Kite
Flyer
June 2000 Issue Route
66 Kite Club (R66KC)
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Kite Club Phoenix, AZ
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NEW Format Due To Our New Web site
Click Here To Go To Our New Web Site
Table Of Contents
(Just Click On The Left
Item Of Interest. It is recommended that all articles be read)
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Hot Buttons |
Descriptions
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Quick Thoughts From The Editor |
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Letter From The Director And/Or AKA News |
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This Months Flying Schedule |
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What Happened On Last Months Flys |
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Long Term Dates And Plans |
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Other Items Of interest |
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Questions To The Club |
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Unanswered Questions From Before |
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NEW! The Leading
Edge |
Special Tips and Tricks From The Fly’n Hawaiian NEW! |
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Notes From Our Very Own Kite And Banner Maker |
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Fun Kite Stuff |
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Lost Puppies And Things For Sale |
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Cover My Ass Legal Ease |
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Please Help Yourselves |
Web Site Links
(Just Click On Them And Go!)
Reminder: I will be publishing anything and
everything that comes my way that relates to kites. If you wish to communicate
with me, and DO NOT want something
used in the Kite Flyer, please indicate what part of your E-mail is private.
Otherwise, everything is fair game. Send me something, come on, I dare
you! In any event, I could really use the help so send your articles to: R66KC@TMSquared.com.
Sorry for the delay in this issue of the Kite Flyer but last minute
requests from the Paradise Valley Parks and Recreations department, requesting
our colorful aerial support of their event came in and was deemed necessary for
this issue. So......
Special attention should be taken
in noting the upcoming Forth Of July Events.
Well it has been a heck of a month with lots of fun in San Diego and
elsewhere. This issue includes lots of contributions from the membership, which
is a Godsend for the editor who is just about spent creating every article
himself. Many thanks to the membership and I might point out that this
newsletter is for the membership, and therefore should be by the membership. So
please feel free to submit your own contributions at any time. No matter how
small or trivial.
Club member biographies have been proposed for future issues, with the
permission of the members that is. Our Club Expert the Fly’n Hawaiian (he
doesn’t like to be called expert), has generously offered to provide a Tips And
Tricks section to the newsletter which can be found under the NEW
heading “The Leading Edge”. This is great because the Leading Edge will lead you into new areas of
flying, and as we all know a leading edge always ends in a tip. And so will this one.
The editor, the Gadget Man, would like to request a possible “Kids
Corner” from one of our interested younger members. Perhaps you could query
your younger kite enthusiasts to see if they might be interested in writing a
few short articles for the club. (And possibly school credit.) Please let us
know if any interest in this can be found. Our news letter has a National
audience, and perhaps they would like the thrill of writting to an ever growing
audience.
The editor has noted the concerns about e-mail size, and found that the
scanned in pictures have been the problem. The digital photos are not the
issue, so photos will continue. This month’s “As The Axle Turns” kite funnies,
will be in a follow-up e-mail by itself. In future the scanning process will be
scrutinized more closely and a means of producing a small scanned image will be
found.
As we keep saying, the club just keeps getting bigger and better. I
should remind everyone that May was the club renewal month so check your AKA
Registration to ensure that it is current, and catch us on the field to renew
your membership in the club. Our club membership is the lowest of any at
$5.00/person/year. This is due to all of the time donated and the fact that we
do all of our news letters etc. via E-mail. This saves on printing and postage.
So don’t forget to renew. A database will be developed soon to have a common
place to review memberships and renewals. Fear not if you have registered with
the club in the last six months or so, your memberships will be good until next
year.
I will look forward to seeing all of you on the fields soon, so pray for
wind and – Keep’em Fly’n
Gadget
AKA News Or
Directors Editorial
No news to report at this time.
Upcoming Flying Events
Note: All flying events will be from
12:00 noon through 4 or 5 p.m. unless otherwise posted.
Club Fly At The Original Hippie (Jim Jennings) Park – 06/04/00 –
Sunday: (See web site Kite
Field Recommendations for maps.)
Original Hippie Park (North)
Was the “Jim Jennings Park”, and can be located by going north on I-17 to Bell
Rd., west on Bell to 29th Ave., then south on 29th to
Grandview, and finally west again on Grandview for two blocks.
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Rating: |
Great |
Restrooms: |
None |
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Kiters That Can Fly: |
30 |
Drinking Fountains: |
None |
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Non-Kiter Visibility: |
Poor |
Park Benches: |
Yes |
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Distance To Amenities: |
1 Mile |
Shade Available: |
Lots |
Club Fly At The Schermanator Park – 06/17/00 – Saturday Father’s Day
Weekend: (See web site Kite Field Recommendations
for maps.) Let’s try to do
drinks and dinner after.
Scherminator Park (East)
This was the “Chris Schermann Park” and can be located on the southeast corner
Miller Rd. and Roosevelt St. in Scottsdale. Miller
runs north and south, midway between Scottsdale and Hayden Roads, and Roosevelt
is located one-half mile south of McDowell Road. The park is just west of,
the Indian Bend Wash/Park which has been deemed unsuitable due to the wash that
it was built in. Parking can be found at the Yavapai Elementary School
just to the south of the field.
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Rating: |
Good |
Restrooms: |
None |
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Kiters That Can Fly: |
18 |
Drinking Fountains: |
None |
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Non-Kiter Visibility: |
Good |
Park Benches: |
None |
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Distance To Amenities: |
1 Mile |
Shade Available: |
Limited |
The Forth Of July Weekend
Special Club Event
Club Fly At The Paradise Valley Park – 07/03/00 – Monday Forth Of
July Weekend:
We have been invited
by the Paradise Valley Parks and Recreations Department to display and
demonstrate, to a crowd of about 20,000 people, our kites, talents, and skills.
We have also been asked, wind permitting, if we would launch as many eye
catching single liners for the crowd to see, as we could muster.
This Park is located
on the Southwest corner of Union Hills and 40th Street. We have been
allocated a large area of the field at the North end of the park, next to Union
Hill Road. The Parks and Recreation people were so enthused that we could come
that they moved several vendors around so we could have a prime viewing
location for the public. So lets all attend this event and put on a great show.
The actual times for this event is from 6pm to 10pm, but we have been
authorized to arrive at 2pm to setup and fly before the event. Some assistance
will be needed the previous Sunday 07/02/00 for the tapping off of the flying
area for safety purposes. If interested in assisting please contact the Gadget
Man at: thomas.m.manson@boeing.com, or W-480-891-8042, or
H-623-939-6441 as soon as is possible.
Our Club Expert “The
Fly’n Hawaiian” will be present to demonstrate his skills and assist the rest
of us on how to make that breakthrough to the next plateau. Some new super
secret kites made by Hawaiian hands may magically appear at this event as well.
Optional Fly At The Peoria Sports Complex – 07/04/00 – Tuesday Forth
Of July Weekend:
This event was coordinated last year by Dave Evans of the Tucson
sponsored ArFF group. No info on this event is currently available, but as soon
as it is available, we will pass it along via E-mail.
Anyone with advance information on this event, please pass it along!
Note: By popular demand and the desire
to socialize after a fly with a meal and possibly drinks, the club flying
events will be moving, periodically,
to SATURDAYS!!! Stay tuned as to when
this will start. Park selection will be
alternated so that no single group of individuals will have to drive a long way
all of the time.
Special
Note: Jane
and I have purposely bought three
indestructible Beetles for guests! Please
do not hesitate to ask for them when you have a guest attending our events.
Latest Fly Reports
Club Fly Report For – 05/07/00 – Saturday: At the Riverview
Park. No one attended this event and so no fly report is available.
Recommended Fly With Willis Jr. High’s Aviation Fair – 05/13/00 –
Saturday: Due to sickness by the Gadget Man, the conflict with the San
Diego run, and miscommunications, this event fell through the cracks. The
school however, has praised our efforts on this first annual event and has
already asked that we attend their efforts next year. Way to go team!
Club Fly With Our Sister Club In San Diego Report For – 05/13/00 –
Saturday:
On the morning of May 12, Christina and I loaded the kites and clothes
into the Amigo and shot out to Meet Tom and Jane at the Cracker Barrel east of
town. Wayyy east of town. After a few wrong turns and a quick tour of
Tolleson, We met Tom and Jane and had a killer breakfast. Good food and company. We then convoyed out of the Valley and
headed off for San Diego. With a quick stop in Yuma we crossed the border into
California. About 5 hours after the
start of our journey, we hit San Diego.
As I scrambled to keep Tom's Mercedes in view in the San Diego traffic
we wound our way towards the beach. We
stopped at Tom and Jane's beach cottage and took our first look at the
ocean. After a quick trip to check into
our hotel, we went back over to the cottage and unloaded the kites.
Single Line Man
Tom was busy putting up single line kites in the crisp on-shore
wind. After a round of
"hello", I shot out onto the beach with my Prism Alien and some 40ft
lines. (I know, I know, wayyyyyy too
short for such a wicked little kite but the beach was a bit too crowded for
anything longer) While I was struggling
to keep the Alien inside the wind window I failed to pay attention to the Ocean. Next thing I knew, I fair sized wave hits
the beach and whoosh. Instant sea water
underwear. The ocean was still a tad
bit nippy (read that as COLD). With my frozen masculinity as a goad, I decided
to switch kites to something a bit more forgiving and a little less
radical. I walked back up to the
cottage, complained to Christina that the Ocean had "goosed" me and
that as my girlfriend she should go down and teach the Ocean a lesson. Female wisdom won out the day, and she told
me to deal with it. I switched over to
a Ventura HP from Premier Kites. (A Jutenhoops purchase) It's a cheap kite that
takes a bit of wind. It doesn't see
much fly time anymore as I have much better tools in the kite bag. By this time, Rocky Point Howard and his
wife had show up to join the crowd. I
shot down to the beach and put in some fly time with the HP. It would stay in the sky and if I cranked on
it just right, it would provide the illusion of a decent fade.
After a bit, I broke everything down and scooted back up to the cottage.
Everybody sat down and told lies and ate munchies as the sun went down. We all headed over to Tony Roma's for some
real food. After dinner and more talk,
everybody headed back to the cottage.
The beach was now deserted and even though the wind was gone, an attempt
was made to put up some Pro-Wrens with lights.
The skies were not cooperating with us on Friday night. After the equipment was broken down, we all
made arrangements to meet in the morning and then went our separate ways.
The R66KC and The SDKC
The morning of Saturday the 13th was bright and seemingly windless. We met Tom and Jane at the Beach Cottages,
futzed around for a bit and headed over to Mission Park for the Sister Club Fly
with the San Diego Kite Club. After
driving around a block party, we made it to the park with a minimal amount of
trauma. Banners and kites and wind
abounded. The fears of a windless day
evaporated as we stood in the brisk 8 to 12mph winds. After setting up and pressing the flesh, I decided that a trip
with the NASA wing was in order. I
learned that tangled quad lines are a pain and I will not try that method of
stowing lines again. After getting my
lines into shape (thanks Tom for the help), I launched that NASA wing and had a
ball. I'm still having a problem with
the sail collapsing, so another bridle is in order, but that's a project for
another day. Tom was busy putting up
his big delta with all, and I mean ALL, of his line laundry and R.P Howard was
working his WindDance 2 like it was going out of style. After a bit, we sat down for some good grub
provided by the SDKC members (Thanks y'all for the food) After lunch, there was
a memorial for Kite Flyers who had passed away, and afterwards Tom presented
Ron Despojado, (our Region 12 Director for AKA), with a honorary R66KC
membership along with T-shirt and invited the SDKC members to a BBQ at the
cottage that evening.
The Presentation
Then we went back to flying. I
whipped out a Premiere Pulse and slapped it on some 125-foot lines. I flew the hell out of it until I tangled my
lines into the wingtip of R.P. Howard's Beetle. My kite lines then slipped into the deadly grasp of the Twin
Helix on Tom's Delta. Within seconds,
my lines were a tangled mess. After removing the lines from the Helix, an
attempt was made to unknot them. (Thanks again Tom) I decided to deal with them later (The line set is still sitting
on my sewing table, begging for my attention.)
Out came some 75ft lines and the Pulse was back in the air. The wind was so clean that I could lay on
the grass and dive and swoop around without a care. (And that’s what he did!)
The ONLY way to fly............
I quick glance around the field revealed that most of the single line
kites were down and that the Revs were up.
There were Supersonics, Shockwaves and even a vented 1.5 in the
air. Too cool. At about 2:30, the decision was made to
break camp and head over to Kite Country.
After a short drive, we were drooling over kites. Victor was a cool guy and had all the parts
that I needed for a project that I'm working on as time allows. Tom scored a bunch of stuff. I know of a Beetle, Illusion and a ROK plus
some parts that left with Tom. We then
scrambled back to the cottage to fire up the BBQ. As the coals were lit, Tom started throwing single liners
up. The new ROK worked like a champ
right out of the bag. It was stapled in
the sky and hung in there as the winds faltered in the twilight hours of the
night. As the evening passed by, Ron
Despojado, Jane and Jim, and a few of the other SDKC folks joined us. After dinner and more lies, the kites were
broken out for a night fly. A fair on
shore breeze of 4 to 5mph allowed both ProWrens (myself) and Prophecies (Tom
and Jane) to lake to the sky. Ron D.
put in some time on Tom's Prophecy and showed off some of his skills. (Man, can that guy work a wing...) At about 10pm the day's activities caught up
with Christina and myself and we decided that bed was in order. We said our good byes and made arrangements
to meet in the morning for breakfast before leaving town.
The morning of Sunday the 14th almost came and went without our conscious
presence as both Christina and myself slept through the alarm clock. After a quick scramble to get ready and
check out of the room, we met Tom and Jane for a farewell breakfast and a cool
little restaurant on the boardwalk. Once again the food and company were both
excellent. We then parted ways as Tom
was going back to Kite Country and we were returning to Phoenix. Christina and
myself arrived back in town at about 7pm Sunday night and were greeted by the
pets that admonished us for not taking them with us.
All and all, it was a blast. My
only regret is that we didn't have more time to hang in S.D. with Tom and Jane,
who were excellent hosts. Kudos to both
of them of making S.D. a great place to hang and providing a familiar face in a
city of strangers.
Oh, by the way. Driving across
the desert is very conducive to thought.
I got a slew of cool ideas that are working their way into reality as we
speak. Check the web page in the
upcoming weeks for a glimpse of what the desert sun did to my mind. (Evil Grin)
Since the return to Phoenix, everything has been fairly busy, so nothing
has happened with the web site. I'm
sorry and will strive to put a bit more effort into it.
See ya all on the fly field.
Jonathan Dellmar AKA Al-Habib, The Tent Maker
Club Fly Report For – 05/21/00 – Sunday: At the Original
Hippie Park. No one attended this event and so no fly report is available.
Tempe Town Lake Reports
From: Al-Habib
Hola Tom.
I went to see MI-2 last
night. Fairly good movie. They had a 2 or 3-second close-up of a
patchwork delta single liner with spinners off of the tips. Fairly
cool. Christina and I then went over to the Rio Saldo (SP?) park in Tempe.
Good wind for the time and temperature. Not too much room.
Depending on wind conditions and directions you could get anywhere from 3 to 8
flyers on 60ft lines. The good side is that with the compact space (the
park is skinny as far as the north-south direction, but long on the east-west
axis) there were not a bunch of people. It might just make a decent
summer night fly location. Something to think about. They have
porta johns out and the park is open until midnight. We went out there on
a Saturday night and Park population was zip-nada. Kind of ironic since
Mill Ave is a stone throw away and was bumping, even with the collage kids
gone.
See ya on the 4th.
Jonathan Dellmar AKA Al-Habib, The
Tent Maker
From: The Schermanator
Hi Tom,
Here is my fly report:
While I haven't attended any of the scheduled flying events lately,
I have managed to make it down to Tempe Town Lake several times for some short
flies on my own. I have found a grassy area that is pretty
good (not perfect mind you, but pretty good) for kite flying. This
area is located on the south shore of the lake, just west of Scottsdale Road.
I like this area because the winds tend to be pretty smooth and steady
through there. Because of the large, flat expanse of the lake, there are
not many obstructions out there to cause turbulence. Another nice
thing is that you can watch the sailboats out on the lake while you
are flying. I also like this area because it's not too far from my
house (a major selling point for me).
Now for the bad points. First, there is absolutely no
shade or drinking water out there. And although I haven't tested it, I
don't believe the Tempe police would be too keen on the idea of seeing a
bunch of umbrellas erected out there either. Also, the flying
field is narrow, and is bordered on both sides by light posts (kite
catchers). Lastly, the field slopes about 20 degrees down towards
the lake.
In summary, this area has a lot of major drawbacks. The
strongest point in its favor is the good wind to be found there. I
wouldn't recommend that anyone drive very far to fly there. However, if
you live near the lake, or just happen to be in the area, I think it's worth
your while to give it a try. If they ever develop some large, flat
grassy areas near the lake, I believe this would become an exceptional flying
area.
Chris
Schermann AKA The Schermanator
Other Fly
Reports:
From: Doc
Hi Tom,
You have asked for recent fly reports and at first I thought I didn't have
anything to report, but on reflection I think I do.
At the NKM Fly on April 30th, a friend of mine named Mike came to watch
us fly. Mike had previously expressed an interest in learning the sport so as
soon as he arrived I broke out the trusty Beetle and with in just a few minutes
Mike had that Beetle zipping through the sky. What everyone else might not have
noticed is the look of pure joy on his face as his smile split the sky. As that
Beetle did its thing in the sky Mike kept repeating over and over "I love
it!!! "
Soon Mike's oldest daughter, Michele, arrived and she immediately said,
"I want to fly too!" Like a chip off the old block, Michele picked up
the lines and immediately self launched the Beetle and off she went. Her expression was the same as her fathers,
"I love it!!"
Since that day Mike and Michele have each become the proud owners of a
Beetle and fly every chance they get. I tell you this because I think it is a
good example of how our sport gives back to people and brings people to
together in friendship.
What a great hobby!!
Dennis (The Doc) Hardy
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From: Al-Habib
Hola Tom.
I haven't hit any of
the fly days that you're asking for a report on. San Diego, company picnics and all...
However, I did manage to score some time in the middle of last week when
we had good wind. The winds were out of
the west at 15-20 mph. I finally
managed to fly my Rev. You could see the sail getting bent way-y-y-y out of
shape. There were quite a few trees in
the park so winds were choppy up to about 25 feet. No big problem, except that I was on a set of 40 to 50 foot
lines. I did some very impressive
"leading edge slams" against the ground. That Rev EXP is one tough
kite. I really expected it to blow a
spar or something. It took all my abuse
and came out like a champ.
Wahoo... Too cool. Gimme more.
I also made repairs to My Flying Wings Utopia. After my maiden flight, I broke a spreader. I picked up a replacement spar at Kite
Country in San Diego. (BTW, a cool shop. A little tight on floor space, but he had
every part that I wanted.) I also
repaired all the super glued joints that had broken. I bought the kite for way under $100.00 from Yikes Kites during
their "going out of business sale" so I don't have any idea how long
it had been sitting around. All the
joints were coming loose and the spreader broke while I was taking the kite
apart after flying. It took about 2
hours of work to get it back up to snuff and to make modifications that make
setting it up much easier. I took it
out on for a test flight right before sundown.
I had winds that were 1-3 mph.
Twitchy little beast. I really
think that another mile or two of wind would have made all the difference.
Fling Wings rates the kite at 1-12 mph.
I think that it really needs 3 mph to work right. Oh well, maybe another day.
I also got some fly time in on my ProWren at my company picnic on
Saturday the 20th. The company picnic
was at Chaparral park by the soccer fields. Winds were out of the south at 2-5
mph. The ProWren made me look good.
That sucker is one awesome kite. Definitely
my favorite "non-Prism" kite in the bag if not the favorite kite
overall. As we head into summer, I
think that my ProWren will see the most fly time.
I've ordered a Rev Shockwave, A Rev Indoor and a Prism Micron from GWTW.
The prices were too awesome to pass up.
I also picked up Prism's Advanced Way to Fly, a Prism banner, Prism Pin
and a center "T" for a kite that I'm working on. All this was under $325.00 including 3 day
UPS. They arrive on Friday. I can not wait. (Evil Grin)
I've also completed a carry bag for my kites. It's a tapered design with a healthy sized pocket for all the
stuff. It works well and hauls a bunch
of kites, including the Prism Legacy that's too long to fit in a typical 6-foot
bag.
On to the proposed fly on Monday...
How about a Sunday fly with a dinner afterwards? I've got to work on Monday, as does
Christina. I can skate in a little late
on Monday, but definitely need to put in a big chunk of time. Sunday with a
dinner would let us all conglomerate and shoot the breeze and catch up with
everybody.
BTW. The new toys arrived today. I'm drooling right now. The Indoor Rev looks tasty in it's bright
red and white colors. The Supersonic
isn't too far behind in the Blue / White / Wine color combo. Ahhhh.....
Gotta love new toys.
Jonathan AKA Al-Habib, the Tent
Maker
(Special Note: We need to find more
parks with an audience to introduce more non-fliers to the sport. Some
discussion at the last fly was made of parks that might fit the bill. Please
send in your recommendations ASAP so that we can start trying them out. R66KC@TMSquared.com.)
Future & Annual Events
Sunshine Acres Children’s Home/Orphanage Ch