Kite Lines - Vol.2 No. 4 - KiteLife

coming construction errors andpoor workmanship ; and, secondly,big kites make a fine group projectfor planning, constructionand flying .In summary, in my opinionthere is a time and place for giantkites for a limited group of kiteenthusiasts who are willing to putup with all the disadvantages inorder to achieve the unusual .RICK KINNAIRDLaurel, MD. Local kite personalityand Captain of Kinnaird's CodyKite Crew .If you expect to win a contestwith a big kite-you will not . I believethat most judges are prejudicedagainst large kites becausethey don't understand them . Butyou win in the hearts and mindsof the spectators . You do it forthe glory-you can't be ignored!The problem is the judges scorelarge kites the same as they domuch smaller kites and your errorrate may be the same or less-inproportion . For example, a wavyseam isn't such bad workmanshipin a really large kite .When you're building a largekite, you spend a lot of time conceptualizingfinal details, the trimof the edges, etc . Once you set itup you find ways that work a loteasier . In some larger scales (myCody, for example) the kite fightsagainst itself. The problems aremagnified in relation to size . Youhave to solve the relation betweenvolume and surface area . If youtry to maintain the strength ofthe wood, the diameter increasestoo much .You've got to be in shape to flyit . I pulled a nerve (got "kite elbow"),putting strain on my shoulderand chest muscles . Use a pulleyand a strong, coordinated crew .One man alone is good, but there'sa chance you'll hurt yourself .CURTIS MARSHALLBaltimore, MD . Well-known physicianand designer of large kites .Monumental kites are not "better"than small kites, they aremerely different . Just as one personmay prefer a kite which is sostable that it appears to be nailedto the sky, another decries suchperformance and wants an "active"kite . The best kite size, then, isthat which pleases the builder andflier, but why does that relativelysmall minority prefer kites ofmonumental dimensions?The sky is a big place . It usuallyencompasses slightly less than halfof all one can see . When a kite isflown at sufficient height to beabove ground turbulence, it is apparentthat, at 200 feet, a fourfootkite appears almost lost inthis immensity. A large kite flyingat such an altitude offers more tothe appreciative eye .In addition, observers seem tobe impressed by sheer size alone .Rick Kinnaird and Carolyn Staples trim their Cody in a hotel room .Often heard is an exclamationthat it is "bigger than I am ." Formost of us who build kites, knowledgethat others appreciate oureffort constitutes a large portionof whatever rewards are realized .The builder of large kites alsofeels the "bigger than I am" awefor his own creation . An additionalreward is his appreciation that thekite is a worthy adversary whosestrength is pitted against his own .Although the pull of the kite maywell be such that it could draghim along as the wind speed rises,one hopes his intelligence will exceedthat of a nonsentient kite sothat he will remain in control .The effort one expends in the fatiguingoperation of landing a largekite may easily satisfy or even exceedhis daily requirements forexercise. It can also satisfy allmembers of a team in that alltheir physical efforts are neededto withstand the pull on the line .A large kite is to be distinguishedfrom a kite train ; even though theaggregate area and generated pullof the train may be great, a trainis still not a monumental kite .Curtis Marshall, aided by Rick Kinnaird, readies one of his giants .However, there can be a fine lineof distinction when one considerscertain articulated kites .I like to look upon kite size, notin terms of actual sail area, but interms of whether it can be flownby a child, a single adult or a team .The latter category, of course,could also be one person, aidedby a power winch or even a carand pulleys .With the increasing interest inthe use of kites to lift payloads,including cameras, thermometersand wind-speed measuring devices,as well as wind-powered lamps,there has been an associated movetoward increasingly larger kites .A large kite, when simply scaledup from a small kite, flies in analtered manner. The greater thesize, the more obvious the difference. This alteration in flight characteristicsresults from two predominantbut interrelated factors .First, the inertia of the mass ofthe frame and the sail cause aslowing of the movement of thekite and create a kind of majesticserenity . This slowing is perhapsmost apparent in kites which entrapa mass of air which then addsto the effective mass of the kite,such as the Parafoil . Second, alarge area of sail behaves in a differentmanner than does the smallarea in any given turbulence situation. The large kite reacts moreslowly and demonstrates an "averagingeffect" with regard tosmall areas of turbulence withinthe air mass . This difference is notreadily seen when a large kite anda small kite are flying togetherhigh in the sky, but becomes apparentwhen they are broughtdown into the ground turbulence .At this time, the sail of the largekite would be seen to ripple in responseto the air currents, whereasthese same air currents will tossthe small kite hither and thither .As to disadvantages, a large kitecan be exceedingly dangerous . Itcan injure the flier's hands, notonly with rope burns but also bysimple crushing action . It is usuallywise to use large diameter line inaddition to leather gloves for protection.One must remember that the kitecan easily rise from a low speedground wind into a high speedwind at a few hundred feet . Theaccompanying sudden increase indrag on a large kite can reversethe roles of "flier" and "flyee,"and the person who, a momentbefore, thought he was in control,can find himself dragged intobrush, off a dock or into traffic,to mention but a few unsavorypossibilities . It is always wise tohave a safety limit line attachedto a car or a tree . However, a lineunder heavy tension is very easilycut and a sharp edge on car trim,a fence pole corner or even astring from a small kite can part a1200-lb . test line in a fraction of asecond . The resulting "whip" ofthe suddenly freed heavy line canbe quite injurious .The crash of a large kite is potentiallydangerous as frame piecescan fly off even if an observer issufficiently alert and agile to escapea direct hit . From this pointof view, a large Parafoil is harmless,but any large kite can injurea bystander if a crosswind catchesit when the line is still at a lowangle and sweeps it across an area .To guard against this unpleasantoccurrence, it is wise to allow thekite to rise to a high angle with ashort line, and then to pay outthe line far above the heads of theonlookers .Another dangerous aspect offlying large kites derives from thepossibility of a frame memberbreaking loose and falling like ajavelin . This is not an uncommonoccurrence with experimental designsbut relatively rare when oneflies a proven kite design .With small kites, one tends to ignorethe specific patterns of stressin the frame and in the sail . Thisis justifiable in that the stresses