At the Brighton Kite Festival, Irma flew a Pterodactyl, made by Karl Longbottom. She really liked how it flew, bit glider, bit fighter, so we decided shortly after to order a pair of Pterodactyls from Karl, especially for this occasion. So here they are!
They're light-wind kites, and we flew them in winds in the 3-6mph range. The angle of the dihedral can be tuned, to give more stable or more active flight. When set to a wide angle, giving a mostly flat kite, the Pterodactyls start to behave a bit like fighter kites in the sense that they swoop down, and can then be pulled out of their loop as soon as the head points upwards again. Great fun to fly!
Now, of course, this has little to do with proper and serious pair-flying, although we did fly them side-by-side, and had them wrapping their lines around each other through successive swoops. And Roger joined in at some point with his blue "Terror Ducktail", so we were 'team-flying' with them. But who says kite-flying has to be serious? And in the end, this is my blog, so if I want to write about the latest addition to our quiver, I will!
Picture credits: Roger
Awesome! Happy anniversary to you both! What a great way to celebrate and what fun kites! You two are an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marcy! It was such a beautiful day Sunday: sunshine, clear blue sky, smooth clean wind. There wasn't enough wind for serious team practice, but we had a blast getting to know our new kites. Keep flying!!
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