Untitled - KiteLife

VOL. 2 NO . 3 SUMMER, 199014 TEXAS GULF COAST CHALLENGESpar crunching winds at their very best!18 PHILADELPHIA REGIONALSThe East Coast Stunt Kite League strikes again!21 4 WINDS KITE FESTIVALCanadian competition!22 GREAT LAKES NATIONALSYear number two for the country's fastest growingnational!27 TEMECULA BALLOON AND WINE FESTIVALBalloons and kites? You bet!28 JUNCTION, TEXAS KITE RETREATStunt workshops highlight this year's event!30 EAST COAST STUNT KITE CHAMPIONSHIPSAnother wet 'n Wildwood!34 OREGON STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS35 NORTHWEST REGIONALS36 SECOND ANNUAL CHERRY STUNT FLYTraverse City, Michigan, hosts number two!38 WHERE'S THE JUDGE?Thoughts on the judging scene from SKQ AssociateEditor, Richard Peck .Copyright © 1990 by CRIS H . BATDORFF. Allrights reserved .Reproduction in any form, in whole or inpart, is strictly prohibited without prior writtenpermission of the publisher .Stunt Kite Quarterly is the only magazine inAmerica devoted solely to the sport ofstunt kite flying . Editorial offices arelocated at 356 River Street, Manistee, MI49660, telephone : (616) 723-6338 . StuntKite Quarterly's mailing address is : P .O . Box468. Manistee, MI 49660 .Editor and Publisher : Cris H . BatdorffAssociate Editor : Richard PeckComputer/Ancillary Services : Harlan LinkeGraphic Design : Dale KIrchenbergEditorial Advisory Board:At Hargus IIIFran GramkowskiEric WolffJohn PerusseJudy NeugerRoger ChewningRichard PeckSubscriptions to Stunt Kite Quarterly:$12 .00 for one year (U .S .A. and possessions); $16.00 for one year (all othercountries) . Foreign drafts must be in U .S .dollars payable through a U .S. bank or thepost office . Single copies of current orback issues are available for $3 .50 eachfrom listed distributors or Stunt Kite Quarterly'seditorial offices .3 LETTERS6 STUNTERS NEWSNotes from all over ., . including a weddingannouncement(!)41 NEW PRODUCTSMore new Stunt Stuff!42 KITE REVIEWSThis Issue . . . the Evolution, NBK, Renegade, Pro Cat,and the Scimitar!48 RESULTSNEW THIS ISSUE . . . Who finished where, and when!54 CALENDAR OF EVENTS55 KITE SHOP DIRECTORYON THE COVER : The Firedarts of the Chicago Fire :ECSKC 5 .SKQ Photo by Cris BatdorffChange of Address:Attach or copy mailing label in a letter,giving new address . If mailing label iswrong, please correct it .Advertising:Rates and information sheets are availableupon request .Non-solicited Contributions:Editorial contributions, including, but notlimited to articles and photographs arealways encouraged . Notification is requiredif contribution is submitted to anyother publication. Return of materials mustbe requested along with a self-addressedenvelope with adequate return postage .Stunt Kite Quarterly reserves first publicationrights in published materials unlessotherwise specified . Guidelines for submissionsare available upon request . Accuracyof contents rests with the individualcontributor, Stunt Kite Quarterly being heldharmless in the event of inaccurate copy .The views presented in Stunt Kite Quarterlyare not necessarily those of the editor,staff, or editorial advisory board .Closing dates:Advertising : eight weeks prior to publicationdate .Editorial : six weeks prior to publicationdate .

Dear SKQ,In regards to your spring 90Buyer's Guide, I found it strangethat there was no mention aboutthe lines used in testing each kite .Were all kites tested on #100 Kevlarat 100 foot lengths in any kindof wind situation?For example, in 20 MPH wind,one 80" wingspan kite would beat its best on #200 x 125ft . Kevlarwhile another 80" model would flybest with # 100 x 100ft .I suggest that in your future testing,you tell your readers thepound strength and footagesused along with line type . Example:Moon Dart . . . best performance:15 MPH on #100 x 100ft,Kevlar . . . or list manufacturer'srecommendations .Aloha,Edmond GrignonHigh As A KiteHonolulu, HIDear Ed,Thanks for the timely suggestion!It seems that space restrictionsknocked out our usual explanationof our testing methods .Briefly, if line recommendationsare made either as part of themanufacturer's retail package orincluded in the kite instructions,those are the lines that are flown .As a general statement, Spectraline is used for our tests; more oftenthan not # 135 x 100ft. As mostkites are flown in widely varyingwind situations to compile ascomplete a package as possible,line strengths and lengths arechanged accordingly.Your point is well taken,however In subsequent producttests, we'll be happy to let folksknow line lengths and strengths aswell!Dear SKQ,I've been flying stunt kites forabout two years and have boughtand flown a dozen different kites .Now I want to design and buildmy own . Kite building suppliesdon't seem to be a problem, butfinding technical information onstunt kite designing is . So far in mydesigning, I've been using a bookon hang gliders to help me along .An article or two on kite designand aerodynamics or a "How To"book would definitely help bringthe home kite builders' projectsout of the closet and into the skiesa little easier. An article on variousconstruction techniques wouldalso be very helpful . SKQ has so farbeen very helpful in spurring my interestsin stunt kites higher andhigher with each new issue . Keepup the good work .Sincerely,Vernon ShurtzNY, NYDear Vernon,Thanks for the note! You're righton target with your assessment ofthe availability of construction information. We are aware of onebook presently being written butavailability is not slated until Fall .Again, let's put the topic to ourreaders . If anyone has knowledgeof books, articles, or manuals onconstruction techniques oraerodynamics, let us know andwe'll pass the titles along .We are working on a couple ofarticles dealing with variousaspects f construction whichshould be ready for our next issue. . . hope that they'll be of assistance!Dear SKQ,On June 18, 1990 kite flyer'sfreedom to fly in Jockey's RidgeState Park in Nags Head, N .C .,was severely restricted . Park rangersbanned all kites from the frontridge of the dune, citing it as a distractionfor motorists on US 158 infront of the park . Kite flying is still allowedeverywhere else in the 400-acre park, but this is the most accessiblearea with the cleanestwinds .What's at stake is that visitorsand ourselves have been safelyflying kites at Jockey's Ridge forover 16 years . Suddenly, the parkranger decides they should not beflown on the front dune . This wouldappear to be an arbitrary decisionmade without regard to therecord, which is good (there hasbeen only one injury involving kiteflying in the history of the park)and does not warrant a ban orchange in operations . Departmentof Transportation statisticsshow that the accident rate on US158 at Kitty Hawk Kites is muchlower than at the two retail mallsin the town . Our kite flyers are welltrained,having an average of fouryears experience, and are verycautious around parkgoers . Theyeven offer free lessons to anyonewho asks, with an emphasis onsafe kite flying practices .The park ranger has stated thatif he's pushed kite flying may bebanned completely in the park .This is unthinkable! If the right to flyat Jockey's Ridge is lost then notonly will flyers lose the right to fly

on the finest site on the EastCoast, but a precedent will be setthat may extend across thecountry .Please take a moment to writethe people at the addressesbelow - let them know how youfeel about this . Let's get this stoppedbefore it mushrooms beyondcontrol .On another note - Kitty HawkKites is seeking information aboutkiting events held in other stateparks . Specifically information onhow sponsorship is handled . TheNorth Carolina state parks systemwill not allow any form of advertisingfor sponsors of events (nobanners/posters/nothing) andthey express disbelief that otherpark systems allow anything. Anyinformation that other eventcoordinators could forward to mewould be greatly appreciated .Sincerely,Anne McCarterKitty Hawk KitesP.O . Box 1839Nags Head, NC 27959Tom WellsDivision of Parks & RecreationDepartment of Environment,Health and Natural ResourcesP.O . Box 27687Raleigh, NC 27611-7687Cliff PhillipsEast District OfficeCliffs of the House State ParkRt. Box 50Seven Springs, NC 28578George BarnesJockey's Ridge State ParkP .O . Box 592Nags Head, NC 27959Thanks, Anne, for calling our attentionto a situation that desperatelyneeds to be addressed. Havingflown on Jockey's Ridge a fewyears back, we are saddened atthe potential loss of one of thepremier flying sites on the EastCoast . The problem, however, is ofgreat importance to flyers acrossthe country. Let's all pitch in tohelp these good folks correct thesituation . . . next time it could bethe park in YOUR home town!

SkyWalker is in the process ofcompiling a newsletter/mail ordercatalogue to market kites andwind-related products that canbe enjoyed by the mobility impaired.Sky Walker is a combinationcatalogue/newsletter, publishedquarterly, which allows us to givetips, hints, adaptations, evaluateproducts, solicit reader input, givereader recognition, etc ., with anemphasis on flying from a chair.Long range plans include videos,competitions, and a national organization.It is way past time that the nonable-bodiedbe made aware ofthe fun as well as the therapeuticvalue of being outside, looking atthe sky, and controlling a kite .SkyWalker is owned andoperated by Bob Bryant, 47 yearold quadriplegic since a divingaccident in 1958 . A guidancecounselor in a public high school(he just signed his 20th year contract),small business owner, anddesktop publisher, he was introducedto stunt kite flying and hasdiscovered (with great glee) thatflying from a wheelchair is not onlypossible, but a real blast!Subscriptions to the SkyWalkerNewsletter published quarterly willbe only $10 .00 per year. A freesample copy may be obtained bysending $1 .00 for postage andhandling to:SkyWalker101 Mud Creek LaneRonan, MT 49864Thanks for the informative note,Bob . This sounds like a good ideato us. We have several friends whoare wheelchair flyers and we'resure that this new informationalsource will be of great benefit tothem . . . best of luck!

Date Set For Matrimonial innovativeby Cris BatdorffBachelorhood is not foreveryone. Two years of washingyour own socks can be a humblingexperience. Candlelight dinnersseem to lose a bit of lustre .Fireplaces become simply adevice to heat the room . As amatter of fact, you can spend alot of time just fighting boredom . . .and losing . It is, however, a pricethat is often paid for honesty.According to my late maternalgrandmother, on rare occasionwe are afforded a chance tobegin again. This may be viewedas either a miracle (the reward forexemplary living) or as a simplemaneuver on the part of theCreator to keep the unwashed ofHis flock in clean socks . Forwhatever of these two alternatives,this circumstance haslanded upon the doorstep of thisdenizen of singletude . Far be it forme to question fate or cleanlaundry .It is with great pleasure that I amable to report that at some pointduring the AKA Nationals, the objectof my affection, Susan Fontenot, and I will attempt the ultimateTeam routine . .. amatrimonial innovative, if you will.With all the pomp and circumstancethat should naturallyaccrue to an event of this magnitudewe hereby invite any andall kite flying friends to witness thisextravaganza . It will be a onetimeonly and final performanceto be performed (hopefully)before the hour of noon onThursday of the week in question .We ask only your presence andyour good wishes and, if available,your kites to make asemblance of an arch underwhich two fellow individual kiteflyers might pass on their way tobecoming a permanent team .

NOW THAT'S BIG!Mike Simmons of Skyward Kiteshas announced that limitedproduction is about to begin ofthe newest addition to their line,the RBK . Skyward is the manufacturerof the NLK (Nice Little Kite)and the NBK (Nice Big . . . etc .) . TheRBK (Really Big . . .) seems to fit rightinto the scheme of things .Wingspan for this new behemothis 17'4" with a height of 6'5"which may qualify it as the largestcommercially produced deltashapestunter .The RBK saw its first competitiondebut at the recent New Yorkregionals where it presented anawesome display for the enthusiasticcrowds . With entry intothe growing field of large wings,we wonder who will be the first tocrack the 18' barrier. Look for atest report on this one in upcomingissues .

SHOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURSELFA STUNT KITE ADDICT?1) Do you sit and watch treeleaves and blades of grass for theslightest movement to see if thewind is blowing?2) Do you leave work in themiddle of the day when you seethe wind blowing, saying you'llmake up the time in the evening?3) Do you bend over, pick up ahandful of grass to throw in thewind to see which way the wind isblowing?4) Do you say you'll run out to flyyour kite just for a half hour . . .returning 6 hours later?5) Do you try convincing yourfriends, family and co-workers thatyou're not crazy because youbought a $200 kite .6) Do you drive around the BayArea "looking" for good wind?7) Do you invite your mother toa park for a nice picnic forMother's Day and just happen tobring your kite?8) Do you plan your vacationaround good kite flying areasaround the country?9) Do you carry 70# of kite"stuff," coolers, chairs, tents to gofly a 6 oz . kite?WELL, DON'T FEEL ALONE!!Written by Pam MarkieRenegade KitesKTA CONVENTIONSET FOR DALLAS IN '91The Kite Trade Association hasannounced that rts annual tradeshow will be held in Dallas, Texas .Dates for the show will be January16-20 with the venue of theSheraton Park Central Hotel, a550-room, 20-story structure righton the LBJ freeway .There will be a small adjacentparcel of undeveloped landavailable for kiteflying near thehotel, which is on the north side ofDallas .The KTA show will, incidentally,coincide with the Dallas Gift Show .This should provide those retailerswith interests in other than purelykite products an interesting opportunityto preview new prospectiveadditions to their merchandiseselection .Room rates at the Sheraton willrun about $80 .00, single or double .A host of services are available atthe hotel . Weather for the showshould see temperatures in the50's but, according to localresidents snow is a definite possibilityso bring your cool weathergear as well!

FIFTH ANNUALVENTURA KITE FESTIVALMAY 27, 1990by SKQ Associate Editor,Richard PeckAfter a week of consistent windin Ventura, California. .. Sunday,Festival day, dawned with athreatening frontal passagemaking the morning winds light tovariable. Nonetheless about 50contestants showed up for the 5thAnnual Ventura Kite Festival, sponsoredby Ken Price at Village Kiteand Toy.The festival offered prizes forboth single and dual line kites .While the dual line flyers waited forbetter winds they were treated toan aerial display of beautiful singleline kites dominated by the hugecustom made kites from CraigChristenson of Lakeville, Minnesota. His kite, "Four Brothers,"took the prize for the largest kite,while Pablo Ledsema won theprize for the most beautiful kitewith his Phoenix . The most originalkite prize was won by Dave Ahrenswith a custom made quad .About 1 :00PM the wind shiftedaround and strengthened to allowthe beginning of the dual linecompetition . The fun competitionconsisted of an individual precisionevent with several patterns tofly . After all flyers had their momenton the field, the winner turnedout to be Erik Erickson . Hetook home a six-pack of Rainbowsfor his efforts. Gary Woods andRon Thorpe finished second andthird .To encourage younger flyers toparticipate a Surprise 13 year oldand under category was included. The winner was Josh Ashfordfollowed by Jason Cheney .Those flying, as well as the approximately300 spectators had agood time . About 6 :OOPM theovercast skies decided to openand the rains came . By then it wastoo late to dampen the spirits ofthose attending this annualMemorial Day fly .

8TH ANNUALSUMMER GAMES KITE FESTIVALGreat winds and sunny skiesgreeted kite enthusiasts and spectatorson the weekend of June 9-10 as the Summer Games Kite Festivalbegan its 8th annual celebration. The contest was held tobenefit PALSS (Palmeto Aids LifeSupport Systems), a South Carolinabased organization . Sponsors included: Klig's Kites, Trlby Kites,Pacific Sun Ray, Myrtle Beach'sSun News, American Cyanamid(Cyalumes), Skynasaur, Go Fly AKite, Spectra Sports, Sunny DayMagazine, White Bird, Hi-Flier, andColores.The weekend event was highlightedby a night fly, includingstunts . Pete DiGiacomo (TeamWhat's Up) took the event withwhat was characterized as a"pyro-technical monstrosity." Aspecial thanks goes out toAmerican Cynamid for their helpin lighting up the East Coast skies!Team What's Up proved whythey're one of the best teams inthe country with their effort in theOpen Class event . Team membersDan Buxton, Brian Fyfe, and PeteDiGiacomo put on a spirited show .In the Open individual events,team leader Dan took a second inBallet behind Hawq Aerolabs'Ralph Offredo. Mike Jones ofJones Airfoils netted third with athree-stack of his Mirages to the infamoussounds of AC-DC!Experienced class competitionhad an enormous turnoutcoupled with intense competition .In the end, it was Carter Stickneybesting Chris Schultz and Pete Di-Giacomo for the win in the balletevent . In the Precision, Chris andCarter traded places for first andsecond with Benji Brazwell takingthird .Action from the 8th Annual Summer Games . Photo by Tim Ribar Photography .8th Annual Summer Games ResultsINDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - OPEN(Final)(Final)1 . Jay Collins 64 .4 1 . Reid Leonard (Default)2. (Mr .) Doyle 55 .43. (Mr .) McGibbon 51 .68INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -INDIVIDUAL BALLET - OPENEXPERIENCED (Final)(Final)1 . Chris Schultz 88 .85 1 . Ralph Offredo 85 .372 . Carter Stickney 85 .63 2 . Dan Buxton 81 .603 . Benji Brazwell 82 .83 3 . Mike Jones 80 .57INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final)TEAM PRECISION - OPEN1, Carter Stickney 86.872 . Chris Schultz 84.80 (Final)3 . Pete DIGIacomo 72 .43 1 . What's Up

8TH ANNUALROGALLOKITE FESTIVALWinds and enthusiasm wereboth strong at the 8th AnnualRogallo Kites Festival held thisJune . The festival is held on Jockey'sRidge in the State Park and issponsored by Kitty Hawk Kites inhonor of Francis Rogallo, inventorof the "flexible wing" used in manyof today's kite designs .A "Fun Fly" from 3 to 6PM onSaturday kicked off the festival .The annual Rogallo Auction followedwith "Mad Mike" Storm ofNags Head leading the crowd intoa buying frenzy . A portion of thefunds raised was donated to theASPCA . Volunteers from this organizationhelped run Sunday'sevents .The winds were blowing bothstrong and gusty on Sunday . It wasat first feared that the event mightbe "blown out," but 20 competitorsbraved the breezes andregistered. Eventually the windscalmed and the enthusiasts wereable to take the field . While a kitemakingworkshop took place indoorsat Kitty Hawk Kids in the KittyHawk Connection, the adults participatedin precision, ballet, andkite games. Robert Crowellproved to be the successful competitorin the Kitty Hawk version ofthe Godzilla Challenge by knockingan apple from the head of thefeared Sand Dune Monsterwatch out, Godzilla!) .Everyone is already looking forwardto next year's games!COMPETITION RESULTSNOVICE PRECISION1 . Steve Peple, Richmond, VA2 . Nat Thomas, Bethesda, MD3 . Mike Loweck, Norfolk, VAEXPERIENCED PRECISION1 . Steve Huff, Richmond, NC2 . Robert Crowell, Boone, NC3 . Marc Conklin, Kill Devil Hills, NCEXPERIENCED BALLET1 . Steve Peple, Richmond, VA2 . Brad Spivey, Richmond, VA3 . Steve Huff, Richmond, NCSTUNT KITE GAMESSKID MARK, Charles Stonestreet, Richmond,VADUNE MONSTER'S REVENGE, RobertCrowell, Boone, NC

LOOK MOM,WE'RE GETTING BIGGER!Competition . More and more,the lure of the weekend challengebecomes a part of stunt kiteflying . Events are becoming wellorganized and efficiently run . Therecent running of the first-everNew York Stunt Kite Championshipssaw a field of some 80flyers . Everyone, it might seem, iscatching the competitive fever .Reporting the winners is easy,but let's face it . . . the (by far)great majority of those flyers outthere who practice, register, andcompete in the events all haveone thing in common : they seldomfinish in the top rank . Forthose few who do manage a highposition finish, the victory hasusually been won only after astruggle through the ranks .For that reason, we havedecided to report as many TOTALresults as are made available tous: from individual heat scoresright through the finals . That listingwill appear at the rear of eachsubsequent issue of SKQ . It's ourbelief that no flyer is more importantthan any other for without allof them, events simply wouldn'thappen.The results in this issue cover theTexas Gulf Coast Challenge, GreatLakes, and East Coast Championshipsas far as nationallyrankedevents . Regionalcoverage includes the NorthwestChampionships, Cherry Stunt Fly,and Philadelphia . An unclassedevent, the 4 Winds Kite Festivaland Canadian Championships aswell as an abbreviated version ofthe Oregon State Championshipsis also included .

AKA NATIONALS DUAL-LINE CHAIRMANANNOUNCES QUALIFYING EVENT LIST.In the wake of several questions raised by potentialcompetitors at this year's AKA Grand Nationals,dual-line chairman Eric Forsberg has released a listof those competitions which will be viewed asqualifiers . The competitions, for the National eventand their status as either regional or nationalevents, are listed below .10/21/89 Outerbanks S .K .C . (NC)3/3-4 Hawaii Challenge (HI)4/7-8 Mid-Atlantic S .K .C . (MD)4/7-8 Texas Gulf Coast Challenge (TX)4/21-22 Philadelphia Regional S .K .C. (PA)5/12-13 Great Lakes S .K .C . (MI)5/26-28 East Coast S .K .C . (NJ)6/9-10 Yakima Valley Kite Fest . (WA)6/9-10 Summer Games, Myrtle Beach (SC)6/16-17 Oregon State Regional S .K .C . (OR)6/29-7/1 N .W. Regional S .K .C . (WA)7/6-8 Cherry S .K .C . (MI)7/28-29 CA Kite Championships (CA)8/11-12 Belmont Park Nat'l S .K .C . (CA)8/11-12 Hawaii Summer Jam (HI)8/18-19 New York S .K.C . (NY)8/25-26 N.W. Michigan S .K .C . (MI)9/1-2 Dayton USAF Museum Kite Fly (OH)9/8-9 Boston Area S .K .C . (MA)Flyers earning a fifth-place-or-better finish in anyof the above will be allowed to compete in thisyear's AKA Grand National event .

They do everything BIG in Texas. . . BIG flying fields, BIG competitions,BIG winds . In a near -repeat of last year's event, thefourth running of the Texas Challengesaw wind speeds that ranthe gamut from "light" 8-9 MPHbreezes up into the high 20's and30's with more than the occasionalgust at 40+ . Galveston'sR .A. Appfel Park became thebackdrop for the high-pitchedcompetition that claimed morethan its fair share of downed kitesand broken spars .We had arrived our traditionalthree days before the event totake advantage of a little "warmerclime flying time," Michiganhaving provided her usual ice-boxwinter. As was the case before lastyear's Challenge, the pre-eventweather was positively balmy . . .temperatures in the 70's andwinds in the teens . We had comeprepared correctly, we thought,for the event . Light weight andmid-range equipment was tunedand ready . Then the weekend rolledaround . . . .TEXAS CHALLENGE IVFighting the Texas winds! At theleft, Kathi Larrabee battles in theexperienced ballet . Above,Hawaii's Robert Loera struggleswith a huge Peter Lynn manta inthe individual innovative . Robertalso flew blindfolded in his routine,which netted him a first-placefinish in the event .The day before the officialevent opening saw a full-fledged"Norther" blow in . Windsreached, at times into the 40's,while the temperature plunged . . .shades of '89! Still, a group ofhardy, pre-competition practiceflyers showed up at the park for acrack at the wind . Nearly a dozenkites blew up during the course ofthe afternoon and most folks werehappy that the events weren'tstarting until the next day .As has become the rule for theTexas Challenge, the weekendwas to have in store some interestingsurprises . As the Challenge isthe first "official" stop on the stuntkite circuit in the continental U .S ., itserves as a first viewing point formany of the new routines whichwill be polished and refined for therest of the season . And of course,there's always the wind! With gustswhich occasionally ran into themid-30's, this year's "wind factor"was a definite influence . Therewere also some surprises this yearin which the wind played little orno part .

George Baskette, one of thecountry's up and coming "Foilmen,"flew his 8-footer to wins inboth Experienced Precision andBallet events . George was accompaniedin each of his flightsby his ubiquitous buddy (anddog!), Porch . Judges for theevents were assured (by George!)that there would be no on-fieldcoaching by his dog and thus wasallowed to compete as an individualrather than a team!Local flyer Abel Ortega alsocarded a couple of very nice performancesgarnering a secondplace in Ballet and a third in Precision. Experienced team precisionwent to the Zephyrus Team whocame from California to attendthe event . Flying Turning Pointkites, the 3-person team outdistancedthe second place finishers,Tori Tako, by some 15 points with avery nice display of precision work .The Texas A&M Kite Flyers took adistance third but had an obviousvery good time doing it . It lookedlike they came to have fun andcertainly did!Experienced Team Ballet wentto The Edge of Miami, FL . Flyingthe new NBKs to the music of PinkFloyd, the two-man team outpointedZephyrus in a 66 to 64point battle . The Tori Tako Team ofReno, NV, brought up third placenine points further back .Open Individual Precision wassplit by three of the country's bestfliers : Ron Reich in first, Eric Wolff insecond, and Don Tabor in third .Hawaii's Ede Sabo finished infourth a mere .17 points behindTabor. Ron's precise figure renderingsseem to be standing himin good stead again this year ashe looks like the man to beat .Fireworks in the Open IndividualBallet saw Dan Buxton taking theevent with a follow-up of his winningAKA National performance .Flying his, now-standard Flexifoil,Dan is looking in top form againthis year and gave a very strongperformance . His music was aselection from "West Side Story ."Carding a second place finish inthe event was Open-Class newcomerVince Bobrosky flying aStinger 1000 to "The Rain MustFall ." Third place went to yourstruly at the helm of a Fire Dirt .Music was the theme from KarateKid III .Dan Buxton showing his winning form in the Open ballet flying a 10'Flexifoil with a 150' tail . Below, members of the Prevailing Winds teamconsult with Top of the Line owner and big wind guru, Don Tabor .

More fireworks threatened in theOpen Team Precision event . Inwind that could be characterizedas difficult, the Top of the LineTeam, comprised for this event ofRon Reich, Don Tabor, Eric Streed,and Mike Dennis (subbing fortemporarily sidelined PamKirk), took the win flying TeamHawaiians . After the revampedChicago Fire Team of Eric Wolff,Frank Fieseler, and new memberDave Molloy had an unfortunateground touch with one member'sstacked Fire Darts, effectivelyremoving them from serious contention,the Prevailing Winds (CA)took the field only to find that theyhad practiced a different interpretationof one of the figures .Flying 3/4 Team Hawaiians, theyflew it as they had practiced andwound up a scant .30 of a pointbehind leading Top of the Line .Open Team Ballet wound upwith Top of the Line again leadingthe pack . Their new routine, seenby many here for the first time waspatriotic in theme and intense inproduction . The second place effortby the Prevailing Winds wasbetter than nine points off thepace. The Chicago Fire teamfinished in third .The encampment of the Tori Tako team . Several of the flyers' cabanasnearly took flight in the winds that frequently passed the 30 MPH mark .Below, 11-year-old Sam Hobson flies his home-made Spinoff "mini" . Thislittle 3/4-oz . sail handled the big Texas gusts with ease . . . and on shortlines, too! Photo by Dana Stuckum .Some 23 competitors turned outfor this year's edition of the NoviceIndividual Precision event . Firstplace was won by Dan Schmitt ina close contest with Tracey Adair .Dan pulled out his victory by anarrow . 17 point!Sunday afternoon also saw anoff-field demonstration by GeorgeBaskette of his Nitro-Fly system .Using a tethered mega-stack ofFlexifoils, he rigs himself into a manliftingsituation that's really a treatfor spectators . Set into a harness,he achieves heights of 15-20 feetwith relative ease while minimizingpersonal risk. George will bedemonstrating his Nitro-Fly systemat several events around thecountry this year .The Texas Gulf Coast Challengecontinues to be one of thecountry's better events . Under theexpert guidance of Linda andTerry Crumpler and the SurfsideFlyers, there is every reason to expectthe event to keep right ongrowing!

Photos and story by Cris BatdorffFaces from this year's version ofthe Texas spar-cruncher. Aboveleft, Laurie Richie of the Zephyrusteam listens to some pointers atthe competitors pre-flight meeting .Below left, field repairs werecommonplace at this year'sblowout. Members of the PrevailingWinds team making some verynecessary high-wind "adjustments". The team pulled offsecond place finishes in bothOpen Team events . At the right,Florida's Mike Simmons on his wayto a third-place finish in the ExperiencedBallet . Mike teamed upwith John McLauchlan to snag awin in the Experienced Team Ballet.

flew, to the best of ourknowledge, the first quad-linedFlexifoil that we've ever seen incompetition .The Great Lakes Championshipsmarked the third stop on thisyear's tour of national events andalso kept alive the string of inopportuneweather that has doggedeach one of them . While theHawaii Challenge and the GulfCoast events each boasted toomuch wind, the Great LakesChampionships were hamperedby a lack of the same commodity. . . not necessarily a hindrance tothose flyers of professional calibre,but devastating to those in theJunior, Novice and Experiencedranks .Next stop : Wildwood and thefifth running of the prestigious EastCoast Stunt Kite Championships .Would things be different there?Don't bet on it!

margin of 4 .75 points over secondplace finisher Steve Andrews .The weekend proved to be asweep for Reno, Nevada's ToriTako Flight Team in the Experiencedevents winning boththe Precision and the Ballet easily .Second place honors in the Precisionwent to the ScreamingSeagulls (MI) while the third slotwas filled by Perfect Chaos (MN)in the Ballet .The second sweep of theweekend, in the team event, wentto perennial favorite Top of theLine. On the heels of back-to--back victories at the Gulf CoastChallenge, TOL again took tophonors in both Open Team eventsby handy margins to preserve theirthus-far perfect season . PrevailingWinds (CA) and the Chicago Fire(IL) traded second and thirdpositions in the two events .Individual Innovative accoladeswere taken by the flyer whosename has nearly becomesynonymous with the event, LeeSedgwick . Although his attempt tofly the huge Force 10 in the Balletfell short of the mark, Lee's reputationas the Innovative leader stillTop of the Line on the way to their second event sweep of the season . Shownhere in the Precision event, TOL completed the sweep by taking the ballet aswell.looms large . It was a 10+ pointmargin win over up-and-comingTori-Tako team member JohnOliver. Taking the third position inthe event was Lou Baldus whoPhotos and Story byCris BatdorffLou Baldus competing in the Innovative . Lou flew, to the bestof our knowledge, the first quad-lined Flexifoil in his effortbefore record event crowds, part of which is shown in the accompanyingphotograph .

one!Lee Sedgwick flying in the Innovative . . . above with a power stack of fiveRevolutions and at right, quad-lining the massive Force 10 through a groundstake . Lee won the event handily by better than 10 points . Below, Ron Reich, Topof the Line Team Captain and current World Champion flying the mysterious"Stealth Kite ." Actually, he's practicing something called "shadow flying" inwhich the kite is positioned behind the flyer . No fair watching the kite for thisgoing to be able to be gotten offbefore the closing gun . Nevertheless,by afternoon's end, all flyershad gotten a chance to showtheir routines, much to the creditof tournament organizers .There were a number of standoutperformances carded duringthe weekend . Dave Barresi gotthings on track after an unfortunateline break in the PhiladelphiaRegionals and flew to a firstplace finish in the Experienced IndividualPrecision . Dave followedup with a second place grab inthe Ballet, First place in thechoreographed event went to localfavorite and competition organizerSteve Negen . Credibleperformances were turned in byJon Trennepohl and Jeff Radtke inthe Precision event to garnersecond and third respectively .Third place in the ballet went toColumbus, Ohio's Brian Keating .In the Junior event, MatthewCooper took top honors fromToronto's Jason Poy by only .90point . Up a notch, in the NovicePrecision, it was Charley Millercoming out the leader in the 24person field with a comfortable

GREAT LAKESSTUNT KITECHAMPIONSHIPS . . . MAY 12-13,1990If the Texas Gulf Coast Challengecan take the honors for"events with more wind thanusual," the Great Lakes Championshipscan certainly claim thereverse! For the second year in arow, the normally outstandingvenue of the Grand Haven,Michigan, State Park Beach wasbeset by unusual calms and, yes,even rain!Having been a resident of WesternMichigan for better than anappropriate amount of years, itJohn Oliver, Tori Tako team memberflying in the Innovative . Look ma, nohands! John wound up In secondplace for his efforts .seems only fair to state for therecord that this was VERY unusualweather . . . all of which didn'tseem to dampen the spirits ofsome very tenacious competitorsbent on a weekend of fun andmid-season tune-up . Over 80 individualflyers and 12 teams fromacross the continent showed upfor this nationally-ranked event,the third stop on this year's "tour."Competition was fierce in eachcategory as competitors in questof national titles sought to cementleads while others were determinedto play the role of spoilers .The finals of the Experienced IndividualPrecision saw only .83point separating first and thirdpositions . First place in Open IndividualPrecision had favoredRon Reich edging out team-matePam Kirk by only . 15 point .Some of the races were not sonoticeable . Reich repeated in theOpen Individual Ballet, nudgingout Gulf Coast Champion DanBuxton by a point-and-a-half withSue Taft taking third 2'h points furtherback . In fourth placehowever, Frank Fieseler squeakedby Eric Streed with a margin ofonly .20, with Phil Bazell just off thepace by .60 point .Similar races developed innearly every category. In manycases, three positions weredivided by only one-half a point .As if to add to the competitivetension, inclement weather forcedthe postponement of several contestsuntil the following (and last)day. While this proved to be afrustration to some, it was a Godsendto others . In the scoringdepartment, head man RichardPeck got a chance • to catch upwith the constant and sometimesoverwhelming influx of judgingsheets. For flyers in the Openevents, Saturday was a day ofR&R. Some flyers even allowedthemselves to be pressed into serviceas judges .There were other effects,though, that were not as welcome.Some preliminary heatsRod Tanis, local favorite and memberof the Roaring Flamingos teamtries his luck in the Ballet .were midway to completion whenthe rains came . Upon theirresumption the next morning,problems arose because some ofthe judges that had worked thefirst part of the event were eitherinvolved in other functions or hadtaken sick during the evening . Thedilemma of how to handle participantswho had already flownhad to be resolved by event coordinatorsBob and Steve Negen,and head judge Robbi Sugarman .The result was a number of shortheats with the top flyers advancingto the final rounds .Add to this a number of wind rule delays and it began to lookquestionable as to whether or notthe entire schedule of events was

CANADIAN STUNT KITE CHAMPIONSHIPS . . .MAY 5-6, 1990The Kortright Centre for Conservationnear Toronto, Ontario, wasagain the venue for the secondrunning of the Canadian Stunt KiteChampionships . The competitionsare held in conjunction with theFour Winds Kite Festival, which annuallydraws several thousand interestedspectators .This year's event was very wellattended in spite of highly variedwind conditions . A small, hilly fielddirectly in front of the Centreprovided a perfect area forground display and short-line exhibitionflying . . . even though theCanadian air currents were attimes less than hospitable! Thekites of a good many seasonedflyers found the ground afterhaving lost the fight with the swirlingbreezes!We arrived to find Jim Poy andLam Hoac already on the demofield much to the delight ofpassers-by . Don Brownridge and ahost of others soon joined thegrowing display . Also present, acontingent from Ohio's BlackSwamp Air Force . With there beingno formal dual line eventsscheduled until the following day,we spent a very pleasant afternoongetting re-acquainted withsome old friends .more interested group of spectators,nor a more polite one .There were no interruptions duringpractice flys . That was somethingthat we weren't accustomed to .Anyone that wished to talk to aflyer would wait until they weredone before advancing andthere were a lot of them! If the interestof the spectators at this festivalwas any indication of the restof the country, Canada may wellbe the next superpower in termsof stunt flying .Special Events Co-ordinator, ColleenDupuis and her able-bodiedstaff kept the whole festival runningon an even keel and, onschedule, competition beganSunday morning . Excellent performanceswere turned in by bothJeff and Jason Poy in the JuniorPrecision event netting them firstand second place, respectively .In the Novice Precision, it wasBarney Kiraly outdistancing BlackSwamp's Robin Gardner for thetop spot . Individual Ballet saw CrisBatdorff edging out Jim Poy . In theTeam Ballet, Linke/Batdorffsqueezed by Poy/Hoac for thewin .The Four Winds Festival was apleasure to attend . Not only wasthe event run very smoothly (andwith beautiful weather!) ; it was justplain fun . We can't remember aField Director Don Brownridge gives a last minute look at the maneuvers to ayoung competitor in the Junior Class .

ARE WE HAVINGFUN YET?"So, Fred, tough luck with thecrash in Ballet. Oh well, what're yagonna do . . . see you at the WestCoast Nationals?'"I guess it looks that Way . Wehadn't really planned to go . . .can't really afford it now with twokids in school . . . guess we'll haveto though . I'd hoped to do betterhere but that's the breaks and,well, it looks like San Francisco'sgonna be my last chance to tryand get more points before theAKA Nationals. We were kind ofhoping we could raise enoughcash to take the kids on a trip overthe Labor Day weekend but, hey,there's always next year, right?""Yeah, I know . It kind of blew mymom away when we couldn'tmake it up for Father's Day thisyear, but you know . . . points ispoints . . . gotta do it, right?""You got that right! Boy, youreally got stiffed at that one if youwant my opinion . Those judgesdidn't know what they were seein'. . . they shouldn'ave zinged you sobad for the crash . . . you got itback up by yourself and it didn'thurt the flow THAT bad!""Yep. Well, what're you gonnado . . . hey, gotta go . . . catch youon the West Coast!""You bet! Sure wish I'd donebetter . . . don't know how I'mgonna break it to the kids but likeyou say, points is points! Have asafe flight!"The preceding was overheardat the East Coast Stunt KiteChampionships V. it is presentedhere in the interest of sanity . Thenames have been changed toprotect the innocent .

the weekend, particularly in lightof the wind conditions (or, rather,the lack of them) . Dave Barresi,well into an excellent low-wind'Foil performance, had his efforthamstrung by a broken line . . . lookfor good things from Dave laterthis year. Frank Loudenslager'ssecond-place effort in the sameevent was enhanced when hiskite inadvertently hooked awindsock that was being used asa (previous) field boundary marker(boundaries had been enlargeddue to the low wind), Flying to"The Wind Beneath My Wings,"Frank snagged the sock late intohis routine with his bridle lines andthere it stayed until the close ofthe song . . . a novel twist to the old"carry on regardless" theme!Stunt Kite Championships Inc .,founders of the Eastern Leaguehave scored another success withthe Philadelphia Regionals . Thenext League regional competitionis slated for Long Island's (NY)Eisenhower Park August 18-19 . Forinformation contact Susie or BillEdison at : 914-937-2838, or DavidKlein, Big City Kites at 212-472-2623 .Arlene Anderson and Frank Loudenslager, the Aurora Flying Circus did a goodjob of parlaying a few, scant puffs of breeze into a first place finish !n the experiencedteam ballet . . . great flying under less than marginal conditions!

PHILADELPHIA REGIONALSTUNT KITE CHAMPIONSHIPS . . . APRIL 21 & 22 . 1990The first running of the PhiladelphiaRegional Stunt Kite Championshipstook place on April 21and 22 at the Belmont Plateau inFairmont Park and wasted no timein establishing that big, Nationalevents are not the only competitionsto be plagued by badweather!Rain on Saturday forced aneventual postponement of theday's scheduled competitions .Variable wind conditions, whichlasted for the weekend, causedsimilar difficulties for a large groupof single-line enthusiasts, some ofwhom had come from as faraway as Germany .Sunday saw a surcease from therain, but still marginal wind . In addition,a new element was factoredin . . . heat! Single-linedevotees sweltered as the stuntflyers ran in attempts to keep kitesaloft . In the early afternoon, a hintof variable breeze got the competitionunderway and thingsprogressed in typical, determined,Eastern League fashion . No chairsfor the judges today . . . they hadto keep pace with the walkingflyers!By the day's end, thirty-five flyershad been judged with interestingresults . Quin Rickman pulled out awin in the Novice Individual Precisionwith Pete Dolphin squeakingpast Bob Hanson in the Experiencedclass by a mere .02point! Hanson finished first in theExperienced Individual Ballet whilesecond place was shared by HarlenLinke and Frank Loudenslagerwith identical 83 .93's .Experienced Team Precision sawTeam Thunder Hawq taking thehonors . Onlookers as well as teammembers of the second placeEvolutionary Sky Bandits weretreated to quite another showwhen the team, beset by a lull inthe wind, stood and waited forthings to pick up . With their backsto their kites, the team was quiteunaware that their kites hadbegun to move . . . after all, therewas NO wind! Seems that theirground crew, adding some levityto a steamy situation had pickedScenes from the PhiladelphiaRegionals: Above, Ben Franklin put ina visit to make sure that the flyers aredoing all the right things. At right,your genial announcer, Ralph Offredoof Hawq Aerolabs . Below : nothis is not the innovative competitions!Bob Hanson at the conclusionof the team ballet . . . even thewind flopped at timeslup the downed kites and was nowproceeding to "fly" them, on slacklines, in perfect ground formation .Perhaps the first no-wind, eightman,four-kite routine in history . . . . Igave it a ten!Aroara Flying Circus parlayedsome occasional puffs of wind intoa win in the Experienced Team Balletfinishing in front of the Sky Ratsand Team Thunder Hawq .There were a number of excellentperformances carded during

TEMECULA VALLEY BALLOON & WINE FESTIVALOccasionally there comes acombination of items that seemsto fit together perfectly : ham andleggs, Laurel and Hardy, arsenicand old lace, balloons and kites .Balloons and kites?? You bet!This year as part of their 7th AnnualBalloon and Wine Festival,the good folks at the TemeculaValley (CA) Chamber of Commerce,along with a huge listing ofsponsors, decided to play host tofour of the world's best stunt kiteteams for a sort of informal competition. While the actual competingtook a back seat todemonstration flying, the eventpointed up a perfect blending oftwo sports that should not passunnoticed .The Temecula Balloon and WineFestival looked like a pretty largeaffair to this reporter . A lot of onlookers,pilots, and balloon enthusiastsshowed up each morningat 6 :30 in hopes of seeing a masslaunch . It was on the first such"launch morning" that the fusionaspects of the two sports poppedinto evidence . It happened thatthere was a light breeze of 7-10MPH, a red flag for theballoonists but perfect for stuntkites . Subsequently, the kite teamsgot a chance to show off theirstuff for a very large and appreciativeaudience . The secondday was just the reverse so the kitepilots got the treat of watching aspectacular balloon launch .Another complementary point isthat the stunt fliers gave thecrowds something to watch afterthe balloonists had lifted off andbegan their flights, which oftenended several miles away . Indeed,the two sports seem ideallylinked . The generally accepted"no launch" windspeed (about 7MPH or higher) for balloon pilots isdownright perfect for kite fliers sothere's always something in the airfor the spectators to watch ."Competing" in the teamevents, which included bothprecision and ballet, were thePrevailing Winds, Chicago Fire,High Performance (Hawaii), andthe Top of the Line team comprisedfor this event of Ron Reich,Don Tabor, Pam Kirk, and MikeDennis . Judging duties werehandled by Robbi Sugarman, DanBuxton, Vern Balodis, event co-ordinatorRichard Peck, and yourstruly . In winds that could only bedescribed as highly varied, it wasHigh Performance sweeping theevent .This edition of the Temecula ValleyBalloon & Wine Festival alsoboasted (of course!) wine tastingsfrom local wineries, a countryfaire, a plethora of arts and crafts,and some of the best food boothsthat we've ever had the pleasureof patronizing . If that wasn'tenough, there was headline liveentertainment each day . . . theMamas and the Papas and JerryLee Lewis were scheduled . WhenJerry Lee couldn't make it . . . noproblem . . . Chuck Berry showedup instead! Although there wasample time to stroll around, therewas simply no way to see it all,much lessavailable!sample everythingWe're looking forward to goingback next year for this one . . . hat'soff to co-ordinator Richard Peckand the Temecula Valley Balloon& Wine Festival . . . it's a winningcombination!

JUNCTION INTERNATIONAL KITE RETREATBy Richard Dermer,AKA Director, Region 9Photos by Craiq Dormer"How can we improve our kiteretreat in 1990?" Bill Lockhart askedme . It was a loaded question,since the 1989 event which heand Betty Street had put on inJunction, Texas, had been an outstandingexperience ."Well," I said, "you need aworkshop for stunters . With a hugeflying field, lots of west Texas wind,and dozens of serious kiters assembledfor a three-dayweekend, you have to offer somethingfor the dual-line addicts ."We talked about the possibilities :team flying, dog-stake techniques,rigging and tuning techniques,etc . A major problem was thetiming ; a conflict with the ECSKCmeant the best fliers in the countrywouldn't be available . "What ifwe just collect a wide range ofstunters for participants to testfly?" I asked . "Great," Bill replied,"you're in charge ."The letter to manufacturers wentout three months early . "Would itbe possible for you to supply a kitefor this workshop?" I asked . "I'd behonored," replied Dean Jordan ofJordanaire Kites, the first of twelvedonors to respond . I gave thekitemakers the options of loaningkites for the workshop or donatingthem to the auction supportingthe retreat. All of them contributedto the auction!I expected workshop participantsto bring stunters of theirown to share . What I didn't anticipatewas the incredible variety ;we had over 50 different sportkites available for a pair of two -hour workshops! This made anysort of formal comparisons orrankings impossible . Instead, eachflyer, (we had about twelve ineach class), was able to pick outand fly a variety of new stunters .With plenty of space, a large assortmentof flying lines, and strongwinds, the only shortage was thatof launchers - everyone spentsome time as ground crew forother fliers . The kites remainedavailable during free-flight periodslater in the day, though, soeveryone had an opportunity toAbove, some of the kites offered for flying at this year's Junction Retreat . Notethe size of the field . . . and that's not even all of it! Below, a grouping of kitesdonated to the event. In the foreground, and Samurai stunter of Dean Jordan .This one went home to Japan in the kite bag of JKA President, Masaaki Modegi .test fly any particular model theyfancied .Choices included : Dean Jordan'scustom appliqué delta style ;Eric Tischler's 10'6" graphite-sparredTransporter; a Viper from WingInnovator Technology; Mike Sterling'sX-braced Cyborg ; Banshee'sScimitar ; two models of Catch theWind's Spiderwing ; Pam Markie'sRenegade ; Robert Crowell's Accelerator;Ted Dougherty's SparlessStunter; a three-stack fromDynakites ; and three kites fromSkynasaur, a soft parafoil stunter, aSweptwing 48, and a Classic 96 .

Of the kites brought to theworkshop by participants, themost common factor was speed .Three different Texas-made kiteswere blindingly fast : TerryCrumpler's Wasp, Bob Child's Bart,and Charles Scott's Skite . Only theWasp enjoys national distribution ;the Bart and Skite are just availablein the Dallas-Ft . Worth area .These kites were obviously in theirelement in the strong Texas wind ;they are as fast as anything I haveflown . Had a "peoples' choice"vote been taken, it probablywould have been the Wasp . It sawmore flight time than any otherkite .Almost as fast as the Texas kites,and capable of sensitive, precise,finger-tip control were selectionsof California stunters from Hyperkiteand Tradewinds . The latter'sWindsong and Reflex weredemonstrated beautifully by PaulMarquis .Big kite fans could compare thepulls of a Force Ten and a 16 ft .Flexifoil .Finally, although they weren'tpart of the workshop, retreat participantsGeorge Peters and ChrisDunlop allowed some flyers tosample-fly their kites - fine art onstrings . Peters, the Coloradosculptor whose Wind Machine wasreviewed in the last SKQ, flew athree-stack of his kites with exquisitegrace and style . Dunlop'sThunderbird, featured on thecover of American Kite, summer'90, is yet another of the beautifulsport kites coming out of Texas .This state is a hotbed of kite designand experimentation!Faced with all of the above kitesand more, we did what any sensiblegroup of stunt kiters would do- each person flew as many ashe could and admired the rest inthe sky. For a small group, we puton as elaborate a display of stuntersas you're ever likely to findover one flying field . We did noteven attempt any "rankings,""ratings," or judgments ; each flyerwas free to draw his own conclusions. Several store owners participated,however, and werehappy to sample a variety of unfamiliarkites.All of this should be taken inperspective of the larger picture ;my stunter workshop was only asmall part of the 1990 Junctionkiters, from 15 states and threeforeign countries, took part in avariety of workshops and activitiesover the Memorial Day weekend .Sponsored by Texas Tech Universityat their University Center outsideJunction, it was hosted by Tech artprofessors Lockhart and Street . Agorgeous flying site, wonderfulweather, beautiful people - wehad it all .Staying on an extra couple ofdays after the retreat, we got toknow the international visitors a lotbetter. Detlef Kohler, from Monheim,Germany, shared with us hishomemade stunter, Fritz the Kite . Afast, flighty mid-sized delta, iteventually succumbed to theprairie wind. We cheerfully continuedtaking turns with it as firstthe keel rod sleeve gave out andthen the spreader bar/wing sparconnector broke . It wouldn't quitflying! We finally gave it a breakbefore it became completelybroken .A bit later, we were doingsynchronized flying with theJapanese - first with 63-year-oldHideo Matsutani and thenMasaaki Modegi . Since Matsutanisanand I knew only a handful ofwords in each other's language,none of them flying commands,our team flying was a real exercisein concentration and intuition .Things were a little easier withModegi, since the JKA presidentknows English . When it becameevident that my Wasp was slightlyfaster than his Spinoff, he suggestedthat I lead instead of him . After30 minutes or so, we were gettinggood! Perhaps we will flytogether again at Seaside in October.Modegi told Bill Lockhart thatthis was the first major kiting eventin his extensive travels that had nocompetition - only classes . Hewished Japan had such activities .I'm sure they will . It seems to methat we could use a lot moreworkshop gatherings in thiscountry . The stress-free environmentof sharing, teaching, learning,and exchanging ideas madefor a great experience, and thevariety of potential workshops isendless . Making stunters, flyingthem, rigging and tuning, teamand ballet techniques, judgingseminars . . . the list goes on . Let'sdo this some more!

William Jones flying a Phantom on the mud flats of Wildwood . His performance netted him a third place finish in theIndividual Innovative .

The Tori Tako team from Reno, Nevada, made the trip tothis year's ECSKC . Shown here flying Jacanas in the TeamBallet.Previewed here . . . the new Wildwood Kite Harp . This radicalnew musical instrument is being demonstrated by amember of the Evolutionary Sky Bandits . Actually folks, itmay be just the fabled "curse of a million wraps!"Members of the San Diego's Killer Bees take a breakbefore competition in the Experienced Team Precision .They went on to win the event handily!Members of the Jordan Air flight squad in usual colorful arrayfor the event. The sogginess didn't really seem to matter!

It was two weeks after the spellof inclement weather thatgreeted flyers at the Great LakesChampionships . . . and nearly 1000miles east . Competitors numbering162 had turned out for the fifthrunning of the East Coast StuntKite Championships and already itwas beginning to look like arepeat from several angles .For two days prior to that event,the New Jersey coast was gracedby beautiful weather : blue skies,good breezes, and warmth . Bylate Friday evening, however, theskies had already begun to takeon a familiar clouded appearance. It felt bad .Saturday morning emerged as agray downpour. The stakes outliningthe newly-designed competitionfields stuck out from what appearedto be a large lake, givingit the appearance of a bayoucatfish farm. The rains had cometo Wildwood . . . again .Around noon tournament organizersmade the call topostpone the day's events andride out the storm . It had longbeen the policy of ECSKC officialsto schedule events on Mondaybut due to the efficiency withwhich the contests were run, therun-over date was never needed .This year things were going to bedifferent . Pilots rushed to altertravel plans to allow for the extraOne way to beat the old agequestion of how to transport all ofthose dad-blamed kites!day . Those that could not affordthe time were forced to scratch .Apparently undaunted by alittle "dampness," a few intrepidindividuals made room betweenthe raindrops for some last-minutepractice. The famed Saturdaynight barbecue was held on thelower floor of the parking deck ofthe event hotel, the Quarterdeck2 . . . nothing was going to stopthese fearless flyers from havingtheir usual Wildwood weekend!Sunday morning rolled aroundto find some relief from the rain .Even the wind was up . The "lake,"however, was there for the duration.Revisions to the scheduleresulted in judging reassignmentsas well as the dropping of the requiredcompulsories in the Precisionevents . Flyers playedhopscotch with the puddlesduring their performances and didtheir level best to cope with theconditions . Once again, it was thecombined determination to"muddle through" that saw thisyear's ECSKC to its logical conclusion.Monday ushered in a wholeCalvin Mills flying in the IndividualBallet . Rock 'n Roll!new set of circumstances . Eventorganizers had to make use ofsimultaneous ballet fields by loweringthe volume on the upwindfield. Spectator's heads cranedfirst north, then south, attemptingto see both parts of the competitionat the same time, Makingmatters more difficult, severaljudges had been lost due to travelcomplications and illness contractedworking in the wet conditionsof the previous day . Judgingduties were forced into three-manpanels instead of the usual five .Total concentration was an extremetask at the very least .The weather, on the other hand ;had improved noticeably . Whiletemperatures still see-sawed betweensweatshirts and shirtsleeves,the sun had decided to put in amore-than-occasionalappearance. All-in-all, a quitepleasant day, the sogginess underfootnotwithstanding!Incredibly, by 6 :00 p.m . the lastcompetitor to fly had had hischance in this year's East CoastChampionship . The much-anticipated"Louie-Louie" megaflydid not materialize (much to thechagrin of those who had commissioneda special T-shirt incommemoration of the event!) .Competition, in spite of conditions,was keen . . . anotherWildwood tradition . Top of theLine, fresh from back-to-backsweeps at the Gulf Coast andGreat Lakes Championships werehandy repeat winners here, takingthe Precision by better than twopoints and the Ballet by nearly 10!Prevailing Winds, quickly assertingthemselves as the heirs to thethrone, took second in bothevents with Chicago Fire holdingdown third .In the Experienced IndividualPrecision, Brian Vanderslice (NY)walked off the field a three-pointwinner over Steve Negen (MI) .Holding down third place was BobChilds (TX) . Childs wasn't finishedhere, though . . . he also picked offsecond place in the Ballet event ascant .46 point behind winningBob Hanson . Brian Keating (OH)finished in third .In the Experienced Team eventsit was the Killer Bees, last year'sAKA National Precision winnerstaking home yet another firstplace with Team Bohica (CA) andZephyrus (CA) rounding out the

top three . Ballet saw The Edge (FL)adding another first place trophyto set next to their Galveston win .The High Flyers and Edison Flight &Power (NY) fought a pitched battlefor second with the High Flyerswinning out by .10 point . Wellworth mentioning in this particularevent was the performance ofTeam Bohica . The five-man teamflew brilliantly but was disqualifiedfor a boundary infraction .Ron Reich (CA) appeared to beback in championship form,sweeping both Precision and Balletperformances . Sue Taft (PA)flew beautifully in both events, aswell, garnering a second in Precisionand a third in Ballet for her efforts. Second-place honors in thechoreographed went to VinceBobrosky (IL) . Taking the thirdplace award in Precision was MikeJones (NC) .Open Individual Quad-line waspicked off by Joe Hadzicki, whosePaul VanNocker makes a ground pass with his Stinger in the Ballet .Above, a partial viewing of this year's version of the "nylon jungle ."Below: One of the highlights of this year's ECSKC was unveiling of themajor-mega-team under the leadership of team wizard and commanderPete Dolphin (he's the one with the stick!) . Alas, the fickle winds ofWildwood put a one-year hold on the Herculean effort which was, to innocentbystanders, a salute to the Star Wars Saga . BUT . . . the word fromHerr Dolphin is that next year's performance will eclipse even the plansfor this year's, so stay tuned!brother, Jim landed in third .Veteran Lee Sedgwick tooksecond place honors . IndividualInnovative for this year is beginningto look like a shoot-out betweentwo flyers : Lee Sedgwickand Ron Reich . This time, it wasRon who came out on top . WilliamJones (MD) finished in the thirdslot .In all, twenty-six teams competedin Wildwood. Twenty-threestates were represented in thechampionships which also includedflyers from Austria, Germany,and Canada . This year'sevent, even more than last year'srepresents the best of the competitivespirit . In spite of far lessthan perfect conditions, all eventswere run with a minimal amountof difficulties .A judging seminar, which ran onthe Friday before the actualbeginning of the competitionboasted 35 registrants and, hopefullyfuture judges . Under considerationfor next year's championshipsare 2-person ballet andprecision events. Sounds great . . .all we need now is good weather!

OREGON STATESTUNT KITE CHAMPIONSHIPSBy David GombergOver fifty fliers performed beforecapacity crowds during thesecond annual Oregon State StuntChampionships on Father's DayWeekend . The contests had a distinctlyNorthwest flavor. Virtuallyevery winning performer competedwith commercially availablekites designed and manufacturedin Oregon or Washington .Stunts-R-Us continued theirdominance of local Open Classevents. The four members of theYakima Washington policedepartment took first place inboth Team Precision andChoreography. Team membersRoy Willson and Rod Yarger alsoplaced first in Open Class IndividualPrecision and Choreographyrespectively . Stunts-R-Us flewPeregrines made by Jerry Sinotte inOcean Park Washington .first in the Innovative Event with ashow of dual flying, dog stakeflying and stack flying - all withKite Pit kites . The big crowdpleaser, however, was secondplace finisher Chris Blake of Sandy,Oregon . Flying to a song called"Peg Leg," Chris controlled onekite with his hands and one withhis feet . To launch the second kite,he took a big jump backwards .Lincoln City has always stressedcompetitive opportunities for newfliers . Events for both Novice andIntermediate competitors wereprovided. Michael Arken edgedout Yumiko Fujimori of Kanagawa,Japan, for first place in NovicePrecision . Jim Baldo of Beavertontook first in Intermediate Choreographyand Troy Gunn earned firstplace in Intermediate Precision .Additional Northwest kites onthe field included the Spider Wingby Catch the Wind in Lincoln City,the Sky Master from Seattle, andthe TurboJet by Ramjet Kites inTacoma .Team Cyborg, the first six-personteam to join the 1990 circuit,made their competitive debut -placing first in Experienced TeamChoreography and second in ExperiencedTeam Precision . Spectatorswere delighted to see thesix Cyborg two-packs - a total oftwelve kites in the air - performingto the theme from Dragnet .Cyborgs are patented by MikeSterling of Portland.First place in Experienced TeamPrecision went to Team Tori Tako ofReno. Tori Tako competed withJacana and Eagle kites from TheKite Pit .Kathie Larrabee of Fremont,California, has been a strong performerat virtually every regionalcontest in the country this year .Flying her custom Hawaiian TeamKite, she swept first place in IndividualExperienced Class events .Her father, Klyph McCormick,placed third in both Precision andChoreography, earning a berth inthe AKA Grand Nationals .John Oliver of Tori Tako earned

NORTH WEST REGIONAL STUNT KITE CONTEST -Long Beach, Washington, June 30-July 1, 1990by SKQ Associate Editor,Richard PeckFriday afternoon arrivals to theNorth West Regional Stunt KiteContest at Long Beach,Washington, were greeted bydark clouds scudding across thegrey Pacific water. The Californiansworried about rain ; Thenatives seemed unconcerned asthey went about "business asusual ."Before the two-day fly endedworries of rain were replaced by alonging for wind . Saturday broughtwinds of 6 to 9 MPH with Sundayclocking in at 5 to 8 .The contest setting was beautiful. A newly constructedboardwalk ran the length of theflying fields providing an unobstructedview for spectators . Itallowed spectators confined towheelchairs to enjoy the spectacle. The new BOSE sound systemprovided by the city featured wirelessmikes allowing David Gombergand Rick Talbott to movearound as they did their announcing. While they enjoyed their newfound freedom, Genny Forsberggot her exercise trying to findthem for announcements.In all, 59 individual flyers and 10teams found the contest to theirliking . Kathy Goodwind, the eventcoordinator, worked with NabielShawa representing the city ofLong Beach . This city sponsoredevent was well run with help fromthe local flyers . Those working theevent were given recognition inthe form of official hats and jackets. To make their job a little lighterlunch was also provided by thecity of Long Beach and CottageBakery .The beach bake held on theboardwalk featured fish, steamedclams, and sirloin tips . The foodwas good and the camaraderieeven better. The flying on thebeach soon paled, when comparedto the flying stories at theparty .One of Kathy Goodwind's objectiveswas to give the flyers achance to experience an eventmore like a national contest thantheir usual monthly flies .AKA/STACK rules were used andcomputerized scoring wasprovided . At the beach bake allscores from the day's events werehanded out . New at this eventwas the use of wind instrumentslocated in the scorekeepers' tent .For those wanting a wind checkwind information was just a radiocall away .The Novice Individual Precisionevent was won by Sage Marieone of the younger flyers on thefield . Rod Guyette took the ExperiencedIndividual Precisionevent, followed by Mike Barclayand Kathi Larrabee . The Open IndividualPrecision event winnerwas Mike Sterling .Musical variety added excitementto the Experienced IndividualBallet event . Kathi Larrabeeshowed the crowd whyshe'll be flying Open class nextyear by again winning this event .As a special treat, Kathi's mothergot to see her fly from herwheelchair vantage point on theboardwalk. Nancy Lizza surprisedthose that knew her by flying aborrowed Flexifoil instead of herusual Spin-off . She flew the 'Foil toa strong second place finish . Atthe awards ceremony she won anew 'Foil "of her very own ." RodYarger pleased the crowd with aninteresting Open class ballet performance. He began by walkinghis kite with the music, and endedby walking off with the first placetrophy .In team flying Stunts R Usdominated the Open class . In theExperienced class Zephyrus wonboth the Precision and Balletevents. They were followed insecond place in Precision by theTori Tako Flight team. Great carewas taken by the field personnelto make sure both teams weren'ton the field at the same time . Bothteams were dressed in their usualbright colors and the more fashionconscious feared a color clashmight result .The spectators enjoyed TeamCyborg's ballet performance withtheir six person team . The differencebetween their score and thewinning Zephyrus team was fourhundredths of a point ( .04)!The first and second places inthe Individual Innovative eventwent to Robert Riley and JohnOliver. Stunts R Us won the TeamInnovative event with VancouverHigh Flyers capturing second spot .Unusual trophies were presentedat the awards ceremonies . Firstplace winners received Japaneseglass fishing floats collected fromnearby beaches . They'll no doubtbe prominently displayed by theirowners . Other prizes consisted ofengraved Olympic type medals .The lucky winners also receivedmany beautiful kites . As frosting tothe already well done cake, cashawards amounting to $2000 madethe day complete .Thanks to the hard working staffand judges, working with the cityof Long Beach, Washington, thisevent was a good example ofwhat a national event should be .

CHERRY STUNT FLY '90Mother Nature was in attendanceagain this year at theCherry Stunt Fly held in TraverseCity, MI . This marked the secondyear that the Regional event, heldin conjunction with the NationalCherry Festival, was harried bymarginal and shifting wind conditions.Nevertheless, some 35 intrepidflyers from four states and Canadaturned out to vie for honors and tochallenge the wandering lowpressure cell that spent theweekend crisscrossing WesternMichigan . Saturday's competitionsgot under way quickly in 7-9 MPHbreezes, but shortly after noon theskies began to darken . By 4 :00 PMthe wind had died away . . . therain started at 5 :00 . Having completedall of the events but Open,Precision, Ballet, and the Teamevents ; a postponement wasdeclared .At the upper right, Perfect Chaos performing in the Team Precision . The Minnesotateam pulled off a double victory taking both the Experienced Precisionand Ballet events. Lower right: The Sky Wizards, local favorites, flew to thirdplace finishes in both events .There were a number of very determined performancesflown in minimal wind in the IntermediateClass Ballet . Tim Longcore flew a light-riggedFlexifoil from a damp-ground launch into a360 . Harlen Linke ran a repeat of his Philadelphialow-wind routine . . . good enough for anothersecond place finish . In the final tally, it was Toronto,Ontario's, Jim Poy who took home the top honorswith a very graceful routine flown with his owncreation, a Shadow .In the Experienced Precision, Steve Negen put ina solid performance to win the event . Tim Loncorfinished in second place, edging out Matt Weiden,who finished third .Sunday's event schedule was filled with fireworksin the air both from Mother Nature and the flyers .Open Individual Precision wound up with Rod Taniscarding the winning tally . Vince Brobrosky (IL)came in a credible second, with Cris Batdorff inthird . In Open Ballet, it was Vince turning the tablesfor a first place finish, with Jim Henry (MN) takingsecond . Yours truly took another third .Of course, during all of this, the skies were turninga familiar gray. At noon, the competition site waschanged to take advantage of better terrain (andwind!), and the team schedule got under way . Inwind conditions that might best be characterizedas puffy, it was Perfect Chaos (MN) taking tophonors in the Experienced Ballet . They were followedclosely by the Aviators team of Jim, Jason,and Jeff Poy (ONT) . The home-town Wind Wizardsmade a strong third place showing .

In the Experienced Precision itwas the Perfect Chaos teamagain taking the top slot, followedthis time by the ScreamingSeagulls (MI) . The Wind Wizardstook another third .The Open Precision was won bythe Roaring Flamingos (MI) in awalkover (and with storm cloudsgathering in the west!) . Event organizerJohn Antaya (Grand BayKite Company) made a decisionto have the team proceeddirectly into their ballet performance. John's call proved to bea good one as 15 minutes later,the monsoon moved in! The Balletwas eventually won by Deja Vu(MI), who finished their routine asthe downpour began .The Cherry Stunt Fly is taking itsposition as a bonafide regionalevent . Crowds for this year's competitionsran upwards of 300,which, in view of the questionableweather conditions, could betermed exceptional . We haveevery expectation that next year'scompetition will be even better!The Aviators, better known as the Poy family from Toronto, Ontario, flew to asecond place finish in the Experienced Team Ballet event . All three team membersdid well in the individual events as well .

Where'sThe Judge?By Richard PeckAs any flyer fortunate enough to attend a Nationalor Regional stunt kite contest can attest,there's trouble at River City . This trouble shows up asa serious lack of qualified contest judges . Havingscored the first three national contests this year, andhaving flown all but one of the nationals last year,it's painfully apparent that the flyer ranks are growingfaster than the judging ranks .In order for the sport to grow we need to do allwe can to develop a professional judging cadre ;Professional in having the skills to do a consistenthigh quality job .To produce competent judges we need to establisha formal judges' training program . Until atraining program can be put in place we shouldconsider some of the available options to maintainthe quality of competition .One option is to make it mandatory for openclass flyers to judge at least one event in any contestthey attend . By making judging mandatory wecould buy some time until a formal judgingprogram could be developed . If event organizersknew they has this resource available they couldbuild their judging needs around these flyers .The advantages of this approach are many . Themost obvious is that each judging panel would bestaffed by people intimately familiar with theelements of good flying . While it's true that alljudges need not be expert flyers, all judges musthave a solid understanding of basic kite flying techniques. As many of the Open class flyers are experiencedjudges they could serve as senior judgeson each panel . They could provide the nucleus ofthe judging program .This suggestion would take advantage of some ofthe sports most competent flyers, the open classteams . Unfortunately some teams only show up tofly for their sponsor and then they disappear .They're the first to demand good judging, but thelast to volunteer their services to be sure others arejudged fairly .To begin mandatory open class judging weshould start assigning judging duties to open teammembers first as they're generally considered themost knowledgeable flyers . If a flyer is asked tojudge and refuses without good reason, he or shewould be barred from competing in the event .Before implementing this policy a candidate judgingsystem needs to be established . We should seekout qualified flyers interested in becoming certifiedjudges. People from different parts of the countryshould be selected to work in their respective areas .They would be brought into the program as candidatejudges with the idea in mind that if they successfullypassed the training they would becomecertified judges .Financial support from all segments of the flyingcommunity should be sought . It's time for those thatbenefit most to begin paying their fair share . Theprincipal benefactors of competitive flying,manufacturers, distributors, and retailers should contributeto make the program a reality . Their supportshould consist of up front funding to get theprogram going, and continuing support in helpingto defray judging expenses at national contests .A successful judging program should be basedon the premise that judging is intuitive, not scientific .It should take into consideration that the complexityof all but the simplest maneuvers happen fasterthan the human mind can assimilate and digestthem in a quantitative way .It's commonly accepted that recognition of anyact must be transmitted from eye to brain forevaluation before action can be taken . This delayin simple situations, such as emergency braking ofyour car, can take .5 to .7 of a second before yourfoot moves to apply the brakes . Consider howmany actions must be considered in a few secondswhen judging a complex flight pattern . Theproblem of making defensible quantitativejudgements is compounded when watching ateam fly a freestyle performance .The reality is that good judges observe a performancein its entirety, subconsciously compare theperformance with all the others they've seen andgive it a score based on their "gut" feeling of how itmeasured up . If asked what they saw that causedthem to give their score they would tell you some ofthe things they remembered but could not defendtheir score on every definable point of a performance.It's this human factor that makes f possible forknowledgeable experienced flyers to sit on a judgingpanel and come up with remarkably similarscores without discussion . Each arrives at his or herscore based on their own experience, yet they oftencome up with very close point scores .Consistent quality judging is possible on the intuitivelevel if judges are properly trained . Successfultraining will consider the human element and takeadvantage of its remarkable abilities . It includes establishinga standard of performance which canbe accepted by all judges ."Rater" or judge reliability may be attained byapproaching the task in a structured way . Beforethis can be accomplished several elements must bein place . The most important element in providingquality judging is in selecting those to be judges . Tohave reliably consistent rating judges must possesscertain common skills . These skills include at leastthe following :1 . A solid understanding of the stunt kite flying -A judge needs to understand the complexity offlying and have an understanding of how variouskites fly .2 . A willingness to consider the ideas of others -A judge needs to be flexible enough to acceptwhat constitutes a standard performance . This maymean setting personal standards aside to acceptthe standards of the group .

3 . Good communicative skills - A judge must beable to articulate his or her thoughts to the otherjudges during the standard setting period .4 . A high interest in the sport - Judges mustrecognize that judging is hard work with littlerecognition . They must be willing to work with personalsatisfaction as their primary reward .5 . Time available for the program - The programwill take considerable time, both in training andtime on the field .6 . A willingness to travel to the various contests -A judge must be available to travel where needed .The program would be implemented in twophases . The first would be to establish a core ofqualified judges taken from the present flyer ranks .The second would be in selecting candidatejudges .After the initial core cadre was established letterscould be sent to those flyers, that in the opinion ofthe cadre, would make good candidate judges .Those that accepted would meet at some mutuallyagreeable flying site for initial training .The training would begin with discussion of judgingexpectations . This discussion would work towarda common definition of what constitutes good performance.After consensus was reached on the basics theremaining time would be spent doing practicejudging. After each pattern was flown the judgeswould compare their scores and discuss whatevertheir differences were . This process would continueuntil all reached a common understanding on theworth of each performance . This doesn't meaneach judge must have the same score . It merelymeans each is looking for the same definable levelof performance .After consensus was reached on individualmaneuvers, team maneuvers would be consideredwith their increased difficulty . This fly/discuss patternwould continue until all judges were comfortablewith the relative value of each performance .The ballet performance would be handled in asimilar way . Here the judging cadre would worktoward defining the elements of a good ballet performance.All through the learning experience the primaryobjective would be to come up with definablestandards . Without this definition the sport will stagnateas each judge applies his or her standard ofperformance . With a definable standard each flyerwill have a common frame of reference to use inimproving performance . Having this standard will allowjudges to communicate weak areas of performancein a consistent way .At contests each candidate judge would be assignedto a certified judge . Ideally the candidatejudge would score unofficially and then discuss theirscores with the certified judge . In this way consistencywould be maximized . If the candidate had tojudge because of a lack of certified judges theyshould still have the option of comparing theirscores to accelerate the learning process .After demonstrating proficiency in candidatejudging certification would follow . The new judgeswould work with the core cadre in conducting judg-ing seminars until he or she was ready to conductthe training themselves .Those reaching the ranks of certified judgeswould receive recognition at every event . Eventuallycertified judges should be paid at least theirexpenses to judge . As a paid judge they would notfly in any contest they were judging .At some point in time it would be ideal if we hada cadre of certified judges located in the majorflying areas of the country . As the recognized expertsin evaluating performance it's likely their serviceswould be in demand to coach flyers who areinterested in improving their performance .This article was written to express a point of viewon a subject that needs to be addressed . It's myhope that it will stimulate constructive action . It'snot important that everyone agree with my point ofview. It is important that we continue to moveahead to bring the sport to world class levels . Notall flyers are competitive but those that are deservethe best we can offer .

Also from Moran is the equalizerThis neat little gadget eliminatesthe hassle involved in linemeasurement. Simply hook theends of the line over the notchesand the pointer will let you knowwhen the lines are equal . Easy!And for about $6.00.New from Moran PrecisionAerobatic : (upper left) Flat linewinders will be appreciated bythose flyers who do a lot of traveling.They take up a lot less room inline bags and that means a lot insituations where space is at apremium . Each winder also has alabel for recording informationabout line length, strength, etc. . . .probably around $5.00.NEW PRODUCTSNew from Advanced FlightGear.: Series 1 Stunt Kite Handles .All weather foam grips around alight-weight aluminum base makeup these snappy new items. 450lb. Dacron provides the connectionto the fly lines and should giveyears of good service. Red andblue engraved anodized endfittings round out these good lookingnew grips. These should moveout at around $20.00 a set .Moron's new quad-line handlesfeature a light-weight armatureand contoured grips for good feel .A strip of color at the top of onehandle lets the flyer differentiatebetween right and left at aglance . Pricing should be around$20.00 a set.

MODEL: EVOLUTIONFABRIC WEIGHT : .75 oz . ripstop nylonFRAMING MATERIALS: carbon/aluminumCOLORS AVAILABLE : variedWIND RANGE : 5-25 mph .CONFIGURATION : delta-type, double-keeled(102 inch wingspan)A WORD ABOUT OUR TESTINGPROCEDURES . . . .Each kite is tested for performancein several categoriesincluding but not limited to : differenttypes of turning ability,degree of oversteer or understeer,pull generated, stallingcapabilities, stability, speed,off-wind performance, andease of launch and landing .Additionally, these figures aregathered over a variety ofwind conditions so are cumulativein nature . Scales used ineach of the criteria are a 1-10range . There are also effortsmade, conditions permitting, toapply the same procedures atwind speeds both above andbelow the manufacturer'sstated limits . The attempt is toestablish realistic limits beyondwhich the kite either becomesunstable or unflyable . The bulkof the figures, however, aregathered with the kite beingflown somewhere in the middleof the stated range .In all cases save those involvinghybrid individual designs,tests are performed on stockkites as they come from thebag . If modifications are madeto them, for whatever reason,they be explained in thereviews . If either line or arecommendation for same isincluded as part of the retailpackage from the manufacturer,it is utilized .In spite of attempts to thecontrary, a hands-on reviewingsituation is difficult to conductwith complete objectivity . Thisapplies most frequently in thefinal analysis of how well a particularkite flies . We have foundonly a couple that we wouldchoose to call poor in thisregard . More often than not,the kite simply needs more airtime in the flier's hands . Manyare, indeed, more touchy thanothers .MANUFACTURER: KITE INNOVATIONSTed Dougherty of Kite Innovationsseems to have a loveaffair with the unusual . It was hiscompany that produced theQuadraflex (now out of production)and pioneered commercialproduction of the first "soft" controllablekite, the Sparless Stunter.Ted's latest is the Evolution, adouble-keeled delta-type that'schock full of more innovativeideas .Right off, the kite measures in atnearly 8' feet, wingtip to wingtip,and yet tips the scales to only 9 oz .Framing is carbon (graphite)aluminum composite . All thingspoint to a pretty fair low-windflying machine . The new concepts,however, don't stopthere . . . .As the Evolution has, essentially,two spine rods, three major air surfacesare produced . All three arekept nicely taut by the use ofstandoff spars . The standoffs arefitted into conveniently long, sewnpockets along the kite's trailingedge. These comfortably deeppockets mean that the small sparsare seldom (if ever!) lost duringstrenuous maneuvers while stillbeing easily replaced in the eventof breakage .Spars, in every case, fit eitherinto leading edge vinyls,nosepiece, or are fitted intoanother new item exclusive to theEvolution : a very nice fitting plasticend cap . These end caps are drilledand attached to the sail withtraditional bunji cord . The sameplastic material is used for the dualT-fittings on the two center spars . Itmakes for a very clean package .All well and good, you may say,but will it fly?Having taken our test modelCOMPLETELY apart to examinehow it was made, we carefully re-

assembled it on the field only tofind that it flew only marginally .Gad! A completely hew designthat flew poorly at best . . . BUT, resteasy friends, thus was hot thecase .It seems that all of us are proneto little mistakes from time to time. . . ours was simply that we hadforgotten that the Evolution makesuse of a cross-over bridle system .A simple refitting of the knots and :viola!In light winds, following themanufacturers' recommendationof 801b . line, the kite performedquite well . Wide sweeping turnsseemed to be the Evolution's fortewith ah amount of oversteer showingup unusually in tight spinningmaneuvers . As this same curiosityshowed up in straight downwindlaunches, we suspected thatthere might have been a correctingbridle adjustment. More likely,we thought, it was our unfamiliaritywith the kite . This thought confirmeditself when we picked up atendency to wobble a bit comingout of square and angular turns . Itturned out that we were being alittle too "snappy" with ourmotions as gentler touches compensatedfor the bobbles .There is a noticeable absenceof pull generated by the Evolution .We liked this a lot . It affords theflyer a chance to put a lot of sailinto the air without having to worryabout the kite pulling out armjoints in strong winds . Stalls werereally not able to be accomplishedoverhead, the kitewas content to ride out the variouscurrents for a few momentsbefore falling back into the poweron either side . Off-wind, we wereable to induce a number of easilyrecoverable stall situations whichmade for interesting side work .Another intriguing developmentsurfaces in straight flight . While theEvolution cuts an undoubtedclean swath on ground passes,the flyer can barely feel the twocenter rods dividing the air as itpasses around the kite . The Evolutionseems to be very sensitive toeven the lightest pressure on thelines and with good reason : twokeels have the potential to turnthe kite with considerably moreauthority than one . The Evolutionseems to be susceptible even tochanges in ground turbulenceand, as such, wants to be flownwith the greatest attention .In higher winds the Evolutionbegins to come into its own specialtheatre . Tracking ability improvesby quantum leaps andtraces of oversteer vanish. Optimumrange for the kite wouldappear to fall into the 12-15 MPHrange. Off-wind handling also improvesso much as to nearlydemand a different rating scalethan that used at the extreme lowend .That the Evolution is a bundle ofinnovations cannot be denied .This kite will produce more thanjust a fair share of second looks atthe old flying field! It is also a kitewhich must be flown with care . It ishot for the beginner. For thosewho are willing to take the time tomaster it, we think that you'll likethis newest installment of Ted'smost excellent adventure!CB/SF

MODEL : PRO CATFABRIC WEIGHT : 1 .0 oz. ripstop nylonFRAMING MATERIALS: carbon/aluminumCOLORS AVAILABLE : variedWIND RANGE : 0-25 MPHCONFIGURATION : delta-type (98 inch wingspan)MFGR's SUGGESTED RETAIL : $189.00 as tested .$139.00 (standard frame)MANUFACTURER : AIR ARTTom Emery of Air Art has beenaround stunt kites for a goodlength of time . After mastering hisfirst kite 7 years ago, he flew withthe Skynasaur factory demonstrationteam for a year before devotinghis time to the perfection of hisown stunt kite design . The kite firstemerged as the Cat about threeyears ago . The Pro Cat is a competitionupgrade of Tom's basickite. The main change is in thearea of sparring : the Pro Catutilizes a frame of Easton carbon-/aluminum composite rather thanthe usual filament-woundfiberglass .Our first experience with the Catwas at the West Coast Nationals in1988 . The kite initially impressed uswith its unusual off-wind handlingqualities . The Pro Cat, delightfully,performs in a like, but better manner.The Pro Cat's battened windends, in addition to functioning aswind dumping devices in high-endbreezes, also allows the kite tofloat nearly stationary off wind .The kite assumes a position thatcan actually gravitate to parallelwith the ground and simply hoversfor what seems to be nearly indefiniteamounts of time . If placedin a vertical position off-wind, apull on the upper line will net theflyer a very graceful vaulting turnback to the same position . Undercutturns are accomplished withthe same ease .Compared to kites of similar sailarea, the Pro Cat will exhibit muchless pull than others . This too isowing to the battened sail design .The Cat kites were, to the best ofour knowledge, the first fullproduction utilization of this configuration.Turns of all types were executedwith crisp precision . Squares,decreasing-radius, and angularmaneuvers provided no problems .The carbon/aluminum frame ofthe Pro Cat made the kite veryresponsive as well as limiting thedistortion that usually accompanieseither high-speed turns orheavy wind .Construction-wise, we found thePro Cat to be quite sufficient .Dacron has been used as areinforcement on leading edges,center spine, and batten casings .Bunji cord attachment points havebeen likewise reinforced . Wewould like to see the wing tips(sail) treated a shade differently .There is an unfortunate bunchingof sail at the kite's wing tips that iscreated by the hiding of the bunjicord knot inside the leading edgeof the sail .Similarly, we'd like to see stopson the leading edge spars belowthe spreader vinyls . We did noticesome amount of travel in thesepieces during high wind tests aswell as more strenuous turningmaneuvers.We found the Pro Cat a delightto fly, particularly off wind . It waseasy to feel confident in attemptingtouchy moves as the kite waseasily recoverable from nearlyevery stall position . Downwind, theperformance level was equallyhigh, the kite tracking dead onwith each pass .The only drawback of any realconsequence with the Pro Cat isthat it is, essentially, a two-dimensionalkite. Without standoff spars,there is virtually no chance of selflaunchfrom a flat down position . Itis also our opinion that installationof standoffs would inhibit thoseother qualities that make the ProCat so appealing . . . that's thetrade-off .If relaunch capabilities after aflat crash are high on your list ofitems requisite for a good stuntkite, the Pro Cat may not be yourcup of tea . If, however, you are alover of precision edge work, youmay want to take this Cat for awalk to your favorite flying field!C .B ./S .F.

Two years ago, at the third runningof the East Coast Stunt KiteChampionships, we were particularlytaken by a rainbow stackof six mid-range size delta-shapedstunters . They flew exceptionallywell . . . in fact, we thought at firstthat they were connected byother than just link lines . Not so .They were Renegades .We've now had our first chanceto do an all-out test on this responsivekite and, quite frankly, can'twait to get our hands on a stackof our own . The kite that we testedwas a single unit Renegade III, ablack rainbow with very crispgraphics .Flying on 100' of 1351b . Spectraline, in keeping with Renegade'ssuggestions, we found the kite tobe fun, fast, and very nimble . Ourfirst flight was in winds over 20MPHwhere it was quick without becomingoverpowering . There certainlywas not much needed inthe way of pull or push to changedirections with this one . .. heavyhandedpilots will learn "finesseflying" rather quickly!One of the interesting points ofthe Renegade is rts ability to feelright at home working very closeto the ground . Smaller kites canoccasionally produce tensemoments in these encounters butnot the Renegade. Landings andrelaunches were "no problem"maneuvers . In fact, they wereeven easier to accomplish thanwith many larger kites .Lighter breezes in the singledigits saw us flying on 85' of lineand produced some interestingresults . We discovered that the kitewas very stable at low speeds aswell . The manufacturer offers alight wind package (retail : about$35), but our test kite flew very wellwithout it right down to 6 MPH . Aswe bridled up for the lower wind,we inadvertently overshot themark a little bit and made anotherdiscovery . . . not only did the kiteacquire a tendency to float controllablyoff wind, it also acquireda new turning movement . Placedoverhead and slightly downwind,MODEL: RENEGADE IIIFABRIC WEIGHT : .75 oz . ripstop nylonFRAMING MATERIALS: filament-wound fiberglassCOLORS AVAILABLE: 22 colors, special designs availableWIND RANGE : 5-40 MPHCONFIGURATION: delta-type (76 inch wingspan)MFGR's SUGGESTED RETAIL : $94-$160, depending on sail designMANUFACTURER: RENEGADE KITESthe Renegade will perform anearly-perfect helicopter spin . . .with excellent recoverability .We've flown a number of kitesthat act in similar fashion, but noproduction models that will executea controlled pull-out at theend of the maneuver .Bridling back to "proper" positiongave us a kite that was moredocile and predictable but, strangely,a little less fun . It's nice tohave that choice and when a kitewill perform well (albeit differently)at each setting, even the choiceis fun!The Renegade is also quite stallable. . . and quite recoverable aswell . We found ourselves constantlyseeing how far we couldpush the kite before it went intostall so that we could recover itwith brilliant-looking gracefulsaves .Turns of any variety were allwithin the scope of theRenegade, the only negativesbeing a bit of oversteer directlydownwind and, interestingly, a bitof understeer offwind . Neithercondition was severe enough,however, to be viewed as aproblem .Workmanship on the Renegadeis excellent . Trailing edge seamsare zig-zagged and singlestitched . Appliqué work is crisplyexecuted and the kite's design isvery clean . Thick-wall vinyls havebeen used on all fittings whichmake us think that this kite will performwell in the mid-40's for windrange . . . perhaps even beyond .Perhaps the nicest touch here isthat all appliqué work done onRenegade Kites is sewn and handsigned by the firm's owner, PamMarkie . In a market ruled by massproduction, this may speak moreabout the quality of theRenegade than any other fact .The Renegade is a mid-rangekite that was made to look goodand fly as well as it looks . Happily,that aim has been hit squarely onthe mark . This one ranks right upthere with the best!C .B ./S .F.

MODEL : NBKFABRIC WEIGHT: .75 oz . ripstop nylonFRAMING MATERIALS: graphiteCOLORS AVAILABLE : variedWIND RANGE: 1-20 mph .CONFIGURATION : delta-type (102 inch wingspan)MFGR'S SUGGESTED RETAIL : $170.00 (graphite)MANUFACTURER : SKYWARD KITESThe NBK (Nice Big Kite) is MikeSimmons' follow-up to his NLK(Nice Little . . .) . It is, for intents andpurposes, an enlargement of thesame principle . That in itself wouldmake the kite of more than passinginterest . . . the NLK tested outvery well back in the spring of thisyear (SKQ, Vol . 2, No . 1) . The actualcase is that making the kitelarger has also added some newflight parameters .Most significant of these is thatthe NBK's usable wind range extendsdown to about 2 MPH . This isattained not only because of thekite's larger sail area but also fromthe relatively light sparringmaterial used .Like its little brother, the NBKmakes use of four stand-off sparsinstead of the usual two . This applicationcreates a tunneled-typeof wing surface that contributessignificantly to the kite's turningability, which is, by the way, outstanding. In addition, positioningof the four-standoff system makesfor drumhead-tight sail tensioning .In the air, the NBK does notpresent a blindingly fast profile .The forte of this full-size delta is itsability to carve turns on an incrediblysmall radius . This functionit performs at a level nearlysecond to none . To the flyer, thisattribute translates to a couple ofareas . The first of these isgroundwork .The sail design and flyingcharacteristics of the NBK make ita very stable off-wind performer .We found, however, that we wereable to duplicate the samemaneuvers directly downwind inall but the heaviest situations .Landings, tight spins, squares, andthe like can be executed rightdown on the deck in areas thatwould leave many kites in crashsituations . There is also enoughcontrol in the NBK that thesefigures may be flown nearly asslowly as the pilot desires .This brings us to the second areaof interest . . . the kite's extendedcontrollability. Once again, theadditional pair of standoffs comeinto play allowing the kite to seemingly"spin" air out of the sail . Followinga tight turn, the NBK willlose altitude rapidly, essentially"falling" for a few feet, when theflyer advances toward it. A numberof kites will perform this functionto some degree but noneseem to have it down quite as"pat" as the NBK .The workmanship on the NBKhas taken a turn up . While the first,small NLKs were typicallyprototypes (those used in our initialtests), the production models ofboth the NBK and NLK have madethe transition extremely well .Reinforcement has been institutedat the connecting points betweenstandoffs and sail . Stitchedreinforcement has likewise beenadded around the T-fitting . Indeed,Skyward Kites has beenpaying close attention to makinga quality product . The sail on ourtest model is still taut, even thoughwe have let it set with standoffs inplace for several weeks to checkfor stretching . . . none has occurred.For the flyer who is looking for akite to give further mastery of thewind, especially in light or off-windsituations, the NBK presents a stepin the right direction . It is not forthe power flyer. The NBK is afinesse kite and deserves to beflown as such . There is also considerableappeal for those whodelight in ground work . The NBK isalmost certain to take its placeamong the big boys in the field!CB/SF

We have come to expect theunusual from Skip Park's BansheeKite Company . Last year's Buyer'sGuide included a review of theChikara, a 94-inch curved camberedairfoil, in which we foundthat while being an interesting assemblytest, the kite was "wellworth the time and effort required." This year, Skip has greetedus with the Scimitar, another likeconstructedkite with some minorchanges .Right out of the bag, theScimitar assembles in a breeze . . .all one needs to do is keep thefixed bridles from getting tangled(and that can be a problem withany kite!). The leading-edge sparis a three-piece affair, the endsbeing inserted into the center section. The whole thing is then tensionedlike a hunter's bow . Thereare also two cambered reflex battensand an aluminum spine .Once the Scimitar's curved sparshave been inserted into theirsleeves, the kite is ready for the air .And is it ever ready!Straightaway, the Scimitar is thequickest turning commerciallyproduced kite that we've yet tested. It is capable of reversingdirection or cutting a quick loopwith such speed that the eyecannot keep track of what's happening.In 12 MPH winds webrought the kite towards theground in accelerated powerdives, threw it into a tight loop atthe bottom, and attempted astraight downwind landing . Themaneuver took place so quicklythat the Scimitar actually hit theground (in the desired configuration!)and bounced a footand-a-halfback into the airbefore we were able to react! Allof which took place while wewere in complete control . . . wenever felt as if we had lost it .Ground passes were as advertised: clean. We did notice somespeed changes as the leadingMODEL : SCIMITARFABRIC WEIGHT: .75 oz . ripstop nylonFRAMING MATERIALS: filament-wound (fiberglass)/aluminum/woodCOLORS AVAILABLE : 20. Custom sails availableWIND RANGE : 2-22 MPHCONFIGURATION : cambered airfoil (96 inch wingspan)MFGR'S SUGGESTED RETAIL : $136 .00MANUFACTURER : BANSHEE KITESedge spar bowed in reaction tovariances in the speed of thewind . It is, however, just thatbowing that makes the Scimitarsuch a blast to fly, In short order,we were handling stalls, wing-tipstands, down-wind and off-windrelaunches, and even side-wiseskids with a matter-of-fact sort ofattitude .We tested the Scimitar with 130'of Spectra-line, as suggested byBanshee but found that it wasmore fun (and faster) on about85' . Another interesting point wasthat while the directions instructedus to "twist the fabric of the leadingedge" to improveaerodynamics, the Scimitar was afar more spectacular performerwithout the process .Another improvement in designis readily noticeable . This modelexhibits far less pull than theChikara and, by comparison toothers of comparable sail area, ispractically nil . This is a real comfortin situations where higher wind isthe order of the day .Bridle adjustments are made onthe Scimitar by knotting the linesso as to shorten them but we flewthe kite in breezes ranging from 4-20 without ever using the adjustmentor feeling the necessity to doso .Workmanship on the Scimitar isof good quality, something thatwe've come to expect from Banshee. Sleeves for the reinforcingbattens and rods are all reinforced. At first we questioned the useof wooden spars, particularly in acambered rod, but they haveproved themselves the equal ofour "crash test" program .The Scimitar was a delight to fly .It seemed to bring back somethingfor an afternoon that getslost in the struggle on occasion :fun . For certain the kite has theability to make nearly everyonewho gets a crack at it feel like anexpert . It also presents the veteranflyer with a completely new visualpicture at the other end of thelines . As the kite inverts, the leadingedge grins back like a bigsmiley face just before it slips intoanother new configuration . Certainly,the flight characteristics ofthis new Banshee garnered morereactions at the flying field than agood many of our new kites .If you have flown the Chikara,you're going to love this new,more maneuverable update . Ifyou are the type of flyer that enjoysthe feel of something newand unusual tugging at your arms,you're going to want to pick upon this one . . . it's a gas!CB/SF

Texas Gulf CoastChallenge ResultsINDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE(Final-no heats)I . Dan Schmitt 81 .422 . Tracey Adair 81,253 . Greg Hernandez 78 .6T4 . Michelle Weber 78 .6T5 . Robert Hamilton 77 .506 . Herman Coleson 76 .587 . Larry Whitacre 76 .008 . Steve Steel 75 .429 . Phillip Riggs 74 .8310. Jeff Meineger 72 .5011 . Michael Coleson 71 .25'12 . Garry Allison Norey 71 .25'13. Donnie Simmons 70 .8314 . Dennis Oswalt 70 .5015 . Tony Perez 70 .4216 . Mellisa Meadows 68 .4217 . Gary Smith 67 .1718 . Mark Buesing 65 .5019. Tamara Joyce 65,4220 . Frank Kenisky IV 65 .2521 . David Riggs 60 .0022 . Waymon Templen 58 .3323 . Christopher Tarter 45 .75'Tie broken by including high and lowscores deleted in normal calculations .INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 1)1 . Dean Jordan 57 .57'2 . John Oliver 57 .10'3 . Glenn Mueller 52 .63`4 . Chuck Bradford 45 .875 . Jim Richey 44 .436 . Dean Trostle 37 .737 . Nancy Lizza 27 .138 . Kevin Mitchell 25 .579 . Lonnie Hopson 21 .4710 . Kylph McCormick 21 .37INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 2)1 . Abel Ortega 73 .4T2 . George Baskette 72 .673 . Mike Teague 72.20'4. Dave Molloy 71 .70'5 . Bob Childs 70 .536 . Donald Miller 68 .577 . John MacLauchlan 62 .978 . Mike Simmons 55,139 . Gayla Ward 52 .73INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Final)1 . George Baskette 80 .132 . Glenn Mueller 78 .133 . Abel Ortega 76 .074 . Dave Molloy 73 .275 . John Oliver 71 .736 . Mike Teague 70 .937 . Dean Jordan 58 .20INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Heat 1)1 . John MacLauchlan 78 .13'2. Mike Simmons 76 .73'3 . Chuck Bradford 75 .10'4 . Nancy LIzza 73 .275 . Dave Molloy 73 .076 . Jim Richey 64.607 . Gerald Winn 56 .008 . Klyph McCormick 49 .87INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Heat 2)1 . George Baskette 69,9''2. Kevin Mitchell 69 .60'3 . Abel Ortega 67,97'4 . Bob Childs 66 .075 . Kathi Larrabee 65 .776 . Gayla Ward 60 .537 . Dean Jordan 59 .17INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final)1 . George Baskette 82 .402 . Abel Ortega 80 .873 . Mike Simmons 79 .504 . Chuck Bradford 77 .305 . John MacLauchlan 75 .776 . Kevin Mitchell 70 .27INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Ron Reich 75 .902 . Eric Wolff 73 .773 . Don Tabor 73 .504. Ede Sabo 73 .335. Robert Loera 71 .636 . Mike Dennis 68 .737 . Cris Batdorff 68 .438 . Frank Fieseler 67,309 . Vince Bobrosky 66 .0710 . Eric Streed 63 .2011 . Phil Bazell 58 .7012 . Dan Buxton 54 .3313 . Susan Fontenot 51 .33INDIVIDUAL BALLET - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Dan Buxton 85 .772 . Vince Bobrosky 84 .233 . Cris Batdorff 84 .134 . Ron Reich 82 .905 . Eric Wolff 80 .706 . Susan Fontenot 78 .307 . Eric Streed 76 .338 . Don Tabor 73 .409 . Frank Fieseler 70 .9310 . Ede Sabo 68 .0011 . Robert Loera 66 .67TEAM PRECISION-EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1 . Zephyrus Flying Team 73 .002 . TorI Tako Flight Team 58 .603 . Texas A&M Kite Flyers 22 .37TEAM BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1 . The Edge 66 .032 . Zephyrus Flying Team 64 .473 . Tori Tako Flight Team 55 .204 . Ground Control 47 .07TEAM PRECISION - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Top of the Line 86 .702 . Prevailing Winds 86 .403 . Chicago Fire 74 .224 . Kite Fantasy 70 .82TEAM BALLET - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Top of the Line 95 .272 . Prevailing Winds 86 .203 . Chicago Fire 78 .204 . Kite Fantasy 75 .97INDIVIDUAL INNOVATIVE -UNCLASSED (Final-no heats)1 . Robert Loera 60.932 . John Oliver 58 .703 . Thomas Bunce 44.43Four WindsKite FestivalINDIVIDUAL PRECISION - JUNIOR(Final-no heats)1 . Jeff Poy (Spinoff) 42.162. Jason Poy (Spinoff) 40.663. Jim Moore (Spyrojet UL) 33.664 . Shelly Moore (Spyrojet UL) 28.66INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE(Final-no heats)1 . Barney Kiraly (Spinoff) 40 .502 . Robin Gardner (Viper) 36 .503 . Bev Jacks (Spinoff) 34 .754. Mike Swenson (Flexifoil) 34 .005. Richard Tromblay (Spinoff) 33 .756. Shirley Grimwood (Spyrojet) 21 .25INDIVIDUAL BALLET - UNCLASSED(Final-no heats)1 . Cris Batdorff (Firedart) 85 .832 . Jim Poy (Shadow) 84 .163 . Don Dawkins (3/4 Hawaiian) 67 .164 . Lam Hoac (Flexifoil) 66 .505 . Harlen Linke (Firedart) 65 .166 . Robin Gardner (Paraflex) 59 .66TEAM BALLET - UNCLASSED(Final-no heats)1 . Linke/Batdorff (Firedarts) 8 .52 . Poy/Hoac (Flexifoils) 8 .0

Great Lakes NationalsStunt KiteChampionships ResultsINDIVIDUAL PRECISION - JUNIOR1 . Matthew Cooper 77 .232 . Jason Poy 76 .333 . Jill Wozniak 74 .874 . Chris Weiden 71 .035 . Michelle Antaya 70 .70INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE(Heat 1)1 . George North 66 .37'2, Michael D . Fecteau 62 .60'3 . Charley Miller 62 .30'4. Steve Andrews 61 .10'5, John Besson 60 .876. Tim Weiden Jr . 60 .607 . Teresa Osborne 59 .508 . David Lakos 59 .179 . Greg Henderson 58 .4010. Timothy Mahoney 53 .6011, Stephen Longfellow 53 .0712 . Brian Arens 48 .4313 . Don Stringer 47 .63'Advanced to finals .INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE(Heat 2)1 . Peter Weidenfeller 67 .00'2 . Ken Blain3 . Mel Bauer65 .80'65 .03'4 . Robert K. Smith 58 .43'5 . Dave Sandage 48 .576 . Mike Cullihan 46 .877 . Debra Uithoven 46 .138 . John Rose 41 .909 . Glenn Wolfe 37 .9310. James King 36 .8711 . Gregory Courneya 0 .00'Advanced to finals .INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE(Final)1 . Charley Miller2 . Steve Andrews79 .7575 .003 . Michael Fecteau4 . Ken Blain71 .3368 .005 . Peter Weidenfeller 67 .836 . Mel Bauer 67 .837 . Robert K . Smith 63.338 . George North 63.08.INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 1)1 . Mat Weiden 79 .97'2 . Jon Trennepohl 78 .30'3 . Paul Campobasso 73 .63'4 . Mike Mulroy 73 .255 . Robert Hamilton 71 .836 . John Oliver 71 .287 . Terry Mackey 64 .488 . Jim Poy 53 .679 . Brian Vossen 52 .9710 . Rick Sheely 48 .8311 . Pete DiGiacomo 44.00'Advanced to finals.INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 2)1 . Kathi Larrabee 76 .70'2 . Jeff Radtke 72 .33'3 . Rich Yedinak 72 .23'4 . Klyph McCormick 70 .375 . Gayla Ward 69 .806 . Dave Molloy 68 .707 . Steve Wozniak 66 .378 . Steve Negen 62 .439 . Lou Baldus 62 .1010 . Paul VanNocker 60 .9311 . Philip Wright 56 .1712, Jay Sam 46 .3713. Aaron Harris 12 .27'Advanced to finals .INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 3)1 . Nancy Lizza 84 .23'2 . Robert Schroyer 75 .03'3 . Mike Boeres 65 .134 . Richard Gardner 49 .23'Advanced to finals.INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 4)1 . Brian VanderSlice 82 .50'2 . David Barresi 80 .77'3 . George Baskette 80 .304 . Tim Longcor 76 .205 . Glenn Mueller 74 .276 . Jim Wirt 72 .277 . Clyde King 69 .178 . Dana Miller 61 .679 . Harlen Linke 58 .40'Advanced to finalsINDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Finals)1 . David Barresi 78 .832 . Jon Trennepohl 78 .373 . Jeff Radtke 78 .004 . Brian VanderSlice 77 .435 . Mat Weiden 77 .006. Nancy Lizza 76 .977 . Rich Yedinak 76 .938 . Kathi Larrabee9 . Robert Schroyer75 .5375 .1710 . Paul Campobasso 75 .00INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Heat 1)1 . David Barresi 79 .47'2 . Glenn Mueller 73 .10`3 . Jim Poy 69 .67'4 . John Oliver 63 .175 . Marlene Do Ross 62 .636 . Steve Wozniak 50 .77'Advanced to finalsINDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Heat 2)1 . Brian Keating2 . Steve Negen87 .40'86 .60'3 . Paul VanNocker 82 .77'4 . George Baskette 82 .175 . Mat WeIden6 . Robert Schroyer79 .6777 .637 . Lou Baldus 77 .178 . Rich Yedinak 70 .439 . Jim Wirt 69 .9010 . Robert Hamilton 66 .1711 . Klyph McCormick 60 .9712 . Brian VanderSlice 0 .00'Advanced to finals .INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Heat 3)1 . Nancy Lizza 83 .43'2. Gayla Ward 80 .40'3. Dave Molloy 79 .50'4. Clyde King 78.035. Kathi Larrabee 75.336. Lorna Buxton 70.337. Tim Longcor 69.038. Harlen Linke 67.539. Pete DiGiacomo 58.2710 . Dana Miller 57.4311 . Jay Sam 23 .20'Advanced to finals .INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Finals)1 . Steve Negen 85 .532 . David BarresI 84 .703 . Brian Keating 82 .304 . Nancy Lizza 81 .505 . Gayla Ward 80 .206 . Jim Poy 78.407 . Dave Molloy 75.838 . Paul VanNocker 74.579 . Glenn Mueller 74.13

GREAT LAKES CONT .INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Ron Reich 85 .832 . Pam Kirk 85 .683 . Don Tabor 83 .704 . Eric Wolff 82 .805 . Keith Landes 82 .676 . Vince Bobrosky 82 .387 . Phil Bazell 81 .778 . Frank Fieseler 78 .209. Sue Taft 76 .6310 . Phil Wiltz 74 .9711 . Dan Buxton 72 .8012 . Rod Tanis 71 .3013 . Eric Streed 70 .8014. CrIs Batdorff 68 .8315 . Brian Fyfe 67 .4816 . Robin Ward 64 .1817 .Jim Henry 62 .00INDIVIDUAL BALLET - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Ron Reich 94 .772 . Dan Buxton 93 .273 . Sue Taft 90 .804 . Frank Fieseler 89 .935 . Eric Streed 89 .736 . Phil Bazell 89 .337 . Don Tabor 88 .308 . Robin Ward 87 .939 . VInce Bobrosky 87 .4710 . Phil Wiltz 86 .1711 . Rod TanIs 86 .0712 . Jim Henry 84 .2013 . Pam Kirk 84 .0314 . Eric Wolff 83 .8715 . Cris Batdorff 82 .5016 . Lee Sedgwick 81 .0317 . Keith Landes 79 .13TEAM PRECISION - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1. TorI Tako 84.582 . Screaming Seagulls 79 .483 . Sky Wizards 75 .474 . Perfect Chaos 22 .33TEAM BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1 . Tori Tako 83 .702 . Perfect Chaos 80 .933 . Sky Wizards 76 .134. Sky Ratz 62 .535 . Screaming Seagulls 58 .50TEAM PRECISION - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Top of the Line 94 .522. Chicago Fire 92 .633. Prevailing Winds 89 .834 . Roaring Flamingos 83 .905 . Team What's Up 75 .38TEAM BALLET - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Top of the Line 97 .802 . Prevailing Winds 92 .233 . Chicago Fire 89 .734. Team What's Up 86 .705 . Team High Fly 86 :136 . Roaring Flamingos 82 .737 . Windjammers 71 .53INDIVIDUAL INNOVATIVE -UNCLASSED (Final-no heats)1 . Lee Sedgwick 74 .782 . John Oliver 64 .123 . Lou Baldus 57 .58Philadelphia RegionalStunt KiteChampionshipsINDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE(Final-no heats)1 . Quin Rickman 78 .562 . Bill Weisgerber 75 .903 . John Smith 74 .704 . Joel Brown 72 .435 . Mike Hicks 70 .906 . Dan Mose 69 .067 . Eric Adamusko 65 .268 . Thomas Greenwald 65 .109 . Teresa Osborne 62 .9610 . Chris Prasol 57 .00INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Final-no heats)1 . Pete Dolphin 77 .122 . Bob Hanson 77 .103 . Brian VanderSlice 75 .814 . Alan Sehee 74 .205 . Suzanne Edison 74 .166 . Brad Ruud 68 .767 . Harlen Linke 65 .719 . Dave Barresi 64 .7110 . Ralph Offredo 61 .13INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1 . Bob Hanson 88 .502 . Harlen Linke 83 .93Frank Loudenslager 83 .934 . Ralph Offredo 83 .105 . Chuck Walker 81 .566 . Brian VanderSlice 80 .607 . Pete Dolphin 77 .508 . Brad Ruud 76 .169 . Dave Barresi 74.8610 . Chris Schultz 71 .63TEAM PRECISION - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1 . Team Thunder Hawq 53 .832 . Evolutionary Sky Bandits 34 .58TEAM BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1 . Aroara Flying Circus 80 .662 . Sky Rats 74 .533 . Team Thunder Hawq 56 .33EAST COAST STUNT KITECHAMPIONSHIP RESULTSINDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICEFinal (Heats 1 & 2 combined running)1 . Thomas Greenwald 79 .072 . John Smith 75 .133 . Karen Origlio 70 .604 . Craig Dixon 68 .805 . Peter L . Vattimo Jr . 67 .606 . Michael Moore 65 .277 . Teresa Osborn 65 .278 . Tracy Adair 65 .269 . Michael Coppola 64 .7310 . Chris Belli 63 .8711 . Bruce McFarland 63 .2712 . Heath Bryant 62 .6713 . Daniel Moss 61 .7314 . Randle Gertz 61 .1315 . Kevin L . Tuttle 60 .6716. Jim Cosca 57 .5317 . Carl Watkins 55 .6018. Alvin Caban 54 .9319. Thomas Dogery20 . Bryan Keith Tipton54 .7354 .6721 . Mark A . Douches 54 .4722. Jeanne Gaige23 . Scott Gischel54 .1353 .6724. Kevin Mattice 53 .3325 . Mark Johanessen 52 .4726 . David Baylen 52 .2727 . Greg Hernandez 52 .0728 . Randal Hofer 51 .1329 . Mike Abshire 48 .7330 . Peggy West 47 .6031 . Ron Bettencourt 46 .5332 . Mark Meinzer 46 .3333 . Mark Thuerich 44 .6734. Tommy Cannon35 . Steven C . Dugard42 .7341,2036 . Patricia A. Mills 39 .9337 .S.J . Straehle 37 .00INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 1)1 . Bob Childs 92 .60'2 . Brian Vanderslice 89 .87'3 . Brian Keating 87 .404. Dominique Smith '84 .935 . Abel Ortega 82.136 . Alan Sehee 80 .737 . Steve Steel 80 .608 . Gary Gertz 79 .479 . Paul VanNocker 70 .0710 . Rich Montminy 77 .6711 . Jim Richey 75 .0012 . Michael Chwalyk 73 .8013. Quin Rickman 73 .5314. Thomas Cannon 72 .3315 . Bradford Ruud 70 .53INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 2)1 . Jim Poy 89 .47'2 . Mike Simmons 83 .53'3 . Bob Hanson 82 .934 . Chuck Bradford 82 .275 . David Barresi 81 .936 . Dean Jordan 81,807 . Carter Stickney 79 .408 . Charles Stonestreet 78 .739 . John Tavolacci 78 .3310 . Nancy Lizza 73 .2711 . Harlen Linke 73 .1312 . Dave Simpson 71 .9313 . Harlan Schlitzer 69 .0014. Mike Hicks 66 .4015 . Chris Schultz 66 .20INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 3)1 . Steve Negen 84 .47`2 . Ruth Bradley 78 .20`3 . Thomas Erfurth 77 .934 . Eric Adamusko 76 .535 . Rich Yedinak 75 .936 . Klyph McCormick 71 .937 . Kathi Larrabee 71 .878 . Suzanne Edison 71 .609 . Mike Brown 70 .331O. T.C . Powers 68 .2011 . Calvin Mills 66 .2712 . Steve Santos 63 .6013 . Bill Weisberger 62 .9314 . Jorge Plasencia 59 .8715. Adrian Donohue 41 .13

INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Heat 4)1 George Baskette 81 .20'2 . Robert Crowell 79 .20'3 . John MacLauchlan 77 .134 . Jim Bunce 76 .475 . Ted Dougherty 73 .476 . Robert Hamilton 73 .207 . Howard Lamhut 72 .478 . Pete DiGiacomo 71 .939 . Gayla Ward 71 .8710 . Laurie Richey 69 .0011. Teresa Cannon 65 .8012 . Chuck Walker IV 64 .4713 . Marc Ricketts 63 .33INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Final)1 . Brian Vanderslice 89 .672 . Steve Negen 86 .673 . Bob Childs 84 .934 . Jim Poy 82 .535 . George Baskette 80 .076 . Ruth Bradley 79 .477 . Mike Simmons 78 .208 . Bob Crowell 71 .67INDIVIDUAL BALLET -EXPERIENCED (Heat 1)I . Bob Hanson 96 .07'2 . Chuck Walker IV 86 .93'3 . Gayla Ward 86 .504 . John Tavolacci 83 .535 . Brian Vanderslice 82 .706 . Jim Richey 78 .877 . Robert Hamilton 75 .638 . Michael Jacobsen 74 .409 . Marc Ricketts 73 .7310 . Tom Allen 72 .2011 . Pete DiGIacomo 71 .6012 . Bill Weisberger 61 .10INDIVIDUAL BALLET -EXPERIENCED (Heat 4)1 . Bob Childs 93 .00'2 . George Baskette 88 .70'3 . David Barresi 87 .204 . Paul VanNocker 86 .105 . Jim Poy 82 .376 . Nancy Lizza 80 .607 . Bradford Ruud 78 .438 . Calvin Mills 76 .809 . Charles Stonestreet 75 .93INDIVIDUAL BALLET -EXPERIENCED (Final)1 . Bob Hanson 89 .932 . Bob Childs 89 .473 . Brian Keating 85 .174 . Steve Negen 84 .475 . Sue Edison 84 .206 . George Baskette 83 .777 . Chuck Walker 82 .178 . Carter Stickney 81 .90INDIVIDUAL PRECISION-OPEN-Final (Heats 1 & 2 combined running)1 . Ron Reich 85 .072 . Sue Taft 82 .483 . Mike Jones 82 .084 . Don Tabor 81 .725 . Eric Wolff 81 .686 . Pam Kirk 81 .337 . Phil Bazell 80 .938 . Frank Fiesler 79 .739 . William Truitt Jones 78 .8710 . Eric Streed 78 .0711 . Keith Landes 77 .8012. Vern Balodis 77 .2013 . John Oliver 76 .4714 . Phil Wiltz 75 .7315 . Dan Buxton 73 .6716 . Bill Edison 72 .2017. Vince Bobrosky 71 .8718 . Darrin Skinner 71 .0019 . Peter Dolphin 68 .6720 . Paul Dugard 68 .0721 . Raymond Loera 67 .2722 . Rod Tanis 67 .2023. Terry Crumpler 65 .1324 . Bill Beneker 64 .6725 . Phillip Lauer 64 .0026 . Robin Ward 63 .6727 . Cris Batdorff 61 .5328 .Susan Fontenot 58 .00INDIVIDUAL BALLET -OPEN (Heat 1)1 . Eric Wolff 85 .90`2 . Sue Taft 85 .03`3 . Ron Reich 82 .57'4 . Vince Bobrosky 81 .07'5 . Lee Sedgwick 76 .606 . Peter Dolphin 73 .007 . CrIs Batdorff 72 .638 . Rod Tanis 72 .379 . Bill Edison 71 .3710. Terry Crumpler 66 .8711 . Phillip Lauer 57 .60INDIVIDUAL BALLET -OPEN (Heat 2)1 . Phil Wiltz 93 .03'2 . Eric Streed 92 .57'3 . Don Tabor 92 .27'4 . Pam Kirk 90 .07'5 . John Oliver 89 .306 . Robert Loera 85 .937 . Susan Fontenot 85 .378 . Frank Fieseler 85 .239 . Darrin Skinner 83 .1310 . Ralph Offredo 82 .83INDIVIDUAL BALLET -EXPERIENCED (Heat 2)1 . Brian Keating 92 .67'2, Steve Negen 85 .30`3 . Jim Bunce 85 .304 . Abel Ortega 80 .005 . Michael Lathrop 79 .636 . John MacLauchlan 79 .437 . Mike Simmons 77 .678 . Kathi Larrabee 74,539 . Lorna Buxton 74 .3710 . Chris Schultz 73 .0011 . Dave Molloy 71 .2712 . Richard Ribakove 70 .5313 . Craig Scott 69 .1314. Tim Mueller 68 .57INDIVIDUAL BALLET -EXPERIENCED (Heat 3)1 . Carter Stickney 81 .83`2 . Suzanne Edison 80 .93`3 . Ruth Bradley 79 .034 . Steve Santos 77 .405 . Rich Yedinak 76 .906 . Thomas Erfurth 74 .707 . Harlen Linke 74 .378 . Dean Jordan 74 .039 . Harlad Schlitzer 68 .6010 . Eric Adamusko 66 .7711. Wlliam Dupre 57 .67

EAST COAST CONT.11 . Paul Dugard 82 .3312 . Robin Ward 82 .3013 . Arlene Anderson 80 .9714 . Bill Beneker 79 .8015 . Frank Loudenslager 78 .8316 . Michael Jones 73 .07INDIVIDUAL BALLET -OPEN - (Final)1 . Ron Reich 92 .072 . Vince Bobrosky 89 .773 . Sue Taft 89 .734. Eric Wolff 89 .535 . Don Tabor 88 .676 . Pam Kirk 88 .277. Eric Streed 87 .20TEAM PRECISION - EXPERIENCED- Final - No Heats1 . Killer Bees 85 .252 . Team Bohica 82 .523 . Zephyrus 74 .824 . High Flyers 73 .385 . Team Thunderhawq 72 .556 . Team Tori Tako 63 .057 . Evolutionary Sky Bandits 61 .838 . Behind the Lines 54 .58TEAM BALLET - EXPERIENCED-Final - No Heats1 . The Edge 83 .802. High Flyers 78 .173. Edison Flight & Power 78 .074 . Killer Bees 77 .305 . Hurricane Squadron 75 .036 . Zephyrus 72 .137 . Team Tori Tako 72 .108 . Team Bohica DQTEAM PRECISION-OPEN-Final - No Heats1 . Top of the Line 87 .302 . Prevailing Winds 85 .223 . Chicago Fire 82 .154 . Roaring Flamingos 75 .725 . Skymaster (Hawaii) 62 .936 . Team What's Up 55 .83TEAM BALLET - OPEN -Final - No Heats1 . Top of the Line 98 .832 . Prevailing Winds 88 .133 . Chicago Fire 87 .204 . Team What's Up 83 .235 . Team High Fly 82 .476 . Roaring Flamingos 80 .137 . Skymaster (Hawaii) 77 .708 . Flying Circus 77 .53INDIVIDUAL INNOVATIVE -Open - Final1 . Ron Reich 87 .552 . Lee SedgwIck 82 .273. William Truitt Jones 85 .534 . Robert Loera 67 .405 . Joseph Perron 56 .226 . Rod Tanis 50 .58INDIVIDUAL QUAD-LINE -Open - Final1 . Joe HadzIckI 91 .132 . Lee Sedgwick 90 .203 . Jim Hadzicki 84 .874 . Sue Taft 78 .675 . David Hadzicki 72 .606 . Phillip Lauer 63 .477 . Ray Loera 63 .33Oregon State Stunt KiteChampionshipsNOVICE INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -Final1 . Michael Arken2 . Yumiko Fujimori3 . Russ StellaINTERMEDIATE INDIVIDUALPRECISION - Final1 . Troy Gunn2 . Steve Kline3 . John WeinerINTERMEDIATE INDIVIDUAL BALLET -Final1 . Jim Baldo2 . Stanley Rogers3 . Chris BlakeEXPERIENCED INDIVIDUALPRECISION - FinalI . Kathi Larrabee2 . Rod Guyette3 . Klyph McCormickEXPERIENCED INDIVIDUAL BALLET -Final1 . KathI Larrabee2 . Steve Steele3 . Klyph McCormickOPEN INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -Final1 . Roy Willson2 . John Oliver3 . Mike SterlingOPEN INDIVIDUAL BALLET -Final1 . Rod Yarger2 . John Oliver3 . Mike SterlingINTERMEDIATE TEAM BALLET -Final1 . Pacific FlyersEXPERIENCED TEAM PRECISION -Final1 . Tori Tako2. Team Cyborg - Hood River Boys3 . Air Head FlyersEXPERIENCED TEAM BALLET -Final1 . Team Cyborg - Hood River Boys2 . Tori Tako3 . Air Head FlyersOPEN TEAM PRECISION -Final1 . Stunts *R' UsOPEN TEAM BALLET - Final1 . Stunts "P' Us2 . Team Rising StarsINDIVIDUAL INNOVATIVE -1 . John Oliver2 . Chris Blake3 . Mike SterlingOpen Class - FinalNorthwest Regional StuntKite ChampionshipsINDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE(Final-no heats)1 . Sage Marie 88 .172 . Andy Anderson 84 .503 . Patty Sweet 80 .754. Mike Eason 78 .755 . Paul Dehope 77 .006 . Skip Wolford 70 .837 . Ed Stonebreaker 68 .928 . Tomas Sasaki 68 .429 . Ivory Harris 65 .9210 . Dan Bowman 59 .9211 . Ray Anchan 59 .7512 . Brandon Talbott 53 .50INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Final-no heats)1 . Rod Guyette 80,002 . Mike Barclay 77 .803 . Kathi Larrabee 75 .804 . Mike Pedersen 75 .435 . Jim Richey 72,506 . Chuck Bradford 72 .437 . Steve Kline 71 .578 . John Weiner 70 .339 . Robin Haas 70 .1710. Nancy Lizza 69 .3711 . Steve Steele 69 .2312 . Chip Hewitt 65 .2013 . Doc Counce 64 .6014 . Mike Benedict 63 .0715 . Lee Kanstrup 62 .5316 . Craig Stinson 61 .9017 . Sam Robinson 61 .2718. Jim Baldo 59 .2019 . Corky Corbin 59 .0720 . Laurie Richey 58 .2021 . lint Blake 57 .1322 . Gregg E . Thompson 55 .7023. Jon Reinschreiber 55 .4324, Chris Blake 52 .9325 . Cliff Hewitt 52 .5726 . David Colbert 51 .5327 . George Cornelius 51 .3028 . Robert Hamilton 50 .6029 . Klyph McCormick 48 .6330 . Greg M . Thompson 48 .3331 . Terry Tate 45 .3032 . David Sweet 44.5033. John Overmier 38 .1334 .Jerimy Colbert 36 .4335 . Linda Anderson 27 .30INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1 . Kathi Larrabee 93 .032 . Nancy Lizza 88 .873 . Mike Barclay 88 .204 . Steve Steele 86 .105 . Rod Guyette 82 .106 . Mike Pedersen 81 .237 . Jon Reinschreiber 81 .138 . Jim Richey 81 .109 . Jim Baldo 80 .5010 . David Colbert 76 .3011 . Robert D . Hamilton 74,2012 . Chip Hewitt 73 .0013 . Terry Tate 72 .9314 . Chuck Bradford 71 .8315 . Chris Blake 70 .3016 . Lee Kanstrup 70 .0317 . Clint Blake 69 .8018, Robin Haas 65 .87

19, Klyph McCormick 62 .9020. John Overmier 62 .5721 . Laurie Richey 61 .2022. Craig Stinson 57 .1723. Jerimy Colbert 50 .00INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Mike Sterling 81 .432 . Roy Willson 80 .703 . John Oliver 77 .334 . Robert Riley 74 .93INDIVIDUAL BALLET - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Rod Yarger 83 .172 . Mike Sterling 76 .803 . Robert Riley 75 .974 . John Oliver 75 .375 . Ray Bethell 70 .60TEAM PRECISION - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1. Zephyrus 76 .072 . Tori Tako Flight Team 69 .303 . Team Cyborg 63 .804 . Team Ramjet 59 .305 . Air-Head Flyers 56 .406 . OGO Fly A Kite 45 .007 . Family Ties 20 .47TEAM BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final-no heats)1 . Zephyrus 80 .872 . Team Cyborg 80 .833 . Family Ties 80 .304 . Team Ramjet 73 .275 . Tori Tako Flight Team 65 .276 . Air-Head Flyers 55 .60TEAM PRECISION - OPEN(Final-no heats)1 . Stunts "R - Us 73 .182 . Rising Star 68 .67TEAM BALLET - OPEN(Final-no heats)1, Stunts "R" Us 80 .472 . Rising Star 71 .773 . Vancouver High Flyers 70 .33INDIVIDUAL INNOVATIVE -UNCLASSED (Final)1 . Robert Riley 82 .902 . John Oliver 81 .023 . Ray Bethell 80 .384. Mike Sterling 77 .175 . Chris Blake 60 .826 . Steve Shapson 54 .907 . Lee Kanstrup 53 .58TEAM INNOVATIVE - UNCLASSED(Final)1 . Stunts 'R" Us 72 .182 . Vancouver High Flyer 58 .802 . Ray Sage 58 .33Cherry Stunt Fly '90INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - JUNIOR(Final)1 . Jason Poy 36 .502 . Chris WeIden 30 .503 . Michelle Antaya 27 .904 . Mat Cooper 27 .835 . Josh Lundy 12 .00INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - NOVICE(Final)1 . Bob Langenberg 63 .772 . Tim Weiden 57 .673, Teresa Osborne 57 .304. Ken Blain 57 .105 . Charley Miller 56 .936. Jeff Poy 54 .837. Jim Hogan 54 .638 . Phil Sheridan 53 .909 . Terry Peterson 43 .17INDIVIDUAL PRECISION -EXPERIENCED (Final)1 . Steve Negen 74 .302 . Tim Longcor 67 .303 . Matt Weiden 65 .474 . Rich Yedinak 64 .835. Steve Rutkowski 62.976, Harlen Linke 62 .907 . David Renshaw 61 .938 . Terry Mackey 60 .209 . Rick Sheely 59 .1710. Jon Trennepohl 59 .0711 . Kim Knickerbocker 58 .1712, Mike Borer 55 .2313. Jim Poy 52 .7714 . Mike Mulroy 50 .1015 . Alan Sehee 44 .5716 . Jay Sam 44 .33INDIVIDUAL BALLET - EXPERIENCED1 . Jim Poy (Final) 85 .082 . Harlen Linke 79 .923 . Rich Yedinak 78 .754 . Tim Loncor 78 .585 . Jon Trennepohl 77 .006 . Kim Knickerbocker 76 .427 . Jay Sam 72 .838 . Matt Weiden 71 .929 . Steve Negen 0 .00INDIVIDUAL BALLET - OPEN(Final)1 . Vince Bobrosky 92 .672 . Jim Henry 87 .503 . Cris Batdorff 86 .834. Rod Tanis 84.335 . Susan Fontenot 72 .83INDIVIDUAL PRECISION - OPEN(Final)1 . Rod Tanis 68 .002 . Vince Bobrosky 67 .673. Cris Batdorff 66 .004. Jim Henry 65 .175 . Susan Fontenot 56 .00TEAM PRECISION - EXPERIENCED(Final)1 . Perfect Chaos 75 .302 . Screaming Seagulls 67 .333 . Sky Wizards 64 .004 . Aviators 60 .83TEAM BALLET - EXPERIENCED(Final)1 . Perfect Chaos 83 .172 . Aviators 64 .503 . Sky Wizards 63 .334 . Screaming Seagulls 60 .17TEAM PRECISION - OPEN(Final)1 . Roaring FlamingosTEAM BALLET - OPEN(Final)1 . Deja Vu 81 .33`2 . Roaring Flamingos 81 .33'"Scores tied : winner decided on higherartistic score .

SEPTEMBER 15-16, DIEPPE INTERNA-TIONAL KITE FESTIVAL, StuntCompetitions, Dieppe, France .SEPTEMBER 21-23, BERLIN INTERNA-TIONAL KITE FESTIVAL, FreizeitPark, Berlin, West Germany .Contact : Michael Steltzer, VomWindeVerweht,Eisenacherstrasse 81, D- 1000Berlin 62, West Germany . 030/784-7769 .OCTOBER 10-14, 13TH ANNUALAMERICAN KITEFLIERS ASSOCIA-TION CONVENTION AND NA-TIONAL COMPETITIONS, Seaside,Oregon. Contact : David Gomberg,Lincoln City Chamber ofCommerce, P.O . Box 787, LincolnCity, OR 97367 . 800/ 452-2151 .OCTOBER 20-21, OUTER BANKSSTUNT KITE COMPETITION, Jockey'sRidge State Park, NagsHead, NC . Contact : Kitty HawkKites, P.O . Box 1839, Nags Head,NC 27959. 919/441-4124 .OCTOBER 27-28, CAROLINA KITEFEST, Atlantic Beach, N .C . StuntCompetitions. Contact : Don &Jeri Dixon, Kites Unlimited, P.O .Box 2278, Atlantic Beach, NC28512 . (919) 247-7011 .(SKQ NOTE: We are interested in listingin the stunt kite calendar. ALLkinds of stunt kite events, not justlarge national competitions . Nostunt kite- gathering or games aretoo small. No stunt kite fly-in isunimportant. Send your event careof SKQ. Include pertinent information,especially contact telephonenumber and location .Because of the large number ofevents and types of competitionslisted, we suggest that you contactthe event coordinators for possiblechanges .)

Peter ~ . ~Powalr -`~~~r ~ _.-41~~~. .~~_.' . ..~`~.'-~~~~_ --=~o^-',.E . 43 ~1040 N COURTFORT LAUDERDALEFLOM DA 33334'TEL : 305'565'5508FAX : 30e'505'1569