Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Introduction to kites

During the second world war, some naval antiaircraft gunners were trained using steerable 2 line kites that flew like modern stunt kites with two control lines. A pilot on the ground would fly the kite around, making it hard to hit. I've seen a photo, the kite itself really looked like a diamond stunter. A fairly big one, standing about as tall as the man holding it. The concept was developed by Paul Garber, a U.S. Navy Commander. Perhaps the history of kites starts right here.

The Chinese Dragon Kite

The Chinese Dragon Kite is a centipede style of kite. This type consists of a large head and a long train of small disks that form the tail. Some of these dragon kites are very big and very expensive, since a lot of labor goes into making them. Most are mid-sized, but still not cheap compared to children's kites.

The box kite

Lawrence Hargrave, an Australian, was the official inventor of the box kite in 1892. Hargrave used to link several kites together and even hoisted a very trusting human under the largest of them! According to one academic, the idea of a box structure flying in the air was known here and there around this time. Hence, it's possible that Hargrave was not the very first person to fly a box kite.

Popular kite style

The most common design for a sports kite is a somewhat triangular ""delta"" shape, with two lines used for control. Normally, these kites are made from lightweight nylon, with spars structured from carbon fiber tubing. The strings are prepared from braided Spectra which are extremely light, do not stretch and stay slick even when wrapped several times. For control, the pilot uses the right hand line to turn right and the left hand line to turn left. Using different combinations of pushes and pulls, intricate patterns can be flown. These include turns, landings and loops, and other spectacular maneuvers.

CONCLUSION

The original simple triangular box with just the 2 cells is not seen much now. However, its influence is considerable. These days, triangular box kites are most often seen as...

• components of large complex multi-cellular kites
• lifters of photographic equipment, in various Conyne configurations
• colorful shop-bought Delta Conyne kites being flown for fun