Go Fly a Kite

A windy day. Most of the boys I knew were there, but I was too young to participate. It must have been in March because boys in Richland, Georgia, had been cutting and pasting newspaper, cooking homemade glue, and splitting bamboo for days.

Breakfast was over, chores done, guys laid out kites and lines of cotton string and waited for the first day of kite flying to begin.

A dime store kite cost fifteen cents and a ball of cotton twine about the same.

Most of the kites were made from scratch using newspaper and in the diamond shape.

The sails of dime store kites were made of thin, rice paper with balsa “spars.” The “bridle” is the string connecting the top of the kite with the bottom.

The “flying line” is attached along the bridle to keep the kite in the proper angle to the wind.

The tail was to keep the kite upright, keep it stable.

It all seems simple until you view the kite as an airfoil and realize the importance of each part.

The sun rose, the earth warmed and radiated heat into the air. The warmer, lighter air rose, cooler air slid in to take its place, and you soon had a breeze.

Things were going well. There were informal competitions for the highest flight and largest flyable kite.

A boy named Virgil, in town visiting grandparents, brought out a package of sticks and paper which became a “box kite.”

“This is nothing,” as boys crowded for a look. “Back home we make round kites, long kites, and some shaped like animals.” He added, “we make all of our kites.”

The boys with dime store kites wore dry grins and pawed the ground.

That crude day of neighborhood kite flying is eclipsed by organized kite festivals and competitions around the world.

Kites can be as complicated or simple as you like.

Weaponized kites have been used by the military for observation by camera and by lifting observers into the air. They have also been used to lift wire radio antennas.

A short look-see revealed that people have been flying kites for not hundreds but thousands of years.

I’ll let you do your own research on that because if I told you what I found, I don’t think you’d believe me.

The American Kitefliers Association is a good place to start for all things about kites.

I’d like to see more kids flying kites, with adult supervision, of course.

Be sure to keep them away from power lines and thunder storms.

Let’s go fly a kite.

joenphillips@yahoo.com