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Show A kite, imagination, open field can provide hours of good fun Finding the correct bridle length and flight angle are essentially trial-and-error matters, but if the bridle is properly attached, at-tached, the kite should balance horizontally and the top of the kite should be about 20 degrees higher than t the bottom when the kite is suspended by the bridle strings. The tail helps to improve the stability of a kite by creating extra longitudinal drag. If other factors are properly . proportioned and balanced, vertically and horizontally, uncontrollable un-controllable spinning and looping can be prevented by using the appropriate length of tail. Tails may be made of cord, ribbon, narrow strips of rags tied together or even plastic drinking cups spaced about a foot apart along a length of line. Use a stick or a reel for winding in the string most of the way and then anchoring the line and walking towards the kite with the line under one armpit while you pull down and back on the line, hand over hand. Long, arm-length pulls on the kite string increase the wind pressure on its surface and on its topside and produce a momentary lift which sends the kite higher into the sky. Conditions are best for flying when the air is cool and clear. A smooth wind of five to ten knots is ideal. Sometimes rising bodies of warm air (thermals) help raise the kite into the air. Never fly a kite in the rain or near utility wires, and always choose a field where there are no overhead obstructions. Now, go fly a kite! ' is provided by the extra wind resistance or "drag" imparted by the kite's tail. Lengthening or shortening the tail, which depends on the kite's size and shape, can correct instability resulting from variations in wind conditions. con-ditions. Typically, the stronger the wind, the longer the tail required. "There has been a remarkable increase in the popularity of kites in recent years," Garber says. The Smithsonian's festival and organizations such as the American Kitefliers Association have been fundamental in fostering the resurgence. "Certainly, not everyone can make a spacecraft or an airplane," air-plane," Garber says, "but anyone interested in flight can easily make a kite," Garber notes that ready-to-assemble kites and kite materials are available at most hobby shops and even some drug stores. Many people prefer to construct their own because they learn how . to modify the kite to accommodate it to the flying conditions. Books of instructions are available in libraries or hobby stores, and there is even a kite-flyer's kite-flyer's "magazine "Kite Lines," published in Baltimore, Md. The following tips may be helpful to would-be flyers The kite should be "bridled" to face the wind at a lifting angle so that the wind will lift the kite into the sky. The bridle is a line or series of lines attached to strong parts of the kite's structure to position it correctly into the wind. fifth month of the Japanese year, for example, the Boys Festival is celebrated by households which have been blessed with the recent birth of a male child. The proud families fly tubular or "sleeve" kites which resemble a carp, a fish which battles upstream to spawn, symbolic of the son's anticipated progress through the river of life. The kite also has been used extensively by the pioneers of aviation to study the aerodynamics of flight. In 1783, the Swiss scientist, Daniel Bernoulli, discovered that when the wind blows across a curved airfoil (wing), air speed is increased in-creased and a reduction in air pressure occurs along the top surface. This exerts an upward force upon the wing. The . airflow diverted downward by the wing's bottom surface is slowed and produces an upward force from the underside. The combination of the two forces generates the "lift" required for flight. A further understanding un-derstanding of these aerodynamic principles eventually led to development of the modern airplane wing. The centers of force affecting a kite's stability which are lift, gravity, pressure and thrust must by in proper relationship to ensure proper flight. This is achieved when launching the kite by angling it into the oncoming wind. As with any aircraft, whether it be a simple box kite or the SST, these aerodynamic forces affect the craft's performance per-formance and stability during flight. For many flat-surfaced kites, a stabilizing force By LAWRENCE HOWE Smithsonian News Service An ill wind may blow no man to good, as the proverb goes, but a gusty day is the perfect setting for hours of enjoyment. All one needs are a few inexpensive materials, imagination, some know-how, know-how, an open field and voila he's guaranteed some high-flying fun with a kite. Kiting has always been an exciting and popular hobby for many people. But to Paul Garber and the hundreds who participate par-ticipate in the Smithsonian Institution's annual kite festival, kiting is more than a leisure-time hobby it's a chance to challenge their creativity and pit their wits against nature's elements and seasonal changes. The festival which consists of a display of kites, a lecture, a' workshop and a com-petion com-petion takes place during the last three weekends in March in Washington, D.C. During the final weedend, children, youths and adults may test their talents while competing for awards based on appearance and performance. per-formance. There are only two prerequisites to enter the competition: the kite must be flown by the person who made it, and everyone is required to have a good time. Garber, well known for his interest in the history of aviation and a historian emerituas . at the National Air and Space Museum, first organized the festival in 1967. It is now a part of the Smithsonian's ResidentAssociate Program. According to Garber, the idea for the festival originated after the Secretary of the Smithsonian, S. Dillon Ripley, returned from a trip to Paris. "Mr. Ripley was lovers arm-in-arm, students, artists everyone enjoying Paris' parks," Garber says. "He wanted the public to enjoy the beautiful Mall that adjoins ad-joins the Smithsonian's museums." Ripley asked Garber what he liked to do outdoors. out-doors. "I told him about making a teddy bear kite for my great-grandson and the fun we had flying it," Garber relates. Ripley liked the idea and approved Garber's suggestion for a kiteflying kite-flying festival, now in its 15th year. Over the centuries, kites of virtually every imaginable size and shape have been flown from the tiniest of flyers made by devoted enthusiasts en-thusiasts in Japan to the kites used for fishing by natives in the South Pacific islands to the enormous japanese Wan-Wan Wan-Wan kite, which spans 60 feet, weighs approximately ap-proximately 5,500 pounds and requires 150 persons to launch and fly it. Today, kites can be seen in their most dramatic form in Japan where they are an integral in-tegral part of the country's coun-try's national heritage. On the fifth day of the mm in-' 'III muni n Over the centuries, kites of virtually every imaginable size and shape have been flown. At the Smithsonian Institution's In-stitution's annual kite .festival young and old alike pit their wits against nature's elements and seasonal changes. |