Kite Lines - Vol.2 No. 4 - KiteLife

kite and had a flying line that could havepulled a building down . They went intoan act, holding each other down as if thekite were taking them up . Great show!When we called for the kite and its ownersto come to the judges' stand, they gentlylanded the giant kite while the crowdlaughed so hard . It was a really funnyscene . A great time was had by everyone .OHIOThe Ohio Society for the Elevation ofKites enjoyed a full summer, according toits newsletter, "Shoot the Breeze ." Forexample, on May 28 members attended"Come on Down, " a downtown Clevelandcelebration, where Mike Weletyk flew hiskite train for the pleasure of all. He alsoattracted a photographer from the ClevelandPlain Dealer and was subsequentlyfeatured on the paper's first page onMemorial Day .Also in the newsletter was the followingOSEK story :President Tom Rask received a callfrom the administrative staff of FranklinUniversity (named after Ben, of course)in Columbus, OH . They were envisioninga huge kite for an unusual groundbreakingceremony . Tom created an 8 x 8 footEddy kite with a Ben Franklin cartoondrawn on it .On the eventful May day, "the windsrose to the occasion and so did the kite,"said Tom . A large wooden key was suspendedfrom the kite line along with asmall charge of flash powder . When thekey touched an antenna attached to abulldozer on the ground, the powderflashed and the bulldozer was started byremote control . BAM! ! ! A key unlockstradition . The silver shovel is replacedwith a kite . Long live that kiting spirit .TEXASRichard Robertson sends an update fromhis family in Austin :In spite of the loss of a leg and a lungto cancer, John Robertson, 21, continuesto fly kites with skills acquired throughthe last 14 years of participation inAustin's annual kite tournament . Shownhere, he is flying a golden eagle with twinkeels joined with a 13-foot wing spancreatedin the Robertson living room.Struck by osteogenic sarcoma in thesummer of 1975 and the amputation ofhis right leg, he went back to high schoolfor his senior year between chemotherapytreatments and lung surgery and graduatedvaledictorian of his class . He adjusted histennis game to one leg and a crutch andcontinued to play competitive doubles .John Robertson shows a great spirit in Texas.Further surgery on his right pelvic arealast summer (1978) set him back againbut he returned to the University of Texasin the fall and joined the wheelchairbasketball team and sang with the LonghornSingers .John is one of the seven Robertsonclan who have been active in Austin andkiteflying circles for a number of years .George Craig, Linda Ruth Holland (of AirplaneKite Co .) and her friend Max Brinson underkites displayed at the Southwest Modelers Show .George Craig reports :The Southwest Modelers Show, Dallas,is one of the best-managed, most populartrade shows in the country . It draws togetherhobby manufacturers, suppliers,distributors, wholesalers and dealers for aweekend of exhibiting and demonstrationsand is open to a very appreciative public .There are no sales .This year on June 2-3, the show had110 booths, displaying model airplanes,boats, gliders, cars, trains-and last butnot least, for the very first time in theshow, a magnificent display of kites . Encouragedby AKA and Kite Lines, sponsoredby Earl Page Realtors, Inc ., ofIrving, TX, and organized by George Craigof Jason Aerokites, the 8 x 30 foot boothdisplayed a beautiful collection of kites,kite literature and kite accessories .The kite booth proved to be a verypopular event with other exhibitors andthe public . The Show Committee has alreadyexpressed hope for a repeat at the1980 trade show .Thanks for operating the booth gomainly to George and his wife Orie LeeCraig and to The Sky's the Limit andEureka-Paper Tiger kite shops in Dallas .The 38 exhibitors included : AirplaneKite Co.; Eole, Inc . ; Gayla Industries, Inc . ;Kro Flies Kites ; Precision Formed Plastics,Inc. ; Quicksilver Kites ; Rainbow StuntKite Co . ; Rogallo Flexikites ; Spectra StarKites ; Striegel Mfg . Co . ; Ultra Kites ; What'sUp ; and others .WASHINGTONThe Washington Kitefliers Associationcontinues its never-flagging pace of kiteactivities, including-for just one example-the Seafair Festival on July 28 . Warren("Stormy") Weathers of Oregon was thereand wrote to Kite Lines :Yesterday Joy Nagode, a local novicekiteflier, joined me on a visit to Seattleand the Seventh Annual Seafair Kite FlyingFestival . What a thrill it was to meetJohn Dusenberry, J . C . Young, Bill Lee,Dave Checkley, Ken Conrad and the otherfamed members of WKA . What a gang! Ifeel a little guilty about running off withso many of their marbles, but they wrotethe contest rules, and according to theirrules, we won the marbles ; which meansthat of the four events we entered withWinged Victory kites, we walked off withthree firsts and a third .Joy started it off with a first in thenovice class . I acted as helper on the officiallong line (high start) launch and shebrought in a first .The next event, also a timed-altitudethat Joy and I both entered, was a stringtanglingmess . But Joy, bless her soul,broke free and managed to place third,keeping us in the running .In the "Most Beautiful" event, havingnothing better to do, I entered a rip-stopnylon Winged Victory with the militarycolors and markings of the 1930s . At theend of the required three minutes, WingedVictory was the most beautiful kite stillflying .In the "Biggest Kite" event, I entereda 9 x 16'/2 foot Winged Victory and againoutflew the competition . As I recall,Winged Victory was the only big kite stillflying at the end of three minutes . Noway did I out-purty 'em or out-big 'em, Isimply outflew them .It is a little difficult to believe that wedid so well ; the only reason I can think ofis that maybe Bill Lee, J . C . Young and acouple of the others either didn't enter orhad an off day .News from Here & There continues . . .