Dear Kite Friends
.:: What's Up
::.
Easter is once again upon us and
that means that the weather will start to cool down. For those of
you who live on the opposite side of the equator on the other
hand, things are heating up and you will undoubtedly get busy
out there enjoying the sunshine and the warm prevailing
winds.
Here in Blenheim the
restaurant trade slows right down in the winter so I will
have more time to spend in the studio developing some of those ideas
that have been lying around for a while. First on the list is the
Kit-Set which is nearly completed, this will be available from about
end of May from my site. For those of you who enjoy building
kites, this is a great little "Fish in Line' project that you can do
in your own studio or workshop at your own pace. Full instructional
documentation will be included.
.:: Fish in Line
::.
On the subject of "Fish in
Line"
I have been making some
new models and one of them has just gone to Bermuda and
will feature at the Good Friday kite fly held locally there. This is
a "Sergeant Major" a local species and
was commissioned by a Bermudan kiteflyer. This model is 4.5 meters
long x 3 meters tall or for the non metric amongst you, that
is roughly 14 x 10 ft.
.:: New Kites ::.
Also on de developing front,
there are several new kites on the drawing board. One in
particular needs to be worked on some more. It's purpose is to
serve as a lifter/stabilizer kite for larger kites and line
art. The shape is very radical in design but that doesn't
mean it will be suitable as a lifter. Only trials will tell. I
suppose it is one of those things you deal with as a designer,
it might look good but will it work?
.:: Angel Shark
::.
Another 5 x 7.50 meter [16 x 24 ft] version of my "Angel Shark"
was completed recently and is on it's way to enjoy the summer winds. This kite will fly without a lifter
kite, but in stronger winds I recommend a lifter for extra stability. There is a colour-in page at my site if you wish to play
around with colors for your very own version.
[
Click here]
to see a short movie. You will have to tilt your head because I had the camera on an 90
o angle, sorry about that.
Included with this kite is a new "Fin-drogue", a fish like drogue that will be supplied with most of my marine themed kites.
This drogue did have some extra fins at the trailing edge initially but were removed in the later design stages due to instability issues.
text in the image reads:]
Angelshark - testflight 05/04/06 - moderate winds - tested under a pilot for stability - needs some bridel alterations.
.:: New Toy ::.
Some of you might know that I recently purchased a new toy for the
studio, a sewing machine. I am very pleased with this machine and have not yet found out what it can't do. I know Sue is safe
because it can't cook so she is still with me, LOL.
What I do know it can do is a great job sewing those curved panels as found in most of the Fish in Line pieces.
What a difference this has made in terms of ease. I don't believe how I have done without one of these for so long.
If you are in the market for a new machine I highly recommend you get one of these.
Features include: Walking foot, auto back tack, thread cutting, auto foot lifter and many more that are related to stitching.
.:: Kite Festivals ::.
Plans to visit four festivals in Europe this coming August and September are well under way.
I look forward to my overseas trips as we all do. Planned for Dieppe [France] is a great fish in line display as part of their "Flora and Fauna" theme this year so my work is cut out for me over the coming months.
Visits to Emmen in the Netherlands as well as two festivals in England are also part of our itinery this year.
Sue and I hope to see you there
and if you can't make it, have a great season wherever you go.
Newsletter 
