Kite Lines - Vol.1 No. 2 - KiteLife

News From Here & There(Continued)where most Montanans' heads arewhen it comes to kites . But we're workingon that situation .Here in Missoula, interest in seriouskite building and flying seems to beincreasing . Helping along those linesare two teachers in the city's gradeschool system, Marvin Enderlin andJim Greene, who are teaching theirpupils some of the fundamentals. CubScouts are getting into the act with kitesas a spring project .Missoula is scheduled to get, in mid-April, its second whack at a kite festival. One was held a few years ago, butits organizers didn't follow through .Missoula kiteflier Wally Norby mayhave come up with a new wrinkle onreels . Wally, an ingenious custodianand mechanic at the local technicalcenter, rigged up an old electric sewingmachine with a large spool . He's a"deep sky" kiteflier who likes to gethis rigs up several thousand feet onhigh-test line . He may be the only manin the country who brings them backwhile sitting at a Singer in the middleof his pasture, with an extension cordconnecting the whole shebang to apower source .A series of kiteflying rallies, open toall ages, was scheduled for late Marchin Kalispell by the Flathead CountyPark Department . Montana has a lotgoing for it when it comes to kiteflying .They don't call it the Big Sky countryfor nothing-there's a lot of wideopen space and ample good breezes,especially east of the ContinentalDivide . West of the Divide, includingMissoula, is in the heart of the northernRockies, which makes for spectacularscenery over which to dangle a kite .NEW YORKThrough most of April, "FlightFancies," an exhibition of kites andflight fantasy art was held in theNational Art Museum of Sport atMadison Square Garden . Kites as artand technology were displayed in apark among trees, benches and softsculpture clouds . The Go Fly a Kitestore provided advice and kites tosupplement the works of many artistsrepresented .Utica, NY, is on its way to gaining aspot on the kiting map . Betty Devinsand a group of friends there are full ofenthusiasm and activity. Their mainand maiden event is a festival plannedfor August . See their ad on page 55for further details .NORTH CAROLINAThe annual Outta Sight Kite Flightwas held April 2 in Charlotte . Thecompetition for Largest Kite had beenon Jim Chamberlin's mind since theprevious year, when he took third inthe category. For 1977 he and a team offour other engineering mates haddetermined to create the largest kitenot only in Charlotte but in the world .They studied sleds for weeks inadvance of the event, and a 20 ft . x 25ft . prototype had flown well . Awareof the Edmonds, WA, attempt in themaking at about the same time (seefollowing), the team was feeling confidentbecause their kite was 50 ft . x60 ft . i n size and contained 2300 squarefeet of effective surface area . They hadplanned to support their Grauelvented3-mil polyethylene sled on tubespars filled with expanded rigid foam .Unfortunately, they never carriedout this clever idea, and the tube sparswere floppy .The big day came and the 40-oddground crew showed up in Team KiteT-shirts . The flight was a disaster .Jim was reluctant even to talk aboutit . The effort, however, probablyranks high in the annals of spectacularkite fiascos-second only to the effortin Edmonds .OHIONews report from Bill Jones :AKA's newest chapter got off to aroaring start in February when morethan 20 people formed the OhioSociety for the Elevation of Kites .Based in Cleveland, this new groupis out to encourage kiting in Ohio andsurrounding states . OSEK, for short,has scheduled a series of kite flysthroughout Ohio that will give kitepeople in the area a chance to gettogether for their favorite pastime .OSEK members also often travel tomajor kiting events around the country .OSEK publishes a monthly newsletterof events and kite-related comment. To receive the newsletter, titled"Shoot the Breeze," to join the Societyor to support it, send $2 .50 for a year'ssubscription/membership to OSEKTreasurer Judy Neuger, 4500 ChagrinRiver Road, Chagrin Falls, OH 44022 .TENNESSEEThe third annual Nashville Kite Flightwas held on April 2, with Lee ScottNewman, kite author, one of thejudges . George P. Turner was prominentin advance promotion and on theday itself . He reported that threateningweather did not dampen enthusiasmand that attendance was good .His protege, Linda Mattos, 11, wonmost of the prizes . In the contest forthe kite that was the highest flying inthree minutes, she outwitted the othercontestants by backing up an extra 30feet for a much higher start . She flewLinda Mattos, 11, flies a Bullet kite at a highangle in Nashville .a Bullet with drogue, which she haddiscovered by advance testing wasbetter for the conditions that day .George also remarked :"This year there was a prize for theoldest kiteflier present . Not only didI win this prize but it appears I am acinch to win it every year in the future .All I have to do to qualify is to justkeep on living!"TEXASFebruary 17 saw the Houston areacome alive for the Deer Park KiteFestival, a non-competitive day oflearning, kite making and showing off .John N . (Jack) Jordan was on hand toteach and demonstrate . Jordan hasbeen fascinated with kites since hischildren were young and he found theGalveston beach winds too strong formost kites . On retirement he becameimmersed in kiting and has built manyunusual models .