The Motivation of Flying a Kite
“The motivation of flying a kite is more important than the Motivation of building a tower”. -Hiroshi Takayama. Takayama was a Japanese kite-flying pioneer who in 1930 wrote these words in a letter to his friend, who had helped him in his experiments of kite flying.
Fly-in flying was in vogue in the nineteenth century, but before long it was superseded by a new type of flying with more flamboyance and greater power. In this new style of flying, the kite in its ‘unbounce’ configuration had to be balanced over a small deck, which the pilot used to maneuver in a similar way as he would in a boat or automobile. At first, the field of flying a kite included an enclosed space where experiments could be made and perfected.
Kite flying became a full-fledged sport in the early twentieth century, but while the sport gained momentum, the flying a kite was considered less important. For instance, the 1929 Tokyo Olympics was cancelled because of the bad weather. Even though the flying a kite didn’t exist, the Japanese team still returned to the Olympic Games that year. These little sports gained popularity when the world-wide aircraft craze began to take off in the late fifties.
Before long, flying a kite became the rallying point for the many people involved in this form of sports. Their passion for this sport enabled them to develop special flying techniques that would benefit the masses. The name ‘Flying a Kite’ is derived from the original kite design of a round figure eight like device, which acted as the center of gravity for the entire kite.
In the world of today, flying kites have been taken to a new level. Not only are kites created for sailing, they are now made for racing, dressage, aerobatics, stunt flying, even acrobatics. Some of the best aerialists in the world use flying kites for their career.
Of course, the World Flying Kites Association (WFKA) provides safety measures and techniques so kite-flying enthusiasts will not harm themselves in the flying of the kites. This organization has a long list of requirements for flying a kite, which includes flight distance, the length of time the kite is flown, kite size, kite height, wind speed and direction, stability, minimum glide speed, maximum flying height, number of turns flown per second, air speed, open area allowed, wet/dry landing, and, of course, the age and state of the rider.
In order to qualify as a professional flying a kite, one needs to have the following points: flying the kite correctly and safely, passing all necessary tests, accumulating certain flying hours and proving their skills. There are various levels of flying a kite. A professional can learn new tricks, perform stunts, improve his/her flying abilities, and develop skills for improvement and application in other ways.
Since the discovery of kites, these flying machines have become the vehicle of choice for commercial and private uses. There are several types of kites: freestyle, dressage, aerobatics, stunt flying, aerobatic, ballooning, outdoor sky diving, and others. The most common types of kites are the glass-bottom, cloth-covered, balloon, tandem, and the foil-covered kites.
Some of the stunts performed by flying kites include gliding, sailing, free-falling, spinning, setting up aerial obstacles, holding up ropes, hanging and many others. The skilled flyer can display numerous acrobatic and aerobatic moves in which the human body is the plane and the flying kite is the stunt performer. They can also show off their aerial skills in other ways such as aerial boxing, motocross, obstacle course flying, surfing, aerial equestrian and mountaineering.
Professional flying kites have become so specialized that some of the tricks performed in these flying machines can actually be performed in other aircraft. In fact, there are some basic maneuvers that can be performed in any aircraft, even if the aircraft is of the military variety.
