Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1993 19:18:25 GMT From: sasaki@netop3.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) Message-ID: <1993Feb25.191825.14040@das.harvard.edu> Organization: Harvard University Subject: Amanda's kite Here's a different type of kite story. It is going into an upcoming issue of Kiting. It is a bit sentimental, so hard core kite-tech folks can skip the rest... **************************************************************** Amanda's Kite I parked my car near the JFK library, right next to the waters of Boston Harbor. I had come from an informal get together with some folks from "Kites Over New England", the local kite club. I delivered a pair of kites that I had made to Jerry. These kites were large, high tech stunt kites made from graphite rods and rip-stop nylon fabric. These kites are flown on equally high-tech Kevlar or Spectra line. We call it "line" and not "string". String is for small kites suitable for a child. Serious kite flyers fly their kites on line, even if the kites are small and could be flown on string. The kite that I now removed from the back seat of the car was made from paper and pieces of wood. I tied cotton string to the bridle and released it. I watched it as it slowly rose on the easterly wind. It had started to snow lightly... I made Amanda's kite two days earlier, just after my sister called with the news. It was a small Eddy kite, very much like the kites that I made when I was a kid. I had some hand made Japanese paper that I was saving for a special kite. What could be more special than my niece's first kite? As I made the kite, I told Amanda all about Eddy kites. I explained why the kite was bowed and how the bridle could be adjusted for different wind conditions. I told her that kites were used by the weather service so that they could measure wind speed and temperature and other things high up in the sky. I told her about the large kites that were used to lift people into the air. I pasted the family crest onto the all-white kite and told Amanda about the crest. I told her about her ancestors. I told her about the Samurai dressed in fancy armor and brandishing long swords. I told her the story of Kojiro Sasaki and Musashi Miyamoto. I was sure that she didn't understand much of what I said. A three year old doesn't have much use for concepts like dihedral or lift-to-drag ratio, and she would probably have been scared if she met any of the Samurai in the family. Later, I added a long paper and string tail. The kite didn't need the tail, but Amanda would like the tail. The kite would match the pictures in her books. "Besides," I told myself, "if the wind is strong, the tail will help the kite fly a little better". I was happy with the kite. Like most children, Amanda would have preferred a brightly colored sail, but the kite was for me too. Amanda's kite fit in with my sense of appropriateness. It flew well, but I was tempted several times to bring it back in and readjust the bridle. I didn't bring it back in, but let out string and pumped it up until there wasn't any more string and I didn't think it would fly any higher. Just before I cut the string a wind gust caught the kite and lifted it a little higher. "Here is your kite Amanda." I didn't watch the kite as it floated out over Boston Harbor. I just got into my car and drove home. It had started to snow a little harder. Amanda Sumiko Brockman died on January 18, 1990. I flew her kite for the first and last time on January 20. -- Marty Sasaki Harvard University Sasaki Kite Fabrications sasaki@noc.harvard.edu Network Operations Division 26 Green Street 617-496-4320 10 Ware Street Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 Cambridge, MA 02138-4002 phone/fax: 617-522-8546 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =