Pictures of some of the kites I make and fly.

The same weekend South Jersey Kite Flyers were holding their Elephant workshop, I got to make mine at home from a set of templates Mike Dallmer sent up.

On Dec 5, '98 at the Indoor Fly at Marblehead, MA, there was a surprise party for
Ralph Reed III who was about to turn 40.
Here is a picture of the 66" Rokkaku kite I made for him.

If you see Ralph on the field, wish him Happy Birthday and ask him where the kite is.

Every winter the ConnectiKITERS Kite Club does kite making workshops.
www.connectikiters.org
Last year I led the two workshops.

Last February, we made Spikey Balls:

In March, we made Circoflex kites:

Here is a better pic of a Circoflex made by Robin & Jim Johannnesen at the NYKE
(New York Kite Enthusiasts) workshop in January, 1999.

In the process of learning to make the Spikey Ball, I tried several soccer balls. Here is one made from 2 different shaped triangles. Can you spot the pentagons and hexagons?

Photo by Paul Dugard.

Our newest addition to our kite family is a Peter Lynn Trilobite;

The kite is 45 feet long, the tails are another 30:

Trilobite kites are imported from New Zealand by Gomberg Kite Productions International

I have always been intrigued with Cody Box Kites. Samuel Franklin Cody lived in the late 1800's and designed his box kite for aerial observation before there were airplanes. I designed a plan for an extended wing Cody box kite around Cody's favorite dimension, which was 6. My cells are all 2x2, the kite is 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, and the wingspan is 14 feet. It has a forward rake of 6 inches.

This is a picture of one made to my plans by Paul Brainard, of Englewood, FL. Alongside is a pic of Paul flying it in Newport, RI in July '98.

Lisa Slinksy of Norwalk, CT made one too. This her pic, and it includes all things she and I made together or at my workshops.

At the top of the flying line, just beneath the Cody, is a soccer ball that she made at the Spikey Ball workshop. Then there is a Turbo (Premier calls these "Dynamos"). Then there is a Ringleschange, or "Ring Snake" at the bottom. In the background is one of the kite eating light poles of Veterans Memorial Park in Norwalk, CT.

One of the kite laundry things I make is a Catherine's Wheel.
I like these better than Ringleschanges. Here is one of mine:

Even more fun is making sets of counter-rotating wheels:

On this set, owned by Matt Dill, the big one and the little one spin one way,
and the one in between spins the other way.

    Matt Dill:

The set below is owned by John Davenport, who flys a lot at Newport, Rhode Island.

Banners: Why are there kite banners? The rather glib answers are:

(1) To use up the scraps from making kites.

(2) The distinctive patterns help indentify who's on the field or at the festival.

(3) They are a great way of telling what the wind is doing.

(4) They are something that will fly when nothing else will.
      It looks like something is "happening".

These are some of the banners I have made: