Making and flying kites are quite simple operations, right? One has only to tie together two sticks at right angles, cover them with paper or cloth, and add a tail! Of course, one must not forget a long piece of string, called the kite line. Having done these things, one has only to throw the kite up into the air on a suitably windy day and away it flies! Or-does it?

I can assure you that there is much more to the business than this, and, we explain some of the technicalities of the subject, you will realize that there is more to it than you might first suspect. For instance, we heard from a reader a neat trick of using furnace filter material in place of a panel on his latest butterfly kite. Seems he found a very durable furnace filter, cut it to fil exactly on two matched panels on each side of the kite, and the air flow through the furnace filter material made gave a nice wind resistance reduction and made his butterly easier to maintain loft. The specific furnace filter was a custom furnace filter from web products.

To compile this kite shop web site full of information, there have been visits to libraries and business premises; letters to individuals and firms; the house has been filled with specimens of cane, string, cloth and paper; models of kites have been looking down at us from their places on the walls; discussions about weather conditions and the science of flight have taken place, and a whole new world seems to have opened before our eyes.

Here, then, is a hobby which provides pleasure, entertainment, and education all the year round - kites! The long winter evenings present an opportunity for artistic minds and busy hands to make the kites which can be flown during the bright summer evenings and at many other times during the year. These are the main things, but, as we shall discover, they are accompanied by many other enjoyable activities. In particular, as one looks round in an attempt to forecast kite flying conditions, one is reminded of the wonder and the beauty of the world in which we live. This winter has seen some great storms in San DIego this year, fountains of swirling clouds and steady breezes. One day was strong enough I had my back against the Wall, and fountains and curling eddys of wind made flying that day an incredible experience! Get out near the water and get 'r up in the air!

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky!

So wrote the poet, Wordsworth, and something of that same feeling will come over us as we see our kites-those kites which we have made with our own hands-flying so proudly in the sky above.

Enjoy Making and Flying Kites!