Different types of flying kites (such as water kites, bi-media kites, fluid kites, gas kites,

kytoon A kytoon or kite balloon is a tethered aircraft which obtains some of its lift dynamically as a heavier-than-air kite and the rest aerostatically as a lighter-than-air balloon. The word is a portmanteau of kite and balloon. The primary advantage ...

s, paravanes, soil kites, solid kites, and plasma kites) have niche applications. In nature, some animals, such as spiders, also make use of kiting.

Aerial photography

File:PicEddyKite.jpg, William Abner Eddy patented a kite. He used kites for aerial photography (KAP). File:US646375.png, US646375 Willian A. Eddy kite patent image. File:San Francisco in ruin edit2.jpg, Photo of the ruins of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake by George Lawrence of Chicago. Photographed using a kite system to loft a panoramic camera. William A. Eddy, the maker of Eddy-kite fame, lifted cameras to take photographs of cities and landscapes. Today kite aerial photography (KAP) is the hobby of many enthusiasts, is a tool for surveying land and animals, and a mode for artistic expression. Professo
Charles Benton
illustrates how KAP can grow in one's life
Scott Haefner
has one of the most extensive collections of KAP photographs; he shares his technology

Those who do KAP are called K''apers'
KAP

Teaching

The kite is frequently used along with a vehicle for teaching

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

, mathematics, physical education, and problem-solving.

Transport

File:Charvolant.jpg, George Pocock's contribution being illustrated. File:Charvolants2.jpg, Painting of kite tugging wheeled vehicle. File:Buggy Winds.jpg, Getting around in a kite buggy. File:Cody manlifter02.jpg, Transport people up into the sky with man-lifting kites for observation, entertainment, photography, and recreation. File:Cody manlifter.jpg, Man-lifter kite designed by Samuel Franklin Cody (1867–1913). As the kite observes its enemy it raises its antenna. File:Kite333.JPG, A quad-line traction kite, commonly used as a power source for

kite surfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

. Application: sport, recreation, exercise, rest,

product demonstration In marketing, a product demonstration (or ''"demo"'' for short) is a promotion where a product is demonstrated to potential customers. The goal is to introduce customers to the product in hopes of getting them to purchase that item. Products offe ...

. Long-distance travel across the land, ice, and sea started centuries ago, but today significant tasks of moving people and goods from point A to point B are occurring; this is so in part from the advances in kites and kite systems designs and technology, a better understanding of winds, and use of computers and GPS. In 1889 kite sailing was carefully instructed via controlling large kite systems towing boats. Using kites to reduce the work done by an engine in propelling a cargo ship is an idea that is gaining traction as a result of increasing fuel prices and environmental concerns. For example, SkySails GmbH have developed technology that they estimate can reduce fuel usage by 10–35% per day on average.https://fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL33360.pdf A trial on board the MS Beluga resulted in fuel savings estimated to be worth £800 per day. Free-flight cross-country hang gliding kites both in the

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

style and the

paraglider Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched Glider (aircraft), glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a :wikt:harness, harness or in ...

style are permitting trips of hundreds of miles; records are recorded by the FAI. George Pocock (inventor) was an early pioneer in kites for transportation.

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

continues to explore free-flying kites for delivering goods to the earth surface and non-earth planet surfaces, including Mars. There are several projects for using very large kites to sail cargo ships currently underway: KiteSail and KiteShip along with a series of patents and improvements in control of large ship-carried kite systems aim to save significant amounts of fuel. Kiting one's kayak is getting a significant followin
A. Kinsman – kite kayaking tutorial.
Kite yachting may have started with

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

's pond pull.
English Channel crossing.
Anne Quemere has crossed the Atlantic Ocean solo using power kites. And on 4 November 2008, she started her bid to cross the Pacific Ocean under power kites as sailing power to pull her in her small boat called ''Oceankite''.

Cargo

SkySails SkySails Group GmbH is a Hamburg-based company that sells kite rigs to propel cargo ships, large yachts and fishing vessels by wind energy as well as Airborne wind energy, airborne wind energy systems for electricity production from High-altitu ...

has developed ship-pulling kites as a supplemental power source for

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

s, which was first tested in January 2008 on the

MS Beluga Skysails MS ''Onego Deusto'' (christened ''Beluga SkySails'') is a commercial Containerization, container cargo ship. It is the world's first ship partially powered by a computer-controlled kite rig, called the SkySails system. It consists of a kite simil ...

. Trials on the ship indicated that, in favorable winds, the kite increases fuel efficiency by up to 30 percent. This system was planned to be in commercial production in late 2008. MS ''Beluga Skysails'' is the world's first commercial

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

which is partially powered by a , computer-controlled kite which can reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. Launched 17 December 2007, it was scheduled to leave the north German port of

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

for Guanta, Venezuela at 1700 local time (1600 GMT) on 22 January 2008. SkySails managing director Stephan Wrage said, "During the next few months we will finally be able to prove that our technology works in practice and significantly reduces fuel consumption and emissions." Verena Frank, project manager at Beluga Shipping (SkySails' partner), said: "The project's core concept was using wind energy as auxiliary propulsion power and using wind as a free of charge energy". The idea of using wind to power

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

s is an old one. Large kites have advantages over traditional sails. A well-designed kite can generate up to 25 times more power per unit area than a sail. Kites can be flown high above the ship, taking advantage of stronger, steadier winds. A kite flying on a line will have twice as much available wind energy as a kite on a line. A kite's shape blocks air like a traditional sail and acts as an aerofoil, with the combined forces of lift and drag pulling the boat through the water. All that is needed to operate the kite is a winch and a storage area near the front of the ship, which can be fitted with little modification at low cost. A sail requires a mast, which is much more expensive and reduces the cargo area on the ship's deck. Kites have also been proposed for logging, to lift logs out of areas without roads.

Advertising / promotional

Kites can also be used as light-effect carrier, e.g., by carrying glow sticks or battery-powered light effects. Companies may buy large quantities of kites that feature their advertisement. Messages are sometimes displayed by lighting systems that are built into the kite system. Many kite stores fly kites regularly so that people will see the kites; one of the final purposes is for the store to profit from the flying of the kites. Kites are necessary to increase sales of kites.

Entertainment and recreation

File:Ruhepause mit Schwalbedrachen.JPG, Resting during recreational kiting. File:Heiligenhaus - kite festival 2007 28 ies.jpg, Recreationally meeting the challenge of designing something attractive, fun, interesting: hobby designer Frank Vincentz. File:Heiligenhaus - kite festival 2007 26 ies.jpg, Frank Vincentz plays soccer in the sky for fun. File:Kites-Lake Harriet-Minneapolis-20070120.jpg, Winter playing on the ice. File:Chinese dragon kite (Berkeley, California - 2000).jpg, Chinese dragon kite more than one hundred feet long that flew in the annual

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, kite festival in 2000.

Extreme sports

Kite boarding,

, kite buggying, kite buggy jumping, kite landboarding, freestyle kite landboarding, snow kiting or snowkiting, downhill speed kiting,

hang gliding Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium al ...

, and kite high jumping are among the extreme kite sports wherein competitions are held.

Competitive stunt-kiting

Peter Powell's development and promotion of two-line stunt kites or

sport kite A sport kite, also commonly known as a stunt kite, is a type of multiline kite that can be maneuvered in the air. A related kite, also controllable and used for recreation, but capable of generating a significant amount of pull and used for pro ...

s helped to move stunt kiting into a popular activity as well as a competitive sport. Also, the parafoil stunt kites feed the same sporting activity. Events for kites of more than two control lines are common. The four-line Revolution kite has been setting new standards in precision flying. Informal field competition and formal sport competition support a stunt-kite industry; seemingly endless refinements to the kite wing and kite line along with accessories continue unabated.

Kite fighting

A kite has two essential parts: wing and tether line. In kite fighting, the kite line plays a huge part in the activity. Sport kite fighting is perhaps 2000 years old; participation worldwide is high. North American Kite Fighter Association
NAFKA

File:Zama kite festival.jpg, Kite festival, Kanagawa, Japan. May Kite festival, first attempt to fly 40' x 40' handmade kite. On the Sagami River. Teaming at a festival. File:Heiligenhaus - kite festival 2007 11 ies.jpg, Kite festival in Heiligenhaus, Germany, 15./16. Sep. 2007 Source: self-made Date: created 16. Sep 2007 Author: Frank Vincentz File:Bali Kite Festival (Padang Galak).jpg, Bali Kite Festival (Padang Galak Beach) File:RayBethell.jpg, Professional kite flyer and aerial ballet master Ray Bethell performing at the Berkeley Kite Festival. This photo shows Ray flying three stunt kites simultaneously. File:Châtelaillon-Plage Cerf-Volants 2001.jpg, Kite festival at La Tremblade beach, Charente-Maritime (17), France. Festival de cerfs-volants sur la plage de la Tremblade en 2001. Frequently kites are used to entertain observers. This application is part of recreational uses, but sometimes part of commercial uses.

Decoration

File:Wicket, Shirone Station, Niigata Kotsu Railway.jpg, Train station decorates waiting platform. File:Roloplan Steiff Museum Giengen.jpg, Roloplan and stuffed animals in the museum of Margarete Steiff company. Giengen Germany. Still kites are hung decoratively in rooms of homes and businesses to set the tone of a home or selling environment.

Fishing

Recreational, sport, and subsistence

File:USpat5000110waterkitetowlinedepressor.jpg, Tow-line depressing water kite File:WaterkiteFishingKiteUSPat2273209.jpg, Water kite for fishing File:USpat1897109fig1FishLureWaterKiteParavane.jpg, Water kite (paravane) as lure for fishing. There are several ways kites are used in recreational and sport fishing, including lofting drop lines, control-kite trolling of bait, aerial photography of fishing environment using kites, and out and back cycles of trolling bait using a kite. Kites such as net-spreading underwater kites and soil kites (kiting anchors) are commonly used. Recreational fishing, commercial fishing, and scientific and military uses of depressors of tow lines use water kiting to accomplish the effects wanted.
The Use of Kites for Fishing—George Webster
wrote comprehensively on kite fishing.

A plan view of a Solomon islander's leaf fishing kite is shown in a photograph held by the Pitt-Rivers Museum is viewable a

In ''Kite Fishing by the Salt-Water Natives of Mala or Malaita Island'', British Solomon Islands T. W. Edge-Partington, leaf kites are described. The sago palm or ivory nut tree has leaves from which natives of Mala or Malaita Island made kites for fishing.

Commercial

File:ParavaneUSPat4729333.jpg, Water kite Net-spreading underwater kites and kite vanes aid the control of large fishing nets
Remotely controllable paravane Robert A. Kirby et al.

Military

Kites have been used for military uses in the past for signaling, delivery of munitions, free-flight kiting payloads from aircraft to ground positions, kiting troops to points where they could parachute to destinations, underwater kiting via paravanes to perform various underwater duties, lifting payloads from one point to another, raising rescue signals from rafts or stressed areas, raising communications antenna, and observation by lifting an observer above the field of battle, and by using kite aerial photography. Barrage kites have been used in both open frame kites and kytoon types to defend against enemy aircraft. Kim Yu-Sin (or Kim Yushin), a Korean general, in 637 C.E. rallied his troops to defeat rebels by kite lofting a burning ball. Kites were also used by Admiral Yi of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (1392–1897) . During the

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) The Imjin War () was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War (). The conflict ended in 159 ...

, Admiral Yi commanded his navy with kites. His kites had specific markings directing his fleet to perform his order. Admiral Yi was said to have over 300 such kites. The war eventually resulted in a Chinese and Korean victory and the kites played a minor role in the war's conclusion. In more modern times the British navy also used kites to haul human lookouts high into the air to see over the horizon and possibly the enemy ships, for example with the kite developed by Samuel Franklin Cody. Barrage kites were used to protect shipping during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Kites and kytoons were used for lofting communications antenna.

Submarines A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or info ...

lofted observers in rotary kites. The Rogallo parawing kite and the Jalbert parafoil kite were used for governable parachutes (free-flying kites) to deliver troops and supplies.

Science

File:KitingbuoyUSPat4890568.jpg, Lighter-than-water kite as tailing buoy Wea01178 (11952087855).jpg, Kite of the US Weather Bureau carrying meteorograph c. 1910 Kites have been used for scientific purposes, such as

's famous experiment proving that

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

is electricity. Kites were the precursors to aircraft, and were instrumental in the development of early flying craft.

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

experimented with very large man-lifting kites, as did the

Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

and

Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave, MRAeS, (29 January 18506 July 1915) was an Australian engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer. He was perhaps best known for inventing the box kite, which was quickly adopted by other aircraft desig ...

. Kites had an historical role in lifting scientific instruments to measure atmospheric conditions for

weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...

Francis Ronalds Sir Francis Ronalds Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (21 February 17888 August 1873) was an English scientist and inventor, and arguably the first History of electrical engineering, electrical engineer. He was knighted for creating the first wo ...

and William Radcliffe Birt described a very stable kite at

Kew Observatory The King's Observatory (called for many years the Kew Observatory) is a Grade I listed building in Richmond, London. Now a private dwelling, it formerly housed an astronomical observatory, astronomical and Terrestrial magnetism, terrestrial mag ...

as early as 1847 that was trialled for the purpose of supporting self-registering meteorological instruments at height. Collecting kited spiders with kited nets: Kites are used to take samples of upper air and to collect things found in the upper air. The spiders that kite to disperse (so-called ballooning spiders) have been found in nets raised to upper air for collecting; the method is noted carefully in ''Spider Ballooning: Development and Evaluation of Field Trapping Methods (Araneae)'' Balloon kite of the so-called ballooning spiderlings; the spiders' kite is not a balloon.

Testing

File:Wright Glider being flown as a kite. -1900 10457 A.S..jpg, Wright kite with aim to get a powered aircraft. File:WrightBrothers1899Kite.jpg, Early quad-line steerable kite by Wright Brothers as they aim for powered flight. Kites were the precursors to aircraft and were instrumental in the development of early flying craft.

experimented with gigantic man-lifting kites, as did the

and

Industrial

Energy generation

File:Drachen mit Windgenerator 1.JPG, Kite lofts wind-driven rotating wings File:Kettenwindgenerator 2.JPG, More rotation. Both air and hydro kites are used to generate electricity; the kite is set in the stream of air or water; various schemes are used to extract some of the stream's energy for converting that energy to electricity. A major research and development project called Makani Power, based in California and funded by Google.org, is investigating the use of kites in harnessing high altitude wind currents to generate electricity. Tidal kites operate underwater, using the tidal stream's greater mass to generate far more electricity than available in wind-borne environments. Video links for generating electricity by using kites: * Over 700 kite-energy videos within the AWES industry are collected and open for free view to the public through th
AWES Museum
* Back and forth taking kite generates electricity:. * MagGenn (Magnus-effect kite wind generator): a Magnus-effect rotating kite electricity generation system
Magenn Power, Inc.
* NTS GmbH is German company developing X-Wind technology. This technology assembles three existing technologies into X-Wind Plant : Kites, track system and servo motor to steer the kites. * KiteGen (kite generator). Italian company is working on several methods of generating electricity from kite systems. One key method is the "stem" syste
High altitude wind power: an era of abundance?
* Makani Power's 10 kW test platform autonomously generating power:.

Radio aerials and light beacons

Kites can be used for radio purposes, by kites carrying antennas for MF, LF or VLF-transmitters. This method was used for the reception station of the first transatlantic transmission by Marconi. Captive balloons may be more convenient for such experiments, because kite carried antennas require a lot of wind, which may be not always possible with heavy equipment and a ground conductor. It must be taken into account during experiments, that a conductor carried by a kite can lead to a high voltage toward ground, which can endanger people and equipment, if suitable precautions (grounding through resistors or a parallel resonant-circuit tuned to transmission frequency) are not taken. File:SP000515HMSCanningWithBalloonAloftSalonikaNovember1915.jpg, Antenna raising in 1915. The kite balloon ship HMS CANNING anchored off Salonika with kite balloon aloft, November 1915. File:Kite Balloon From USS Arizona.jpg, Kytoon equipped ship. US Navy photo. A kite balloon has been deployed from the USS Arizona. The kite balloon has a two-man crew.
Kites for Lifting Antennas
Kites can be used to carry light effects such as lightsticks or battery powered lights.

In nature

There are natural kites that play a part in shaping what happens on earth. Some leaves kite to relieve wind pressures, pump fluids, and to disconnect annually to fertilize the soils. Poet Pablo Rosenblueth expressed his understanding that children see leaves as kites. Poet Marvin Bell recognized leaves are kites in his ''Nightworks: Poems 1962–2000''. The leaf wafts in the wind held by the tethered leaf stem; when it is fall time, the leaf stem has a de-mooring disconnect process; the wind then easily interacts with the leaf to cause it to fly off the trees and into a gliding fall to the ground. There is a following of kite makers that bridle leaves to fly them again as kites.

Spiders

Billions of spiders use kiting to travel, disperse or to build bridge lines for their webs. Spiders hanging in the moving air on their silks are deflected to various points where they make anchor points for web building. Carol Frost, biology researcher of the University of Alberta, Canada, observed kiting in spiderlings.Ballooning in Dolomedes Triton (Pisauridae)
The paper has a clear photograph of the spider letting out the strand of silk from its spinnerets that would be used in the kiting or so-called ballooning. Photographer: Tyler Cobb.

References

External links

Kite Games and Competitions

FAR Part 101

Some manned kite systems are ultralights under FAR Part 103. {{Kites Kites