9/11 - Full Moon Night fly

Date: 9/11/2011 Place: 100 Acres Park, Moorhead, MN Kites: 4d on 20', Skate on variable Wind: 2 to 6 mph, S Weather: Clear, 70º

I arrived at the park just as the sun set. The full moon came up, but it was still a clear fairly-dark night. Ashraf was there flying his Revolution kite with a race-rod frame. The wind was too light for my SLE Rev, but I tried out Ashraf's kite. It flew well with the very light frame. But as the wind died down and with my lack of quad-line flying ability and the dark flying conditions, I found myself continuously backing up.

My 4d on 20' flew just fine in the light wind. I only did a couple of 360s (too much wind) plus the usual axels, spirals, and fades.

I got out my Skate (single line kite) and it flew just fine in the very light wind. But, I got bored enough after a short while that I switched back to the 4d.

A Frosty Full Moon and Sunrise

Date: 11/3/09

Place: Cosmo Park, Columbia, MO
Kites: Echo on 12', Skate
Wind: 0 - 1 mph, NE
Weather: Clear, 41º

I met Kelsey in the park at 6:00 AM. The grass was a little frosty before sunrise and the full moon was up providing most of the light for us (a street light provided a little, too) until the sun rose. I showed Kelsey the tricks I can fly with the Echo with no wind. Then I got out my Skate kite, and showed her how to fly it. She caught on very quickly and had fun flying it, while I flew the Echo some more. During the hour we were there someone (Kelsey insists that it was her) stepped on the single string kite winder ($5 in 1985) and broke a piece off the edge.

It was definitely a beautiful morning for low-wind/no-wind kite flying!

Summer "Skating" with 50¢ and 0¢

Date: 7/26/09
Place: Cosmo Park, Columbia, MO
Kites: Skate on variable' with 50¢
Wind: 0 - 0.5 mph
Weather: Sunny, 68º

I flew my new Skate kite on its maiden flight(s). This is a single line no-wind/low-wind kite that can either fly as a kite or as a glider. To fly it as a glider, you put coins in the nose pocket of the kite. It came with 50¢ and at Cosmo Park it was fun to fly it as a glider with that amount of nose weight. The Skate is very graceful and easy to fly. It looks and swoops like a manta ray. Focus Designs Kites used the manta ray concept to design this kite. The kite took more energy than I expected to fly it, so I got a mini-workout.

It was a sunny morning and I flew early to avoid the heat and the Show-Me State Games. When the soccer players started arriving, packed up and drove to the field by the ARC.


Place: ARC field, Columbia, MO
Kites: Skate on variable' with 0¢
Wind: 0 - 2 mph
Weather: Sunny, 72º

With no coins in the nose the Skate flew more like a kite. Though when the wind died down (from 2 mph) it was still able to glide around. I like flying this kite. I would like to try it with 35¢ (a quarter and a dime).

Kites Over Grinnell, Sat.

Date: 5/9/09 (12th day in a row)
Place: Kites Over Grinnell, Grinnell, IA
Kites: Skyfox on 85', Wren on 16', Skate
Wind: 15-25 (gusts to 30) mph, NW
Weather: Mostly sunny, 55-64º

I got up at 5:30 a.m. to drive up to Grinnell, IA for a two-day kite festival. It was a bit colder than this last week, but sunny and a great day to fly kites. The wind was stronger than I like, but that was good for the mega-kites (octopi and such) that were in the air. I was told that the strong wind was not good for the hot air balloon that they tried to launch early in the day. I guess it pulled several cars along and damaged one vehicle when it was pulled over the big fan they use to inflate the balloon.

I flew my little Skyfox kite for a while - it does fine in the strong wind and one must fly a kite at a kite festival! I had to have help launching it a couple times. This older-style kite mostly does not self-launch, other than one time where I got lucky. A broken bridle caused me to stop flying the 'fox. I think it was just the many years of use and time and then the strong wind and maybe a gust that broke it. I do still have the instructions for making a new one, a task for a rainy day.

Ryan from Kansas City was very generous and let me fly his Wren inside for quite a while. It was very fun and I noticably got better as I also got tired (and sweaty) from walking fast backwards to fly it. It is easier to fly inside than my Prism 3d. After flying the Wren a while and talking to several people, I may change my mind about purchasing one and get some other kite for inside instead of a Wren.

Also inside were some exhibits of Kite Areial Photography (KAP) by Craig Wilson and a display of kite memerabilia. There were some other inside kites, mostly Craig Wilson's. I'll add some photos and maybe a video later when I have my camera stuff ready.

Paul Krekel let me borrow his single-string Skate kite to fly for a while inside on the other side of the gym from where a demo was happening. It was a lot of fun and I will eventually purchase a Skate. It is a very graceful glider.

In the evening there was an indoor kite competition. There weren't too many competors and there was a variety including a single line butterfly kite, several dual-line kites including a 2-stack, and a quad-line Revolution kite.

By the time the dusk "lighted kite" fly was to happen, the wind had died down to nothing. So that event didn't happen.