Bell Kite Project Blog

Today the kite finally got off the ground. Thanks to the help of Eileen, Catia, Gabe, and Sachiko, I managed to get the kite in the air for a few seconds. The beast that I've been working on so much actually took to the air.

Of course it soon crashed. First I ran it into a basketball backboard, and later when we moved to a soccer field it harmlessly crashed on the grass. A couple bamboo spars broke and covers ripped, but the kite survived mostly intact.

Even though it wasn't able to fly very well I was still quite happy. For one thing, I was able to stand far enough back from the kite to confirm that it looks like a telephone. Also I think with more wind, larger spreaders, and better bridling it might fly reasonably well.

Now the kite's packed up in the back of the rental car awaiting our departure tomorrow morning.