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.

The Earth Day Celebration

This past weekend was the annual Earth Day Celebration at Fort Macon State Park. It brings out several government agencies, local non-profits and businesses to educate and promote good environmental stewardship. There were activities and demonstrations for kids and adults and live music. Civil War re-enactors were also present to assist with cannon firings and historical demonstrations. The Carolina Kite Club was asked to put a lot of color in the sky down on the beach for the visitors.

The days prior to this event were sunny, warm and blustery. That is to say the winds were ranging from 14 to 20 mph. We were all hoping those strong winds would calm enough so we could fill the sky with large kites and long tails. Temperatures dropped a little on the day of the fly but the winds did not. Ever the hopeful group, we took the kites we planned on flying and went down to the beach.

Our first order of business was to put up the banners. After they were up, we began to think this was not such a good idea. Wind gauges were measuring 18 to 22 mph and the sand was beginning to blow across the surface of the beach. One intrepid flyer did launch a large HQ flowform with long tube tails and then immediately went and added extra sand to the anchor. Another put up a mesh delta which handled the wind quite well. I anchored out my large ground bouncer caterpillar. The rest of the group decided it was too much wind but would wait a while and see if anything changed.

And change it did. The wind got stronger. The wind was now blowing 25 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. We huddled behind a dune to get out of the blowing sand and watched the banners bend almost down to the ground. That was it! We all packed up and called it a day.

It is such a disappointment when you’re asked to fly at an event and then are unable to. Even when it is through no fault of your own. We just hope that the organizers understand and know that we will be back to try again at the next Earth Day Celebration.

Fair Winds All.

Back To Our Roots

The club kite fly this week was called because of weather. We have become weather wimps in our “old age”. However, the call of our addiction was so great that we went out on the next pretty day and had the beach to ourselves.

We went “back to our roots” and flew only single line kites. My husband put up his Ghost Delta and I selected some of my White Bird dragon kites. I’m continually trying to expand my collection of White Bird dragons. These were three that you don’t see too often. They put on a show in the sky no matter what pattern in on the sail.

The Ghost Delta is made by Gomberg Kites. It comes in other colors but the white seems to be the favorite. Like the dragons, the flowing tails really make a statement in the sky.

Flying in the evening is a relaxing end to any day. As the sun went down and the air began to chill, we packed up and strolled to the truck. We were already making plans for our next flying day.

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.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31