Here is a bit about my background
I first became involved with kites back in the sixties when my father
brought home a book of kites and made a simple back-bowed Malay type
kite - the first in the book. Between us we ended up making more
versions of that kite than I care to remember. They were all more or
less the same being made from 3ft x 1/4 inch dowel and covered with
drycleaning plastic and Dad's always flew better than mine. With about
400 yards of nylon fishing line to fly them on, we had great fun. The
favorite pasttime was to send paper streamers up the line.
I then got into Radio-controlled gliding but was never terribly good at
it, at least not in competition. However, many pleasant Saturday afternoons were
spent on the slopes of the Purbeck hills and other locations. I also did
some full-size gliding and tried paragliding. I still hanker after getting airborne.
Perhaps I will take up paragliding for those light-wind summer days when
kite-surfing is out of the question.
However, on a cold windy day, gliding is not a particularly
family-friendly pastime. The death-knell was sounded for my gliding days
when my first son was born. I had to give up my workshop in the warmth
of the house for a nursery and was banished to the garage. That is
definitely not very pleasant in the winter and it can get somewhat
lonely.
After moping around for some time wishing for some form of aerial
activity, I stumbled across a small kite shop (Ocean Kites in Southampton) and was
shown a Flexifoil Stacker 6. One look told me that I could make kites
myself, so the business of designing and making kites started. Since
there were no plans available that I could find for steerable foil
kites, I had to muddle along learning mainly by trial-and-error. It was
not until I reminded myself that the aerodynamics I had learned in the
years of aeromodelling were relevant to kites that things really came
together. And the best of it was that I could once again work in the
warm in the winter months. Kite-making is a lot cleaner than model
making. I now take over the dining room for extended periods of time,
much to my wife's annoyance but I try to keep the disruption to a minimum.
All told, I have made around 20 foils, some from plans but mainly my own
design (take a look at the
Gallery pages
to see some of my kites). I have also made various rigid kites - some single line and
others as stunt kites. My main workhorse is a 12-ft delta that I use for
parachuting teddybears. If you come to the Poole Kite Picnic run by
Poole Kiteflyers, you are like to see me there hoisting bears aloft. And
I do believe that the adults have more fun than the kids!
Check out the gallery pages for pictures of my kites.
Outside of kiting, I am a Software Engineer and spend my working life building
various web sites ranging from simple ones like this to full-blown e-business
sites incorporating shopping and other forms of integration. And over-and-above
all that, I am a deacon at the local Church and speak and teach for various Churches
around the South.