Niagara Windriders Newsletter

The Official Newsletter of the Niagara Windriders Kitefliers Association, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada

Monday, September 01, 2008

August Fun Fly

How do you follow the great success of Canal Days?...the August fun Fly with a great turnout, great weather and nice steady winds! August 31st turned out to be a perfect flying day. There were about 30 or so members that came out to fly in moderate steady winds. There were about 10 kites up when I arrived. Deltas, Roks and sleds were gracing the beautiful blue sky. The strings were hanging low which meant that the wind was just strong enough to keep up the kites, but not enough to pull the lines tight.

Banners were being set up, shelters for shade were also being erected. I took out my Revolution Blast that will fly in just about any wind condition. It's been a while since I flew a 4 line kite at a club fly, but just like riding a bike, you never forget how to fly it.

New member Andy DiTomaso sets up a colourful cellular pyramid kite.

Here's one of Ted Shaw's kites that was on Canal Days.

After walking up and down the field saying my "Hellos" I noticed that there were alot of "minivans" stuffed full of kites! Here's some examples:

What do you do when you need the minivan for the kids? Use a trailer, that's what!

Here's a picture of Greg's son flying a dual line and doing quite well! Some day he'll be good enough for a demo at Canal Days.


After a while, the winds picked up. I had to change out my 90lb lines for 120's. My Rev was pulling harder and I didn't want to break a line. I also decided to pack the Rev away and bring out the Skydancer. It's the rainbow style with 50' tails that always draws a crowd and comments. Around 3:00 there were almost as many kites in the air as there was at Canal days. It was a beautiful sky! You can't get through a day of flying without one good tangle! Terry fixed this one in about 5 minutes.

Andy had a sled anchored with 3 bird kites attached like line laundry. It looked so real I made a video.

Here's the results of our "door" prize drawing. And the winners are:
Terry Hobbs...Kite tail
Stephanie Bowes...Sand anchor
Bob O'Neil...Kite tail
Andy DiTomaso...Mouse kite
Bob White...Coffee Mug
Paul Kort...120lb spool of kite line
Ted Shaw...Coffee Mug
and Jessica Jonkman...Winnie the Pooh flying a kite school folder.
Congratulation to all.

During the afternoon there were lots of spectators coming by and watching us fly. It's always satisfying to know what you enjoy doing, others can also enjoy watching. Next club fly will be September 28th. Let's hope for the same conditions and a good turnout for that. See you all then!