Kite Lines - Vol.1 No. 3 - KiteLife

(Continued)delta of 225 square feet, too strong forthe hang glider's ride and too strongfor the parachutists -but just the rightwind strength for kitefliers .Television reported that 30,000 peopleturned out for the festival with anestimated 6,000 kites including about100 homemade .For the serious kiteflier, few kitescould compare to the 20-foot JacksonParafoil kite . Dr. Richard Jackson, aMarblehead, MA, anesthesiologist, waspreviously recognized for his uniquedesign at the Boston Festival severalyears ago . This year he enlarged histhree-foot original to a 20-foot tallyellow and white rip-stop model flownon 1000-pound test marine line . TheJackson Parafoil kite appears in the skyas a cross between a keeled Scoff sledand a parawing, and should not beconfused with the Jalbert Parafoil .Registered under Patent #3,697,023,Jackson's three-foot aluminized Mylarversions flew up to 3000 feet while his20-footer on the marine line snappedat 600 feet after a long flight . Manufacturedby Chuck Watts, owner ofWilson-Silsby Marblehead, andengineered by Ernie Scoff of Marblehead,the Jackson Parafoil has adefinite future .You can imagine my surprise whenawarding a blue ribbon to Ted Kuklinski,PhD candidate from MassachusettsInstitute of Technology, tofind out that he, too was an AKALife Member. At long last a fellow enthusiast!Ted is involved in theM .I .T.K .E .L . (the M .I .T. Kite ExperimentationLaboratory) and flies in theCambridge, MA, area-along theCharles River, in Larz Anderson Parkand behind the Boston stadium, favoritesite of Frisbee fanatics .Among other recipients of ribbonswas Wilfred Moore of Boston, originallyfrom Barbados, with a noisyoctagonal kite . The central New Englandarea may be the home of the nextactive branch of the American KitefliersAssociation . With a delightfulspot to fly in Worcester, this Life Memberis certainly dedicated to the idea .MICHIGANBy dint of hard work Pat Gilgallon ofthe Unique Place kite shop has focuseda lot of attention on kiting in the Detroitarea . Her major spring effort wasHundreds of kites fill the airy lobby of theFisher Building, a grand edifice named intribute to Detroit's automobile industry.a kite show in early May in the lobbyof the elegant Fisher Building . Billedas the "largest kite display in the world,"the hanging of hundreds of kites wasaccomplished by a portable elevatorwhich enabled workers to reach thehigh ceilings and attach kites amongthe balconies and chandeliers .In the central crossroads of the lobbywas Pat's booth, where kites were soldand information given . The resultingpublicity hasn't stopped yet, and hasencouraged Pat to expand from heroriginal tiny shop to a large kite center,still on Hamilton Row, Birmingham. Her latest letter brought chips ofpaint and sawdust in the envelope .NEW JERSEYThe Princeton Battlefield was a peaceful,happy place on May 7 when thelocal Arts Council sponsored their annualArt People Party, this year devotedto kites .According to reports, about 200 kiteswere flown and about 2000 people attended,picnicked and enjoyed musicand dancers along with kites .Most Spectacular Kite was awardedto Lawrence Hasiak with one of hisrotor kites ; Roger Sherman won forhigh flying with his yellow snake ; thelargest kite was a team effort of Philipand Ilse Johnson and Pierre Coutin foran eight-footer in plastic and bamboo ;and Most Original was taken by JoeGladden flying a white silk kite withgreen tail in simple, sculptured formwith two green streamers from headto tail . The atmosphere as describedverified the statement of the localCouncil for Community Services thatthe day contributed "to the mentalhealth of Princeton by providing opportunitiesfor people to experience ajoyous sense of belonging to their com -munity ."On the Fourth of July, Ocean City,NJ, invited its summer visitors to itsannual kite contest, followed by Dixielandmusic and fireworks . The twokite shops at the resort fielded theirbest stunt and fighter kitefliers . Thetwo shops generated an enormousamount of interest in kiting at thebeach, where demonstrations were con -ducted on nearly every flyable day .A manlift was one of the biggest at -tractions . This pattern of activity wasquite the usual thing for many seasidespots in the summer of 1977 .NEW HAMPSHIRELast December, Dinesh Bahadur of SanFrancisco's Come Fly a Kite shop,visited Keene, NH, and set RooseveltElementary School agog . He flew akite in the gymnasium, which starteda host of other kite projects . MarieLambert coordinated activities includingwriting, drawing, kite making anda parade of kites . The parade includedseveral models that took many hoursof work by involved adults .NEW YORKJames Vullo's latest public relationsexposure, in Buffalo Fan magazine,August issue, showed him with one ofhis fine kites in LaSalle Park . Jim isa Professor of Fine Arts at State UniversityCollege at Buffalo and a dedicatedAKAer and Longmeadow (Rochester)Chapter stalwart . His enthusiasmwas revealed in this quotation :"Kiteflying connects you to the earthand to the sky. It's kind of a mixture betweenaesthetics and science . It makesyou look up, think up and feel up ."NORTH CAROLINAThe Galleon Esplanade's Sixth AnnualKite Contest took place in Nags Head,NC, not far from the Wright BrothersMonument at Kitty Hawk . An unimpairedrecord of good kiting weatherwas maintained for this well-run event .Valerie and Mel Govig took off along weekend to attend . Valerie madea yellow rip-stop high-aspect-ratiohexagon with yellow surveyor's tapetails in 1 1/2 hours the morning of thecontest and won for Prettiest Kite . Mel