Kite Lines - Vol.1 No. 2 - KiteLife

aided or monofilament nylon .Here in Seattle last summer, TakeshiNishibayashi showed us a movie of his400-kite train . He used Eddys withIndia fighter-type stabilizers . Hisbook illustrates his bridling method,a modified tiller hitch .NISHIBAYASHI'S HITCHThe advantage of Nishibayashi'smethod is that the main line is unbroken. But I noticed in the movie thatseveral of the kites were flying sideways. They didn't seem to swivel on themain line . I worried about having tofind the exact center of lift for eachkite .Another . envy admitted : my colleagueDave Checkley has a beautiful60-disk Chinese centipede, which haslots of gold mylar to sparkle, a gooddragon face, and a flight angle that isoutrageous-some 70 degrees . Aftertwo attempts at constructing my owncentipede, I gave up and use the creaturesnow for wall decorations . Buteven Dave complains about repairsand tangled lines-and I've noticedthat he always has to have a groundcrew to help launch it .What I was really looking for, whenI thought about it, was a kite trainthat would be satisfying, that wouldgive a sense of accomplishment, thatwould, if you will, draw a crowd . Todo this, it would have to be huge, looksensational, sparkle with color, andundulate' provocatively. All this, andbe cheap to build, extremely easy totransport, launch and retrieve - popout of the car, spring into the air, flystably at a high angle and then retractquickly and easily - with a crew of one!Nothing in this world is perfect . Butfrom my experienced experimentation,I'd say the kite train that comes nearestTHE VAN GILDER CONNECTIONShort, 12-in . 12-lb .-test braided nylon tether is used toattach the kite to the main line . This allows for swivelingand twisting of line . The tether is tied to a 1/2-inch toothpickstick and run through the hole in the keel like abutton hole . Note that the main line pierces the kitecover through a slot for flexibility of flying angle . Justabove the kite cover is the tiller hitch, attaching to themain line of the kite above . This allows one kite to beremoved from the train . Note that the keel is oversize forstability. The lower kites could be bridled farther forwardto lessen pull on the main line .tiller hitchto perfection in meeting the criteriaabove is the pre-tied, through-the-kite,container-transported delta train .John Dusenberry and I each haveone . We both use dime-store tissuepaper covering, curtain shade bamboospars and 1/8-in . diam . dowel spreaderbars . So the kites are cheap, about14¢ each . Even adding the cost of 110-lb-test braided nylon seine twine, it'sonly about a $20 investment . And thekites look like a million . 0Above, Jack flies 72 of his 101 kitesin train for all of Seattle to seeon KOMO-TV .Left, Bob McCort defends himself againstkite attack while assisting Van Gilder .When the top kite loops, starting a chainreaction, it means the wind is tooheavy and it's time to haul in .