Category: Color in the Sky

Famine And Feast

Winds have been rather light these past few weeks.  Things started changing and we actually got to fly a couple of extra times this week.  I’ve decided to do something that I’ve never had the courage to do before.  I am working on a performance routine for the upcoming kite festival.  The first evening we went out I didn’t get much practice done at all.  Instead I played with a little girl.  I was flying the Vamp Devil and along came a family with a little girl.  She loved the kite and I made it swoop and dive and dance near her.  She giggled and giggled.  Her family wanted to continue their stroll but she wouldn’t leave.  She and her Dad ended up staying by me as I continued to entertain her and the rest of the family went walking.  We had fun together until the sun began to go down.  I didn’t get much practicing done but I had a great time, too.  And that’s what kiting is all about.

The second evening we went to the beach, I did get some great practice and planning in.  I had the iPod on continuous repeat of the music.  So I improvised and planned as the music went on and on and on.  It was a good practice.  I was flying on short lines to get used to the response of the kite and see what worked and what didn’t.  Again, we stayed until the sun was going down.  I really like flying in the evenings.  The air is cool and the beach is quiet.  There are some people out walking but not too many.  Everything is peaceful.  It’s just you and your kite.

Then there was a very short morning fly.  I was testing a new kite that I’ve been waiting to arrive for the past nine months.  I had seen this kite in photos from the kite trade show in February.  It intrigued me and I just had to have one.  It is a new design that I just had this gut feeling it would be a good flying kite.  The initial flight was really an eye-opener.  It is fast and touchy.  I had it on short lines and my inputs were really too strong and the kite was all over the sky.  I have a lot of learning to do on this kite.  But I like it.  The winds that morning weren’t helping me at all.  They were gusty, at times blowing strong and at others ceasing completely.  I need to try again on longer lines in smoother winds.  It may take me some time to fly this kite competently but I’m planning on continuing to work at it.   And what kite am I talking about?  It is the Mojo by HQ Kites, a new design quad line kite.

Mojo Quad Line Kite by HQ

Sunday morning was our regular club fly.  We had wind.  We had a lot of wind.  If you left your kite bag open when you flew, it was filled with sand when you got back to it.  There were four of the kite club members in attendance and about eight kites in the air.  The wind was so strong the selection of kites that were fly-able was limited.  Larger deltas flew well and a Sutton with a trailing pennant banner stayed in the sky with no problem.  I flew a large dragon kite.  It should be noted that the kites in the air all had long tails to stabilize them.  No small kites could handle it and no stunt kites were flown.  This was a feast of wind after a wind famine.

Things are coming together for the kite festival.  Hopefully the temperatures will stay moderate and the winds will be a steady 10 to 15 mph.  With an emphasis on steady.  It’s only three weeks away.  Can you believe it?  I had better get practicing.

Fair Winds All.

 

 

A Sky Full Of Kite Tails

The sun was bright in the sky.  The water was aqua blue with white caps breaking on the beach.  The temperature was cool and, best of all, there was wind.  It was a weekly kite club fly day and we could fly.  Yippeee!  I will say flying wasn’t easy.  The weatherman lied a little.  He forecasted wind in the 10 to 15 mile per hour range.  Perfect wind.  In reality, it was about 12 one minute and 3 to 4 the next.  So we spent a lot of time picking up the kites that drifted to the ground and putting them back up in the sky.  But that was all right.  We had the chance to get together with friends and share the day.  There were several fliers that were down on vacation and we caught up on news and made plans for the upcoming Carolina Kite Festival.  The sky above looked like a small kite festival.  That’s the way we like to see it.  And we like to see others enjoying the sight, too.

 

Another reason I was so glad to have a good flying day was that I had two new kites to put in the air.  One was a large dragon-type kite by Premier Kites called Blackfoot’s Magic Gourd.  I’ve been eyeing this kite for a long time.  And kept talking myself out of buyng it.  Well, that only works for so long.  It’s mine now.  And it really puts a show on when it’s in the sky.

Blackfoot's Magic Gourd by Premier

The other kite was a custom kite by Ray Wong.  It is a rokkaku called “Windows”.  Mine is the pink version.  The owner of the kite shop has the blue version.  In fact, it was the blue version that I saw initially.  I saw the pink version in the kite shop when looking at the kites in the special kite bin.  Special because they were hand-made custom kites.  I also saw this one in the sky at one of the kite festivals.  This past month was our wedding anniversary and my husband bought me this kite as a present.  Seems that is what we do for special occasions, trade kites as presents.    So I finally got to fly it.  And it went straight up.  I was rather surprised at the angle of its flight.  It was directly above our heads.  In fact, a couple of times I thought it was lost because I didn’t look high enough in the sky when checking on it.

"Windows" Rokkaku by Ray Wong

As I mentioned before, the plans and preparation for the Carolina Kite Festival are moving ahead.  Although it often seems like we take one step forward and two steps backward.  So many changes this year.  Some of our invited guest fliers can’t make it.  That’s really sad because we look forward to visiting with them and watching them fly.  I guess the local fliers are going to have to take up the slack and provide some entertaining flying (or crashing as the case may be).  Hopefully, most of the viewing public will be in so much awe of the wonderful kites, they won’t notice the flying miscues.  

Guess that’s all for now.  I’m going to try to get some extra flying time this week.  The dust on the coffee tables will still be there when I get back.

Fair Winds All.

A Lot Of Catching Up To Do (Part 2)

It had been about three weeks since we had been to our own local flying beach.  The weeks we had missed were either rainy or windless so we didn’t miss much.  That is to say we didn’t miss much flying.  We did miss the time spent with kite friends.  So it was with some anticipation that we went to the weekly club fly on Sunday morning.  What we found were a couple of fliers, a couple of thousand mosquitos and no wind.  I’m beginning to feel cursed.  We never left the parking lot.  It just wasn’t worth it.  So instead of flying, we hung out at the kite shop.

Carolina Kite Festival
Carolina Kite Festival

We’re helping get things ready for the Carolina Kite Festival.  It’s the local festival sponsored by Kites Unlimited, Atlantic Beach, NC – our local kite shop.  It was to be held at the Sheraton Atlantic Beach Resort on the beach.  However, there has been a drastic change of plans.  The Sheraton suffered major damage due to Hurricane Irene and has had to close their doors and cancel all events until January, 2012.  Major headache.  After a lot of phone calling, the festival has been relocated to the Atlantic Beach Public Beach Access, locally known as “The Circle”.  I’ve been trying to help with Internet changes and making new brochures and stickers for old brochures.  I’m not a computer guru but I can try to take some little things off the over-full plates of the kite shop staff.  It’s been interesting to say the least.  The hardest part will be getting the word out about the change.

We finally got to fly for about an hour each on the following Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  The first evening I flew the Dunston-Taylor box delta for the first time on our home field.  It flew like a champ.  That kite is such a great flier I’m planning on making another with a much more outstanding sail pattern.  Not sure what it will be yet but I’m sure I’ll think of something.  John put up his early anniversary present, a Captain America Rokkaku by Ray Wong.  It is a beautiful handmade kite that he has been admiring for some time.  The wind was light but it just hung in the sky.  While the two single-line kites were up, I flew my latest dual-line acquisition, a Nebula by Ron Phipps.  It’s a wonderful precision kite that is smooth and easy. I love the way it handles.  I may actually learn to make push turns with it.  Something I haven’t been able to do well with any of my other dual-line stunt kites.  The second evening I practised with the Vamp Devil on short fifty foot lines.  I was having fun with a rising wind when a family walked by with a little girl maybe three years old.  She loved the Devil so I put on a show just for her.  Lots of low-level flying that she could see easily.  She laughed and giggled and gave the kite commands which I tried to follow.  In fact, she was having so much fun she didn’t want to leave.  And adult stayed behind with her while the rest of the family continued their walk.  I didn’t get much routine practising done but I sure had a good time.

We missed the weekly club fly again.  But we did have a legitimate reason.

More later.

Dunston-Taylor Box Delta (custom kite)
Captain America Rokkaku (custom kite)

Fair Winds All.

Better Late Than Never

I live by that phrase.  I am perpetually late for most things in my life.  Yes, most times it only five minutes or less but it’s still late.  And so is this posting.  Right now it’s because there isn’t much to talk about.  The weather is still too hot to do much.  And, as usual, the wind is not cooperating.

Sunday was the weekly club fly.  We have been seeing strong winds most of the week.  The forecast for Sunday was for winds to moderate and be at an ideal level for flying.  Weatherman, can you ever get anything right?  It was howling a gale out on the beach.  There were a lot of people out that morning.  And there were quite a few kites in the air.  Most notably, a large Sutton with a banner tail and lots of line laundry hanging from it and a HQ Triangulation, also with line laundry.  Most of us foolishly listened to the weatherman and only brought mid-range kites and didn’t want to risk damage in the higher winds.  So we stood around a lot and talked a lot.

Triangulation by HQ Kites

The stronger winds did not stop the Revolution fliers.  There were several vented Revs and Super Sonic Revs in the air.  Now those kites are made for stronger winds and so they were flying great.  And one flier was having a ball launching himself with a HQ Symphony.  I think it was a Symphony 2.2 but I’m not sure.  Anyway, the pull on that kite was so much that at times the guy was sitting on the sand and digging his heels in to stay close to one place.  That’s way more that I want to handle.  So after a while we picked up our bags and headed to the kite shop for more chit-chat.

We did manage to fly one night this past week.  About an hour before sunset, the winds seemed to be just right for some flying and it was starting to cool off some.  I tried to put up the Goblin stack I had just put together.  No luck.  There wasn’t enough wind to launch the three-stack.  Rats!  But I did bring along the Nebula.  I hadn’t flown it yet and was looking for a good opportunity.  That night was the night.  I took off like a dream.  No pull.  Very responsive.  I tried a couple of “push” turns and it was fantastic.  Sharp turn, no oversteer and straight tracking.  I still need practice with those type of turns but it was so easy.  I even managed a square in the sky.  OK, so it was more like a lop-sided rectangle.  But that was the closest I’ve ever come to completing that manuever.  There is hope for making me a precision flier.  Sweet kite, that Nebula.  It was dark by the time we left the beach.  Oh. for more evenings like that one.

Fair Winds All.