Kite Lines - Vol.2 No. 4 - KiteLife

ILLINOISWilliam E. Temple writes with good n ews :As of July 4th, 1979, our group becameairborne as a Chicagoland kite club .A number of us kitefliers have been kickingthis around for a couple of years . Weadvertised and had our first publicizedfly-in at Shiller Woods Forest Preserve, inthe northwest suburbs of Chicago, andshowed off for the public .I flew a J-30 Parafoil that Dom Jalbertmade for me some years ago . The windwas from 8 to 20 miles per hour so I hadto stake it out . I also flew the stars andstripes on the line . We plan to fly once amonth at Shiller Woods and we have hopesof holding our first competitive fly in 1980 .In May, the WIND Radio-sponsoredkite contest at Grant Park drew a verylarge crowd and many experienced kitefliers. (There were also very many inexperiencedkitefliers .) Charles Sotich wonin the Most Unique category with a replicaof Snoopy's dog house ; it flew well . KathyTemple and I flew 28 kites on one lineand won an award .Later in the spring we had the honorof meeting and flying with ProfessorTsutomu Hiroi of Japan, here to participatein' the Cherry Blossom Festival atBill Temple flying a kite in Comiskey Park ona snowy March 4, 1979 . The Chun Kingcompany asked Bill to test to see if windconditions were favorable there for a kitecontest on Mothers Day . Bill discovered theyweren't . "There were swirling winds that willmake a reel of a kiteflier," Bill said . The gameeffort, however, was televised nationally .Lincoln Park . It was a pleasure to watchthis man fly his kites and to talk with him .We each received an autographed copy ofthe master's book from Japan Air Lines .MICHIGANThe 5/20 Kite Group's admirably activeseason was climaxed by its outstandingeffort, the Detroit Kite Kaleidoscope,July 22 to 28 . The group's newsletter followedup with pictures aplenty andbreathless prose, from which we quote :The Detroit Kite Kaleidoscope-aweek-long parade of workshops, demonstrationsand displays-culminated in acolorful kite festival on Saturday . Boydidwe have our hands full!Co-sponsored by the Renaissance Center,the Detroit Free Press and the 5/20Kite Group, Kaleidoscope proved to bethe highlight of our summer a ctivities . TVand radio appearances by Hank and Nancy[Szerlag] and great newspaper coverageall provided the kind of publicity anevent like this demands . The display itselffeatured 30 kites of various types-includingthe Heggs' 50-foot delta and an historicalNavy Target Kite (designed by PaulGarber) . Both kite shops in the area, TheUnique Place in Royal Oak and Sky LineKite Shop in Detroit, donated kites asprizes . Also, from Nantucket came AlHartig with his contribution of Valkyries .The kite building demonstrations as wellas the sale of sled kite kits were verypopular parts of the entire production .Don't ask how we managed to assembleand pack 1000 kits! That episode stillconjures up overwhelming fatigue fromall 14 participants .Saturday's competition brought out150 enthusiasts . Although morning showersundoubtedly reduced the field ofPart of the 5/20 Kite Group's display insidethe huge Detroit Renaissance Center . Plansfor next year are already underway witha tentative date of middle or late June .entries, we felt it was more than adequatefor a first time effort . All concerned werepleased with the entire affair and havecommitted themselves to a second annual .MONTANAArt Foran sends word from Clancy, MT :At the Clancy school in June I gavethe first and second grades a kite fly . Wehad three bags of fun and Mary and Iwere run quite ragged for half a day .Schoolkids fly in Clancy . Afterwards, theywrote Foran more letters than he could answer .NEW YORKJim Linnen sends news from the Long IslandKitefliers Association :We had a great time here helping setup a kite fly in April for the BrookhavenNational Laboratory at Upton, L .I ., NY,as part of their Energy Options Expo . Theturnout was super (about 300 people) .I called the New York FAA for clearanceas we had a high flier event . It wasgreat! A large red delta took to the sky,climbing fast and furiously towards zenith. It was a certain winner . All of asudden it broke free from its line andstarted to drift away trailing a line segment. The red delta continued to climb aswe watched . The winner was announced :the red delta, much to its owner's surprise.We awarded the prize and expressed oursympathy to the owner (for the red deltawas a beautiful kite)-when-a Parafoilowner who had also been flying high inhopes of first prize reported that he hadthe red delta's line segment fouled in hisflying line and was reeling it in carefully .The kites gently came down from the skyand, wow, what cheering! It was so muchfun to see these men so happy, and thecrowd clapped and the judges all laughedand clapped .The Largest Kite event was also funny .Two brothers built an enormous Conyne