It's a lovely spring day and you're out for a walk in your local park, or down by the beach. Suddenly you spy a group of kites, twirling wildly in the breeze as their owners maneuver them back and forth in the wind high over your head. You recognize one or two types of kites, but the rest of these airborne creations are unfamiliar to you--but with a little help you will be able to identify and point out each individual type to your friend or family and take pride in knowing the history behind each kite!
Kites have been used for entertainment for hundreds of years, but did you know that the Wright Brothers also used them to help create their gliders, which then evolved into their first successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk? The brothers used kites to work out how to maneuver back and forth and often spent hours building and flying their creations. As well, diamond kites were used successfully in the American Civil War for communication. During the Second World War box kites were included in survival kits for sailors – they would fly the kite as both a spotter for rescue planes and as a radio antenna! This concept was used up until the Vietnam War and was eventually replaced by cell phones. Now kites have expanded into the area of extreme sports, offering a fast and fun way of dancing over the water and sand using wind power.
There are five basic types of kites that are used throughout the world - the sled, the delta, the box, the diamond and the winged box. You have probably seen them already but didn't recognize them! As well, there are stunt kites and power kites – so let's start exploring the differences and the similarities between them!
The sled kite looks like a basic square with two sides expanded with large triangles jutting out on each side. It is a common kite sold either by kit or built by hand for kids because of the ease of controlling it. One string on each side of the kite runs down into the main line, allowing you to control it with relative ease. Usually long streamers are attached to the bottom of the square to allow them to twist and spiral out behind the sled, giving it a graceful appearance.
The delta is what we are probably all used to seeing; a triangle stretched over a small frame with another fabric triangle jutting out from the underside for the single line to be attached. Usually another small triangle is added to the tail of the delta to give it a bit more support, a design change in recent years for those of us who remember crashing many of these in our youth. Lightweight and usually made of nylon, this kite is popular in kit form and is the most common type seen in public.
The diamond is the classic kite design we came to know most probably through the Peanuts cartoon strip as the hapless Charlie Brown attempted to fly his kite and kept losing it to the kite-eating tree. This design was actually Benjamin Franklin's favorite design and is used to illustrate his famous electricity experiment where he flew a kite into an electrical storm with a key dangling from the string as he waited. This design takes fabric cut into a diamond shape and provides structure from sturdy pieces of wood or plastic glued or fastened around the edges, with two lines running from the top and bottom into a single control line. Streamers added to the tail give the diamond more stability and enhance the appearance.
The box and the winged box are similar, but each has their own characteristics. The box kite looks exactly as you would think, with four main struts running vertical and horizontal pieces helping to create a rectangular shape, giving it balance and structure. Pieces running from edge to edge diagonally also give it a sturdiness that has made the box kite popular for years, from the Civil War through to the Second World War! Fabric is then wrapped around the top and bottom of the box kite, giving the appearance of two boxes being attached by a main nearly invisible framework, and a string is added at the top and bottom, running down to the main line. The winged box kite is built upon a regular box kite, but two triangles are added onto each long side with the control strings running out from their edges, not the box frame itself.
Now that you've familiar with the basic types of kites, what can you use them for? Well, stunts, for one!
Stunt kites are usually delta kites that are used to show off a controller's ability to fly a kite with amazing precision. Often you'll see the stunt kite dive towards the ground, only to swoop away mere inches from hitting the sand or concrete! Most of these kites are seen in competitions that happen around the world as old and new kite fanatics try to defy gravity as best as they can without smashing their prized kite into the ground.
A power kite is a whole different area of expertise – you may recognize the shape from the parachutists you see at air shows. Power kites have only one design, a rectangular flat surface that channels the air over it rapidly, creating great lift. With lines at each end of this kite, you end up having a great deal of power at your control, thus the name. Power kites are used to surf on land or on water, with the rider of the surfboard or the skateboard holding onto the power kite as he or she zips along under wind power. Two or three power kites can be attached to each other, channeling a great deal of lift and power to the controller, who usually has a harness around his or her body to keep ahold of the kites while working the board or buggy. This sport has the potential for injury, however, and if you wish to get into power kites you should seek out experienced instruction and experts in the field.
From flying an old-fashioned diamond kite like Ben Franklin to surfing the waves under a power kite, flying a kite offers a variety of experiences and a wealth of knowledge for the beginning and experienced kite fan. The next time you see kites in the air at your local park or at the beach, take a minute and see how many of them you can identify – and if you'd like to fly one of them yourself!
