We had been invited to a charity kite festival in aid of the Prince's Trust taking place at Alexandra Palace Park in north London. So after yet another early start, we turned up on the flying site to find absolutely no wind. This has got to be the most frustrating kite flying October on record.
Well we dutifully pitched our equipment and waited for some wind. Every so often there would be a gentle blow from the east, but by the time I had got the dopero 50 feet off the ground, the wind would disappear again. This was to be the format of the day. The announcer kept apologising for th elack of wind, thanked all th einvited clubs (GOKF; BKF; WHKF and KKF) for coming, an dhoping that if the wind arrived, WHKF would teddy drop and we would KAP.
The day drew longer and longer and still no wind. The display teams did their best, but were also fighting a losing battle. Even Team spectrum seemed to give up! The high point of the day has to be Chris Goff's magnificent display in no wind. It included him getting grounded in a corner of the arena, jumping over the barrier to re-launch his kite, then 360ing back into the arena, again jumping over the barrier without landing. Spectacular, energetic and extremely skilful.
By far the high point of the afternoon was when a helicpter flew down from the north towing a huge England Flag in support of the RWC final that night.I cannot start to descibe how big the flag was, but if there had been any wind, I think the pilot would have found himself in extreme difficulty.
Late afternoon, the wind picked up to the point where I actually put a camera on the line. It floated around a bit before coming back down to earth. I think I managed to get above head height temporarily, I might even have got a photograph. And that was it really. So we packed up and went home, to meet all the crowds coming out of the Emirates Stadium - Arsenal had been playing at home!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Hardelot Plage, then Canterbury with no Wind
Saturday 13th Saw the KKF away team decend on Hardelot Plage for Christmas lunch. If you want to understand the story behind that, then go to the Kent Kite Flyers home page. We were booked on an early ferry and got to dover in plenty of time. However our navigation in France let us down, and we came off the wrong motorway junction and ended up heading into Samer. To make matters worse, as we followed the map to get to Hardelot, we carried straight on, instead of going left. Things looked ok, until the narrow lane we were going down petered out into a dirt track. At this point Matt suggested we turn around as we appeared to be heading off to Royston Pavey!
Well we eventually got to Hardelot, and we may have been last to arrive, but I was first to get flying as the dopero took to the sky. It looked promising as there was plenty of lift to get the camera aloft. And after pre-flight checks,
we were off and up into the sky. But the wind was only playing with us. Well I managed to keep the kite aloft, then headed up onto the sea wall. I was really hoping to be able to get into the little play area just behind the restaurant. 
Unfortunately the wind was rapidly disappearing. I stood helpless on the sea wall as the camera dropped too fast for me to reel in without hitting the wall. So with perfect judgement, or was it luck, the camera landed on the sand just in front of the sea wall, and the kite settled onto the sand on the waters edge. Though it did fall backwards so that it got a good salt water washing.
Ahe well, that was it for KAP for the day. The journey back was uneventful, except that this time we missed the exit for the car ferry, and were heading off towards Dunkirk, so missed the ferry by minutes.
So on SUnday we met up again for OSOW in Canterbury. There was even less wind than there had been in France. I managed to get the Dopero aloft, and even put a camera on the line, but we weren't going to get enough lift to do anythin worthwhile. However it was a good opportunity to get the kite dry in glorious sunshine. Oh well. We're off to Alexandra Palace next weekend. Hoping for a little bit more breeze so we can KAP away like contented little bunnies.
Well we eventually got to Hardelot, and we may have been last to arrive, but I was first to get flying as the dopero took to the sky. It looked promising as there was plenty of lift to get the camera aloft. And after pre-flight checks,
we were off and up into the sky. But the wind was only playing with us. Well I managed to keep the kite aloft, then headed up onto the sea wall. I was really hoping to be able to get into the little play area just behind the restaurant. Unfortunately the wind was rapidly disappearing. I stood helpless on the sea wall as the camera dropped too fast for me to reel in without hitting the wall. So with perfect judgement, or was it luck, the camera landed on the sand just in front of the sea wall, and the kite settled onto the sand on the waters edge. Though it did fall backwards so that it got a good salt water washing.Ahe well, that was it for KAP for the day. The journey back was uneventful, except that this time we missed the exit for the car ferry, and were heading off towards Dunkirk, so missed the ferry by minutes.
So on SUnday we met up again for OSOW in Canterbury. There was even less wind than there had been in France. I managed to get the Dopero aloft, and even put a camera on the line, but we weren't going to get enough lift to do anythin worthwhile. However it was a good opportunity to get the kite dry in glorious sunshine. Oh well. We're off to Alexandra Palace next weekend. Hoping for a little bit more breeze so we can KAP away like contented little bunnies.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Bewl kite weekend
After much umming and erring, it was finally decided pretty late in the season that the kite weekend would go ahead. So armed with a car full of kites I headed off for Bewl on the Saturday. The weather forecast looked good, and we weren't to be disappointed. A good strong breeze blew all day, and with the occasional sun, we were able to keep kites in the air all through Saturday, and even managed to get in a little bit of night flying.
Sunday was to be a different story. Having had a quite busy Saturday, I wanted to try and get some KAP done on Sunday. When I got to the site at abot 11am, things didn't look good. But I decided to try the dopero and see what happened. Well it took over an hour of hard graft to get the kite airborne and stable enough to trust the camera to. I managed to get some half decent photographs, but it was a constant battle to keep the camera aloft. We were also surrounded by mist. Whilst we were flying on top of the hill, down in the valley and overlooking the reservoir, everything was just a little dim.
Just after I brought the camera rig down the wind dropped completely, and it wasn't long before the kite was lying on the ground. It looked as if that was going to be it for the day. But at about 3pm, or maybe a bit later, a breeze picked up, So I deceded to try a premier 80inch rokkaku. The kite picked up and flew very nicely, and it wasn't long before I was willing to entrust the camera to it. I wanted to get out over the boat park, and if possible try to get high enough to get some decent shots down towards teh dam. This time, everything was going just right. So feeding out line, the camera was climbing steadily, and every so often I'd stop and take some more pictures. This is possibly one of my favourites, looking down the reservoir into the sun, which gives it a nice moody feel.
I think there is about 1,000 feet of line on my reel. We had permission to fly up to 1,000 feet from the CAA, and so I decided to make reasonable use of the sky. I think I eventually had out about 900 feet of line, and the camera was about 200 feet below the kite. Given the angle of the line, I would guess that at its highest, the camera was somewhere between five and six hundred feet above ground, and was working perfectly. Its at times like this you discover things you never knew from the ground. Out behind the boat park, there nestles a house and nursery.
And this is my favourite of the reservoir and dam, from when the kite was probably at its highest.
Finally thanks to Ray who volunteered to wind in line while I walked down the kite from its highest point. He's the guy in the leathers in this photo.
Sunday was to be a different story. Having had a quite busy Saturday, I wanted to try and get some KAP done on Sunday. When I got to the site at abot 11am, things didn't look good. But I decided to try the dopero and see what happened. Well it took over an hour of hard graft to get the kite airborne and stable enough to trust the camera to. I managed to get some half decent photographs, but it was a constant battle to keep the camera aloft. We were also surrounded by mist. Whilst we were flying on top of the hill, down in the valley and overlooking the reservoir, everything was just a little dim.
Just after I brought the camera rig down the wind dropped completely, and it wasn't long before the kite was lying on the ground. It looked as if that was going to be it for the day. But at about 3pm, or maybe a bit later, a breeze picked up, So I deceded to try a premier 80inch rokkaku. The kite picked up and flew very nicely, and it wasn't long before I was willing to entrust the camera to it. I wanted to get out over the boat park, and if possible try to get high enough to get some decent shots down towards teh dam. This time, everything was going just right. So feeding out line, the camera was climbing steadily, and every so often I'd stop and take some more pictures. This is possibly one of my favourites, looking down the reservoir into the sun, which gives it a nice moody feel.
I think there is about 1,000 feet of line on my reel. We had permission to fly up to 1,000 feet from the CAA, and so I decided to make reasonable use of the sky. I think I eventually had out about 900 feet of line, and the camera was about 200 feet below the kite. Given the angle of the line, I would guess that at its highest, the camera was somewhere between five and six hundred feet above ground, and was working perfectly. Its at times like this you discover things you never knew from the ground. Out behind the boat park, there nestles a house and nursery.
And this is my favourite of the reservoir and dam, from when the kite was probably at its highest.
Finally thanks to Ray who volunteered to wind in line while I walked down the kite from its highest point. He's the guy in the leathers in this photo.
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