Experiences in KAP

Detling Hill (again)

2010-03-21T20:57:00.002Z

Well the day didn't go entirely as planned. The intention ws to fly at the Hook and Hatchet pub in Hucking. When we got there, we found that there was a power cable runnign across the pub's field, and the field behind the pub, which is on Woodland Trust land had a flock of sheep with their lambs. We decided that it would do us no favours to disturb the sheep and upset the farmer, so we retired to the pub an considered our options. Just down the road is Detling Hill, so we repaired there for an afternoons flying.

This turned out to be a great call as the day was clear and a good breeze (for the most part) allowed me to carry out more tests on my autoKAP rig. Recently I bought myself a GPS data logger and I've been playing with this a bit. I did some tests with a camera wedged into the windscreen of my car and the datalogger beside it, and got some excellent results. So today was to be the logger's first flight. It records altitude - above sea level - which is good fun too, especially if you load things into Google Earth and look at it in 3d mode. Anyway enough of this.

So to start with, the wind was very light and I decided to try a large rokkaku. This flew well, and after adjusting the bridle a bit, we were ready to go. the kite flew out of hand easily and took line and with the camera attached, continued to climb. I had the camera set on a 2 minute delay, then taking 60 photos at 10 second intervals. After a while, the kite started misbehaving. Having had about 10 minute flight I was ready to come down anyway. So having brought kite and camera down, a check showed that the top spreader bow had released, hence the unstable flight. With the kite fixed I let it fly a while longer.

After that I flew a double conyne delta with a long tail, and then, as the wind had climbed a little, decided to try a smaller rokkaku with the camera. So off we went again and got another trip of about 10 minutes, after which the batteries turning the rig were just about exhausted. So I can get about 20 minutes flying time out of a pair of 2400mha rechargeable batteries - all good information. Having brought changed the batteries, we set off again for another 60 shot flight. I decided to try moving towards the edge of the hill, but updrafts and turbulence coming off the downs meant the flight was not pleasant, so I headed off in the other direction again.

So having had three successful flights and learnt a few things about the autoKAP rig, I definitely think it was a successful day out. Lessons learned today:

The 2 minute delay is long enough to attach the camera to the rig and gain height before the phot sequence starts
60 photos gives a 5 minute flight time, which is plenty adequate
Each set of batteries will power the panmotor of the rig for about 20 minutes
Don't turn the GPS logger off between flights - you'll forget to turn it on again!

Out of the 18 photos taken, there were lots that were good enough to keep. I've posted some of the best onto Flickr, and a couple are below. the only problem was any shots into the sun, which were blown out. Will have to wait for later in the year, when the sun is higher, to get any decent photos in the direction of Maidstone.

Rig modified (again)

2010-02-22T12:02:00.002Z

Following on from my last posting about the frustrations of my Optio S12, I've changed camera and modified the rig yet again.

I decided that the S12 and GentLED were a lost cause, so decided I would up the ante and replace the S12 with a W80. This is a waterproof and shockproof camera, which is a bonus, but more importanly for me it includes a built in intervalometer that can be set to a specidied number of shots, or to continue shooting until it the card is full, the battery dies or you stop it manually. The interval can be set to anything from 10 seconds up to 24 hours. Once again Digigood on eBay was my source and the camera was delivered promptly (must remember to leave feedback!

So on inspection, the camera was a different form to the S12. On the S12 the tripod mount was roughly in the centre. On the W80 it is at the far right as viewed from the rear. This gave me a little bit of a problem as I had saved weight in my rig by only having the camera mount large enough to reach the mounton the S12, so I needed to extend this down. So I cut the existing mounting plate off and bolted on a new, larger mounting plate. Fortunately, none of this is visible when the camera is installed. While I was at it, I drilled out the rivets to the gentLED bracket and removed that.

The W80 is slightly larger and heavier than the S12, but fortunately I don't think I've upset the balance of the rig.

While I was at it, I modified the picavet slightly. Originally, the lines had been running through the eyes in the cross. My friend Ramon Palares from Holland suggested that I add in some split rings to hang the rig from as these have smoother edges than the cross itself and so will reduce the likelihood of fraying.

Pictures of the new rig to follow.

Oh what a frustrating day

2010-02-12T10:52:00.002Z

I had a day off yesterday, and following on from some problems I'd had with the IR shutter release on my Optio, I decided to redesign my rig based on some very good advise from the folks over on Cris Benton's KAP forum.

So having quickly modified the rig, I then proceeded to spend several hours trying to get the IR sensor to work. It seemed that if I had the remote trigger in fron of the lens then the shutter would release consistently, but if I pointed the remote at the sensor, triggering became much less reliable. It didn't matter whether I shaded the whole lot, built a canopy, or whatever, getting anything more than one release in ten was just impossible. So in the end, I decided it was a "feature" of the camera and decide to look for an alternative approach. I found an Optio W80 on eBay. The W80 includes an interval timer, but no IR, so I can manage with setting the camera to click away on its own.

Look out for an S10 on eBay soon!

(I'll upload images of the modified rig when I get a minute.

Issues uncovered and problems solved?

2010-02-07T18:13:00.002Z

Last week in Hythe I discovered a couple of issues with both my RC and autokap rigs. I think I have solved both of them this week...

The R/C rig only seemed to by operating the shutter on every thrid operation. I've been experimenting all week with SDM and can't seem to get this behaviour to change with any consistency. I've followed the various suggestions on the interweb but to no avail. So in the end, or in frustration, I've gone back to plain vanilla CHDK. So this means I've got to run a script to operate via USB, but I can live with that, and now I'm back operational with the shutter operating on every operation :)

the autokap rig was a bit more tricky to resolve. As I mentioned last week, the camera seemed to stop shooting after about 10 shots when in the air. I experimented with the camera on the ground this week and it seemed to shoot the first couple of shots, then become very inconsistent. No matter what I did, I still couldn't get any consistency. So I asked for some guidance on the KAP discussion forum. Initial advise led me to believe I had a faulty Gentled. Then someone asked if I had the camera set for manual focus or fixed at infinity. So I tried some further experiments. Certainly the gentled wasn't faulty as I could clearly see the IR led flashing. But with the camera focus fixed at infinity, the operation of the shutter was at best random and at worst non-existant. So I switched the camera over to manual focus with focus set to infinity. Immediately the camera started to respond to every flash of the gentled. I also tried it on auto and the shutter continued to respond. Interesting behaviou, but problem solved, so I can go away happy :)

First steps in AutoKAP

2010-02-02T08:39:00.002Z

Sunday 31st January 2010 saw my first tentative steps into the AutoKAP arena, which wasn't entirely successful! For Christmas I'd got the various components I needed to build a simple autokap rig. It is powered by a small 3v electric motor with gearing that brings it down to about 2rpm. The rig is designed to take a Pentax Optio S10 camera and the shutter is fired by a GentLED auto. The battery pack is mounted behind the motor.

Having built it, and checked the balance, I found that I needed to move the battery pack slightly in order to achieve good balance with the camera.

Anyway. So off to Hythe I trotted on Sunday afternoon to meet up with some kite flyers. I wasn't too hopeful as there was no breeze at home. But when I got to Hythe I was pleasantly surprised. Very cold but gloriously sunny day with a light breeze that grew a bit once you'd got out of the turbulence.

So with a 78" rokkaku in the air, I attached the rig and did all the sensible gorund checks. Then let it gain height. Certainly the rig was turning, but there was no indication of the shutter firing. So I left it flying for about 10 minutes. Given that the shutter should fire every 10-15 seconds, I should get between 40 and 60 photographs. By now the rig had stopped roatating. So I brought it down to earth and checked a few things. Well the rig batteries seemed to be flat. Disappointing. I know they are not knew, but I would hope they managed a bit better than that. I'll have to check the current draw of the motor. OK. What about the photos. 13! Only 13! what had gone wrong. Well it looks as though the shutter doesn't trigger on every release of the GentLED. I need to check this out. It could be the position of the GentLED or it could be the time it takes the camera to recycle after storing a shot. I will need to do some experiments on this. But out of the 13 shots, I had three that weren't blurred. This one is the Dukes Head pub, just across the road from the field we were flying on.

OK so having given up on AutoKAP for now, time to try R/C KAP again. Again I've been a busy boy, having converted my rig to use 2.4GHz from 35 MHz. I've also swithed my camera (a Canon G9) from plain vanilla CHDK to SDM. So here lies a problem. With CHDK, I could start up my USB script and every time I signalled the shutter it would fire. With SDM the same script seems to only fire on the third trigger, and then only if the triggers are in quick succession. It seems as though the first trigger wakes the camera, but it isn't sleeping, the second trigger operates focus, like a half press, and the third operates the shutter. Again I need to check this out. Unfortunately the documentation is a bit out of date as I am using the 1.82 release. But it looks as if I may need to change the focus setting to a digiscope setting and also switch off camera sync. but it looks like switching off the sync needs to be done before every shot, so must be managed in the script. Anyway, having figured out what was heppening, I happily clicked away and got a much higher success rate. This one is of Hythe town centre viewed across the Royal Military Canal.

October/November

2009-11-08T17:59:00.002Z

Hello folks, have you missed me? Bet not. I've not been entirely inactive, but changes at work have meant I've got more travelling to do which is eating into my time.

Anyway, Saturday 31st saw KKF doing its bit for light up the sky. We were in Margate and battling with little wind and sea mist, so ended up with two soaked kites again, but did manage to raise over £60 for Children in Need, which is great.

Sunday 8th November saw KKF in Canterbury for our regular fly in. Again it looked like low wind was going to spoil the day, but ultimately the wind picked up enough and it turned into a good flying day. Low level turbulence was a bit of a problem, but I got a conyne up to about 600 feet and it was quite stable up there. Not entirely sure it was legal though as I doubt I was 1000 feet below the cloud base. There was a big sag in the line, but tremendous pull, it would have been great to get a camera up there, but I hadn't come equipped! Silly boy.

Next weekend we've got a sports kite workshop in Tonbridge, so we'll have to see how that goes.

OSOW 2009

2009-10-11T22:22:00.002+01:00

After some sunshine on Saturday and the promise of more sun next week, Sunday 11th October was met with cloudy skies. But never mind, its OSOW time to go out flying! So around about lunchtime I headed off to Singleton Environment in Ashford where Kent Kite Flyers had scheduled their OSOW meet.

When I got there, the clouds were fairly high and there was a good stiff breeze. Lots of flotail deltas in the sky, so I decided to join in and soon had one of my own flying high amongst the rest.

Time to set up for some KAP. As the breeze was brisk, I chose to use a 56 inch rokkaku. This is a nice kite when the wind is up a bit. I launched the kite and pegged it down and went back to the car to get the camera rig. With the rig set up and attached to the line, time to try to KAP the visitor centre. Now I know I'm a bit dumb at times, but I had a funny feeling that the camera was not shooting. Of course it helps if you enable CHDK and start the USB script! So having been clicking away for a while, I recovered the camera, and enabled the script. Slightly more confident, I let out line, but we now seemed to be in a lull in the breeze, Still I managed to get high enough to get some photos.

As the wind had dropped a bit, I brought the camera and kite down and decided to have another go with a flowform 30. It was a bit troublesome to launch but soon gathered wind and climbed. By the time I was ready to attach the kite again, the wind had picked up a bit again, and the kite was pulling a bit. This time, I made abso9lutely sure that the camera was working before letting it climb!

So I launched with some confidence. But the kite was not flying with any stability and it really wasn't a very pleasant experience. I did manage to get a couple of photos that weren't too blurred, but the rest were rubbish.

Recovery became the next issue, as the wind was up, the kite was dancing a bit and the line was tight. But with the kite firmly anchored, it was a case of walk down, pull in and tie off until the camera was low enough to take off. The first spots of damp started to drizzle down.So I concentrated on geting the camera put away, and a couple of bits back to the car, leaving the flowform lifting a pig and the flotail flying. While at the car, the wind suddenly dropped, and two flotails suddenly appeared above. One (mine) landed in the trees, and the other (Gerties) settled over the fence in the school playing fields. Both being soaking wet, I retreived Gert's flowtail, and moved the line out of the road, then retrieved my own. Both were sopping wet.

So walking back to the field, I found my flowform had also landed in the hedge and the pig was also resting in the bushes. Bill volunteered to reover the kite, while I recovered the pig. Again, both were saturated! With the kites and laundry recovered, it was time to wind in line and help others recover their kites and line beofre heading for home. So tonight, there is lots of material hinging up to dry in various parts of the house much to my wife's annoyance.

Fun in the sun at Hardelot

2009-09-28T08:47:00.002+01:00

Well I didn't get to KAP, but it was great fun anyway.

Saturday 26th September saw KKF on their annual outing to celebrate Christmas, this year it was 2005. Its a long story, so you'll need to ask me for an explanation. Anyway as Hardelot festival had been put back from its normal May slot to late September, we decided to combine the two and have som efun on the beach.

Most of us took a leisurely journey, whilst the advanced party of 1 took the train and was asking where we were, whilst we were just leaving Dover! Gloriously smoooth crossingand arrived in Calais in good sunshine for the steady drive down to Hardelot. We managed to find somewhere to park on the beach, and spotted the advance party flying already.

She had already set up the Christmas theme, much to the surprise of those around us. So we got our act together and were soon playing in the sun and the sand. There were lots of interesting kites to see and with the tide out, plenty of space (please note Margate organisers!) We had a couple of hours flying and making friends. There were a lot of Kapers there, so I decided not to bother getting anything out of the car. Anyway, I was enjoying myself too much.

About 3pm UK time, we decided to go to find something to eat, but unfortuinately most of the restaurants were closed! However there was one that was willing to serve us, so we settled down on the terrace for our Christmas dinner.

We seemed to get a few strange looks from the locals as crackers were pulled and we generally caused disruption! Fed and watered it was time to head back to the beach. Where had everyone gone? Well the tide was coming in and most of the display kites had come down and the beach was almost deserted. Being muilt of stronger stuff at KKF, we decided to have a rok fight, and spent another hour in the sun before deciding that it was time to head off to catch the ferry home.

A quick drive up to Calais and straight onto the ferry, to settled down to crisps and Christmas cake for supper. Great day out and thanks to eveeryone who came along and made it such fun.

Margate - better late than never

2009-09-24T13:24:00.003+01:00

A bit late, but finally I've got some time to post a quick item on Margate festival. Wasn't it fun? Saturday was sunny and warm with a very gentle breeze. Everyone seemed to be moaning about the lack of wind. What was the problem? I managed to get a premier rok up to about 800 feet and later in the day, got my maxi dopero flying serenely above the crowds, stable like it was nailed to the sky!

Sunday was much cooler, much windier and much duller. In the morning, it was a case of flying a ribbon box, which again I let climb to about 800 feet. In the afternoon, I decided to do some KAP from a 56 inch rok. Now interesting, this is the same kite I used in Gillingham the week before, in less wind, but today it as providing less lift. The only difference was the amount of bow put into the spreaders. Anyway, it was a bit of a struggle. I had Matt flying while I operated the remote. We wandered around as best we could, but more of that later.

Lunch was provided at a local cafe and was excellent, enjoyed by all. Meanwhile others carried on flying.

OK that's the fun bit. Now here comes the criticism. Not enough space guys. If you are going to have a kite festival for the public, you need some space for public flying, but the only usable space was a walkway between the two arenas. More space next year please.

Tests seem OK

2009-09-15T08:41:00.002+01:00

Following on from the Will Adams festival, I spent an hour last night testing the USB release of my camera without a problem. I noticed that when the LCD went into power save mode, it took about 3 - 4 seconds from operating the remote to the camera waking and taking the picture, but other than that it went without a hitch. Ah well, we'll try again and this time I'll try to count how many times I think I operate the shutter.

Will Adams Festival - a busy day

2009-09-14T08:38:00.003+01:00

What started out looking like it may be a struggle, turned into a really successful day. When we arrived in the morning, we had been allocated an arena that stretched along one side of the field. Unfortunately, the wind direction meant that we were in the lea of some rather large horse chestnut trees and was blowing diagonally across the arena. Never mind, we'll just bomb the inoccent passers buy. We got the club gazebo up, then concentrated on getting teddy dropping set up. With the wind direction as it was, a long launch of a pair of stacked rokkakus was needed to get into the clearer air. But once up, the kites stayed there for the rest of the day. Whilst Bill tested gear, everyone else concentrated on getting out a display of kites.

With a bit of help from my friends, I managed to get a flotail delta and a 56 inch rokkaku up into the airstream where they were quite stable. But by now, with the crowds begining to gather it was becomeing difficult to launch from outside the arena. But the sun came out, and we spent the afternoon under clear blue skies.

After a while, I decided to try some KAP, so used the rokkaku that was already flying to carry the rig. This was going to be at relatively low level. Whilst wandering around, I was asked to move by the guy who was about to do a birds of prey demonstration. Interesting that birds of prey with very keen eyesight can't spot a kite line. Anyway, happy to oblige I moved away and got a couple of pics from the other side of the arena.

Meanwhile, the guys back at base were doing a roaring trade keeping the public interested in kites and handing out fliers and cards. A lot of genuine interest was shown, which makes a refreshing change. Bill was also doing a roaring tade with bear dropping. After a delicious lunch of noodles with ginger, I decided to go out and have another go from higher up. I must have speant a good hour wandering around, though I wasn't really taking a lot of photos as I speant a huge amount of time chatting to people who were interested in what I was doing - and surprised that I would trust a camera to a kite. See if you can spot the people in this photo who have spotted the camera.

A day not without incident. And I have to spend some time this week checking the trigger mechanism, as I am not sure it is firing every time. But a good day all the same.

Kites over Capstone 2009

2009-09-07T13:55:00.002+01:00

Phew, that was hard work! Not the kite festival, uploading some photos to Flickr. It took three attempts to get them uploaded, and it was only 15 images!

Anyway, enough of a rant. Sunday was Kites over Capstone, a fun day at an event that, until 3 weeks ago was cancelled. Then it was suddenly resurrected. I have to say, the council did a sterling job in getting everything laid on in 3 weeks, and are committed to having the event agian next year, but with a bit more time for planning this time!

So what was it like. Well, as I drove over boxley hill, I could see the kites in the distance. By the time I drove into the park, they were all back on the ground! It was to be like that for a couple of hours until we finally gots some decent wind as it shifted around a bit. Eventually there was enough for me to stick a camera onto a rokaku and try to get some photos. But I wasn't allowed to fly where I wanted to be! "You can't fly that there." "Why not?" "Because it is a designated walking area" What utter nonsense. Eventually the council relented and let people fly and enjoy themselves. In the meantime I took a few photos of the ground and some kites.

Then a little later on, I decided to give my new pole an outing. I was quite surprised at how heavy the camera was on the end of the pole, how much the pole flexed, and how much the camera caught the breeze and tried to pull everything out of my hands. But I had a good wander round and managed to capture some of the goings on at the event.

Completed and tested pole kit

2009-09-03T17:31:00.002+01:00

Well I promised I would add more as I completed the PAP mount. Today, I finished it off by opening up the holes that go over the poles so that it would fit on the bottom 6 sections. The mount now fits at the very top of the top section, which I've wrapped with insulating tape just to stop the mount wearing the pole. After all, insulating tape is relatively cheap and easy to replace compared to a £100 carp pole.

This is what the mount looks like

As you can see it is very simple.

Next was time for a test drive. On a very windy day, I decided not to use the bottom two sections of the pole, taking off about 3 metres of height. But it was plenty difficult to control the pole as the wind blew across from the garage roof. Here is one view of part of our back garden, the lower deck with swing seat and water feature. You can see the table made out of an old morello cherry tree stump behind the swing seat, and the area on the right where the washing pole stands is ready to be paved.

Not bad for a first attempt.

Moving to wards PAP

2009-09-02T20:16:00.003+01:00

I'v ebeen thinking about it for some time now, and finally decided to take the plunge and set up for Pole Aerial Photography (PAP). My Canon G9 is ideally suited to PAP as it is CHDK compatible and so I can run an intervalometer script on it quite easily.

The first step is to acquire a suitable pole. Typically poles come in at 5, 6 and 7 metres in fibreglass, then start moving towards carbon for the longer poles. The two different types are the telecsopic style, and the fit over style, which doesn't have the tendency to collapse unexpectidely, so is a better choice for this application. Looking on Cris Benton's site shows that 11 metres seems to be the length of choice, and typically the top two sections need to be discarded as too flexible. Some research on the internet shows the cheapest poles to be available from Decathlon. But further research shows they don't seem to be stock items and have to be ordered in, which is inconvenient. A search on ebay shows that 11 metre poles are available at just under £100 including postage. So taking the plunge a Shakespear pole is ordered, which arrived a day or so later via courier.

The first surprise is just how long the pole is in its collapsed state. It is as tall as me at qbout 1.8 metres. Having errected the pole, I decided to try using all but the very top section. This is partly because I don't have drill bit large enough to fit the third section. So I set about making a simple mount for the camera. This is fabricated using left over aluminium from the cradle for my KAP rig. The mount only took a couple of hours to create - I did say it was simple - and the rig is mounted onto the pole. The test shows that there is a bit too much flexibility to be comfortable, so I will need to pop out and get some larger drill bits to open up the holes in the rig so I can mount it onto the pole slightly lower down. So tomorrow I'll go out and buy a slightly larger drill bit and modify the rig to how I want.

Playing with radio transmitters

2009-08-17T20:22:00.003+01:00

Late last year I bought a new transmitter, basically because the old one is pretty old, heavy and dented. It seemed a shame to throw the old one out, and knowing many have "customized" their transmitters I thought I would have a go.

So the case was opened and investigations began. There are two circuit boards. presumably one that provides power and the aerial connection, and the other does all the encoding. Having taken the pots out of the joysticks and removed all the trimmers from the casing, I checked that it all still worked, and labelled up each pot with the channel number.

Then it was time to go at it with some cutters and try replacing the pots. The idea is this:
The pan controlled doesn't really need any fine control, it just needs to be capable of being swithed clickwise, anti-clockwise or stopped. This should be achievable with a switch provided I can find the sweet spot on the pot where the servo changes direction.
The tilt servo I'd like to contorl with a slider rather than a rotating pot.
The shutter should be controllable with a simple push switch.

I've checked the pots and they are all marked as 5K. Time is fairly short, but I'll let you know how I progress.

Teston Mini Festival 2009

2009-06-14T21:20:00.003+01:00

Tradition has it that Teston has almost no wind. June 2009 was to keep up this fine tradition. Actually that's unfair as Saturday was quite a good day for wind. Unfortunately my rig was at home.

Sunday was typical Teston, very little wind, lots of thermals and glorious sunshine. But for a little while in the afternoon, there was enough wind to launch the maxi Dopero and get a camera aloft. I needed to fly the kite as it had been lying on the ground for most of the day, and was therefore soaked. A launch and a couple of shakes made sure that Janet and Gerty got a shower before we headed up into the sky. Having confirmed there was sufficient lift to carry the rig, I brought the kite down and set up the rig. Ready to fly again, I put the camera on the line and off we went. But soon I had tangled with a Flying Empress squid. The dopero did a big loop in the sky. Looking closely I saw that the kites weren't tangled, but I had got under his line so walked the kite down a bit. Although the squid was being flown by quite a young lad, he was experienced and we soon separated lines and went our own way.

So time to get aloft. With 500ft clearance, it was easy to get plenty high enough to get some decent general shots of the area. This one shows the campers and overflow carparks, and lots of kites, most of them on the ground!

From this height, I also managed to get a good shot of the bridge, and guess what, It was perfectly framed - no cropping required!

Singleton Environmental

2009-06-01T21:30:00.003+01:00

Hey, long time no speak and all my fault. Yes I've been a bit quiet with other things going on in my life. But on Sunday I met up with Friends from Kent Kite Flyers for some flying at a community country park called Singleton Environmental in Ashford. It was a warm sunny day and a stiff breeze, but th eprofile of the site meant that there was a very turbulent airstream.

Never mind. Time to do some KAP with my new rig. Because it was a stiff breeze, I decided to try a 56 inch rokkaku. The wind at ground level, and up to about 50 feet was very turbulent and getting a launch wasn't easy, but eventually I got into the air. The kite certainly needed trimming, but I decided to go with it anyway. So attached the camera and off we went. Well it was a struggle to keep the camera in the air as the kite was pulling hard but not really lifting and certainly not climbing. The kite was flying at totally the wrong angle and so wasn't getting out of the turbulent air at all. I did manage to get a couple of photographs though.

Enough of this! too much like hard work. So I brought the camera and kite down and decided to re-trim. The kite doesn't have an easily adjustable bridle, but a little tweak and we had a much better flying angle. This meant I could get higher out of the turbulent airflow and hopefully into the clear airstream. So with the camera re-attached, off we went again. This second flight was much better. But we were still in very turbulent air. I tried walking towards the interesting sculputure at the bottom of the park, but as this was down in the valley, as I walked towards it, the kite started swinging dramatically, and the camera was penduluming alarmingly. Some drastic action slowed the swing and I got a couple of shots, then headed back towards the high ground.

Whilst from the KAP purist point of view it wasn't the most successful outing, it is a lovely site with a good cafe and facilities. Lets hope we go back soon,

Bear Bunging in Tankerton

2009-05-04T21:52:00.003+01:00

Well today saw a long hard day's teddy parachuting on tankerton Slopes in aid of the Whitstable and Herne Bay Lions. During the early part of the day it was a constant battle to keep the kite aloft and therefore create enough lift to get even the smallest bear off the ground. The result was we used a total of 4 different kites during the day trying to find the one best suited to the conditions. However in the afternoon the wind moved around a little bit and picked up and we were droping bears consistently down the slopes. In total we must have done something in the order of 200 jumps to keep the children (and adults) amused.

And so to Berck

2009-04-28T21:22:00.002+01:00

So off to Berck we head, and the weather forecast looks good, at least for the first couple of days. This year, I decided to try the new LD Lines service from Dover to Boulogne. Despite the early start on Thursday morning, I've got to say that I was impressed, and I think Bill was too. So following a safe arrival in Boulogne and a short drive down to Berck, we arrived at about 10 am in bruight sun, if somewhat chilly conditions.

The weather was to prove good throughout the weekend, though on one morning the wind was blowing extremely powerfully. So much so, that Bill persuaded me to play with a mini-gem. ME FLYING A BENSON?! Well I enjoyed it soooo much, I bought it. Unfortunately, the wind was to prove extemely fickle throughout the weekend. On the Friday, it was extremely difficult to get anything to stay airborne. I met up with some fellow KAPpers, who were bemoaning the wind, but enjoying the fact that there had been no rain (so far).

I don't know whether it was the wind conditions, or economic climate or what, but the number of kite flying attendees seemed very down on previous years. So throughout the weekend the sky seemed bare. In fact, two of the single line arenas seemed positively deserted and one of the German teams went home on Sunday morning. Also the wind garden was a mere shadow of its former self. It did mean that Bill and I probably spent more time flying than at any other Berck, but unfortunately, conditions were not really good for KAP, and whilst I managed to get aloft for a brief flight, getting where I wanted to be was impossible, so I had to make do with some shots of people on the beach. However, my KKF rok and Janet's KKF roller both got an airing.

Despite the glorious sun most of the time, there was a distinct chill in the air, which forced us to keep well wrapped up. And so the weekend was spent flying, sitting in the bar(s) looking around the shops and various displays and generally chilling out! Come Monday morning, and the day of departure. There had been some overnight rain, and the wind was blowing very strong at the beach. So a wander up to the museum (like the rest of France - closed Mondays) an eventually time to take our leave and head back to Blighty. Certainly a relaxing time, and I think Baz and Janet enjoyed the trip too.

Long awaited photo

2009-04-22T08:56:00.003+01:00

Well it seems like along time ago that I promised a phot of the new rig, so here it is nestling in its carry case. Top left is a handheld viewer for the wireless video camera. Just next to that is a small 35MHz frequency scanner, to check that no-one is on the channel that I plan to use. At the bottom, between the rig and the receiver is the Swan nighthaw wireless video camera.

Successful first flight

2009-04-19T19:43:00.003+01:00

Its been a long time coming and weather conditions have not been favourable. However today I was determined to get a successful launch no matter what the conditions. This was largely because of the upcoming Worldwide KAP Week (WWKW). The rig, camera transmitter, etc are all new so were badly in need of a test flight.

As usual for Capstone Park, the wind was tricky, swirling on the ground, turbulent at low level and pulling like a train once you get above tree level. Not to be put off, I decided to go with my favourite KAP kite, a Premier Rok. After a bit of a struggle launching we eventually got the kite into the steady wind.

So the rig was attached, powered up and tested - PAN fine, TILT fine, Shutter fine, vide downlink fine. Time to get some height. Another problem with Capstone is its proximity to Rochester Airport, so we are limited to 100 feet, just enough to get out of the worst turbulence. The final problem is that it is just fields, there is nothing there to photograph - or so I thought.

Up above the hedgerow that separates the event field from the barbecue field and with the camera pointing towards the barbecue field there were a group of cars in the far corner.

You can see the full size picture by clicking on it. So after a successful first flight, time to pack everything away and prepare for the trip to Berck festival and the WWKW.

Not a good weekend for testing

2009-02-23T12:42:00.002Z

What a glorious day it was on Saturday. Unfortunately I was busy, so planned to go out flying at Hythe on Sunday. Sunday arrived and the weather was distinctly dull, but a gentle breeze at home gave promise. So with the car loaded I made the trip down to a site beside the Royal Military Canal When I arrived, things looked pretty good with what seemed like a strong breeze blowing. But as time drew on, it became clear that the breeze was very playful, with sudden lulls down to nothing at all. After playing with a couple of kites, I had a 4m delta hoisted aloft and reasonably steady in the breeze. So I decided to try attaching the camera rig to it. To do so, I needed to bring the kite down a bit due to height ceiling regulations. Brought the kite down and was back into the playful air again. Well I attached the rig for about 5 minutes, but the wind was so difficult that I decided I didn't want to cause any damage so took it off and put it away. Maybe another day?

Finished

2009-02-16T21:19:00.003Z

It is finished and tested, well indoors anyway. The rig is complete all connected up and working, and I've even managed to take a couple of photos triggered by CHDK. With a bit of luck we'll get a real flight test next weekend!.

I'll try and post some photos of the rig when I get a chance.

Almost a disaster

2009-01-25T18:21:00.002Z

I spent most of today working on the new KAP rig and would have finished but for a minor disaster, which led me to spend the last hour of the day reworking. Let me explain...

As I've already mentioned, the camera is a Canon G9 with CHDK loaded, and the shutter will be released by USB, which becomes available under CHDK. I had ordered a GentCHDK connector this week so that I could release the shutter via radio control, which arrived on Friday.

I spent today working on the rig finishing off various parts, like mounting the camera cradle into the upper U and forming the cutout for the USB connector. Having almost finished, I decided to "dry mount" the camera one final time. Up to now, I had mounted the camera into the cradle, and checked that the cradle would comforably fit into the upper U. So now, with the cradle firmly mounted, the camera cushioning fitted, etc. I mounted the camera. Then Tried to fit the USB cable. With the camera oriented straight down, the USB cable fitted snuggly into the connector on the camera, but as I moved the cradle towards horizontal, disaster, as the strain relief on the cable fouled the upper U. How was I going to overcome this one then?

Well after much umming and arring, the solution appeared. If I changed the bends in the upper U from 90 degree to 45 degree, and added another bend about a centimetre down then I would gain some additional width. My biggest concern was that doing this would move the camera to one side, which would significantly alter the balance. But I figured I could overcome this by swapping the battery pack with the receiver. So it was time to strip down the rig and make the necessary bends. Well it is no longer pretty, but it does work, so the upper U now has shoulders!

Time to refit everything. However, having signinficantly increased the gap on one side of the rig, I no longer had a 4mm bolt long enough. this isn't a problem as I have lots of 4mm studso just cut off a legth of that and fit a self locking nut on the end. This done, I remounted the cradle into the upper U. time to check that the clearance was sufficient - it certainly looked plenty. At this point disaster number 2 struck.

Because the locknut is significantly larger than the panhead screw, the camera would no longer fir into the cradle. Now when I say that, the camera actually still has plenty of room, but the hole for the tripod mount no longer lined up with the hole in the cradle. So out came the rats tail and the hole in the frame was widened in one direction until the holes lined up again. With the camer fitted I fitted the USB cable and it now just fits snuggly. So finally, time to refit the pan servo and axle box.

Well that was time up for today, so next weekend, I need to modify the electronics and mount the battery. Unfortunately the battery connector won't now reach the switch, so I'll have to figure out a way of extending the cable run, which will probably involve robbing a cable from somewhere else!

Hopefully we'll finish next weekend and be ready for testing. Not often I ask for bad weather, but on this occasion I'm willing to make an exception.

More progress on the new rig

2009-01-18T16:43:00.001Z

Another hour or so work this afternoon on the new KAP rig. Today, work centred on forming the lower U.

For those not familiar with the terms, the upper U is an inverted U made out of aluminium strip in this case. The upper U is suspended by an axle at the center of gravity from the kite line. Gears and a modified servo are used to allow the rig to rotate continuously around the axle, giving the rig a pan capability. The lower U is again made from aluminium strip in this case, and sits within the upper U. It is not inverted and incorporated a hole through which a tripod bolt can be screwed into the camera's tripod mount holding the camer in place. The lower U is fixed via an axle to the upper U. At one end the axle is formed by a servo, giving tilt capability. At the other the axle is allowed to rotate freely within the upper U.

Well today the strip for the lower U was cut out of the aluminium stock. All was going well until my nibbler gave up the ghost!, so rather than spend time tryuing to fix the problem, and as its work was largely done, I resorted to a junior hacksaw to finish the job.. With the strip cut and cleaned, holes were drilled to take the axle and camera fittings, and cuts made to allow a lip to be formed to add rigidity. Then the strip was bent to shape and the lips formed. Finally a trial fitting of the camera took place, just to be sure that it would all fit together nicely. Fortunately it worked!

So there is now lots of finishing to do, cleaning up rough edges, knocking off sharp corners, adding all of the electronics, fitting everything together, finishing off the picavet cross, etc., etc. But with a bit of luck, if I get some good time next weekend, I think I should have the servos fitted, the rig parts assembled and tested. I just need to source a Lipo battery, a battery saver, some boxes and make a voltage regulator and sort out some switches and I'll be done!

Progress on new rig

2009-01-17T18:41:00.002Z

Well I finally got the chance today to do some work on my new KAP rig. So far I have cut out and shaped the top U and cut out the holes for the pan and tilt servos, drilled various holes for fixing the servos and for the axle for the lower U. Looking good. It will be interesting to see the all-up weight once everything has been fitted.

Little progress

2009-01-07T13:01:00.002Z

Christmas and new year saw me battling against the combined armies of my wife and manflu, so I've made precious little progress to date. About the only thing I have achieved is to successfully download and instal CHDK onto my G9 camera. Being a complete CHDK virgin, I will probably spend a little time palying with the settings.

Work commences

2008-12-30T20:53:00.002Z

Been a long time, but I haven't been totally inactive. Whilst I've not been able to get out flying for various reasons, my brain has started to work and a new rig design is on the drawing board.

First up was a search for a new camera. There were several criteria I was looking for. Small, fairly lightweight, good optics, large pixel count, and ideally remote controllable. News that the guys over at CHDK had ported the firmware to the Canon G9, and the fact that a one month old camera appeared on eBay for less than £150 clinched it, and the Canon was added to the equipment. I've given it a couple of ground based runs.

Meanwhile some bits of equipment were sourced...
Aluminium sheet (for the cradle)
Aluminium angle (for the picavet)
360 degree converted servo and gears (for pan)
some electonic components (for a voltage regulator)
2.4GHz video tx and rx
Casio 2.5 inch handheld TV
New (well secondhand) R/C tx and rx

So here's the plan. The rig will carry the G9 with full pan and tilt capabilities. Shutter release will be via CHDK using a Gentles CHDK USB cable (yet to be sourced). Power will come from a 3s lipo pack, through a battery saver to prevent going below 9v. Power will pass through the voltage regulator to regulate to 5v for the R/C receiver. The video tx requires 12v so will bypass the 5v regulator to draw 11.1 volts.

The plans have been drawn and the layout of all the components worked out. I've still got to source some bits, enclosures, switch, battery and battery saver. The picavet cross has been cut out and is ready for finishing. Next step is to build a template to cut out the holes for the servos, and shape the ends of the aluminium strips to take off any sharp corners. Then serious work commences. I'll keep you posted of progress, and may even post a photo or two.

At last - more KAP

2008-10-13T21:16:00.002+01:00

Its been a long time. In fact I think it has been for ever, but I finally got out to do some KAP. Mind you, I've not been totally inactive.

September saw me spending some time in Dieppe at the international kite festival. I didn't do any KAP, but I did spend some time with a group of French KAPers whom I met over on Cris Benton's forum. We spent a very pleasant couple of hours together while I helped as they KAPped. We also signed each other's Worldwide KAP weekend book, so it was well worth the trip. I di manage to fly my Fled on the Monday morning before heading back home ;-)

Also, I've been planning a new rig. I've acquired all the bits, including a nice Canon G9 to fit into it. Now all I need to do is build it. But while I'm still playing nursemaid (pictures of me in suspenders and stockings should be rapidly erased from the mind) I'm afradi that might have to wait. Never mind, I still have the trusty Brookes rig.

So my latest effort was at the OSOW weekend in Canterbury. A gloriously sunny October day. Well I had three kites in the sky, and the wind was steady, so I thought I would try a little KAP. It was at this point that the wind dropped and all the kites came down.After trying for a while, I put away all my kites and got out the maxi dopero from Jones Airfoils. This launched cleanly into the air and had ample pull for the rig, so I decided to have a wander round and see who, or what we could Kapture. The Reeves family were sitting in the middle of the field nattering and eating, so I parked over the top of them and got a straight down.

While I was there, I got reasonably close to the BT tower. Not as close, or as high as I would have liked, but not bad.

While taking this shot, I looked up and thought the camera looked a bit odd. I recovered it and noticed that the lens barrel wasn't fully extended. I guess I must have pressed something while fitting the camera into the cradle, so wandered back to base, anchorded the kite and reset the camera. At this point, a family ho had been watching with interest wandered ovr to see what was going on. Their little boy was very interested in how everything worked - a future KAPper perhaps

So I relaunched and wandered off again, gaining more height as I went. I got over by the BT tower again, and the camera was higher. I was taking advantage of the 1500 ft height clearance granted by the CAA. I managed to get a couple of nice pictures of the tree shadows, but now the wind at altitude was getting up and the kite was pulling hard.

Before long it started to lean tot he right and fly towards the ground. This is a known "feature of rollers and doperos. It happens when the kite gets overpowered. Without corrective ation, the kite will fly down to the ground level. But I couldn't afford for this to happen as this would hae parked the camera in the tree line! Time to rapidly give some line. No I wasn't wearing gloves! But I was pleasantly surprised at how easily the kite responded to crrective action. One loop of line and the kite was gaining height again. I walked it up wind, having to stop a couple of times to correct dives. Eventually I got to a point where I had enough space to anchor the kite and start walking it down. It took a while but eventually we got back to the ground safe and sound. One of the problems of letting out about 1,000 ft of line, is you have to wind it all in again.

So ended a successful day. A little scare to keep the blood flowing, but other than that, a very pleasant experience.

Its been awful quiet in here

2008-07-09T13:44:00.003+01:00

And you have my sincere apologies. Unfortunately my wife has been in hospital for the last 3 weeks and any thought of kiting or KAP is the last thing on my mind at the moment.

But it is Brighton festival this weekend and provided the weather holds and I can escape for a short while, I'm hoping to pop down there on one of the days. May see you there.

17th in Hardelot, 18th in Mote Park

2008-05-18T18:48:00.002+01:00

17th May saw a few of us head off to the annual Hardelot Plage kite festival, just south of Boulogne. The weather forecast wasn't good, but we were hopeful of at least being able to fly. Well the forecast proved wrong, and whilst we weren't bathed in glorious sunshine as in previous years, we didn't get any rain - unlike at home.

It was the windiest I've ever seen Hardelot. So I thought it was a good opportunity to get some kap images. I'd made sure the camera and rig batteries were fully charged. Unfortunately I didn't check my kite bag! I started out with a Premier 78 inch rok. But this was being overpowered by the conditions. So I brought that down and headed back to get my 56 inch rok. Well I searched and searched but it wasn't there. So I spent the rest of the afternoon flying my trident. Great fun, even if the wiond was very strong.

Sunday I decided to pop down to Mote Park in Maidstone as I wanted to KAP the pavilion. Again the wind was strong and blustery. The pavilion is in an awkward spot, being in a dip at the bottopm of 2 hills, and at the lower end of a tree lined avenue. I had little choice but to try a flowform 30, as it was the only kite I had available. I knew it was going to pull hard, but wanted to try it anyway. The kite flew nicely to start with, and wasn't pulling too badly. But then it became a little unstable. Flowforms are known for their low flying angle, but in this case the kite flew directly overhead a couple of times. This is very worrying with a flowform as the sail can collpas, leaving you with no means of rescue. Fortunately, this didn't happen, but it was difficult to keep the kite, and therefore the camera steady. And a few times, the camera plunged towards the ground before the kite recovered. I did get a couple of useable shots, but plan to go back at some stage to get some better results.

WWKW 2008 day three

2008-05-05T19:11:00.002+01:00

Argh - no wind! Well there was some earlier, but by the time I'd finished my chores and got my act together, someone had left the door open and the wind had escaped! I went over to Aylesford, hoping to KAP the old bridge and riverfront. Stopping off in Ferryfield to test out the wind conditions, there was a huge fairground set up, a potentially interesting subject. There seemed to be a steadybreeze, so I decided to set up with a rokkaku, but no good. Too heavy and for some reason very unstable. It felt like the sail has shrunk considerably.

So I swapped the rok for a maxi dopero. The kite launched straight away and stayed pretty steady in the sky, so I set about getting ready to KAP. While preparing the rig, I noticed the kite line seemed very vertical. Hey The kite is overflying and coming down the other side. Letting some line out and catching a bit got the kite right way up, and now we're flying 180 degrees to where we launched. OK this could be a problem, but everything is now ready, so I'll put the rig on th eline. Kiss of death or what! The wind disappeared. Then it flipped round through 180 degrees again, and switched backwards and forwards three or four times before running away to hide. So, leaving the dopero grounded.

And that was it really, no wind and no hope. So I wandered over the bridge to see what might have been...

Worldwide KAP Weekend - Day 2

2008-05-04T18:47:00.002+01:00

Still a struggle on Sunday, with, I think, even less wind than yesterday. This afternoon I took myself to Giddyhorne Lane pavillion to see whether we could get aloft. The kite of choice today had to be a maxi dopero by Jones Airfoils. It was a struggle to get aloft, and getting up to about 100 feet was difficult. One there, the kite steadied. But with the camera on the line, and trying to get some extra height proved even trickier. A few times, the kite overflew, turned round and strated heading for the ground. But each such dive was easily recovered. Eventually I got enough height to hold everything steady for long enough to get some shots. I should think about half an hour in total.

This is from high above the pavillion

There is currently some construction work going on to build a new children's play area. This is what it currently looks like.

Worldwide KAP weekend

2008-05-03T20:04:00.004+01:00

For those who have been hiding on another planet, this weekend (3 - 5 May 2008) is the Worldwide KAP Weekend 2008. For the full story, take a look here.

Saturday came, and it looked like I might not get out, but at 5:30 I decided to go and at least try. So popped down to Mote Park. Driving up to the gates I see a big notice saying the car park is closed. OK so I'll park in the leaisure centre next door and walk in. The reason soon becomes clear. A huge area of the park is closed off to prepare for a rock/pop concert next weekend.

There was very little wind, but my flowform 30 inflated easily and soon climbed skywards. There was a gentle but not strong pull, but th ekite was quite steady, so I decided to set up the camera. Of course at this point the wind always fades, but soon picked up again. So with the kite aloft and the camera attached, I decided to wander round and see if I could get any pictures of the leisure centre. Unfortunately, the kite wasn't providing sufficient lift to climb high enough really, but I did manage to get a couple of pictures. Hopefully we'll have slightly more wind tomorrow. Don't know where I'm going to go yet. I was going to a do in Canterbury, but had to be on site by 9am - on a Sunday!

Here's something to be going on with

Camera problems

2008-04-28T20:09:00.002+01:00

Well I posted some of the mages from my Berck trip on Flickr, and lo and behlod, along came a couple of messages poiting out that according to the EXIF data the flash had fired and this might be the cause of the problem. The camera might be locking the maximum shutter speed so that the flash synchronsation works. So back to the camera and check it, and yes indeedy, it was set to fire the flash. Unfortunately, the flash button is conveniently placed so that it can be easily pressed. So I guess that when fitting the camera into the rig I accidentally pressed the button and didn't notice it. One more thing to check, but cheaper than a new camera ;-)

Berck and beyond

2008-04-21T13:37:00.003+01:00

Well its been almost a month since my last update, and it has been a pretty disappointing month for many reasons. Weather conditions in dear old blighty for kite flying have varied between c**p and just plain awful. High winds snow, hail, rain. you name it we got it. there might have been a little bit of sun in there somewhere too.

Anyway. Over the easter weekend, the sewing bug caught me, so I decided to make myself a Fled. Designed by Michael Anderson and Brooks Leffler for low wind KAP. So the kite was completed and had its maiden voyage at East Malling towards the end of March. Winds had dropped to almost nothing so most of the day was spent trying to get the kite aloft, but eventually it stuck to the sky and proved a very capable performer. Here's a picture from that day

Then a couple of weeks later it was off to Berck for the annual kitefest. Unfortunately Berck was to prove a bit of a disappointment this year. The weather was bitterly cold for most of the week, but th eproblem was the lack of flyers there this year. Don't know what the problem was, but flyers stayed away in droves. No problemw ith the public though, it was school holidays so the place was packed with normal people.

Anyway, I had a problem with my camera. I tried to get some KAp in on the last Sunday, and spent some time in the evening wandering around the beach by the large old hospital complex just in front of the lighthouse. I got good lift from my kite, the radio control was working fine, the rig performed well, the camera shutter was firing. What could possibly go wrong. Well when I retreived the camera and looked at the images they were all dreadfully over exposed. In most the picture was bearly recognisable. And in many it was just a whiteout. So waht was the problem? Well looking at the exif data all the images were shot at 1/250 shutter speed, instead of the 1/2000 the camera was set at. I've tried it since and had much the same results. So it looks like the camera is no good. I've always been a little disappointed with this Powershot S60, so I'm currently looking out for a new camera on ebay, trying to pick up a bargain pro 1 or G6. If I get a new camera, then I will also be building a new rig, so I've just ordered up some aluminium and we'll see how we get on.

East Malling 30th March

2008-03-30T17:54:00.003+01:00

The day started with heavy rain, then during the morning more heavy showers made it look as if I wouldn't be getting out to KAP before going to Berck. But come lunchtime and the clouds rose, the sky brightened, there were even some shadows. I'd arranged to meet some people at East Malling so headed off to see what conditions were like there.

This was to be the first outing for my new Fled. This is a kite designed by Michael Anderson, and enhanced by Brookes Leffler specifically for low wind KAP. Well the day was certainly low wind, as there didn't seem to be any. I set the fled up and managed to launch it, but it quickly came back to the ground. But after about an hyour of accasional draughts we finally managed to get off the ground, and once the tree line was cleared, the kite was stable and pulling consistently.

I left it flying high and watched as it occasionaly drifted downwind and occassionaly overflew. As the afternoon drew on, I decided to try attaching the rig to the line. So I tied off the kite to a passing goalpost and started getting everything ready. Of course, at this point, the kite started to float downwards. But not to be put off, I put the kite on the line and started paying out line. The rig was spending its life no more than 6 feet off the ground for th emost part. So eventually I decided to bring it all back to earth at which point the wind picked up. So I managed to get a couple of shots.

But it was defintely not a day for trying to maneouvre the kite anywhere. So after a brief interlude, and with the rig once more on the ground, I decided to pack up. Of course at this point, the wind picked up, but too late for me.

I need to check out why the camera shutter is releasing of its own accord. It is being fired by a Gentled shutter, but for some reason, seems to be firing at random intervals. Something to sort out this evening, and also take the shutter servo off the rig to lighten the load a little bit.

Blean Woods 9th March 2008

2008-03-09T18:18:00.003Z

It seems like ages since I last had the opportunity to KAP, and it has been about 6 weeks. So after the KKF AGM at Blean, a couple of us went over to the flying site beside Blean Woods and I decided to try some KAP. I put up a premier 78 inch rokkaku, and probably spent about half an hour trimming it to handle the conditions. The wind was very variable, but I was determined to get as close to the communications tower as I could.

This was the first outing with a new gentled shutter release, my previous one having failed at Margate kite festival. Pleased to report it worked fine!

So having got the rig on the line and having let out line so kite and rig were flying out towards the tree line, I made my way towards the tower. There is a gap in the trees just in front of the tower, and I was hoping to get through this gap and get the camera close to the tower. Unfortunately, the wind was very difficult, gusty and lumpy, so I eventually decided to stay well away and get some area shots. The conditions were presumably the precurser to the storm conditions expected to hit the UK tonight.

I was quite keen to let out some more line if possible, and get higher and closer, but the wind had picked up and the kite was pulling very strongly, so I couldn't release the larkshead holding to to my belt. So I had to make do with whatever pictures I could get.

So I headed back towards the carpark to attempt to bring the kite and rig down. With the kite pulling this strong, it was definitely a case of stake it downa nd walk it down. While I was there, I got a couple of shots towards Canterbury and the university.

Finally, I'd just got the kite packed away and the line on the reel, when the heavens opened as a squall hit. Not bothering to pack the rig away, I decided to decamp to the car. By the time I got there, we were all soaked and being hammered by hailstones. Definitely not pleasant. A couple of photos worth keeping but not really one of my better days.

Mote Park on a January day

2008-01-27T19:10:00.000Z

Well, for various reasons, I've not been out to KAP for about 3 months and was definitely getting withdrawal syptoms. But at last, I didn't have to work, the weather forecast was reasonable and I had no other commitments. So I arranged to meet som e mates in Mote Park in Maidstone to fly some kites in the afternoon, and I was determined to KAP.

The wind at home in the morning was brisk, and the tops of the trees were swaying, so it looked like being a strong wind day. But when I got to the park, which is only about 3 miles from home, there was hardly any wind. So we spent the afternoon playing with assorted kites. Idecided to ty a 4 metre delta and even put the camera rig on the line, but whilst it would occasionally lift off the ground, it wasn't getting high enough or stable enough to be worthwhile. It did show up one problem though. I wasn't getting a lot of response to attempts to pan the camera. A short inspection showed that the locknut on the gears for the pan servo was slightly loose, enough that it couldn't turn the rig. An easy fix!

Well I got bored with a soaring and floaty delta, so decided to try a 2m rok, at least it would pull a bit! After about half an hour, there was sufficint lift that I didn't have to constantly work at the kite to keep it airborne. So decided to attach the rig and go for broke. Initially things were a bit slow, but eventually, we were airborne. So I wandered over towards the cafe to try to get some photos there. Starting at low level, I slowly allowed the kite to climb, probably not entirely legal, but at least we got sufficient height to get some nice pics. The low sun and clear skies meant things were getting picked out by the sunlight nicely.

After finishing up by the cafe, I traversed along the children's playground, stoppping for a chat with an interested bystander, and ended up in amongst the trees with the camera over the corner of the play area.

Working my way back out, I wandered around the skate park into the trees there and got a couple of shots here before the wind dropped.

With the dind droped to nothing, the rig was decending into the skate park, so some quick work recovered it to land at my feet, then some more quick pulling to keep the kite airborne and out of the trees. Eventually I managed to get the kite ito land beside a small tree. And that was that, no wind, no lift but a worthwhile day and some good pictures. Next time out in Mote PArk, I want to move around the lake and get up to the old house to see if I can get some decent pictures of that.

Becalmed at Ally Pally

2007-10-22T13:45:00.000+01:00

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!

Hardelot Plage, then Canterbury with no Wind

2007-10-15T13:20:00.000+01:00

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.

Bewl kite weekend

2007-10-07T21:44:00.000+01:00

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.

Maiden KAP flight for Dopero

2007-09-30T20:08:00.000+01:00

My Jones Airfoils maxi dopero pro arrived in January, but has had relatively few outings so far. In fact, it had to wait until Berck Festival in April before it took to the sky. Whilst it has had a couple of other flights, today was to be its first outing with a KAP rig.

Conditions couldn't have been better for it really. We had planned to fly at Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells and Gerty had given directions to park in Bayhall Road. When I got there, Bill and Gert were already there, and there was the gentlest of breezes. So it seemed an obvious choice to give the dopero an outing. At the time, I wasn't sure that I would get any KAP done, as I didn't think there was enough wind. But the dopero launched easily and climbed steadily into the sky, and there was sufficient pull on the line to make me determined to get some KAP.

After last weeks problems, I had spent some time during the week playing with camera settings and getting some test shots. I hoped I had got the camera configured in a way that would give me some decent output.

So with the rig fixed about 100 feet below the kite, I let out line until the rig was about 50 feet off the ground, and wandered off to see what we could see. I was determined to get some photos of the lake, but I had no idea what else was around (I haven't been to Dunorlan Park before).After getting some low level shots, I decided to allow some more lineout to see if we could get some more shots from on high, and to see how the kite reacted. The kite was absolutely brilliant. It did tend to clmb overhead, and a couple of times when the wind dropped away to nothing, the kite was floating on thermals whiile the camera stayed suspended, gently coming down, then a sight breeze would add tension to the line, the camera would start to climb and then so would the kite.

A very successful afternoon KAP. I will go to Dunorlan Park again, but next time I go, I will try to get into the carpark on Hall Hollow Road. The event field is great for general kite flying, but the field on the other side of the hedge near the lake seems to have plenty of space between the trees, is accessible from the carpark, and offers a far greater range of photographic subjects. As usual, the photos are on my flickr stream, but below is a sample:

Margate photos

2007-09-24T21:17:00.000+01:00

Well I've managed to get most of the photos from Margate sorted and adjusted so we can at least see them. As usual, they are on my flickr photostream. But here is a sample. Ladies, and those of a nervous disposition should look away now!

Margate big sky - day 2

2007-09-24T13:20:00.000+01:00

Another fabulous day at Margate, this time much more windy though. In fact too much wind for much of the day. When I left home Maidstone was shrouded in fog and there was absolutely no wind. It didn't look very promising. By Faversham, the fog had gone, but it was still very cloudy, but Margate was in sunshine.

Gerty Nagged me to launch either the (new) leek, or the owl. In the end, we went for both. The leek is most impressive! Before long, the wind was at its playful best, resulting in most of the lifters coming to the ground. The owl was allowed to fly on its own for a while, and the leek was left out all day as a ground bouncer, and still worked fine.

To more mundane subject and KAP. I'd repaired the rig and was ready to go. In the conditions, I decided to take pity on Matt and come down to a 56 inch Rok. The conditions were very playful, which meant we did not get very stable flight, but we toured the main arena clicking away. However, when we recovered kite and camera, I was disappointed to find most shots were over exposed. I'm using a custm setting of shutter priority with Canon "safeshot". I have the speed set at 1/2000 and the idea is that safeshot should adjust the speed to the highest it can get away with in the conditions. Looking at the exif data for some of the photographs, it seems as if it is taking all pictures at 1/250 and f4. This is most annoying, but I will have to experiment with the settings to see if I can find out exactly what is going on. I may be able to recover some of the pictures once I have processed them. I've been experimenting with RAW image data. The file sizes are mighty big, which take a long time to write to the card. This means I can't get as many shots per outing as with jpeg files. I will have to lok at tweaking the file size. I've also got a fairly steep learning curve in understanding how to process the raw files to get the best out of them, but hey, its all good fun? Meanwhile, I'm seriously of going back to the digital Elph 400!

So hopefully, I'll get a couple of decent images out of the trip, which will end up on Flickr.

Margate Big Sky part 1

2007-09-22T21:45:00.000+01:00

Saturday arrived and time for the new kite festival in Margate, so pootled off to arrive there at about 9:30, after all the work had been done, but before the events started.

Met up with some old friends again, and made some new ones into the bargain. A fairly windless morning meant that most kites were lying on the ground, and the display teams were having to work overtime. After lunch the breeze picked up a little, so I decide to have a go at some KAP. Everything tested so I entrusted the rig to my favourite rok and set off to get some photos, with Matt piloting the kite.

Spent a good while moving round the site and hoping for some good shots, and eventually recovered the camera. Took a look at the results, and only three images saved. Only 2 of them were anything approaching usable. So what's wrong here. Some diagnostic tests show that there is a problem with the IR. I can't fix it on the field, and don't know whether it is the LED or the sensor. All I know is that the receiver is getting the signal fine. Looks like a busy night.

So as the wind dropped as the tide changed again, I headed for home and went straight out into the workshop to try to find out what the problem is. Fortunately I've got a 360 LED that I can use to test the camera. This shows that the camera is fuctioning fine, so it must be the standard LED that is the cause of the problem. Again fortunately, I've still got the finger servo fitted to the rig from the days of using my other camera. Unfortunately the shutter button on this camera is in a competely different position, so time to go to work. An hour later, the rig is back together, having drilled out the rivets, moved the servo, added some extra spacers, fixed everything back together. Time for a test, yep working fine. So provided we get some decent weather tomorrow, we can go out and try again.

Long period of absence

2007-09-17T13:09:00.000+01:00

Well I've not been flying kites much this year, so I've had precious few opportunities to KAP. There are many reasons for this:

I'm now vice captain of my archery club, so spend a lot of time at compteitions
The weather in the UK has been generally awful, limiting opportunities on my flying days
Lack of decent subject matter to inspire me.

Still this last weekend I went out determined to KAP, only to be disappointed.

On Saturday, I attended a "Japanese Festival" in Gillingham. This sounded like it would be a good opportunity to KAP. Unfortunately the weather was definitely not on our side. I think we had sufficient wind to fly kites for about half an hour. Other than that I spent all day struggling to keep a roller airborne, by working the line all the time. Glorious sunny day though and made some new friends. Even if I had been able to get airborne, there wouldn't have been much to KAP as all of the sideshows were under the trees, so I wouldn't have been able to get close enough to get any decent shots.

Surely Sunday would be better. I was attending tghe Wick Country Park kite event at Wickford in Essex. When I got out at about 8am to move my car, there was a reasonable breeze, and this looked promising. But when I got to the Wick at about midday, the wind had picked up considerably, and was very gusty, turbulent and basically horrible. I decided straight away that there was no way I was going to entrust my rig to a kite line, and made do with some ground based shots of the kite, which are on my Flickr pages. Maybe next year.

Next weekend is the first Margate Big Sky kite event. I'm hoping for better conditions, so I can get some aerials from there.

Sunday 24th

2007-06-24T09:40:00.000+01:00

Well my batteries are charged and I'm ready to go, the only problem is - its raining. Doesn't look very promising at the moment, but you never know, we may be able to get out later. Here's hoping as I haven't been out flying, let alone kaping for a couple of weeks now.

What a plonker

2007-06-11T13:31:00.000+01:00

Well I checked all the gear the night before, before carefully packing it away. Loaded the car and left home at half past six to get to Matt's house for seven to pick up Matt and Bill before heading off to get the 8:40 ferry. Some light drizzle in the air, but I hope it isn't going to develop.

Queued at Dover for a while before boarding, and into the restaurant for breakfast. Another long queue, but breakfast was worth the wait. P & O should give cetring lessons to Little Chef!

Arrived in Calais, and seemed to take a while getting off the ferry. THis was probably due to the fact that a coach had broken down right at the gangway on our side, so we all had to reverse out and go down th eother side. Then just as I got to the gangway, they were towing the coach, so we had to wait again. So by the time we arrived at Hardelot, it was getting on for lunchtime. Ho hum, how we suffer. Strolled thorugh the town for a while then had a very pleasant lunch. Then headed back to the beach to get in some flying.

Right, lets get some kap in. Good steady wind, just right for the large rokkaku. So launch the kite and tie it off temporarily while I get camera set up and loaded in the rig, suspend the rig from the line and let some line out to keep i airborne. Line is tight, kite is nailed to the sky, sun is shining, everything is righ with the world. Turn to the transmitter. OH NO. The power switch looks like it is half way between on and off. Turn it to fully on. Nothing! Dead as the proverbial dodo! A few nice english expletives follow, which I hope were lost on the local people. I haven't got my autokap rig with me, so I'm completely stuffed, and I spent ages debating whether to bring it! Really annoyed now as I had found something of interest to kap! Hopefully the other KAPers (I saw two rigs flying) did better than I did.

So pack everything away again and just fly for the afternoon. Like I say, fabulous afternoon, so managed to fly a couple of kites and hung some spikey balls off the line. Someone came and took some photos. Then as the afternoon drew on, decided to have a two line session. Out with the Trident lite on long lightweight lines. Really getting into it, getting lots of lewises, and yo-yos and wrapped up fades and things then just pulling an axel and twang - line break. So spent the rest of the day flying on short (20ft) lines. Not nearly as much fun, but could still get some action out of the kite.

Time to head off. Its been a nice long relaxing day. No rush, and no worries. We've got plenty of time before the ferry, but not enough time to eat, so we take a gentle drive through the country up to Boulogne, then take the motorway back to Calais. Arriving at Calais about 45 minutes before the ferry, get through check-n and are early in the queue for boarding. Just settle down for a snooze when they call us forward for boarding. Unheard of! We're on the ferry and in the restaurant. Poor Matt, no vegetarian options, so he goes off in search of something he can eat, while Bill and I tuck in to some nosh. We've finished before the ferry is due to leave harbour. Totally uneventful crossing as the sea is flat calm

Great day out despite the kap disaster. If you want a relaxing kite festival somehting like Teston with wind, then I strongly recommend Hardelot. If you've never been there, the houses as you drive down into the town are magnificent, it really is a pleasant little town.

Off to Hardelot tomorrow

2007-06-08T13:32:00.000+01:00

I've not been out flying for a couple of weeks now, and am beginning to get withdrawal symptoms. But tomorrow is Hardelot Plage kite festival and me, Matt and Bill are planning a long day trip on the sands there. The weather forecast isn't wonderful, and from memory there isn't anything particularly photogenic there, but I'm hoping to at least get airborne again nd click off a couple of shots. You know where to find them if I succeed.

TV producer wants help

2007-06-08T13:28:00.000+01:00

I had a conversation with a researcher from a television company the other day. They are planning a program on photography and wanted to involve a KAPer in Kent. This sounded interesting, but unfortunately due to time constraints, I wasn't able to help out on this occasion. Maybe next time

Rougham day 2

2007-05-22T13:54:00.000+01:00

Well they were right, the wind dropped!

In fact it fell away to nothing. By the time Bill and I arrived there was hardly a kite in the sky. I think I saw the Scratch Bunnies doing a display, but I think they were moving faster than the kites.

DEfinitely a day for the really light wind kites, so much so that I watched as people struggled int he arena to get a dopero airborne. So I decided to go with a roller (the one with the sunburst pattern), which flew nicely, and at one point, I thought we were going to invent a new sport of roller fighting with a couple of guys. bring it on.

Bill had a bit of disappointement. The new box he had bought from skybums broke as he was assembling it. Boy did the air turn blue. And as no-one had a spare 2m length of 15mm hardwood dowel, he was scuppered for the day. So he tried with a rhombox, but didn't have much luck getting that airbonre either.

Paul tried and failed to fly his new huge mega delta. So the day was spent wandering round, chatting, watching people stuggle and invariably fail to fly. Good journey both ways though. Did the trip in about an hour and a half from home. Hope to meet up with people again soon.

Rougham day 1

2007-05-19T22:33:00.000+01:00

And the wind she did blow.

We got there about midday, and were a little unhappy at the £6 each admission!. But swallowing our pride we carried on and spent a day at Rougham wandering round traders stands and watching people struggling with the wind. Paul Brooks had his new large spikey ball in the air, but the wind was far to strong for his new delta. We're told the wind will drop tomorrow so he hopes to put in a maiden flight.

Late afternoon and we decided to fly. I tried the 56 rokakku to lift my camera, but it really wasn't much cop. It wasn't very stable and didn't really generate enough lift. I did get some photos from the public flying area across the campsite and over the arenas. And this picture includes the control tower in the background.

Tomorrow hopefully the wind will drop a bit and we can try again perhaps with a more stable kite. Meanwhile enjoy the pics, you know where they are by now.

St Mildred's on a Sunday

2007-05-06T20:17:00.000+01:00

Today children we went to St. mildred's Bay near Margate, where it was cloudy and very windy. Given the conditions one had to be mad to fly a kite. But we are, so we did!

As usual arrived before Bill and when he arrived we headed off to Pav's for lunch. When we came back there were a few of the crew gathered. Heather had arrived with the Mind mental health charity kites that tehy wanted us to fly. Well we fiddled with a few and got some to fly reasonably reliably. Heather managed to get some photos for the Mind event next week.

With that over and done with, it was back to the more normal tasks of flying kites with assorted line junk. Problem was, finding any kite that was stable in the very tricky wind conditions. Deltas, delta conynes, box kites of assorted design all seemed to be darting across the sky. I really wanted to try some KAp, one to get some photos from above the sunken garden, and two to get out over the cliffs and look down on the bay below. The wind was in a favourable direction, but was I goning to be able to find a kite stable enough?

I decided to try the small 1.5 metre premiere rokkaku, heavily bowed, I managed to get it fling at a good angle and just about stable, so set about setting up my rig. I got the rig on the line, but then the kite was visciously dragged out of the sky by a delta. So with everything relaunched, I decided to try and find a gap through the kites and junk, only to get crossed by another delta, carrying pigs, frogs, etc. with it. This tangle was a bit more serious, and we had to come down to resolve it. It was during this interval on the ground, that I got a stunning photo of a ball of string!

Anyway, I found enough space to relaunch, but conditions were such that there was very little lift, and the camera was floating horizontally as I fed line. Occasionally the kite lifted, and more often than not, it sunk towards the ground. I did manage to get a couple of shots of the sunken garden.

You can take a look on my flickr page. Then I tried to walk kite and camera out over the cliffs. Well I got the kite out there, but only managed to get the camera as far as the cliff top path. The wind was extermely fickle and I was loosing all lift, so decided to call it a day. I didn't really want to dump the whole lot in the bay below. ANother time in better conditions, I'll have another go.

Teston again

2007-04-29T19:11:00.000+01:00

Another day at Teston bridge picnic site, but this time conditions were pretty good. The wind was its usual self all afternoon, coming and going , but it was blowing along the valley, which meant it was much more consistent than usual. So I decided to try and KAP the bridge and lock, and put up the flowform 30 to start. I had single fluffy tail on, but it proved too much for the kite as the wind was low, so the tail came off which allowed the kite to attain a much better flying angle.

Now I tried to position myself as close to the bridge as possible. First time out, the wind droped and I had to retreat to safety away from the trees. Meanwhile I also needed to discover why the rig was jittering and the camera continually firing. The second was easy, the trimmer for the shutter release had moved. The first was because the tx aerial wasn't fully extended.

So with those problems solved, back to my position of comfort by the bridge and hope to get a couple of decent shots. Well I got what I think is a nice one of the bridge

and a nice one looking up river towards the lock.

The latter one needed a little bit of fiddling in photoshop to compensate for teh bright sky.

Now another problem, I'd lost pan control. everything else was working fine. So bring the kite down to see that at some point, the support for the pan servo had bent slightly and was now just failing to engage the pan gear. This was easily fixed, but being a lazy sort, and having got the two keeper photos that I wanted, I called it a day for KAP and spent a pleasant afternoon just flying kites.

Berck 2007

2007-04-11T13:12:00.000+01:00

Despite all adversity, the three stooges finally managed to turn up at Berck on Easter weekend. Initially we had problems finding a hotel. In fact the closest that was willing to let out three single rooms was in Boulogne. aware of our plight, Heather came to the rescue and suggested we contacted her neighbour who had a holiday cottage somewhere near Le Touquet. The deal was struck and we headed off on Good Friday. We had booked a sailing at about 1pm, but Dover ferry terminal was remarkably quiet considering. Eventually we found our way into Calais, and headed for Cite Europe to get supplies for the evening (beer, wine, cheese and bread). With the car now fully loaded, we headed off to find Hubersent.

Hubersent is a tiny little village, a little south of Samer, just off the N1. There is nothing there! Well there is a church,

which is closed and seems to have been replaced by a modern village hall. A monument to our lady of Boulogne

which is closed up, a cross in the village "centre"

and some houses and farm buildings, and that is it. No shops, but we had been warned.

The cottage was a pretty, rustic old farm cottage I guess.

And having got there, our problems began. Nothing to do with the cottage you understand, it was the idiot holding the key. It didn't seem to fit any of the locks! About to phone for assistance, when Bill noticed that there was another lock on the front door. Sure enough the key fitted this one. At last we gained entry, and the most striking feature was the fireplace that dominates the loungs.

But boy were we glad of this in the evening as we struggled to figure out how to get the heating and hot water to work. But eventually all problems were solved and we settled down to enjoy our stay. Whilst the cottage is very old, it has all mod cons inside - dishwasher, microwave, oven, hob, etc.

Saturday comes, and we felt we should put in an appearance at Berck, so we headed off down the N1, which takes you straight there. Unfortunately, the traffic jam getting into the town started just where the N1 crosses the A16. Fortunately it only continued to the cross roads at Rang du Fliers, but it still took us best part of an hour to get there, having taken about 15 minutes from the cottage to the back of the jam!

But we got there, parked and headed off to the beach. There was quite a stiff breeze and we wandered along and around looking at the various displays and kites. The wind garden was just below the carousel this year, and in addition to the traditional wind toys, there was a magnificent maze. Fellow Kaper Gerhard got some nice photos of it, which you can see here http://www.drachenwelt.at/kap/2007/2_berck/pages/berckgd039.htm.

Nothing much new in the sky though, but on the ground were two magnificent windmills, one stamping out metal discs

and the other was a clock (not the most accurate timepiece being wind powered).

In one of the display tents there were some fabulous Edos and a magnicent chines dragon.

During the afternoon it turned cloudy and chilly so we headed off to the supermarket to pick up supplies for the evening, for chef Bill to make the most of. As we returned to Hubersent, it was clear that the fine weather was to the north, and the cloudy weather down south.

Sunday came, and we took the coast road down through Etaples to get to Berck this time. We arrived much earlier, but it was already difficult to park. Glorious sunshine all day long. There should be a warning around some of the arenas, as this bloke obviously fell over the barrier!

After renewing acquaintances at the beach cafe, it was time to go and fly. I had taken my new maxi dopero with me, so I went to the beach whilst the others went back to the car to get kites. It was a bit of a struggle getting the kite put together to start with, as it was first time out, but before long, it was flying, and attracted the attention of other kapers. Funny how a dopero can act as a honeypot to kapers. Wicherd wandered by at the bottom of his maxi; Wolfgang came to get a photgraph or three, and Peter (van Erkel) came over for a chat. This just goes to reinforce the great community spirit between kapers.

Having given the maxi its maiden voyage, we chatted for a while and then met up with other KKF members who had made the day trip. Finally we decided to grab an evening meal in Berck, as there was no way of getting out of the town! I have seen Berck crowded before, but I don't think I have ever seen crowds like this. It was almost impossible to move on the beach!

Having eaten, we headed back to the beach for an hours flying before making the coastal journey back to the cottage.

Monday came and time to think about returning home. So after breakfast, we cleaned up and eventually set off. The plan was to stop off in Boulogne for a fly, but it was impossible to find anywhere to park, at about noon. So we headed off along the coastal road to Calais, to see if we could get any better luck. Not really! It was only when we got to a cpot between Bleriot Plage and Calais Plage that we found a large empty carpark and decided to stop and try our luck. A good breeze was blowing along the beach, so I decided to try out the Trident, Bill went for the Outerspace and Matt the 10m Peel! Refreshed, we decided coffee and frites were required before heading off to the ferry. Big mistake. It took about 20 minutes from taking the order to things arriving, and as Matt said, it takes some doing to find the only French food establishment to make an English greasy spoon look positively Egon Ronay! Never mind! we cut through the town and got to the ferry port to join the queue with the Carl Robertshaw procession. And so to home to end one of the most enjoyable flying trips I've had in a long time.

Canterbury 11th March

2007-03-12T13:49:00.000Z

At Last! The weather was finally nice enought to get out and do some serious flying!

That being said, it was a bit blustery, in fact it was "quite" turbulent. But it was gloriously sunny, which led to a good turn out from KKF members for a club day. A few old faces came out and flew and it was really good to see them all.

So I thought I'd start the day with a Nashville Star - a Jilly Pelham creation. THis is an old kite and the fabric is faded and jaded, but it still flies nicely. But in the turbulent conditions, it was bouncing around the sky. I was just thinking I would bring it down when there was a creak, crack and that was that. The front spreader and one of the cell spreaders broke in two. Testament to the kite, it carried on flying, but it was no definitely a case of get it to the ground before any serious damage was done. So a repair is now necessary :-(

Next out I decided to fly a pair of deltas from G-Kites. A ghost and a shadow delta. Both are framed in glass fibre, so much more able to handle the conditions. THey bounced around the sky, but stayed aloft.

Later, I decided to try a home made Conyne. Again this was skipping all over the sky, but then these aren't reknowned for their stability. However, while I was sitting down having a drink, the kite stabilised and behaved nicely for about half an hour. Encouraged by this, I was determined to get out the camera rig. But by the time I'd got to the anchor point, the kite was once again bouncing all over the place.

But I wasn't to be beaten, and as the sun settled over the woods, the wind dropped a bit and I decided to try a premier rok. Not the focus this time, I was going with the tongue. It hasn't been out of the bag for some time so it was due a stint. Correctly trimmed, it flew straight up in the sky and stayed put, so this was the time to attache the camera. I desperately wanted to get some close up photos of the BT tower, but with the wind still bucking the camera and kite, I decided not to head too close to the tree line, and get some shots form the distance. Next time, when the winds are calmer, I'll get up closer

But all in all it was a good productive day. THis was the first successful use of the Canon S60, after a couple of false starts. The infra-red release worked well. I've currently got it set with flash on, but looking at the exif data, this seems to be causing the shutter speed to slow down. also, it changes the recharge time, which means that you can't fire off shots quickly. So I think I'll turn that feature off. I like having the flash as a positive indication of shutter release, but I don't like it if it impacts on the ability to capture images.

This was, I think, the first time the rig has been airborne since it got bent, and it performed fine, so big tick in the box there. There is always next time to capture the perfect image!

Palm Bay on the 18th

2007-02-19T13:26:00.000Z

Well I didn't do any KAP, cos it was too cold. My tiny hands were frozen, but I wasn't to be put off flying having not been out for some time.

I arrived at about mid-day, along with Barry (Arfman) and Len (Ochiltree), and we soon had some kites int he air. It was cold, and there was a good, but gentle breeze. So I decided to forgo the pleasure of setting up the KAP gear, and play with sports kites. Out came the Trident and I had a good hour refamiliarizing myself with trick kite flying. It didn't take too long to get back into the groove.

Time for lunch when Bill arrived, so off we went to the cafe to see what was on offer. A good old fashioned plate of english cholesterol was the order of the day! full and warmed up again, we headed back along the cliffs to Palm Bay where the others were playing. The wind had all but disappeared, but I gave the Trident another outing.

Eventually, I was having trouble keeping the kite aloft, so decide to christen my Christmas present - Trident Light. Yes I got this on Christmas day, and it has only been out of the bag to check that everything was well. So now it was going to feel the (lack of) breeze. I like the Trident a lot, and I really didn't think that Mark could repeat his success, but he has, and I think I like the Light even more. It didn't take long before I was performing my full (but still somehwat limited) repertoire on this kite, and it just gave everything up so easily. A joy to fly!

Oh well, time to head off home and speculate on what might have been with the dopero!

Damp underfoot at Canterbury

2007-02-12T13:48:00.000Z

Well I went flying at Canterbury yesterday, but didn't manage to get any KAP done.

When I arrived at the site, there was a good strong breeze blowing, definitely not the conditions for trying out the new Dopero, so I resorted to my trusty rokakku. Having got the kite into the air, I decided to attach the camera rig and try to get some photos. I didn't realise quite how wet it was until I put my foot down and spalshed muddy water everywhere!

Anyway, I got the camera rig on the line and tested the shutter release - nothing. I'm now using a Canon S70 with infra red release and using a gentled. But nothing seemed to be happening. So while I fiddled with the camera, the kite came down, then went back up again, then went down, then up - you get the picture about the weather conditions!

So I decided to take the camera off and investigate the problem. For whatever reason, it had lost the setting for infra red release, and it took me about 20 minutes to find the correct setting. Its not in one of the menus, its in the functions screen. So feeling a bit fed up, I now had the camera working and sure enough, when I fired up the tx and pressed shutter release, I got a comforting click, whir and flash from the camera, yes it was getting pretty dark, and by the looks of things we were about to get a squall. So I decided to give up on photography and just go for the flying.

Well the squall hit, but wasn't as hard as the couple I had driven through on the way out, but enough to give the rok a good soaking, so it had to stay flying for a while to dry out. THen I tried out a Gomberg shadow delta that I bought last year but was still in its original bag. The kite flew nciely, but the leading edge sleeves were too tight for my liking and the glass fibre rods much too flexible, so it may all get changed for carbon at some point.

Enough of this, getting cold and dark so time to head home. At home, checked out the camera, and I think I've now got the IR setting saved. I hope so as having to set this every time I want to use the camera for KAP would be a major pain in the A***.

Likely to be off to Palm Bay in Margate next weekend, hoping for better KAP luck and some decent weather. See you all soon.

Camber was windy today

2007-01-21T18:25:00.000Z

Went down to Camber today with a group from KKF. When I got there just before 1, they were already in the cafe. The tide was as high as I've seen it - lapping under the deck of the cafe at times, and the wind was blowing strong.

So I'd already decided today was not a day for KAP, but for flying. Had breakfast int he cafe, then ventured out as the tide receded. Paul put up his counter rotating box, and bill flew a pair of bugs, but apart from that, very little was int he sky. Then as the tide receded further out, so the wind abated a bit and I decided to try out an old kite.

Out came an old Pro Spectrum from Rare Air Kites of South Africa. This kite has got to be a good 10 years old. But on long lines it is slow and steady and flies like it is on rails. Had some great fun with it, then lent it to Andrew and Bill to play with for a while. The term "being connected" to the kite is certainly the case with this one as it pulls like a train!

As teh skies darkened it was time to head off home. Don't know where we'll be next week. It rather depends on what the weather holds I guess.

A Grand Day Out

2006-12-01T21:59:00.000Z

Today saw Matt, Bill and I head off for a day out. Unfortunately the weather wasn't ideal being chilly, windy, grey and damp. But we made the most of it. We took ourselves North out of Calais towards Dunkerque and explored some of the coastline along the way, stopping off in Grand-Fort Phillipe, Gravelines and Loon Plage before finding our way to Dunkerque, where we managed to get a short fly on the beach. The sand at all of these locations is simply unbelievable and well worth a visit if you can make it. The panorama below is taken from the monument at Grand-Fort Phillipe. The lighthouse is in Petit-Fort Phillipe. The bloke in teh foreground is Bill. More photos are on myu Flickr pages. If you want to know exactly where this is in Northern France, then the photo of the monument on my Flickr page is geotagged, just click on the map link.

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Damaging day at Capstone

2006-11-26T21:08:00.000Z

Well it was quite breezy, and proved too much for safe KAP. After I arrived I spent some time rigging a small HQ rokkaku to cope with the conditions. Eventually I got it flying stable and at a nice angle, so decided to try to get my rig aloft. With the kite just about at tree top level, and about 100 ft of line out, I didn't expect to have many problems. How wrong can we be?

So with the rig fixed to the line I started to gently pay out line. With the rig now at about 50 feet, everything looked good, so I fired off a shot.

Then the wind picked up. The kite started to traverse the sky dramatically, and the rig was being thrown about the sky from side to side.

Then the worst possible thing happened, the kite went into a big loop and the rig hit the ground at force. The kite continued on its way and dragged the rig along the ground before lifting it back into the sky. So at this point, I decided enough was enough and tied the line off to a nearby post and walked the rig down. The battery pack was dangling and the legs were bent, but I couldn't immediately see any other damage. A quick check showed that all functions still seemed to be working, but enough already, lets bring it down and pack away.

Closer inspection at home shows that the whole of one side of the rig has been buckled, however it is not a write off. A couple of hours in the workshop will put it right I think.

Dieppe in Panorama

2006-11-25T12:49:00.000Z

Well, back in September, Bill, Matt and I visited Dieppe. I've recently taken an interest in creating virtual panoramas, so this is my first effort based on three photos of the Dieppe skyline taken from the castle. Enjoy!

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Glorious Camber

2006-11-19T20:34:00.000Z

We decided to spend a day down in Camber today, and what a glorious day it was too. There was zero wind in Maidstone, but Metcheck and Windguru both said there would be a steady 10mph in the afternoon. Will and I got down there about 12:30 and sure enough there was a good breeze blowing almost straight down the beach. So I decided to take out the camera and flowform and try and get some photos. Not far from our usual flying spot was a whale that had been washed ashore during the week. It was being closely guarded by the coastguard and was surrounded by ghoulish onlookers. Not to be outdone, I managed to get my photos from a slightly higher angle!

Then I wandered down the beach to get some photos of the houses and the glorious reflected sunlight off the sea.

Returning to Will's flying spot, Matt and Bill had arrived and assisted in getting the kite and rig back safely on the ground. Time for lunch and to look over the images. A full memory card was then swapped and off for another go in the opposite direction down the beach, where the flats and dunes could be examined from the air.

Another full memory card and a few spots of rain meant it was time to bring everything back to earth and start packing away. I think this must count as amongst my best ever days kapping. It was certainly one of the most enjoyable. The kite performed perfectly, there was a good steady breeze, no turbulence and clear conditions. Th eonly down point was I never quite managed to get the whale framed properly, and I discovered that I had my camera set on super fine resolution, which reduced the number of images I could save.

Oops!

2006-11-13T11:45:00.000Z

Well Sunday was at Mote Park in Maidstone. So I turned up at the field and took rig and kite onto field. Got the FF30 nicely into the sky and secured. Took out my rig and everything was fine. Took out the tx, and OOPS. The power was on and the meter was showing a compelte discharge state. No spare battery - IDIOT!!!!!

G'day from Camber

2006-10-29T18:53:00.000Z

Blimey what a scorcher! Had a great day at Camber today, despite winds being light to non-existant! But I'm definitely in need of a dopero!

Got there this morning to find the car park full, teh sun shining and a gentle offshore breeze blowing. As the tide was well out, made the most of the conditions and flew the trident for a couple of hours. Must right to Mark and get the colour swatch for teh ultra light version as I am trying to persuade someone that it would make a nice Christmas present.

Anyway, at about 1:30 the tide was well up the beach, so we headed for the Kit Kat cafe for lunch. Under new ownership but the food is still good. Not only that, they will be willing to open anytime there is custom!!!!

After lunch, went out to play with single line stuff. Given the conditions, I decided to try a Premier large Rok. Well it took some effort, but eventually it was well out over the sea, flying at about 60 degrees. So I thought I'd give the camera a try. Well it stayed glued to the ground, absolutely no lift from the kite at all. So I took the camera off and just flew the kite. Lovely conditions, and occasionally had to work to keep the kite out of the sea. And it was just by luck that we were underflown by two microlights scooting along the seaa line at about 20 feet. Had I got their numbers I'd have reported them to the CAA, cos I'm sure what they were doing wasn't legal.

Apart from that, lovely day which came to an end all too soon as the sun disappeared. We're apparently going to try Tonbridge again next week.

KAP at Kenilworth Castle

2006-10-22T11:42:00.000+01:00

John Williams of Midland Kite Flyers had organised a day at Kenilworth Castle on 21st October for UK KAPers to meet up. Unfortunately, on the day, a coule dropped out due to ill health, and with the "scottish contingent" heading off to KAPICA, our numbers were rather diminished at 2 (John and I)! To make matters worse, due to some poor organisation on my part, I was running very late, and having already told John that I wouldn't be there before 12, it was just before one when I finally arrived. John had been busy all morning, so was in the car park having a rest, and after the drive, we decided that first things first, lets head to the pub!

Rested and revived we headed back to the castle to try our luck. Having put on some wet weather gear and got ourselves organised, I decided to try the Premier focus rok. John had warned that the wind was a bit fickle where we were flying

so he helped me out with a long launch. And guess what. It was then that we got the first heavy shower. Sure enough, after a short while, the wind picked up to strong and gusty and the kite and camera rig were being thrown all over the sky, so there was no opportunity to get "up close and personal" with the castle wall. But the wonders of digital photography and computers mean that a lot of problems can be corrected.

And after a short while, I had to stop for a rest as my arms were aching from the pull of the rok.

Meanwhile John was struggling to find the right kite to fly, having started out with a dopero, he moved onto a flowform, then settled on a delta. Eventually, the rain stopped, and before too long we were bathed in wall-to-wall sunshine, and the wind dropped to acceptable levels, which meant we suddenly lost all lift. But then things settled down and we were able to spend the rest of the afternoon getting some reasonable photos from over the castle wall

and of the surrounding area.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. When the flash started firing on my camera, I knew the light was fading and it was time to pack up and head back to Kent. Many thanks to John for organising the day. Sorry I was so late getting there, and hopefully, next time we can get a few more people to come along.

Bewl Sunday

2006-10-02T13:19:00.000+01:00

Wet and Windy - enough said. We managed to fly in th emorning, though the wind was so gusty and turbulent that kites were swinging through about 90 degrees. Only a couple were really brave enough to fly. Then in the afternoon we had several heavy showers that drove the small public, and most of the kite flyers running for home. Shame, conditions were certainly not good enough to try KAP.

Bewl Saturday

2006-10-01T09:14:00.000+01:00

I arrived late in the day having had a few chores to deal with first and was greated by a pretty good display of kites. All the usual suspects were there.

So I put up the flowform 30 with two tails to keep it steady in the bouncy breeze, put three spiky balls on the line and borrowed Rob's big one to make a show and left it there flying all afternoon.

Picked up Alexis' rok from Rob's bargain bucket, then went and untangled some string. And by then the day was drawing to an end, so brought the balls down and decided to try some Kap on the FF. Well we were up, iarborn and ready, but for some reason, I had no control over the rig. Everything seemed to have power, but nothing seemed to be working. However when I brought everything back to ground we were ok again. Now I know I'm using a short range "park" receiver, but I can't believe it was out of range!

Anyway, packed everything up, and set the BIG delta up for night flying. "You'll never get that up" wanna bet!!!!! Up she went with all lights flickering nicely. Looked great as the dark clouds rolled in and the heavens opened. So we got soaked and I will have to fly again today to dry it out!

See ya all tomorrow

Teston in need of a Dopero

2006-09-24T18:43:00.000+01:00

Today, Bill and I decided to give the club meeting a miss and go to Mote Park. Best laid plans and all that, I got to Mote Park to find a funfare on the field. So we made a decision to go on to Teston. Teston is a lovely place, but a real pig to fly with a huge elm tree in the field, well know for eating kites, and with the wind in the wrong direction, cuting out the breeze from the field.

Still it was worth a try, and while Bill played with some brazilian fighters bought at Dieppe, I decided to try some KAP. Because of the light wind, I decided to use my favourite Premiere Rokakku, with the focus pattern. I just got it sitting above the trees, but needed to constantly tend it to keep it out of the damn things. So attaching the rig to the line and getting set up was "challenging".

Eventually we got set up and let out some line to try and get some more lift, but not a lot was happening, As I went across the field I got right in the shadow of the tree and that was it. Everything came rushing to the ground.

So a re-launch was necessary, and after a while I got high enough to get a couple of worthwhile shots. But it was a constant struggle, and I couldn't move downwind at all. Oh Peter, where is my maxi Dopero. If ever it was needed it was today.

Nice day though, relaxing and pleasant.

Dieppe, etc.

2006-09-20T22:32:00.000+01:00

Well, we're back from Dieppe after a long weekend of fun frolics and a certain amount of medicinal red wine. We were unable to get a hotel in Dieppe, so had to settle for one in Quiberville, a little fishing village about 10 miles away. Arriving on the Friday evening and conditions were pretty perfect, so I put up the flowform and immediately discovered it was going nowhere with the tails on, so took them off and managed to get enough lift to raise a camera.

Saturday started out pretty miserable, but warm. It took us about half an hour to drive into Dieppe. Parking was a piece of cake, and we were on site by 10am. Dieppe has a magnificent array of ethnic kites you will never see in this country. It is worth the trip just to see wau bulans flying and buzzing. But of course, who shold we bump into but Mike and Linda from Kiteworld, Half of Brighton Kite Flyers and Martin from Suffolk kite flyers. They'd put on a pretty good display of flotail deltas.

Saturday night we struggled to find a reataurant, and Matt being vegetarian was a problem. We found a restaurant with space, but they didn't have anything on the menu for him and refused to cook him an omlette, so he walked out! Ho humm.

Sunday dawned pretty miserable, but still warm. The weather brightened considerably in the afternoon. This was to be a day of culture for KKF. We did a tour of the castle and museum, several bars and and cafes. We also flew some kites and watched some others, before heading back to Quiberville for dinner. Her lies another problem. Along with most of France, the place is closed on a SUnday. We did manage to find one retaurant that was willing to serve us though, and even willing to cook an omlette!

Come Monday and time to head for home. Rising early to glorious weather after a breakfast and checking out we decided to go and fly before heading back home. Having just finished loading the car, the first spots of rain were felt, which preceded a downpour. Matt being young and brave was determined to fly. Bill and I were happy to watch!

And so back to blighty for a well earned rest before going back to work. We'll be heading back in two years time I guess.

A week that can best be described as "interesting"

2006-08-21T13:16:00.000+01:00

Well last week was an interesting one for flying, but b awful for KAP. I was off work all week so hoping to find some time to get airborn. My only real opportunity was late Wednesday afternoon when I had a spare hour so decided to take the Trident for a spin at a local field. This turned out to be a complete waste of time. The wind was awful, swirly turbulent, bumpy, all of the things you really want. So after half an hour I packed u and went home in disgust.

Thursday evening I met up with Alexis from Crystal Palace. He'd posted a plea for help on Cris Benton's KAP discussion site. HIs kit and kite had arrived from KAPShop, but he had no idea where to start. So a couple of hours later we had the line on the reel, the tail on the kite and the KAP rig ready to go. He seemed very pleased as he left, and sure enough I got a text on Satruday to tell me he had been up to Blackheath and as the kite had been rock steady in the breeze, he'd put up the rig and got some photos. Apparently they are all self portraits as he is using an auto Gentled, but hasn't got any means of turning the rig. I've had soe thoughts about that so if you're reading this Alexis, we will meet again and get the rig to move.

Saturday afternoon I got a couple of phone calls from guys who had goe to Capstone, to test conditions for the festival on Sunday. Apparently the feild was deserted, but the wind was ideal, blowing across the field.

And so to Sunday and Kites over Capstone. When I arrived, the first order of the day was to get my new gazebo erected to provide some shelter. We'd just got the thing up when the first heavy shower (downpour) arrived. Interesting, whilst it kept most of the water out, it let through a fine mist, bit like being in the tropical houses at Kew. I spoke to a few other people with the same gazebos and all had the same experience! Anyway, bakc to kites, and guess what the wind had turned through 90 degrees, and was blowing in from across the tree line. Anyone who knows capstone will know this makes flying conditions in the main field almost impossible. The arena and childrens flying areas were OK, but the rest of the field was useless. So there were very few display kites flying throughout the day. Fortunately Paul Brookes had managed to get a huge delta up into the cleaner winds, and offered to let us use it for teddy dropping. So an afternoon of dropping ensued, during which we managed to melt one of the pulleys on the drop rig! However we did come up with a 3 point attachment system, that allows the kite to be managed indepeendently of the dropping gear and seemed to work very well, another Andrews special!

I think, all in all a pretty good time was had by all, all we've got to do now is get things dried out. It was good to have the scratch bunnies and flying squad entertaining the normal people. Thanks to Paul for the loan of his kite and ground anchors (available from Kiteworld for all you people with huge kites to hodl down). It was also nice to meet up with the Essex Kite Group again. We must organise a combined fly-in one day at a mutually convenient site. Next stop is Leeds Castle in early September, Dieppe in mid-September then Bewl at the end of September. Hope to meet some people there.

Teston Family Kite Weekend

2006-08-13T20:43:00.000+01:00

Well, nothing at all to do with KAP this one, but nothing unexpected if you know anything at all about Teston.

Saturday was rain nearly all the way, and Sunday looked like following suit, but then at about 11 o'clock the rain stopped and apart froma couple of spots of rain a couple of times, it stayed away all afternoon, and by late afternoon we were bathed in sunshine as the front passed by to the north.

But as ever, the winds at Teston were tricky to say the least. If you could get above the tree line you stood a reasonable chance of staying up, but getting up above the tree line was all too much effort for most. So as usual, Teston is a place to gather and chat rather than fly.

I did get a couple of opportunities to try out the new Trident by Mark Clements though, and was very impressed with its capabilities. So were a number of other people who showed a lot of interest in it.

Hopefully we'll have better conditions at Capstone next week.

Melting in Margate

2006-07-03T13:22:00.000+01:00

Bill, Matt and I decided to head down to St. Mildred's Bay just outside Margate yesterday. THe weather forecast showed it was going to be wall to wall sunshine and a westerly at about 10mph.

Having suffered the queues on the M2, I got to Margate at about 1pm, and Bill arrived a little later. It was on the journey down that I realised that having taken the camera rig out of the car to recharge, I'd forgotten to reload it all!

I'd got in about 20 minutes flying on the QP before Bill arrived, and I've got to say conditions were ideal. Steady wind blowing along the cliffs meant no turbulence at all. First things first though, off to lunch. Walking down into the bay, I spotted someone trick flying across on the other headland. He was doing rather well. Bill said it could be Steve, but I said that Steve new where we fly, so it wouldn't be. IT WAS! He'd got lost and found a nice spot so decided to fly there!

After lunch headed back to the site and got the QP out again for a while, then the wind picked up, so decided to give the Paradox a go. At about 4pm, when Julian arrived we decided to switch to single lines and put on a pretty good display. I think at one point we had about 10 kites in the air, and worked up a theme of animal kingdom laundry and kites: Octopus; Whale; Dogs; Elephant; Pig; Owl; Cow. Unfortunately none of us had a camera with us. I've got a couple of images on my phone which I will post to my flickr account if they are any good. Follow the link below.

HYthe Town Festival

2006-07-01T21:42:00.000+01:00

Cars, originally uploaded by Pitprops.

Well it was hot and sunny for day one of the Hythe town festival. Day one typically starts with "Free on the Green" where all the activites are funded by sponsors. The only real blot on the landscape was the English fotball match at 4pm. What would happen to the crowds?

Well we arrived at about 11am, and I quickly got the focus rok in the air and hung some spikey balls and a pig from it. Then we set about getting the teddy dropping rig aloft and bunged a few experimental bears. All seemed to be going well. You can see fromt he phot, we were positioned just across the footpath and the wind was blowing favourably down the field, so we had a large area to play with. As the wind was almost perfect, Steve decided to spend some "quality time" with his Akuji.

After the burger lunch, I decided to take the laundry off the rok and fit a camera to it, and take it for a walk around the field. Well it was going to be a tough assignment as the wind was light to nothing, but we had to try. However one of the harder coming to grounds managed to dislodge the camera just enough so that the shutter release servo was no longer operating the shutter. Completely oblivious, I carried on clicking away until the transmitter battery failed. Bringing the rig safely to earth was tricky as I was flying in a gap between the Drake & Fletcher new Mazda stand, and all of the classic and kit cars. I didn't think anyone would be too impressed if I landed my camera rig on them, but we got down safely.

The afternoon was busy bunging bears for the children. Apparently a number had been looking forwards to the experience all week. We managed to place one bear in the hedge at the far end of the field. If you know Hythe, you'll get some idea of how far he travelled. We almost had one roman candle, but his chute deplyed in the nick of time. And once again the focus rok was doing sterling service, as by now we had swapped it for the original lifter kite as I had more height.

Good day, good fun, and an hour or so of sports kite flying to end the day, followed by fish and chips. Who could ask for more?

Some Panos from Tonbridge

2006-06-06T20:39:00.000+01:00

Had a little time tonight to play with the images I took at Tonbridge and stitch a few together to create some panorama type shots. I've also gone through and enhanced all of the other images as all looked a little washed out - ah the wonders of digital photography, we no longer have to accept what the camera provides us with!

So to the panos. This first is of the family cricket match. I think the guy in the bottom left corner should be concentrating on the cricket rather than the camera. A surorise imact from acricket ball can seriously hurt!

Next up, the children's play area and crazy golf course. Stitched from two photos.

And finally, the KKF base camp. On the left you can see me with Heather and Will, and in the top right are Bill and Steve.

Tonbridge Festival 4th June 2006

2006-06-05T20:37:00.000+01:00

Well a few of us popped over to Tonbridge for the day. It was probably the best day for flying of the year so far. The day was suny and warm, but the breeze was a little iffy.

I arrived at just after noon, and Steve had arrived just before me. When I got to the field, there was Andy from All Good Fun already set up and trading.
Steve and I decided to set up base in the middle of the field. Plenty of space as there were not a huge amount of people about. After a while, Bill arrived, soon followed by Andy and Will and then Heather, so the KKF base camp was formed.

After a short while we were joined by a family group who set up camp close by. Unfortunately we can't choose our neighbours, and they were a bit loud and the language left a little to be desired - more what we would expect on the football terraces.

The wind was a bit up and down all afternoon, which meant we had to keep a constant eye on the kites and junk as they had a habit of suddenly deciding to fall to earth. But eventually, the wind picked up and steadied enough for me to put a camera to a rok and go for a stroll. Got a couple of nice photos too. This one looks across the river towards the bridge and behind it the swimming pool complex.

and right across the other side of the park, I discovered this family playing cricket.

But before I could get the photo, the wind dropped and while I was rescuing the rig, the kite landed right by our base camp. So thanks to Andrew for helping me with a relaunch to get me back flying as soon as the wind picked up. I had time for a few photos over the children's play area before heading back to base to recover everything and find out whether we had any useable photos.

Slowly people started to drift away, until it was just me Bill and Heather left on the field. Unfortunately for those who left early, we got by far the best of the weather conditions, as the wind steadied and kept everything nicely aloft. But at about 7 o'clock it died completely and all kites came gently to earth. Time to pack away and reflect on a really good day. This was probably my most successful KAP outing, and certainly the most pleasant days flying of the year so far. As usual, the useable photos from the day are on my flickr photostream. Follow the link at the bottom of the page.

Leeds Castle 21st May 2006

2006-05-21T18:06:00.000+01:00

castle3, originally uploaded by Pitprops.

The weather was awful. It was dull and miserable, but I did manage to get airborn long enough to get a couple of photos, and this is probably the best of the bunch. Its a view of the castle across the moat. Unfortunately conditions meant it was difficult to get close to the castle. There are a few more photos on my flickr page, follow the link below. AND who left the scaffoling on the castle?

Saturday morning was just dull and miserable with the occasional shower. Saturday afternon we got slightly more persistent rain. Did manage to get a few kites in the air, but had to be carefulk we didn't spook the shire horses. On Sunday the wind had turned through 90 degrees, so conditions were a little better, though still very turbulent because of the trees. The morning was definitely the best of the day, but after about mid-day it was persistent rain, occasionally lightening to a light downpour. So the outcome of all this was a very wet gazebo and kites - we suffer for our hobby!

Oh how annoying

2006-05-07T19:32:00.000+01:00

Bill and I spent the afternoon in Tonbridge again. This time, althought there was very little wind to start with, at about 4pm a good stiff breeze got up, sufficient to get a camera aloft methinks.

So armed with a 2m rokkaku, I set to work, and everything seemed to be fine. With the kite at about 300 feet (sh don't tell the CAA), I attached the camera turned everything on and away it went. Time to try out my new line handling kit (carabiner and towrope) which worked fine, so I set off for a stroll round the park with kite attached to me, clicking away merrily and answering questions as I went.

Finally as the wind was picking up and the wether deteriorating, broght everything down to earth and packed away. Before leaving, I decided to check the pictures. Funny no display. Oh well, I'll check when I get home. So having arrived home, I took out the CF card and put it into my card reader. Hmm, according to my computer there are 108 images, well I've got to have at least one good one. NO!!!!!!!! They are all just black.

So after a little experimentation, it seems that my digital elph has expired. It seems to be working fine, but recording black images to the card. As there is no display or anything, my guess is the electronics are fried, so its time to put this oe to bed and see if I can get another. Ebay here I come!

windless in Tonbridge

2006-04-30T22:22:00.000+01:00

Despite my good intentions, it seems that the meteorological gods are determined to prevent me from getting any photographs. Last weekend we were in Margate, with no wind and occasional drizzle. This weekend we decided to try the park in Tobridge. the weather forecast didn't promise much but they got it completely wrong.

I got there about lunchtime to about 40% cloud cover and the lightest of breeze at ground level. I decided to try out the new flowform 30 and managed to get it into the air after a short while, but it was destined to come back to earth as th ewind dropped away completely.

The rest of the afternoon was spent tryng tofigure out which way the wind was blowing and what we could fly, settling on brazilian headsticks and a Benson innerspace, and they were hard work!

At about 5 pm there was enough breeze to launch the gflowform, but turbulence off the houses seemed to make it difficult to get too high. Eventually a very long launch came to the rescue and we were airborn, but all too soon it was time to hed away, just one of those days I guess.

Tomorrow is bank holiday and the weather gods are predicting rain all day. I have some chores to get finished so it is unlikely I will get out to play.

Back home in blighty

2006-04-18T13:43:00.000+01:00

We're back in the UK after a week trip to Berck festival. The weather out there was pretty awful this year. Being sandblasted, frozen and soaked does not really make for a good festival. In fact, the best day was the Monday as we left!

Nothing truly inspirational this year. Lots of nice show kites, but nothing that made you sit up and say "want one". Some fabulous examples of KAP though. I'll be posting the photos on my Flickr page later, so keep an eye open.

Bonjour from Berck

2006-04-13T13:14:00.000+01:00

Well we made it, and haven't been blown away yet.

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a bright sunny day with a stiff breeze, so a good day for flying, which we did all day. But today is cold and wet and windy, so the bars are the most attractive proposition for us. The competition teams have no choice but to fly, pour fools.

Had a look round the kite aerial photography display, and there are some magnificent images, together with a history of kap at Berck. It is well worth a visit. I will post so,e pictures of our visit on my flickr page when we get back to blighty.

Lack of activity

2006-04-07T21:05:00.000+01:00

Work and weather conditions seem to be conspiring against me at the moment. So I haven't been out ot KAP for some time. Last weekend I went to Blackheath with some friends, but I'm really glad that I didn't take my rig with me. Regular heavy showers (read downpours) meant we quickly gave up on the day.

This weekend is going to be a KAP free zone. Saturday I am at the local library giving a kiting exhibition. Sunday I am "otherwise engaged".

But next week I am off to Berck for a few days to enjoy the festival. I'm not sure whether to take my rig with me or not, but hope to meet up with some expert KAPers while I'm there and learn from their experience. Whilst totally off topic, if I can get to an internet cafe, I will post regular updates on my experiences.

Allington on a glorious day

2006-03-23T16:14:00.000Z

Well, I've been waiting for a long time, and for once a day off coincided with some sunny and breezy weather. So having done my chores, I set off to Allington Community Association to see what interesting subjects I could find. I only had an hour as I had some other bits to do. But above you can see one of the images I got looking out over the 20/20 industrial park, and can see the new incinerator chimney in th eleft background. More pictures are on my flickr photostream, follow the link at the bottom of the page.

So when I got to the field, I only had some small/medium kites in the car as it seemed quite breezy. But getting out of the car, it felt as if there was very little breeze. About the biggest kite I had with me was a 1.5M Rock from Premier. So I hooked this on the line and let it fly. It was a bit unstable so needed to be trimmed but up it went.

Then attached the camera rig and let it try to lift off the ground. Not a huge amount of lift but it slowly climbed, and I let out lots of line until I was flying out over the railway, with the camera over the trees. Then the wind dropped, and the camera was heading towards this small tree.

So some rapid work to bring the camera safely to the ground and keep the kite out of trouble. It wasn't long before we had some more lift and were able to get some half decent photographs. It was about now, whilst waiting for the camera to stabilise in the wind, that I discovered that I hadn't altered the settings to disable auto sleep, so it kept swithcing itself off! But still not a bad day.

The weather is against us

2006-03-20T20:37:00.000Z

Amongst other things, the weather is conspiring to keep us out of the sky. Last thursday I went to try a bit of KAP in a local field. Two things were against me, first of all the battery in my camera had died (oops, note to self - check everything before setting out!) But also, the wind droped considerably and left the rig firmly attached to the ground.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was hoping to get some flight time in at Mote Park in Maidstone, but eh wind was so strong and gusty thet I decided that was a really bad idea.

However, we are progressing on another front. I'm now in the process of adding a video downlink to the rig. I've got most of the hardware, but needs ome components from Maplin to build a power supply. I'm hopefull of having everything built ready for testing by the weekend, so I'll be puttiong on an update then.

Camber, another windy day

2006-02-26T20:01:00.000Z

Gemini, originally uploaded by Pitprops.

Today saw a few KKF members visit Camber sands near Rye, for ritualistic kite abuse. I arrived in the beach car park at about 1pm, and on getting out of the car, decided that another layer of clothes was required. It was a bright sunny day, but the wind was bitter, and blowing hard. I wandered down to the beach to meet the guys, who were playing with various high wind kites. From the KAp perspective, things didn't look promising at all. So being a natural born coward, I decided to follow standard KKF procedure and go an eat!

Suitably sustained for the afternoon, I headed out on to the sand and took with me a 2.4 radsail. Severla of us played with this for a short while before the bridle tags were torn from the sail - OOPS!. OK so everyone now decided to go and partake of coffee to warm up.

Leaving the cafe a little later, the wind seemed to drop to a mere gale. i wandered up onto the dunes to see if it could be true. Well it did seem to be, so out came the camera and and a selection of small rokaku kites. wandering down to the beach again helped by Andrew, but when we got there, it did seem that the wind was still pretty strong. I put up the rok, and brought it down a couple of times to adjust it, but it was still fidgetty, so eventually, it had 50 feet of tail attached, which seemed to dampen some of its more manic moments. To try or not to try...?

Well frustration is a wonderful thing, and I was still looking for my second successful KAP flight, so I decided to brave whatever the conditions threw. With Matt and Andrew managing the kite, I prepared the rig and we let it climb to about 50 feet before clicking away. There was one really scary moment when the kite decided to nose-dive. But Andrew made a stunning recovery just before the rig hit the ground - thanks mate. So we fired off a few shots, and this one is pretty pleasing. Everything was very difficult to control as the rig was being thown all over the place by the wind. In fact, at times it was almost impossible to get any pan as the wind resistance of the rig couldn't be overcome.

Having scared myself whitless, we brought the rig down and examined the results. Given the conditions, they were very pleasing, and can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pitprops/ This one is a favourite of mine, as it shows Bill's mini-gem from slightly above with the cafe building in the background. Hopefull conditions will calm down a bit and I'll get out again next week.

Hendon 19th January

2006-02-20T13:19:00.000Z

And didn't it rain! Again we ended up trapped in a hangar with little opportunity to fly. We did manage to play with some indoor air toys, like air-yos and prism triads, but apart from that there wasn't a lot more to be said, so I won't bother. I guess I'm going to have to wait for the british summer to wake up before I can get some decent conditions for photography. Ah well, c'st la vie!

And to really cap (KAP) a wonderful time, got home to discover that my rig had taken a bit of a battering in the car, and teh KAPfeather is broken - Ho Hum!

Back to Hendon tomorrow

2006-02-18T20:02:00.000Z

We're back to Hendon RAF Museum for the second weekend of the Festival of Flight. I've just checked on Metcheck and it looks like being quite a good day. It will be chilly, with only a very light wind, but blue bits in the sky and no rain.

Looks like it may be a day for the megadelta again. With a bit of luck I'll get enough lift to get a camera airborn this time and get some pix.

On another note, there's a chance I'll get to go to Leeds Castle in May. This is one of the most beautiful locations I've come across, but can be a pig of a place to fly. But if the weather is good, then I'm really looking forwards to it.

Even more disappointed of Hendon

2006-02-13T14:19:00.000Z

Well I had great hopes, but unfortunately, life was definitely against me. All week leading up to the event the forecast was for overcast and dry. Then the night before, the very last forecast I saw said heavy rain. So how come the change? All I can say is the last one got it right.

So we ended up at Hendon, early on a Sunday morning, in the pouring rain, and had no option but to set up a static display indoors. The day went very well from the point of view of meeting a lot of people and talking kites with them. So there is a good chance that some may come along to festivals in the North London and Middlesex area this year. I pointed them all at kitecalender.co.uk, so if your event isn't listed, get it published.

OK so not a lot to say about KAP, except I seem to have a problem with the pan gearing on my rig. It turns in one direction, but in the other the servo turns but the gears don't. Something for me to look at this week.

We're there again next week, so with luck will be able to get outside. But they have said we can display kites suspended from the ceiling, so I'm hoping to get some form of support arranged, so that even if I can't fly, I can show how the rig works. Oh and by the way, the security guards at Hendon are a really nice bunch of guys.

Disappointed of Tonbridge

2006-01-30T13:10:00.000Z

Yesterday was a disappointing day in Tonbridge. The day was bright and sunny, and gave the impression of being an ideal day to carry out some KAP. Unfortunately, when I arrived I soon realised that any hopes of getting any photographs were unrealistic.

The wind, when it blew, was gusty and turbulent. I tried flying a couple of kite, that darted around the sky and were completely unstable. Every so often the wind would fall away to nothing and whatever was in the sky would plummet to earth.

So another day of disappointment. As I can't get out next Sunday, I might try Mote Park on Saturday, otherwise it will be the RAF museum at Hendon that forms my next opportunity to try some KAP.

Capstone - At last a successful flight

2006-01-22T17:54:00.000Z

Yours truly, originally uploaded by Pitprops.

Well its been a long time coming, but at last we got into the air, and managed to get some photographs.

The picture is one of several I took today from about 100feet with the rig suspended from a Seigers Fliegers mega delta. It is of course, your photographer. The other pictures can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pitprops

The day didn't look to be that good for KAP. When I got to the park there was no wind, and we spent most of the morning and early afternoon struggling to keep ultra-light kites in the air. A couple of roks and a small ghenki were about all that would stay aloft.

Then the breeze picked up a fraction and it looked promising, so I decided to give it a go. I ran out the mega delta and let it lift into the sky. It looked promising as the kite stayed steady at about 100 feet. But when I attached the camera to the line and let it out, the camera flew horizontal and managed to reach teh spectacular height of about 10 feet before returning to earth. It looked as if this was going to be another unsuccessful afternoon as the camera rig lifted and dropped several times.

Then a breeze picked up and suddenly the rig was airborn. Ah. Idiot alert! I'd forgotten to turn the camera on. DOH!!!!!!! So had to walk the camera down and turn it on, then let it climb again. Finally we were high enough to snap away. And the results can be found on my flickr page.

A successful first flight with some pleasing results, but need to lear how to tell the orientation of the camera. Also, I discovered that I could only pan in one direction. On bringing the rig down, I discovered the gear on the pan spindle has come loose, so that needs to be tightened before the next outing. Next Sunday looks like a trip to Tonbridge recreation ground. Hopefully we'll have a bit of breeze and we can get some more photos and I can get used to handling the rig a bit more.

Saturday 21st January - modifications complete

2006-01-21T15:21:00.000Z

OK, I've now made the modifications to the rig to raise the picavet cross about 8 inches above teh camera cradle. This should give sufficient clearance to prevent the feather either fouling the rig or getting into the shot. This is what the rig looked like pre modification

You can see the feather sticking out to the top right of the rig. It is shrouded in its sleeve, and has the suspensions lines draped over it for safe keeping. But you should be able to see that when opened the feather would possibly foul the rig legs and would certainly get in any shots not taken at a 45 degree angle or more.

This is the rig after modification. You can see that now the feather is well clear of the rig, so that when opened it will certainly no longer foul any part of the rig and should stay out of shot even if I am taking shots int eh horizontal plane.

Its been a really nice sunny day today, so I'm hoping the weather will hold for tomorrow so I can give the rig a proper flight test. Watch this space for more news.

Stud has arrived

2006-01-19T22:51:00.000Z

But I won't get time to do anything now until the weekend. So Saturday afternoon will be when I modify the rig and test everything with the feather installed. I'll post some photos if I get the chance.

Batteries are all powered up, and I'm hoping to get up to Capstone Farm on Sunday for some flying with some friends. The rangers tell me they've coppiced a number of the trees on the perimeter, which should give cleaner winds at lower level. All we need now is some good weather!

Monday 16th January

2006-01-18T22:10:00.000Z

I've bought this KAP feather from Jones Aerfoils, designed for use with the BBKK kit (see http://www.kapshop.com) The idea is to stabilise the platform more. The only problem is that the picavet suspension needs to be raised high above the rig so that the feather doesn't get into any shots. It comes with a long threaded stud, but being of American origin, the stud is imperial and we being European all work in metric. I spent a few hours trying to source some long 4mm machine screws.

Eventually a friend suggested that RS components stock 4mm stud, so I should give them a try. How right he was, but their minimum delivery is 5 lengths of 1metre each. Still its relatively cheap so I've put an order in. I'll let you know how I get on when it arrives

Sunday 15th January 2006

2006-01-18T22:01:00.000Z

Spent Saturday afternoon testing the rig again looking forwards to a days flying on Sunday.

Sunday dawned dull, overcast and chilly but with a good breeze inland. A group of us had agreed to meet up at Camber, on the Sussex coast, to get in some flying. High tide was at about 11:30 am, so the afternoon was looking good. When I got down to Camber, the tide had just turned. There were a couple of the guys already there. Wind was a brisk 10-15 mph onshore, so conditions wre pretty ideal.

Took a stroll along the beach to inspect some of the washed up flotsam. Loads of rubbish indicate there had been sever storms in teh channel in the not too distant past. Got in some flying on a Psycho, before deciding to bite the bullet and set up for the maiden voyage. In these conditions, a small kite was called for, so I decided to try a small HQ rokkaku. This needed to be re-trimmed as I usually use it for fighting, so spent a while tweaking the bridle until it was giving more stable flight. There was plenty of lift, so once airborn and steady the rig was attached. Turned on the receiver, took the transmitter out of my box and disaster. Like a pillock, I had left the transmitter on from my testing the previous night. Result, no juice!

Oh well, to prove a point the rig got its maiden flight and was pertty stable given the conditions, but I didn't leave it up too long.

New Years Day 2006

2006-01-18T21:58:00.000Z

Was cold, wet and miserable. A group of hardy idiots from Kent Kite Flyers met up in a local park (Mote Park in Maidstone) and stood around chatting. Bill had finally finished a set of ultralite rokkaku kites, which we palyed with in the zero wind conditions. Absolutely no chance of getting the rig off the groud though, so it stayed in the car.

First tentative steps

2006-01-18T21:46:00.000Z

Having spent a long time considering whether or not I was going to do this Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) thing, I finally decided to bite the bullet. First thing I needed to do was some serious research. To the rescue comes the wonders of the internet and the wealth of experience of people who have passed this way before and are pleased to share there experiences with you.

Some decisions needed to be taken. What sort of rig to use, what sort of camera to use, was I going to control the rig and camera from the ground, etc.?

The current wisdom is that a picavet suspension system is the way to go. If yo don't know what this is, then pop over to http://www.kaper.us for some detailed information. What soon became apparent was that all of the equipment can be bought rather than built. So with that in mind, a Brooxes Better KAP Kit was sourced from http://www.kapshop.com. This duly arrived just before Christmas.

Having made the decision to go for a compact digital camera and radio control, it was over to eBay to see what could be found on the second hand market. Lo and behold, everything was obtainable, and soon I was the proud possessor of everything needed to get started. This is an important point though. All the kit has to be collected before assembly starts. The rig has to be modified to work with whatever camera and radio equipment you choose to use, so make sure everything is available before we start.

Christmas break was spent in the workshop getting everything put together, and finally a couple of days before New Years Day, the rig had been finally assembled, had been tested indoors and was ready for its maiden voyage. All we need now is some wind...