4th of July?

4th of July?

Post by Jerry Hou » Tue, 06 Jul 1999 04:00:00


Did anyone else out there fly kites at their local fireworks on the 4th
of July?
I started doing this about three years ago and find it a great way to
meet people and talk about what else, kites.  This year for the first
time two other kites appeared in the sky along with mine.  One was a
small plastic delta and the other a small parafoil.  I ran across the
owner of the parafoil and talked to him and his daughter for a while.
They had their hands full with the strong gusty winds.  Walking through
the crowd I received comments like great kite, good to see you and your
kites again.  Just before dark set in I started larks heading glow in
the dark necklaces about every fif*** feet on my kite line until there
were about seven*** of them.  The kids, old and young, are amazed.
People ask what's holding them up.  I reply, It's Magic, and then remind
them of the kite.  Kids and ***s constantly ask me if the lights are
for sale?  I have to tell them no, or I would be stampeded.  I do sell
the used ones about half way through the fireworks and the vendors have
sold all of theirs.  If you haven't tried flying before a fireworks
you're really missing out on some of the largest captive audiences to be
found.  Give it a try.

 From The Land of 10,000 Kite Flying Fields,
(it would have felt great to be swimming in one)
                     Jerry Houk

 
 
 

4th of July?

Post by Penny & Steven Lingenfelte » Tue, 06 Jul 1999 04:00:00

It sounds wonderful!  I wanted to fly with sparklers.. but no one had
anything that mild.  Yes, I've seen it done indoors, no fire either.
Though nite lights might be more prudent.
We did perform indoor at a festival and of course got invited back next
year.  I loved the sight of a man in his 90's sitting in a wheelchair
holding up his arm during most of the performances trying to catch the
kites. It's a great feeling to know we brought people such joy.
Keep up the tradition Jerry!!
Best Breezes,
Penny
Revolution~Fly the Best
Laser Pro~and fly like you mean it!
PS  I carried my kite all night just in case I got the chance.
Quote:

> Did anyone else out there fly kites at their local fireworks on the 4th
> of July?
> I started doing this about three years ago and find it a great way to
> meet people and talk about what else, kites.  This year for the first
> time two other kites appeared in the sky along with mine.  One was a
> small plastic delta and the other a small parafoil.  I ran across the
> owner of the parafoil and talked to him and his daughter for a while.
> They had their hands full with the strong gusty winds.  Walking through
> the crowd I received comments like great kite, good to see you and your
> kites again.  Just before dark set in I started larks heading glow in
> the dark necklaces about every fif*** feet on my kite line until there
> were about seven*** of them.  The kids, old and young, are amazed.
> People ask what's holding them up.  I reply, It's Magic, and then remind
> them of the kite.  Kids and ***s constantly ask me if the lights are
> for sale?  I have to tell them no, or I would be stampeded.  I do sell
> the used ones about half way through the fireworks and the vendors have
> sold all of theirs.  If you haven't tried flying before a fireworks
> you're really missing out on some of the largest captive audiences to be
> found.  Give it a try.

>  From The Land of 10,000 Kite Flying Fields,
> (it would have felt great to be swimming in one)
>                      Jerry Houk


 
 
 

4th of July?

Post by Jerry Hou » Wed, 07 Jul 1999 04:00:00

Penny,
just a word of caution courtesy of a local radio program.  Sparklers reach a
temperature of 1800 degrees fahrenheit when burning.  That's hot enough to
melt some metals, not to mention ripstop nylon, spars and of course the human
skin.  They also said sparklers account for forty percent of all July 4th
fireworks related injuries. Bummer, I'll bet they really looked cool.  I hope
everyone had a safe 4th filled with fun.
           From The Land of 10,000 Kite Flying Fields,
(with temperatures in the 90's I can't wait until they freeze again)
                                   Jerry Houk


Quote:
> It sounds wonderful!  I wanted to fly with sparklers.. but no one had
> anything that mild.  Yes, I've seen it done indoors, no fire either.
> Though nite lights might be more prudent.
> We did perform indoor at a festival and of course got invited back next
> year.  I loved the sight of a man in his 90's sitting in a wheelchair
> holding up his arm during most of the performances trying to catch the
> kites. It's a great feeling to know we brought people such joy.
> Keep up the tradition Jerry!!
> Best Breezes,
> Penny
> Revolution~Fly the Best
> Laser Pro~and fly like you mean it!
> PS  I carried my kite all night just in case I got the chance.


> > Did anyone else out there fly kites at their local fireworks on the 4th
> > of July?
> > I started doing this about three years ago and find it a great way to
> > meet people and talk about what else, kites.  This year for the first
> > time two other kites appeared in the sky along with mine.  One was a
> > small plastic delta and the other a small parafoil.  I ran across the
> > owner of the parafoil and talked to him and his daughter for a while.
> > They had their hands full with the strong gusty winds.  Walking through
> > the crowd I received comments like great kite, good to see you and your
> > kites again.  Just before dark set in I started larks heading glow in
> > the dark necklaces about every fif*** feet on my kite line until there
> > were about seven*** of them.  The kids, old and young, are amazed.
> > People ask what's holding them up.  I reply, It's Magic, and then remind
> > them of the kite.  Kids and ***s constantly ask me if the lights are
> > for sale?  I have to tell them no, or I would be stampeded.  I do sell
> > the used ones about half way through the fireworks and the vendors have
> > sold all of theirs.  If you haven't tried flying before a fireworks
> > you're really missing out on some of the largest captive audiences to be
> > found.  Give it a try.

> >  From The Land of 10,000 Kite Flying Fields,
> > (it would have felt great to be swimming in one)
> >                      Jerry Houk


 
 
 

4th of July?

Post by michael m. mos » Wed, 07 Jul 1999 04:00:00

I put out my banner pole with a feather banner, and tied off a cube kite
on line just shorter than the length of the pole.  flew all day in my
backyard surrounded by houses and other close buildings.  every time the
wind got weird, it floated down, then self launched again.

works for me

the hangover the next day didn't tho ;-)

Mikey luvs ya!

 
 
 

4th of July?

Post by Mike Dool » Fri, 09 Jul 1999 04:00:00



Quote:
>Did anyone else out there fly kites at their local fireworks on the 4th
>of July?
<big snip>
> From The Land of 10,000 Kite Flying Fields,
>(it would have felt great to be swimming in one)
>                     Jerry Houk

Here in Las Vegas, Scott Dyer (owner/operator of Wind Power Sports,
formerly BFK), and the local team, Wings of Wind, have been flying the
daytime precursor to the Clark County "Red, White and Boom" fireworks
extravaganza on July 4th.  I don't know how many consecutive years
this has been done, but I've participated for 2 years running, now.

Filling the sky all afternoon with big Edge stunt kites towing
300-foot rainbow tails, and 12-stacks (6 stacks, last year, 4 this
year) of Dynakites with long ripstop tails, the Wings of Wind team put
on quite a show, and elicit many "oooo's" and "aaaaahhh's" from the
crowd, during an otherwise hot and uneventful wait for the evening
fireworks.

This year, Scott Dyer flew his 100-foot Peter Lynn Octopus, and
suffered an unfortunate and costly encounter with a light pole, and
Steve Rezak flew his Peter Lynn Trilobyte, and the sky was filled with
35- and 75-foot Bulldogs and their accompanying giant spinsocks and
assorted line laundry.  'Twas quite a spectacle, and the presence of
fully-assembled landsailers and kite buggys on the baseball diamonds
generated much interest in the sports of buggying and landsailing, as
well.

Kites and fireworks seem unlikely bedfellows, but the recipe seems to
work, and the day was great fun, right down to some lovely ultralight
sport-kite trick flying under the lights, as the parking lots emptied.

America... whatta country!
Nothing is foolproof, to a sufficiently talented fool!

 
 
 

4th of July?

Post by CGKitema » Tue, 27 Jul 1999 04:00:00

Quote:

>Did anyone else out there fly kites at their local fireworks on the 4th
>of July?

    Kitty Hawk Kites had a 'fun fly' at Corolla, NC,
in the afternoon prior to the fireworks there.
Except for the folks from KHK (and their kites),
I was the ONLY kite flyer to show up and fly
anything.

    Managed to fly the new tetrahedron for the SECOND
time (which flew better than the FIRST time after a
little tweaking).  Also flew the Squadron Kites' Sopwith
Camel for the FIRST time, and despite my less-than-
stellar construction it flew very well.  A bit of 'hunting' from
side to side, but otherwise stable.

-CGK
 North Carolina, USA