Today NFKA had its June meeting/fly at Ocean Shores, WA and it was a great success! Sun, wind and lots of grins on the faces of happy fighter flyers!
Winds were light in the morning and increasing to about 17 mph late in the afternoon.
8 of us decided to do a round robin competition, where each match was 3 points. Each point a flyer won during his 8 matches was added together to get his total points. The high score being the winner. The outcome was as follows:
1st Bruce Lambert flying an Orcon kite designed and made by him.
2nd Dennis Crowley flying a beautifully painted square kite designed and made by him.
3rd Jim Wilson flying the "Green Hornet", a Icarex kite designed and
made by him.
Several flyers were flying Buka and square kites during the day, practicing for the Conrad Cup Buka Challenge coming up at the Washington State International Kite Festival in August! These square and rectangular kites are really fun and easy kites to fly! Just makes you grin watching them fly, let alone when you fly one! And they are relatively simple to build too! Both Dennis Crowley and Chuck Lund are adept at making them and would be eager to share what they have learned with any interested club member!
NFKA's 1st ever "fighter kite rummage sale" brought the club $110!! It was the generosity of the kite buyers that really made this a successful event! At the next NFKA meeting/fly, which is at the Westport Kite Festival July 10, 11, 12, we will continue the sale of fighter kites donated to the club by various members. So, if you want to get some kites for the price of a donation to NFKA that you determine to be a fair amount, get to Westport early for the best kite selection! AND, if you have kites you no longer fly and would like to donate them to the club to sell at the next fighter kite rummage sale, please bring them with you to the Westport Festival and give them to Bruce Lambert, Bruce is the club kite monger for the time being.
Vic and Eddie Morningstar of Camas, WA became new members at our fly today! Thanks Vic and Eddie, and a big WELCOME!! Vic showed a beautiful fighter he made from Monocote, a mylarlike material used in making model airplanes! It really got all of the kitemakers interested and eager to learn all about this "stuff" called Monocote! Vic's kite flew really well, and especially in the higher winds! Good going Vic, keep the creativity cookin'! What will you have up your sleeve at our next fly?
Chuck Lund, mastermind of the Footlong Hotdog competition, showed a remarkably fast footlong kite! He made it from Tyvek and it was really and truly fast, like a rocket!! Unfortunately, when Chuck brought it out to show, the wind had picked up to about 17 mph, so it was not able to show off its potential, but I bet it will be a kite to beat in any competition, footlong or otherwise! Way to go Chuck, always pushing the envelope (Tyvek, that is) ;-)
The kite that took everyone by surprise was Dennis Crowley's beautiful square painted Orcon kite that he designed, made and beautifully painted! Dennis's artistic talent was in full force when he painted this kite! It was a killer kite, both in looks and performance! It was about 14" square with a fairly large square hole in the center. Really looked great in the air. It was quite fast, and it had uncanny precision about its location or position in the sky and would float like a leaf! Just a dream flyer! Way to go Dennis, what a treat for all of us!
Jim Wilson flew several kites he has recently designed. Some using bamboo for the bow as well as the spine! They all fly great! Very few people have the knowledge to work with bamboo to the level it takes to effectively use it in a competition grade fighter kite! Jim is one of the few. Take a close look at his bamboo kites, they are really something! Better yet, fly one, they do not have the characteristics of a kite made with carbon fiber or fiberglass, not at all! These kites are really special! Jim also flew a new kite he recently designed and made of Icarex, I call it the Green Hornet! It was very fast, quick responding, and really tough to battle, really tough! Jim, too, is always out to push the performance envelope with his new designs, he certainly succeeded this time!!
Brian asks for each member to jot or send something to him that can be included on the website, so let's flood him with good fighter kite stuff!!
See you on the beach in Westport, WA on July 10, 11, 12! A great opportunity to get all tuned up for the Long Beach festival in August!! So, come kick some sand and fight a kite and grin a bunch!
The fighter kite competition at Westport is scheduled to begin at 9:30 am on Saturday, July the 11th.
Bruce Lambert.