The Annual Mile of Hope Kite Fly

The Mile of Hope is an annual weekend on the beach for families with children who have cancer. It is sponsored by the Optimist Club of Raleigh, NC. Twenty-five families spend the weekend visiting area attractions, going on a sightseeing cruise and spending time on the beach. It gives them a chance to get away from the routine of hospital stays, drug treatments and therapies.

Saturday morning is beach time. The families spend time on the beach wading in the water, building sand castles and flying kites. Kites Unlimited of Atlantic Beach provides kites for all the children. The Carolina Kite Club members bring some of their “showiest” kites and fill the sky with color for all to enjoy. We’re also there to help the children get their kites in the air and solve any problems they might have.

This year was one of the best years for the kite fly. The winds were moderate and directed down the beach (no obstructions), the sun shone and the temperatures were mild. All kinds of kites were in the sky; dragon kites, critter kites, power sleds, delta kites, a Legs kite, and a Triangulation. The theme of the weekend was “dragons” so we made sure the big green Skydog Dragon was in the air as well as the large White Bird “Friendly Dragons” and their accompanying smaller “Friendly Dragons”.

By the end of the morning, we were worn out from walking up and down the beach. But it felt good to see the smiles on the children’s faces and hear their laughter as they played in the sand. And looking around, you could see that the adults were having just as much fun as the children.

Fair Winds All.

We’ve Been Invaded

This two weekends ago was the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the North Carolina State Parks. Fort Macon State Park had a huge re-enactment of the Siege of Fort Macon as part of the celebration. I’ve never seen this many participants at the fort in all the years I’ve lived in this area. There were cannon firings, demonstrations of Civil War dress for men and women, children’s marching drills, musket firings and marching drills, displays about the way of life during the Civil War and an evening concert and fireworks.

During the day, the Confederate forces held the fort and were bivouacked inside. The Union forces were laying siege to the fort and were camped on the beach, with their cannons and mortars. Right alongside our flying beach. In fact, we had to go around a barricade across the path in order to get to the beach.

In honor of the celebration, two special rokkakus were flown. One was for the Confederate States and one was for the Union States. These were made for the AKA Convention at Gettysburg, PA in 2008.

Our personal tribute to the anniversary of the NC State Parks was a RWB delta kite with transition tails. Along with these various other delta kites and critter kites added color in the sky.

After all the single line kites were flying and anchored, I began the long-awaited maiden flight of my five-stack of Goblins. I’ve had a three-stack for quite a while and just recently decided to expand to five. The Goblin is a smaller dual-line stunt kite that is practically indestructible. It’s a great beginner stunt kite and, when stacked, provides more “pull” for experienced flyers. And they look really great in the sky because of the Prismatex center panel. It gives a sparkling holographic effect when the sun hits it.

After some bridle adjustments, the stack took off and tried to take me with it. The “pull” was surprising even though I was expecting it. And I couldn’t stop grinning for a while after landing them. The next time they, fly I will have tails attached. It should be an even better show.

We went home that afternoon tired and happy. And already planning the next kite club fly.

Fair Winds All.

Playing Catch-Up III

The last two kite club meetings have been a little bit lonely. The first began with a message on Facebook that it was raining at Fort Macon State Park and there would not be a fly. Being ever hopeful, we got our breakfast and drove out to the park anyway. At the very worse, we would eat there and visit the gift shop before returning home.

Rain? What rain?? It was cloudy and the wind was light but there was no rain. So we headed down to the beach. We put up out light wind kites and enjoyed the fresh air, wishing there was some sunshine. The newest light wind kite in our bag is the Laima by Flying Wings. It looks like a bird soaring in the sky and flies in even less wind than the Skate.

Skate by Into The Wind and Dunton-Taylor Box Delta

The following week was a complete wash-out. There was rain, cold and almost too much wind. We sat in the truck for an hour waiting to see if there were going to be some other “fools” with kites coming to the beach. You never know. Alas, we were the only ones. We adjourned to the kite shop to see what was new and what our other kite flying friends were up to.

The days in between were beautiful. The temperatures were warm, the sun shone and the winds varied from light to mid-range and perfect for flying. We added two more kites to our vintage bag. Both of them are Skywaves made by David Prentice. The Skywave is an “old school” dual line stunt kite. The day we took them out to fly the wind was on the light side and I wasn’t sure there was enough for this kite. If not, we would have to be content with our low wind single-line kites. Boy, was I wrong. Both flew smooth with hardly any pull. Beautifully responsive and not tricky, just the way I like to fly. So another piece of history landed at our house and we are so pleased.

Fair Winds All.

Playing Catch-Up

The weather has taken a turn for the better with Spring arriving. And I have fallen behind on my posting. It seems I’d rather be out flying my kites than writing about them. So here’s to playing Catch-Up.

The last club fly of February was one of the prettiest days we’d had in quite a while. The wind was up and the morning sky was a beautiful blue. There were only a few of the regular kite club members on the field and we had an interesting mix of old and new kites. My friend Bob dug out some of his older kites that hadn’t seen the sun in a while. The red-white-blue airplane was purported to be a “unflyable” kite. But after some work and innovation, Bob got it to fly remarkably well. It just hung in the sky all morning. The same goes for his Sutton and red-white-blue Double Delta Box kite. Both very reliable flyers. The Angel kite can be finicky at times. But this morning was not one of those times.

I put up our relatively new Vertical Visuals Malay Diamonds. We have one of each color variation. They fly well with or without tails. I prefer the look of the tails trailing along behind.

Vertical Visual Malay Diamonds by Into The Wind

The newest kites in the sky were the pair of Flakes made by Jeri at the Kites Unlimited shop in Atlantic Beach, NC. These were custom-made, one in white and one in black. They made quite a pair hanging together. Rumor has it that there will never be another black Flake made.

And so ended the month of February. Happy to say, this was the start of better weather and better flying. More to come as I continue to play Catch-Up.

Fair Winds All.

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