Buggies, Boats, and Peels: State-of-the-Art Kite Traction and Owner's Manual.

Buggies, Boats, and Peels State-of-the-Art Kite Traction & Owner's Manual Peter Lynn. 1992; 15 pp. $9.95 postpaid.

KiteLines and Buggies, Boats and Peels both available from KiteLines, PO Box 466, Randallstown, MD 21133, 410/922-1212, fax 410/922-4262, kitelines@compuserve.com.

Kiters are a restless bunch. Always something new...or old. Here is some of what's keeping kiteniks looking skyward.

Kite Aerial Photography

Well-known photos of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were taken with (heavy) cameras mounted on (gargantuan) kites. Today KAP is more popular than ever. With current technology (small cameras with auto-wind, radio controllers) you'll be snapping photos from several hundred feet skyward with better results and more fun than ever.

Though primarily a hobby, there are practical applications to KAP that should not be overlooked. Aerial photos of sensitive wetlands, or other areas that are not practical for low-flying air travel, can be useful tools. And artistic possibilities extend as high as your imagination; create some enormous crop art, then document with your kite camera!

Afficionados stay in touch and exchange ideas through their own magazine, the handsome Aerial Eye. Here you find plans for camera hangers, advice on the best kite models to haul everything upstairs, and an excellent gallery of photos from a bird's eye view.

To get up to shooting height, order the tech sheet written by Aerial Eye editor Brookes Leffler and available (free with SASE) from the American Kitefliers Association (the place to keep yourself in touch with all matters kitific). And be sure to check out Charles Benton's astonishing KAP website at http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/~cris/kap/ index.html. Major inspiration.

Kite Traction

Again, not new. A Brit patented a kite-pulled carriage in 1823. But now speeds are higher than ever, and it!s possible to travel pretty much where you please, rather than merely downwind. Sophisticated small catamarans pulled by kites are setting experimental wind-driven speed records on water, and there's all sorts of fun to be had on sand or your local salt flat or field.

Three-wheeled buggies are the vehicle of choice on land, and any manner of center: board craft is suitable for water. Power is supplied by maneuverable two-lined kites that are stacked to match the windspeed. There's thorough traction information at the AKA website at www.aka.kite.org/traction.html. In lieu of any book or magazine on the subject, order the brief yet concentrated Buggies, Boats, & Peels by New Zealand kite and buggy maker Peter Lynn. And reading KiteLines magazine will keep you up to speed on all the endeavors touched upon here. Plus, it's an impeccably written, full-color publication--the next best thing to being on the field!

Indoor Kites

Indoor spaces will never replace your favorite meadow or beach. But, given enough headroom, new lightweight materials and intelligent design make it possible to ballroom dance with your kite. It's great fun. The models of choice for indoor competitors are made by GuildWorks or Buena Vista Kiteworks. The former, designed using the tensegrity principles of Bucky Fuller, are ingenious and beautiful objects, though be warned that the skills required to fly these tri- or quad-lined kites don't come easily.

Buggies, Boats, and Peels: State-of-the-Art Kite Traction and Owner's Manual.

Buggies, Boats, and Peels State-of-the-Art Kite Traction & Owner's Manual Peter Lynn. 1992; 15 pp. $9.95 postpaid.

KiteLines and Buggies, Boats and Peels both available from KiteLines, PO Box 466, Randallstown, MD 21133, 410/922-1212, fax 410/922-4262, kitelines@compuserve.com.

Kiters are a restless bunch. Always something new...or old. Here is some of what's keeping kiteniks looking skyward.

Kite Aerial Photography

Well-known photos of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were taken with (heavy) cameras mounted on (gargantuan) kites. Today KAP is more popular than ever. With current technology (small cameras with auto-wind, radio controllers) you'll be snapping photos from several hundred feet skyward with better results and more fun than ever.

Though primarily a hobby, there are practical applications to KAP that should not be overlooked. Aerial photos of sensitive wetlands, or other areas that are not practical for low-flying air travel, can be useful tools. And artistic possibilities extend as high as your imagination; create some enormous crop art, then document with your kite camera!

Afficionados stay in touch and exchange ideas through their own magazine, the handsome Aerial Eye. Here you find plans for camera hangers, advice on the best kite models to haul everything upstairs, and an excellent gallery of photos from a bird's eye view.

To get up to shooting height, order the tech sheet written by Aerial Eye editor Brookes Leffler and available (free with SASE) from the American Kitefliers Association (the place to keep yourself in touch with all matters kitific). And be sure to check out Charles Benton's astonishing KAP website at http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/~cris/kap/ index.html. Major inspiration.

Kite Traction

Again, not new. A Brit patented a kite-pulled carriage in 1823. But now speeds are higher than ever, and it!s possible to travel pretty much where you please, rather than merely downwind. Sophisticated small catamarans pulled by kites are setting experimental wind-driven speed records on water, and there's all sorts of fun to be had on sand or your local salt flat or field.

Three-wheeled buggies are the vehicle of choice on land, and any manner of center: board craft is suitable for water. Power is supplied by maneuverable two-lined kites that are stacked to match the windspeed. There's thorough traction information at the AKA website at www.aka.kite.org/traction.html. In lieu of any book or magazine on the subject, order the brief yet concentrated Buggies, Boats, & Peels by New Zealand kite and buggy maker Peter Lynn. And reading KiteLines magazine will keep you up to speed on all the endeavors touched upon here. Plus, it's an impeccably written, full-color publication--the next best thing to being on the field!

Indoor Kites

Indoor spaces will never replace your favorite meadow or beach. But, given enough headroom, new lightweight materials and intelligent design make it possible to ballroom dance with your kite. It's great fun. The models of choice for indoor competitors are made by GuildWorks or Buena Vista Kiteworks. The former, designed using the tensegrity principles of Bucky Fuller, are ingenious and beautiful objects, though be warned that the skills required to fly these tri- or quad-lined kites don't come easily.