wind kite. It is a heavy kite with five wooden dowels for its framework. But it is so well designed and balanced that it will go up in the lightest winds and just sit there and rock slightly from side to side. It is a fun kite and gorgeous to look at. Any kids in the area invariably point to it. sometimes I think the new kite designers need to go back and take a look at some of those vintage kites. Many of the were kites do not fly half as well as the vintage models. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the “latest and greatest” that we lose sight of the “tried and true”. I guess that’s why I am different from most fliers in that I don’t get into all the tricking and I search to add vintage kites to my bag. Oh yes, I do fly them, too. In fact, I have a couple of new additions that I hope to bring out when the wind and the weather cooperate.

Wednesday the wind was up a trifle and off we went again. Found the EO6 hiding in the bottom of the kite bag and decided to give it a try. This is an interesting kite in that in steady winds it will hang in the sky and in gusty wind it will dip and dive and remind one of fighter kite. Tugging on the line brings causes tumbling from which the kite recovers and rises again. I’m afraid we were at the bottom of its wind range so we couldn’t just anchor it and watch it fly. We had to be on the line to give it a boost now and then. It was fun nonetheless. The other kite that flew was the workshop kite from the last Carolina Kite Festival. I call it “Go Fish”. Some of you may have seen this kite on an earlier post. It is a great kite and easy to fly. I tried cutting the tail differently and I’m still not sure I like it. I may take my scissors out and make the tail more like a standard fuzzy tail. It may fly and look better.

So now we’ve had our kite fix for a while. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate and we will have our regular club fly this weekend.

Fair winds All

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