Kite Lines - Vol.3 No. 1 - KiteLife

Getting ready to take the kite down field for launch at Sagamihara .a web of 37 bridle lines draped from thesquare face to meld into the ship's hawserthe men have in tow . The effect is stupendous. I have seen giant kites, but this isoverwhelming . The face of the kite is 36feet on each side, or 1296 square feet ofsurface . That is larger than the floor areaof an average house . I run for the kite andthe kite is sailing towards me . All at oncethis colossus is directly above and blottingout most of the sky . I can sense the forcesinvolved to lift this behemoth-1640pounds-and stand hypnotized as it swingsponderously above . A police whistlesounds an alert, the wind is dying, thishulk is coming down and it is directlyoverhead! I swing around, frantic armwaving is clearing people away, a womanpushes her baby in carriage pell-melldown the road . The group in my areadives for the stone wall . By crouching atthe base, we have a safety triangle if thekite drops vertically ; of course, we couldbe impaled if it sideslips into the wall .The descent is quick but gentle, thekite poises face down, then drifts leaf-liketo the ground, tearing some of the coveringand ties, but these are quickly repaired .On the ground, I see the bow of the kiteto be four or five feet and the tension tobe held by a heavy wire strand at eachmain brace . The kite face consists of papersheets 24 x 40 inches emblazoned with"supergraphics" in red and green . This isattached to a light split bamboo frame8 x 8 inches each way and tied to bamboopoles 24 inches on center vertically by40 inches on center horizontally . Thissecond frame is criss-crossed, diamondfashion, with heavier bamboo poles . Polesare doubled at the center and edges .The craftsmanship of the frame seemsonly fair ; an edge sighting reveals greatunevenness and variation in the bowing .It should be noted that the kite had beenflown for two days and undergone manyrepairs, so these imperfections are nodoubt the result of several hard landings .Viewing this kite at rest and being curiousabout the aerodynamics involved, I findthat each square foot of surface has to lifta full pound and one-quarter of kite . Thishigh weight-to-sail ratio seems at the timemiraculous. I think : this should not beable to fly ; but of course I have witnessedit . A 10 meter to 15 meter wind persecond is given as the velocity required tolift the great o'dako . My wind chartsuggests an 18 mile-an-hour wind, whichwould be equivalent to 8 meters ; it doesseem to jibe, it is possible and I can believemy eyes . I would estimate the wind at 18to 22 miles per hour that day, at timesdying, so a long sustained flight is notpossible . Late in the afternoon the handmaderope and bridle are removed fromthe kite and braided to store for the nextyear . The paper, already tattered, isstripped from the frame . Everyone gathersat the officials' tent to hear a shortspeech from the kitemaster . Then it'sstrike the tent, pack up and go home, forthe giant kite is flown for two days onlyand on the third day the bones (bambooframe) are ritually burned . Thus it goesuntil the next year when a new framewith its fresh paper cover is mated withthe veteran bridle and line to again repeatthe lifting of a mighty symbol over theroofs of the village . The symbol representsa prayer for the planting, a thanksgivingfor a child, a fresh opportunity for a betterlife, a new miracle of Sagamihara .