Kites Aloft

Kite Events for Maine in 2011

2011-03-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

We are just getting ready for the Maine 2011 kite flying season and have several special events for our local kite community. Both the Noreasters ( noreasterkites.com ) and KONE ( kone.org ) are invited to join in these three events.

First will be the Wells Reserve EcoDay in Wells Maine on April 16. We have been invited to fly kites in a large field on the Laudholm Farm. This is a nice kite venue, a hill top field with views of Wells Beach to the East and Mt Agamenticus to the West. We went to their first EcoDay last fall and had a good time. This event should be even bigger, more displays and demonstrations.
http://www.wellsreserve.org/visit/calendar/230-wells_reserve_ecoday

The next event will be in Owls Head Maine at the Owls Head Transportation Museum for their annual Kites Bikes and Trikes Family Festival on April 23. Here we will be flying kites on and near the taxi way to the museum. We have been there several times and they make us feel at home there. It is worth the drive up there just for the museum where they have a great collection of cars and airplanes.
http://www.ohtm.org/*KiteFest09.html

Lastly, in the special events for this Spring is the Bug Light Kite Festival on Saturday, May 14 We held the first last year, strong wind did not allow the great kite display we can produce but we are hoping for better weather this year.

All the local event info is listed on the noreaster.com calendar page,
https://sites.google.com/site/noreasterskites/Home/calendar

2010-04-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

The 2010 National Kite Month started in Maine with the Noreasters Kite Club's Rokkaku kite fly on April 3 at Bug Light Park in South Portland.. We couldn't have asked for better weather in early April. We had a nice southerly breeze at around 10 mph and temps in the mid 60s. The wind held steady for most of the day, perfect for most of our kites, allowing for more kites and few tangles. At one point we counted 16 rokkakus in the air at one time along with many other kites.

Bug Light Park will be hosting the Bug Light Kite Festival, sponsored by the South Portland Historical Society on May 8, 2010.

Early start of the kite season

2010-03-07T16:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a great unofficial start for the kite flying season in Maine. 50 degree weather brought out dozens kite flyers to Bug Light Park in South Portland. At least a dozen of them were members of the NorEasters kite club. This was the time to get out new kites for the first flight as well as old favorites. March 20 will be our real start to the season with the KONE fly at Hampton Beach across from the Ashworth Hotel.

April is National Kite Month and in Maine we will be celebrating the season with kite flying every Saturday in several locations including Bug Light Park in South Portland and Pine Point Beach in Scarborough. In addition we have the annual Easter Kite Fly in Fort WIlliams Park in Cape Elizabeth. I think that may have been my first kite fly ever, way back in 1990. For more dates, check out the calendar at the Noreaster web site,
http://sites.google.com/site/noreasterskites/Home/calendar

Kite making in South Portland Maine

2010-03-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

For the second year, we held a kite making workshop aimed at the beginner. I called it Kitemaking 101. The new kite makers make simple diamond kites with ripstop nylon and added an appliqued design to the kite.

We had 6 people making kites, of that, 3 of them made their first kite and one made their second kite. Some of the participants were fairly new to sewing so this was a nice easy design to work with. They started with pre-cut pieces, hemmed the kite, added spar pockets and then used another color or two for their applique. To finish, they made tails out of scrap nylon.

We had a great venue for the workshop. Leo A reserved the Clubhouse, a multi purpose room at the River View Apartment complex in South Portland, thank you Leo.

This was the Noreaster's second kite making workshop this winter, Tony O hosted a box kite workshop in January, so we should be scheduling a kite fly for all the workshop participants this Spring.

Rokkaku Kite Fly

2009-04-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

We got our 2009 National Kite Month started this past weekend with a Rokkaku kite fly. This was a Noreaster kite fly as well as a KONE monthly fly. Nice turn out, more than 20 kiters from Maine, Mass and NH, and most of them brought rokkakus to fly. For those of you unfamilier with kites, a rokkaku is a traditional Japanese kite, six sided, a fairly strict ratio of height to width but no real limit on size. They can be used for kite fighting but, unlike Indian and Pakistan style fighting where the fights are one on one, rok battles are usually mass battles, with 20 or more kites in the sky at once, trying to knock the other kites from the sky. But this was not a kite fighting day, just a friendly day of kite flying.

For early April, we did have great weather. The sky cleared mid morning and the sun warmed everything up. It did take a while for the wind to get going (and the forecast was for strong winds!) but once it got started the kites went up and stayed up.

Tony O and I both finished rokkakus in time for the fly. I finished mine the day before, a real last minute push. The crane kite was quite the project, much more detail than my previous kites, but lots of fun. As you can see from the picture, it turned out nicely. Tony O also finished a great kite arch, started just after the kite workshop we held in January. Two other workshop participants are working on archs so look forward to an arch fly.

Now that we got a real taste of warm weather, we are hoping more of it. Next week we plan to gather at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth to fly kites on Easter Sunday. That has been a tradition for many years and we hope to continue it next weekend.

A Taste of Spring

2009-03-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a day for early March in Maine! Sunny and the temperature reached the 50s. We hadn't planned on flying a kite but it was too nice a day to ignore. We grabbed the mini sled we made for Hank and took it out for a test fly. Hank has some giant flow form kites, 125, 252, and 450 square feet, all in the same color pattern, yellow, orange, red and black and I made a mini sled that matched his color pattern, complete with the banner tail. It is about 2 square feet instead of 450. We hadn't flown it yet so we thought we could fly it and get some pictures before handing it over to Hank.

When we got to Bug Light Park, we were surprised to see that most of the field was clear of snow. A mile away at our house, there is 2 feet of snow in the yard. We got the kite in the air and took some pictures, relaxing in the warm spring day and all of a sudden I noticed someone with a kite just over the hill. Easy to recognize, even from 100 yards was the pretty light blue of Hank's KONE rokkaku. Yep, he had the same idea we had, too nice a day not to fly a kite. Hank was out with his granddaughter Meagan and they hoped to fly his newest kite, Rolf Zimmerman's Owl. The wind was a bit too light for it but it did look good.

By the way, Hank was quite surprised by the mini sled.

Great book for kite makers

2009-02-18T16:33:00.000-08:00

William Farber's kite making book, Painting With Light and Air is now available from the Drachen Foundation. My wife got a copy for me last year but she had to deal with international money orders and shipping from Australia. She did get the first copy in North America but it cost a bit. Now it is a simple click and you can get it for $35.

In the book, William Farber illustrates his method of creating wonderful pictures on kites using ripstop. His prize winning kites are many colored pieces of flying artwork. The kite on the right is one of two he made for the kite festival in Dieppe France in 2008. He gives step by illustrated step instructions for his modular method of kite construction, very much worth learning if you want to make more complex designs on kites. They don't have to be as elaborate as this one to benefit from his method.

I have found myself referring to the book before and during my kite construction, before to get some reminders of his design and color teachings, during to help with construction details. There are lots of great nuggets of information hidden in the pages from how to make perfect corners with your zig zag stitches to what to look for when buying a sewing machine. Little details that you might never think about spring from the book and into your kite building technique. I built a sewing table extension as suggested in the book. He even gives instructions on sharpening and tuning scissors! This is in addition to his chapter on design and one on the details of working with ripstop. To top it off, he includes detailed instructions on the building of two kites, one a large rokkaku, the other a small rectangular kite,

While it is not a book for beginner kite makers, they could certainly benefit from the book. Much of the book's information can be useful for kite makers of all abilities. The sewing tips and the chapter on working with ripstop is good for all of us. The details of his more elaborate kite making methods can simply inspire us. And if all that is not enough, he includes color photos of more that 20 of his kites

The book is available from the Drachen Foundation for $35.
Painting with Light and Air

The Drachen Foundation is a non profit organization devoted to sharing knowledge of kites worldwide. Their store includes books and kite making materials and the money helps support the organization.

New kite project

2009-01-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

For more than a year I have a had an idea for a kite but have made no progress other than a few sketches and some mental pictures. One problem I had was how to put some of the complex features together using layers of ripstop and stitches. Now that I have a sewing room, I felt it was time to get started on the project.

To start, I reread some of William Farber's book, Painting with Light and Air. He suggests a modular approach when sewing complex designs and I had been pondering the method but couldn't quite figure out how to use it. But the approach does make sense and I have started to use it to a small degree. Not all designs work with his method but with more complex designs, this is a great way to work.

The kite I made this weekend is not the kite I am aiming for, rather, it was a practice piece, using some of the design elements and colors to see how well they work together. This is the same size kite we made in the kite workshop a few weeks ago. That is a fun size, small enought so you can get quick results and you don't mind if it is a complete failure, not much waste with so small a kite. And, if the kite works, you have a nice little kite you can fly or give away.

By the way, Farber's book is not yet available in the US but he did tell me that the Drachen Foundation ordered a number so it may be available from them soon. It is a good book for kite makers wanting to step up to the next level in applique. His kites have won prizes in Dieppe France as well as Dieppe, New Brunswick.

kite making workshop

2009-01-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Tony Otis and I held a kite making workshop on Jan 10 in Tony O's kite workroom. This was the first time Tony O taught a workshop (I ran a fighter kite workshop a few years ago) but he is a fine kite maker and a very patient teacher. The sewing experience of our participants ranged from well experienced to first time on a sewing machine. But they were all new to kite making, only two had even made one kite before.

We furnished the kite makers with the material to make two complete diamond kites, including applique material and a template to make more of the same sized kite. They all hemmed their kite sail and attached the pockets in the morning and after a lunch break I demonstrated an applique process, drawing a design, tacking the fabrics onto the kite sail, sewing the design and completing it by cutting out the extra fabric. Then they all got to try the same.

A great job was done by all. They all created one or two color designs and added them to their kites, all will be flown with pride. Hard work, slow at times, but we all learned plenty, including the teachers. We hope to do another workshop later this winter, perhaps sewing a Della Porta kite.

New Years Day Kite Fly

2009-01-01T15:57:00.000-08:00

Today was the beginning of our kite flying for 2009 and some of us braved the 15 degree F and the 20+ mph winds and stuck a few kites in the air at Bug Light Park in South Portland, Maine. Tony O and I flew Powersled 24s and were glad we chose 500 # line. There was no snow on the field so I was not tempted to get out my power kites and skis. The 40 mph gusts were another reason. Allen was more sensible and just got out a little sled. Don and John got some kites out too, a papillion and a rok, brave choices for the wind that day.

Most of us lasted no more than an hour out there before retreating a mile or so to our little Craftsman cottage in South Portland for a pot luck New Years Day feast. Lots of good food and drink. A big hit was my rhumtopf which I started last July. It is a fruit preservation style featuring rum as the preservative. So some rum soaked fruit over ice cream may be an annual feature of the New Years Day pot luck.

Most of our kite flying today was while seated, with a plate of food and a drink in hand, all talk. At a show of hands, at least a dozen of us said that they have plans to attend the kite festival next August in Dieppe, New Brunswick. It looks like kite flyers plan ahead. We have not heard many details of the festival other than the date but I have heard unofficially that many of my favorite kite makers will be there including Robert Brasington from Tasmania and Bas Vreevick from Holland.

Our next kite event will be in 10 day, a kite making workshop for new kite makers where we will make small diamond kites with ripstop nylon and wooden spars. Tony O and I hope to inspire a few more people to start making some creative kites. Pictures to follow the event so keep reading.

Book recommendation, Sea of Poppies

2008-12-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

I am most of the way through a new book, Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh, and I thought I would like to recommend it. The book starts in Baltimore, 1838, where a young man, son of freed slaves, takes a chance and signs on to the Ibis, a former slave ship, headed to India, purchased to take part in the China opium trade. Before heading to China, the ship is to revert to it's former purpose and transport Indian indentured workers or coolies to Mauritius to work on plantations.

With a fantastic range of characters and an intricate story line this book transports you to the sounds, smells and motion of 1838 Calcutta. British gentlemen, upper caste Rajas, Laskar sailors, religious Indian fanatics, indentured Indian coolies fleeing vengeful families all help fill the story with details of the times and make it hard to put the book down.

The book is a little kite related as one of the main characters, Raja Neel Rattan Halder, is a kite flyer, flying fighter kites from the roof of his family home with his son. So I added the book to my book store at Mainekites.com .

Kite Books

2008-12-10T10:12:00.000-08:00

It is getting near Christmas and time is running out for that perfect present for the kite lover in your family. You can check out the kite books in my Amazon Associate store at Kite Store Purchases made through this link will help me keep my mainekites.com website up and running. There are some very nice books there.

Speaking of Christmas presents, I have had to shift my focus at work and learn how to run an engraving machine. LL Bean's new stainless steel water bottle is very popular right now and, where there is usually only one person engraving, part time, they had to add 3 more people to keep up with demand. I have done hundreds this week already and I am just a rookie. I did mess up several already, who knew McNeill had 2 ls? Or oops, that was supposed to be in block letters. So look for my goof ups in your local LL Bean factory store. If your name is Tiffany and you like block letters go for it.

I am one step closer to my sewing room, the small room is almost ready to move into. Then I will be able to move the closets and lastly set up the sewing room. I am hoping that I can be sewing by January 1.

Sewing room for kites

2008-12-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

Winter is not when most people are thinking about kites but most of my kiting friends think about kites year round. I am in the process of converting one of our bedrooms into a sewing room for kite making. My wife's idea and a good one I must admit. Lots of work though. Big pain in the a.. But it will be great once it is done. We have been using the dining room table for sewing and, since we don't have an eat-in kitchen, we can't leave a project set up on the table. We have a small house, a two story Craftsman cottage built in 1910 and the bedrooms are not large so I won't have one of those huge tables other kitemakers make out of several full sheets of plywood. I will make small kites.

We will be making small kites next month at a kite making workshop my friend and fellow kite maker Tony O and I are hosting. It is kind of Kitemaking 101, the basics of kite making and our participants will sew a small diamond kite with an appliqued design on it. We will cover the basics of fabric cutting, sewing and framing using ripstop nylon and a wood dowel frame.

Last month I set up an Amazon Associate Store on my website, mainekites.com The store is full of most of the kites that are available through Amazon and I don't think I added any that I would not mind owning myself. Lots of stunt kites from Prism Kites and I don't mind recommending any of their kites. I don't expect to make much money but, when I am flying kites, many people ask where they can get nice kites like I have. This store will be a simple place for them to go and the kites in the store are kites that I can recommend.