Kite

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The Yokaichi Giant Kite Festival is held every July in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan. Yokaichi01.jpg
The Yokaichi Giant Kite Festival is held every July in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan.
Various kites being flown Kitesflying.jpg
Various kites being flown
Star-shaped kite above a meadow south of Hockenheim. This sparless, ram-air inflated kite, has a complex bridle formed of many strings attached to the face of the wing. Lachender Drachen in Sternform.JPG
Star-shaped kite above a meadow south of Hockenheim. This sparless, ram-air inflated kite, has a complex bridle formed of many strings attached to the face of the wing.

A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. [2] A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the face of the kite so the wind can lift it. [3] Some kite designs do not need a bridle; box kites can have a single attachment point. A kite may have fixed or moving anchors that can balance the kite. The name is derived from the kite, the hovering bird of prey. [4]

Contents

The lift that sustains the kite in flight is generated when air moves around the kite's surface, producing low pressure above and high pressure below the wings. [5] The interaction with the wind also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind. The resultant force vector from the lift and drag force components is opposed by the tension of one or more of the lines or tethers to which the kite is attached. [6] The anchor point of the kite line may be static or moving (e.g., the towing of a kite by a running person, boat, free-falling anchors as in paragliders and fugitive parakites [7] [8] or vehicle). [9] [10]

The same principles of fluid flow apply in liquids, so kites can be used in underwater currents. [11] [12] Paravanes and otter boards operate underwater on an analogous principle.

Man-lifting kites were made for reconnaissance, entertainment and during development of the first practical aircraft, the biplane.

Kites have a long and varied history and many different types are flown individually and at festivals worldwide. Kites may be flown for recreation, art or other practical uses. Sport kites can be flown in aerial ballet, sometimes as part of a competition. Power kites are multi-line steerable kites designed to generate large forces which can be used to power activities such as kite surfing, kite landboarding, kite buggying and snow kiting.

History

Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteries of Nature and Art in which the kite is titled How to make fire Drakes Fier Drake (1634 kite woodcut).png
Woodcut print of a kite from John Bate's 1635 book The Mysteries of Nature and Art in which the kite is titled How to make fire Drakes

The kite has been claimed as the invention of the 5th-century BC Chinese philosophers Mozi (also Mo Di, or Mo Ti) and Lu Ban (also Gongshu Ban, or Kungshu Phan). Materials ideal for kite building were readily available including silk fabric for sail material; fine, high-tensile-strength silk for flying line; and resilient bamboo for a strong, lightweight framework. By 549 AD, paper kites were certainly being flown, as it was recorded that in that year a paper kite was used as a message for a rescue mission. Ancient and medieval Chinese sources describe kites being used for measuring distances, testing the wind, lifting men, signaling, and communication for military operations. The earliest known Chinese kites were flat (not bowed) and often rectangular. Later, tailless kites incorporated a stabilizing bowline. Kites were decorated with mythological motifs and legendary figures; some were fitted with strings and whistles to make musical sounds while flying. [13] [14] [15]

Kite Flying by Suzuki Harunobu, 1766 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Kite Flying by Suzuki Harunobu (Ling Mu Chun Xin ).jpg
Kite Flying by Suzuki Harunobu, 1766 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

After its introduction into India, the kite further evolved into the fighter kite, known as the patang in India, where thousands are flown every year on festivals such as Makar Sankranti. [16]

Kites were known throughout Polynesia, as far as New Zealand, with the assumption being that the knowledge diffused from China along with the people. Anthropomorphic kites made from cloth and wood were used in religious ceremonies to send prayers to the gods. [17] Polynesian kite traditions are used by anthropologists to get an idea of early "primitive" Asian traditions that are believed to have at one time existed in Asia. [18]

Kites were late to arrive in Europe, although windsock-like banners were known and used by the Romans. Stories of kites were first brought to Europe by Marco Polo towards the end of the 13th century, and kites were brought back by sailors from Japan and Malaysia in the 16th and 17th centuries. [19] [20] Konrad Kyeser described dragon kites in Bellifortis about 1400 AD. [21] Although kites were initially regarded as mere curiosities, by the 18th and 19th centuries they were being used as vehicles for scientific research. [19]

Boys flying a kite. Engraving published in Germany in 1828 by Johann Michael Voltz Kinderspiele 1828 Drachensteigen.jpg
Boys flying a kite. Engraving published in Germany in 1828 by Johann Michael Voltz

In 1752, Benjamin Franklin published an account of a kite experiment to prove that lightning was caused by electricity.

Kites were also instrumental in the research of the Wright brothers, and others, as they developed the first airplane in the late 1800s. Several different designs of man-lifting kites were developed. The period from 1860 to about 1910 became the European "golden age of kiting". [22]

In the 20th century, many new kite designs are developed. These included Eddy's tailless diamond, the tetrahedral kite, the Rogallo wing, the sled kite, the parafoil, and power kites. [23] Kites were used for scientific purposes, especially in meteorology, aeronautics, wireless communications and photography. The Rogallo wing was adapted for stunt kites and hang gliding and the parafoil was adapted for parachuting and paragliding.

The rapid development of mechanically powered aircraft diminished interest in kites. World War II saw a limited use of kites for military purposes (survival radio, Focke Achgelis Fa 330, military radio antenna kites).

Kites are now mostly used for recreation. Lightweight synthetic materials (ripstop nylon, plastic film, carbon fiber tube and rod) are used for kite making. Synthetic rope and cord (nylon, polyethylene, kevlar and dyneema) are used as bridle and kite line.

Materials

Sparless styrofoam kites Sparless Styrofoam kite in flight.jpg
Sparless styrofoam kites

Designs often emulate flying insects, birds, and other beasts, both real and mythical. The finest Chinese kites are made from split bamboo (usually golden bamboo), covered with silk, and hand painted. On larger kites, clever hinges and latches allow the kite to be disassembled and compactly folded for storage or transport. Cheaper mass-produced kites are often made from printed polyester rather than silk.

Tails are used for some single-line kite designs to keep the kite's nose pointing into the wind. Spinners and spinsocks can be attached to the flying line for visual effect. There are rotating wind socks which spin like a turbine. On large display kites these tails, spinners and spinsocks can be 50 feet (15 m) long or more.

Modern aerobatic kites use two or four lines to allow fine control of the kite's angle to the wind. Traction kites may have an additional line to de-power the kite and quick-release mechanisms to disengage flyer and kite in an emergency.

Practical uses

Kites have been used for human flight, military applications, science and meteorology, photography, lifting radio antennas, generating power, aerodynamics experiments, and much more.

Military applications

Kites have been used for military purposes in the past, such as signaling, delivery of ammunition, and for observation, both by lifting an observer above the field of battle and by using kite aerial photography.

Kites were first used in warfare by the Chinese. [24] During the Song dynasty the Fire Crow, a kite carrying incendiary powder, a fuse, and a burning stick of incense was developed as a weapon. [25]

According to Samguk Sagi , in 647 Kim Yu-sin, a Korean general of Silla rallied his troops to defeat rebels by using flaming kites which also frightened the enemy. [26]

Russian chronicles mention Prince Oleg of Novgorod use of kites during the siege of Constantinople in 906: "and he crafted horses and men of paper, armed and gilded, and lifted them into the air over the city; the Greeks saw them and feared them". [27]

Walter de Milemete's 1326 De nobilitatibus, sapientiis, et prudentiis regum treatise depicts a group of knights flying kite laden with a black-powder filled firebomb over the wall of city. [28]

Kites were also used by Admiral Yi of the Joseon Dynasty (13921910) of Korea. During the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), Admiral Yi commanded his navy using kites. His kites had specific markings directing his fleet to perform various orders. [29]

One of Cody's "manlifter" kites in 1908 Cody manlifter.jpg
One of Cody's "manlifter" kites in 1908

In the modern era the British Army used kites to haul human lookouts into the air for observation purposes, using the kites developed by Samuel Franklin Cody. Barrage kites were used to protect shipping during the Second World War. [30] [31] Kites were also used for anti-aircraft target practice. [32] Kites and kytoons were used for lofting communications antenna. [33] Submarines lofted observers in rotary kites. [34]

Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have flown firebomb kites over the Israel–Gaza barrier, setting fires on the Israeli side of the border, [35] [36] [37] [38] hundreds of dunams of Israeli crop fields were burned by firebomb kites launched from Gaza, with an estimated economic loss of several millions of shekels. [39]

Science and meteorology

Kites have been used for scientific purposes, such as Benjamin Franklin's famous experiment proving that lightning is electricity. Kites were the precursors to the traditional aircraft, and were instrumental in the development of early flying craft. Alexander Graham Bell experimented with very large man-lifting kites, as did the Wright brothers and Lawrence Hargrave. Kites had a historical role in lifting scientific instruments to measure atmospheric conditions for weather forecasting. Francis Ronalds and William Radcliffe Birt described a very stable kite at Kew Observatory as early as 1847 that was trialled for the purpose of supporting self-registering meteorological instruments at height. [40]

Radio aerials and light beacons

Kites can be used for radio purposes, by kites carrying antennas for MF, LF or VLF-transmitters. This method was used for the reception station of the first transatlantic transmission by Marconi. Captive balloons may be more convenient for such experiments, because kite-carried antennas require a lot of wind, which may be not always possible with heavy equipment and a ground conductor. It must be taken into account during experiments, that a conductor carried by a kite can lead to high voltage toward ground, which can endanger people and equipment, if suitable precautions (grounding through resistors or a parallel resonant circuit tuned to transmission frequency) are not taken.

Kites can be used to carry light effects such as lightsticks or battery powered lights.

Kite traction

A quad-line traction kite, commonly used as a power source for kite surfing Kite333.JPG
A quad-line traction kite, commonly used as a power source for kite surfing

Kites can be used to pull people and vehicles downwind. Efficient foil-type kites such as power kites can also be used to sail upwind under the same principles as used by other sailing craft, provided that lateral forces on the ground or in the water are redirected as with the keels, center boards, wheels and ice blades of traditional sailing craft. In the last two decades several kite sailing sports have become popular, such as kite buggying, kite land boarding, kite boating and kite surfing. Snow kiting has also become popular in recent years.

Kite sailing opens several possibilities not available in traditional sailing:

Underwater kites

Underwater kites are now being developed to harvest renewable power from the flow of water. [41] [42]

Cultural uses

Kite festivals are a popular form of entertainment throughout the world. They include large local events, traditional festivals which have been held for hundreds[ clarification needed ] of years and major international festivals which bring in kite flyers from other countries to display their unique art kites and demonstrate the latest technical kites.

Many countries have kite museums. [43] These museums may have a focus on historical kites, preserving the country's kite traditions.

Asia

Kite maker from India, image from Travels in India, including Sinde and the Punjab by H. E. Lloyd, 1845 Image taken from page 64 of 'Travels in India, including Sinde and the Punjab; ... translated from the German, by H. E. Lloyd' (11024411234).jpg
Kite maker from India, image from Travels in India, including Sinde and the Punjab by H. E. Lloyd, 1845

Kite flying is popular in many Asian countries, where it often takes the form of "kite fighting", in which participants try to snag each other's kites or cut other kites down. [44] Fighter kites are usually small, flattened diamond-shaped kites made of paper and bamboo. Tails are not used on fighter kites so that agility and maneuverability are not compromised.

Boy flying kite in outskirts of Kathmandu Valley Thrill-of-flying-kites 640.jpg
Boy flying kite in outskirts of Kathmandu Valley

In Afghanistan, kite flying is a popular game, and is known in Dari as Gudiparan Bazi. Some kite fighters pass their strings through a mixture of ground glass powder and glue, which is legal. The resulting strings are very abrasive and can sever the competitor's strings more easily. The abrasive strings can also injure people. During the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, kite flying was banned, among various other recreations.

In Pakistan, kite flying is often known as Gudi-Bazi or Patang-bazi. Although kite flying is a popular ritual for the celebration of spring festival known as Jashn-e-Baharaan (lit. Spring Festival) or Basant, kites are flown throughout the year. Kite fighting is a very popular pastime all around Pakistan, but mostly in urban centers across the country (especially Lahore). The kite fights are at their highest during the spring celebrations and the fighters enjoy competing with rivals to cut-loose the string of the others kite, popularly known as "Paecha". During the spring festival, kite flying competitions are held across the country and the skies are colored with kites. When a competitor succeeds in cutting another's kite loose, shouts of 'wo kata' ring through the air. Cut kites are reclaimed by chasing after them. This is a popular ritual, especially among the country's youth, and is depicted in the 2007 film The Kite Runner (although that story is based in neighboring Afghanistan). Kites and strings are a big business in the country and several different types of string are used, including glass-coated, metal, and tandi. Kite flying was banned in Punjab, India due to more than one motorcyclist death caused by glass-coated or metal kite strings. [45] Kup, Patang, Guda, and Nakhlaoo are some of the popular kite brands; they vary in balance, weight and speed.

In Indonesia kites are flown as both sport and recreation. One of the most popular kite variants is from Bali. Balinese kites are unique and they have different designs and forms; birds, butterflies, dragons, ships, etc. In Vietnam, kites are flown without tails. Instead small flutes are attached allowing the wind to "hum" a musical tune. There are other forms of sound-making kites. In Bali, large bows are attached to the front of the kites to make a deep throbbing vibration, and in Malaysia, a row of gourds with sound-slots are used to create a whistle as the kite flies. Malaysia is also home to the Kite Museum in Malacca. [46]

Kite are also popular in Nepal, especially in hilly areas and among the Pahadi and Newar communities, although people also fly kites in Terai areas. Unlike India, people in Nepal fly kites in August – September period and is more popular in time of Dashain. [47]

Kites are very popular in India, with the states of Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab notable for their kite fighting festivals. Highly maneuverable single-string paper and bamboo kites are flown from the rooftops while using line friction in an attempt to cut each other's kite lines, either by letting the cutting line loose at high speed or by pulling the line in a fast and repeated manner. During the Indian spring festival of Makar Sankranti, near the middle of January, millions of people fly kites all over northern India. Kite flying in Hyderabad starts a month before this, but kite flying/fighting is an important part of other celebrations, including Republic Day, Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, Viswakarma Puja day in late September and Janmashtami. An international kite festival is held every year before Uttarayan for three days in Vadodara, Surat and Ahmedabad.

Kites have been flown in China since ancient times. Weifang is home to the largest kite museum in the world. [48] [49] It also hosts an annual international kite festival on the large salt flats south of the city. There are several kite museums in Japan, UK, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA. In the pre-modern period, Malays in Singapore used kites for fishing. [50]

In Japan, kite flying is traditionally a children's play in New Year holidays and in the Boys' Festival in May. In some areas, there is a tradition to celebrate a new boy baby with a new kite (祝い凧). There are many kite festivals throughout Japan. The most famous one is "Yōkaichi Giant Kite Festival" in Higashiōmi, Shiga, which started in 1841. [51] The largest kite ever built in the festival is 62 feet (19 m) wide by 67 feet (20 m) high and weighs 3,307 pounds (1,500 kg). [52] In the Hamamatsu Kite Festival in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, more than 100 kites are flown in the sky over the Nakatajima Sand Dunes, one of the three largest sand dunes in Japan, which overlooks the Enshunada Sea. [53] Parents who have a new baby prepare a new kite with their baby's name and fly it in the festival. [54] These kites are traditional ones made from bamboo and paper.

Europe

Bermuda kite Bermuda Kite 01.jpg
Bermuda kite

In Greece and Cyprus, flying kites is a tradition for Clean Monday, the first day of Lent. In the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, traditional Bermuda kites are made and flown at Easter, to symbolise Christ's ascent. In Fuerteventura a kite festival is usually held on the weekend nearest to 8 November lasting for 3 days.

Polynesia

Polynesian traditional kites are sometimes used at ceremonies and variants of traditional kites for amusement. Older pieces are kept in museums. These are treasured by the people of Polynesia.

South America

A kite in the shape of the flag of Kuwait. The size when flat is 42 by 25 meters (138 ft x 82 ft), 1,050 square meters (11,300 sq ft). While flying it becomes a little smaller (about 900 square meters (9,700 sq ft)) due to curvature of the edges when inflated. Worlds Largest Kite - Aloft - Taken in 2004.jpg
A kite in the shape of the flag of Kuwait. The size when flat is 42 by 25 meters (138 ft × 82 ft), 1,050 square meters (11,300 sq ft). While flying it becomes a little smaller (about 900 square meters (9,700 sq ft)) due to curvature of the edges when inflated.

In Brazil, flying a kite is a very popular leisure activity for children, teenagers and even young adults. Mostly these are boys, and it is overwhelmingly kite fighting a game whose goal is to maneuver their own kites to cut the other persons' kites' strings during flight, and followed by kite running where participants race through the streets to take the free-drifting kites. As in other countries with similar traditions, injuries are common and motorcyclists in particular need to take precautions. [55]

In Chile, kites are very popular, especially during Independence Day festivities (September 18). In Peru, kites are also very popular. There are kite festivals in parks and beaches mostly on August.

In Colombia, kites can be seen flown in parks and recreation areas during August which is calles as windy. It is during this month that most people, especially the young ones would fly kites.

In Guyana, kites are flown at Easter, an activity in which all ethnic and religious groups participate. Kites are generally not flown at any other time of year. Kites start appearing in the sky in the weeks leading up to Easter and school children are taken to parks for the activity. It all culminates in a massive airborne celebration on Easter Monday especially in Georgetown, the capital, and other coastal areas. The history of the practice is not entirely clear but given that Easter is a Christian festival, it is said that kite flying is symbolic of the Risen Lord. Moore [56] describes the phenomenon in the 19th century as follows:

A very popular Creole pastime was the flying of kites. Easter Monday, a public holiday, was the great kite-flying day on the sea wall in Georgetown and on open lands in villages. Young and old alike, male and female, appeared to be seized by kite-flying mania. Easter 1885 serves as a good example. "The appearance of the sky all over Georgetown, but especially towards the Sea Wall, was very striking, the air being thick with kites of all shapes and sizes, covered with gaily coloured paper, all riding bravely on the strong wind.

(His quotation is from a letter to The Creole newspaper of December 29, 1858.)

The exact origins of the practice of kite flying (exclusively) at Easter are unclear. Bridget Brereton and Kevin Yelvington [57] speculate that kite flying was introduced by Chinese indentured immigrants to the then colony of British Guiana in the mid 19th century. The author of an article in the Guyana Chronicle newspaper of May 6, 2007 is more certain:

Kite flying originated as a Chinese tradition to mark the beginning of spring. However, because the plantation owners were suspicious of the planter class (read "plantation workers"), the Chinese claimed that it represented the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was a clever argument, as at that time, Christians celebrated Easter to the glory of the risen Christ. The Chinese came to Guyana from 1853–1879. [58]

World records

Chinese dragon kite more than one hundred feet long which flew at the annual Berkeley, California kite festival in 2000 Chinese dragon kite (Berkeley, California - 2000).jpg
Chinese dragon kite more than one hundred feet long which flew at the annual Berkeley, California kite festival in 2000

There are many world records involving kites. [59] The world's largest kites are inflatable single-line kites. The world record for the largest kite flown for at least 20 minutes is "The Flag of Kuwait". [60]

The world record for most kites flown simultaneously was achieved in 2011 when 12,350 kites were flown by children on Al-Waha beach in Gaza Strip. [61]

The single-kite altitude record is held by a triangular-box delta kite. On 23 September 2014 a team led by Robert Moore, flew a 129 square feet (12 m2) kite to 16,009 feet (4,880 m) above ground level. [62] The record altitude was reached after eight series of attempts over a ten-year period from a remote location in western New South Wales, Australia. The 9.2 feet (3 m) tall and 19.6 feet (6 m) wide Dunton-Taylor delta kite's flight was controlled by a winch system using 40,682 feet (12,400 m) of ultra high strength Dyneema line. The flight took about eight hours from ground and return. The height was measured with on-board GPS telemetry transmitting positional data in real time to a ground-based computer and also back-up GPS data loggers for later analysis. [63]

General safety issues

A man flying a kite on the beach, a good location for flying as winds travelling across the sea contain few up or down draughts which cause kites to fly erratically Man flying kite.jpg
A man flying a kite on the beach, a good location for flying as winds travelling across the sea contain few up or down draughts which cause kites to fly erratically

There are safety issues involved in kite-flying. Kite lines can strike and tangle on electrical power lines, causing power blackouts and running the risk of electrocuting the kite flier. Wet kite lines or wire can act as a conductor for static electricity and lightning when the weather is stormy. Kites with large surface area or powerful lift can lift kite fliers off the ground or drag them into other objects. In urban areas there is usually a ceiling on how high a kite can be flown, to prevent the kite and line infringing on the airspace of helicopters and light aircraft. It is also possible for fighter kites to kill people, as happened in India when three spectators were killed in separate incidents during Independence Day, August, 2016—precipitating a ban on certain types of enhanced line.

The government of Egypt banned kite-flying in July 2020, seizing 369 kites in Cairo and 99 in Alexandria, citing both safety and national security concerns. [64]

Designs

Types

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aircraft</span> Vehicle or machine that is able to fly by gaining support from the air

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, in a few cases, direct downward thrust from its engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, helicopters, airships, gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unpowered aircraft</span> Aerial vehicle capable of sustaining flight without onboard propulsion

Unpowered aircraft can remain airborne for a significant period of time without onboard propulsion. They can be classified as gliders, lighter-than-air balloons and tethered kites. In the case of kites, lift is obtained by tethering to a fixed or moving object, perhaps another kite, to obtain a flow of wind over the lifting surfaces. In the case of balloons, lift is obtained through inherent buoyancy and the balloon may or may not be tethered. Free balloon flight has little directional control. Gliding aircraft include sailplanes, hang gliders, and paragliders that have full directional control in free flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fixed-wing aircraft</span> Heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed wings generating aerodynamic lift

A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft, and ornithopters. The wings of a fixed-wing aircraft are not necessarily rigid; kites, hang gliders, variable-sweep wing aircraft and airplanes that use wing morphing are all classified as fixed-wing aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kite aerial photography</span> Type of photography

Kite aerial photography (KAP) is a type of photography. A camera is lifted using a kite and is triggered either remotely or automatically to take aerial photographs. The camera rigs can range from the extremely simple, consisting of a trigger mechanism with a disposable camera, to complex apparatus using radio control and digital cameras. On some occasions it can be a good alternative to other forms of aerial photography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport kite</span>

A sport kite, also commonly known as a stunt kite, is a type of kite that can be maneuvered in the air. A related kite, also controllable and used for recreation, but capable of generating a significant amount of pull and used for providing movement, is the power kite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power kite</span> Large kite designed to provide significant pull to the user

A power kite or traction kite is a large kite designed to provide significant pull to the user.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foil kite</span> Type of tethered wing

Foil kites are soft kites based on the design of the parafoil. They consist of a number of cells running fore to aft, some or all of which are open at the front to allow air to inflate the kite so it takes on an aerofoil section. Due to the amount of power that these kites can generate, they can be used for a variety of different activities including kitesurfing, kite landboarding, snowkiting, kite buggying, kite-energy systems or airborne wind energy, and recreational kiting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerostat</span> Lighter-than-air aircraft

An aerostat is a lighter-than-air aircraft that gains its lift through the use of a buoyant gas. Aerostats include unpowered balloons and powered airships. A balloon may be free-flying or tethered. The average density of the craft is lower than the density of atmospheric air, because its main component is one or more gasbags, a lightweight skin containing a lifting gas to provide buoyancy, to which other components such as a gondola containing equipment or people are attached. Especially with airships, the gasbags are often protected by an outer envelope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early flying machines</span> Aircraft developed before the modern aeroplane

Early flying machines include all forms of aircraft studied or constructed before the development of the modern aeroplane by 1910. The story of modern flight begins more than a century before the first successful manned aeroplane, and the earliest aircraft thousands of years before.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rokkaku dako</span>

The Rokkaku dako (六角凧) is a traditional six-sided Japanese fighter kite. Traditionally, it is made with bamboo spars and washi paper. The rokkaku kite is often hand painted with the face of a famous Samurai. The structure is a vertically stretched hexagon with a four-point bridle. One bamboo runs from tip to toe, and there are two cross-spars. Flown on a taut string, the kite is stable and rises rapidly. When the line is released, the kite tumbles until tension is put on the line, at which point it takes off in the direction of the spine. Fighting two or more of these kites involves tipping over or destabilizing the opposing kite or cutting its kite line or bridle. Cows are often painted on kites to resemble wealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allsopp Helikite</span>

The Allsopp Helikite is a type of kite-balloon or kytoon designed by Sandy Allsopp in the United Kingdom in 1993. This Helikite comprises a combination of a helium balloon and a kite to form a single, aerodynamically sound, tethered aircraft, that utilises both wind and helium for its lift.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Man-lifting kite</span> Kite designed to lift a person from the ground

A man-lifting kite is a kite designed to lift a person from the ground. Historically, man-lifting kites have been used chiefly for reconnaissance. Interest in their development declined with the advent of powered flight at the beginning of the 20th century. Recreational man-lifting kites gradually gained popularity through the latter half of the 20th century, branching into multiple sports. In the 21st century man-lifting kites are often used in kitesurfing, where brief launches can be followed by safe water landings and parasailing, where kites are towed behind a vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indoor kite</span>

Indoor kites are kites designed to fly in a windless environment. While principally designed for indoor use, they can also be flown outdoors when insufficient wind would render conventional kite-flying impossible. They are flown by using the relative wind provided by the motion of the kite-flier. This motion is typically generated by the user walking slowly, often walking backwards and in circular floor patterns, but it can also be achieved with suitable pulls along the kite lines with the pilot staying in place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glider (aircraft)</span> Aircraft designed for operation without an engine

A glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Most gliders do not have an engine, although motor-gliders have small engines for extending their flight when necessary by sustaining the altitude with some being powerful enough to take off by self-launch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fighter kite</span> Kite used in the sport of kite fighting

Fighter kites are kites used for the sport of kite fighting. Traditionally, most are small, unstable single-line flat kites where line tension alone is used for control, at least part of which is manja, typically glass-coated cotton strands, to cut down the line of others.

Different types of flying kites have niche applications. In nature, some animals, such as spiders, also make use of kiting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kite types</span>

Kites are tethered flying objects which fly by using aerodynamic lift, requiring wind for generation of airflow over the lifting surfaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bermuda kite</span>

A Bermuda kite is a kite made using traditional geometric designs, are quite colorful, and is an art form as much as a recreational tool. They are traditionally flown in Bermuda only at Easter. The kites are typically hexagonal, though larger examples, particularly, may be octagonal, or have even more sides. They are constructed from flat sticks arrayed like spokes of a wheel, with a nail at the axis. A string passes around the ends of the sticks, marking out the edges, and concentric strings are arranged inside of this, all contributing to the rigidity of the structure. Colored tissue paper is glued into the spaces created between strings and sticks. Using different colors, patterns are created. The kite has a single stick secured at one end to the axis, and rising at a shallow angle from the plane created by the other sticks. This stick, which forms the head of the kite, extends considerably beyond the perimeter of the hexagon. It passes over the midpoint of one side of the hexagon, and a string creates a triangular shape from the corner at one side of the head stick, to its tip, and back to the opposite corner. Strips of paper are folded and glued along this string. A long, cloth strip tail is fitted to the kite, without which it would be unable to fly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crosswind kite power</span> Form of wind-powered mechanical or electrical generation

Crosswind kite power is power derived from airborne wind-energy conversion systems or crosswind kite power systems (CWKPS). The kite system is characterized by energy-harvesting parts flying transverse to the direction of the ambient wind, i.e., to crosswind mode; sometimes the entire wing set and tether set is flown in crosswind mode. From toy to power-grid-feeding sizes, these systems may be used as high-altitude wind power (HAWP) devices or low-altitude wind power (LAWP) devices without having to use towers. Flexible wings or rigid wings may be used in the kite system. A tethered wing, flying in crosswind at many times wind speed, harvests wind power from an area that exceeds the wing's total area by many times.

Basant is a spring time kite flying event during the Basant Panchami festival in the Punjab. It falls on Basant, also called Basant Panchami. According to the Punjabi calendar it is held on the fifth day of lunar month of Magha marking the start of spring.

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