Ever do stupid things with kites? I did.

[WV. Rootman]

I think a lot about UAS rules. Which in turn, made me think about other things that fly. Kite rules have gotten strict also, or I was one ignorant kid.
I lived on Hilton Head Island and used to fly my kite on the beach. Seem to always be a nice breeze coming off the ocean. As a teen I would push the limits. I always flew my kite high and would have people ask if there was really something on the end of my string? So one day, I decided to fly it out of site. To make it short, I did!

The rules are much more strict now. Generally stay below 500ft. 5 mile rule from airports pertains to kites also. UK is strict. There are so many rules and discussions of what you can and can not do. I thought I was reading Phantom Pilots forum. They also have had close calls with low flying aircraft. All those ignorant people on the beach.

Have you ever done something stupid with a kite? Here is a site that has a good synopsis of the rules and flying heights for different countries. KAP Safety - KAPwiki

 

[Fly Dawg]

Kite rules have gotten strict also, or I was one ignorant kid.

No, you were not. Think about it. If you are in the over 50 category, you know things were much different back then. Not just with Kites, but everything. There were no rules for kites at the time, nor any other simple hobby aircraft,( I am not speaking of full RC aircraft of the time.) that I am aware of and even if there were when you are say between 8 and 13 years old you don't have a clue about any rules. You just did what you wanted and there were very seldom any repercussions from that.

 

[BigAl07]

I'm 47 and yes we did some crazy things with kites. My dad taught me and my best friend how to fly kites and we developed a process to get them WAY high so they got into upper level winds so they would fly over night when the wind normally diminished.

We flew them from "Kite Stands" that had a nice comfy seat and a geared hand crank so we could rewind the line fairly quickly. We used spools of very high strength monofilament that was larger than a 5 gallon bucket. I'd imagine there was easily over 5000'FT on each spool if not a lot more.

We also attached "fliers" the to line and watched them go up and up and up until the wind was too strong and it ripped them off the line (littering now that I think about it).

We always attached name and phone #'s to our kites "just in case". One time we had one go down over night. Mid morning our phone rang (house phone attached to the wall) and it was a young man 3 MILES away who had found my kite in his front yard. We mentioned there was a small reward and my mom offered to drive to get it and deliver the reward ($10 I think). He said he would bring it over later in the day. Sure enough that afternoon 2 young men walked up carrying my kite. They had walked "across town" to deliver a kite. Mom was so impressed she gave them $30 and a ride home.

 

[Fly Dawg]

(house phone attached to the wall)

Rotary?.....That's what I had......

 

[BigAl07]

Rotary?.....That's what I had......

Yes sir rotary with a veeerrrryyyy long cord lol.

 

[tevek]

Well I’m knocking on the door of 60 and remember a time when things were very simple and essentially care free. I learnt to ride my first motorcycle (up to number 27 at the moment) on the beach strip and no one cared. I too flew kites and lost most of them and had a ball. Fast forward 40 odd years and many many RC craft (mostly deceased), a number of phantoms and have made the decision to go back to racing drones to try and keep the balance between obeying the rules and enjoying the hobby. Fortunately I live in a a very small community with thousands of acres to fly in but with the most recent app restrictions identifying hitherto unknown ‘airstrips’, the freestyle nature of racing quads became a lot more attractive.
Thou shalt not give up....

 

[gingerbloke]

I broke several ribs flying a kite (actually two at the same time) - does that count as stupid? A&E were laughing when I told them how I did it - no sympathy at all.

I'm pretty experienced with kites (and sailing) but the wind that day was very odd (a guy was killed the same day in Ipswich).

I'm slightly wiser.....

 

[tcope]

Jump ahead to 3:15 on this video. Had this kite up (450 sq feet) a couple of weeks ago and was putting up a few more kites when I looked over and the two 18" tent spikes and seatbelt webbing used as an anchor were bouncing down the field. Ran after them and just managing to grab the bag of line. Ran 10' to a nearby tree and managed to run around it once before the kite got the wind and pulled the line. I was wearing leather gloves and the line pulled my hand and wedged it into the tree. My hand was getting crushed. I yelled at two guys playing frisbee golf and they ran over. They grabbed the seatbelt webbing and pulled it to the tree. We wrapped it around the tree and the kite was secure. Had the kite gone 500', it would have hit a tree. With a 160' tail, that is no fun.

Not my largest kite. Largest is 525 sq feet. Years ago that one broke free and glided down just short of a rock climbing trailer that was set up. Those are the only two times in 18 years that kites have got away from me. No fun.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Jump ahead to 3:15 on this video. Had this kite up (450 sq feet) a couple of weeks ago and was putting up a few more kites when I looked over and the two 18" tent spikes and seatbelt webbing used as an anchor were bouncing down the field. Ran after them and just managing to grab the bag of line. Ran 10' to a nearby tree and managed to run around it once before the kite got the wind and pulled the line. I was wearing leather gloves and the line pulled my hand and wedged it into the tree. My hand was getting crushed. I yelled at two guys playing frisbee golf and they ran over. They grabbed the seatbelt webbing and pulled it to the tree. We wrapped it around the tree and the kite was secure. Had the kite gone 500', it would have hit a tree. With a 160' tail, that is no fun.

Not my largest kite. Largest is 525 sq feet. Years ago that one broke free and glided down just short of a rock climbing trailer that was set up. Those are the only two times in 18 years that kites have got away from me. No fun.

Fantastic kites.

 

[BigAl07]

Jump ahead to 3:15 on this video. Had this kite up (450 sq feet) a couple of weeks ago and was putting up a few more kites when I looked over and the two 18" tent spikes and seatbelt webbing used as an anchor were bouncing down the field. Ran after them and just managing to grab the bag of line. Ran 10' to a nearby tree and managed to run around it once before the kite got the wind and pulled the line. I was wearing leather gloves and the line pulled my hand and wedged it into the tree. My hand was getting crushed. I yelled at two guys playing frisbee golf and they ran over. They grabbed the seatbelt webbing and pulled it to the tree. We wrapped it around the tree and the kite was secure. Had the kite gone 500', it would have hit a tree. With a 160' tail, that is no fun.

Not my largest kite. Largest is 525 sq feet. Years ago that one broke free and glided down just short of a rock climbing trailer that was set up. Those are the only two times in 18 years that kites have got away from me. No fun.

That's nothing less than IMPRESSIVE! Thank you for sharing.

 

[Brockrock]

I got really into Power Kites a couple of years ago. Although they are primarily for pulling buggies, skiing, or surfing, I was happy just flying them for exercise, and I was always quite sore after a session. 15 kts of wind and a 5 meter kite can pull you all over the beach, and it can easily pull you right over if you’re not paying attention.

This a screenshot from a recent video of my nephew flying on a light wind day. After, he told me - with a smile - that he was trying to hit my P4......

 

[AWD]

Wow. Excellent shots at the end from the drone.

The bad part is now you've got me all fired up to drag out some of my old Sutton "sleds" and hang some laundry off of them so I can get some drone shots!

Thanks for the ideas.

AD (I hand kites out to kids too!)

 

[tcope]

AD (I hand kites out to kids too!)

Not to get too much OT but around the middle of Sept each year I visit Kmart and clean them out of their X-Kites. X-Kites make some good kids kites and they clear them out for $1.00 all the way down to $.50. I end up buying about 100 and then give them away to kids when I'm flying. Tough to find K-marts these days though.