Milwaukee Harbor, Komatsu North America
My current kite aerial photography rigs and a flat winder of string, fits in a small shoulder bag and weighs a little over 2 pounds. My rig’s portability let...
kites
Kite photos from the Frank Mots International Kite Festival, Milwaukee
At the 2022 Frank Mots International Kite Festival in Milwaukee, We flew kites and kite banners, and also captured aerial photos (this post) and ground shots...
Ground photos from the Frank Mots International Kite Festival, Milwaukee
At the 2022 Frank Mots International Kite Festival in Milwaukee, we flew kites and kite banners, and Colleen Donaldson and I (mostly Colleen) took photos of ...
sailing the sky: endless gliding takes shape
While sailing the sky is often used as a flight metaphor, sailing physics may be directly applicable to continuous flight. Can two wings, one functioning as ...
bigger kite banners
This tutorial details a fairly quick and inexpensive method for creating big banners to fly from a kite.
Airpup on Innovation Nation
Airpup was recently featured on CBS’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca.
DJI Pocket 2 for Kite Aerial Photography
I’ve recently taken three flights using the DJI Pocket 2 with WiFi dongle for aerial photography, conducting two short flights on Airpup and another brief fl...
Airpup production patterns
Final plans for the production Airpup design are now available on Github, released as open hardware under the CERN Open Hardware Licence.
Airpup production prototype: studio update
After a variety of delays, detailed in my previous studio update videos, I’ve finally finished the production prototype of Airpup and have done a solid test ...
run of flat winders & illustrated instructions
I did a production run of 30 flat winders based on my design from last spring, and also illustrated some instructions.
new video: studio updates on Airpup Construction
I’ve begun creating a series of video-based studio updates using my standard definition video mixer. They’re quick and easy to make, and let me document my p...
Putting a face to a name: the Airpup mascot
I want Airpup to be fun and social, and worked with Justin Nichol to create a character that not only represents Airpup, but could be drawn directly on the b...
Flying signs: kite banners
Over the past year I’ve been making kite banners for slogans.
Event videography with Airpup
Flying Airpup at events is fun and garners a warm response. People notice Airpup and smile, then go back to what they were doing. The curious follow Airpup’s...
Airpup repository on Github
On Github you’ll find Airpup’s repository of 2D patterns for construction as well as a corresponding 3D model.
What is a kite balloon?
Kite balloons are balloons that fly like kites, and they were the first reliable way to fly and land in the same place.
Airpup at the Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival
Airpup joined the phenomenal show of kites at the 2018 Lincoln City Fall Kite Festival. It was an opportunity to practice aerial videography, and also to fly...
Out and about with Airpup
I’ve been out flying the full-size Airpup and tweaking the rigging over the past two months. Below are some of the photos and videos I’ve been taking.
Introducing Airpup
Airpup is small for a balloon, because Airpup is a kite balloon. Airpup sips helium and eats high winds. Back Airpup on Crowd Supply.
Detroit Kite Festival
I went to the Detroit Kite Festival with Colleen Donaldson and we had a blast! The organizers pulled off a wonderful and inclusive festival complete with a h...
Detroit Kite Festival aerial photos
While at the Detroit Kite Festival I captured some aerial photos with my Canon S100 running CHDK, installed with STICK. It flew on the always-reliable KAPte...
Cully Park Kite Party report back
On June 30th I held a workshop making Sled kites at the Grand Opening of Cully Park. We made close to 80 kites in 3.5 hours. The design is the Stormy Sled, n...
Cully Park Kite Party
Join a kitemaking and flying party at the Grand Opening of Cully Park in Portland, OR on June 30th, from noon-4pm.
∞ flat line winder for kite string ∞
This kite line winder is designed for a figure eight winding technique. Winding line in a figure eight ∞ folds the line so that there is no twist. Line can ...
kite anemometers
Written with Ecta64. Archived 4th of March 2018 from Publiclab.org. Kite anemometers on this site, and on Github.
determining wind direction with a kite and compass
During PM hotspot monitoring, we launched a small kite to take wind direction measurements above the tree height. These measurements were usually about 10-15...
flight report Aerobee Rig panoramas and pratfalls
Last week I got a chance to test out an old favorite of mine– flying off wind with asymmetrical tails, and added a recent acquisition– the KAPtery Aerobee Ri...
notes on assembling the Aerobie Rig
I purchased an Aerobee rig from the KAPtery because I’m real excited about the Jerk Pan mechanism. Our unpredictable late spring rains (its still spring in...
outlining needed kite tutorials
Glenn Davison has answered many of the questions below in the AKA guide to kite flying. I’ve archived the discussion for all its notes and camera-specific co...
DIY mini kite kit first flight
Background Inspired by @PatCoyle’s look at small, cheap parafoil kites for mapping, I’ve been looking for a stable, sparless kite that could lift a small cam...
Stormy O Weathers Horned Allison: towards a kite wind speed meter
see current posts about kite anemometers on headfullofair.com
off-wind kite flying: redtone rigging in Augusta, WI
Dogs are totally pro-kite. Stephanie, Tom, myself, and our entranced canine audience. All ground photos courtesy of Stevie
kite aerial photography for spectral mapping of intertidal landscapes
An article on two-camera NDVI in intertidal mapping from PLOS One, using kites, via the KAP forums.
inspirational delta kites
From the kite plans database–
using kites as atmospheric wind meters
Archived 4th of March 2018 from Publiclab.org. Kite anemometers on this site, and on Github.
My summer, generalizations only.
Its been so long since an update. I Spent my summer between Switzerland, studying sanitation with Cewas and Butte, Montana working on community mapping in C...
scientific, photographic, and person-lifting kites, 1900-1940
Baden F.S. Baden-Powell’s Manlifting Levitor. 1895. No photos or film I can find. Was it flat or bowed?
Topographic maps from fled kites
I just started building fled kites, but my fellow Grassroots Mapper Nathan Craig is already doing 3D topographic scans with them. ** He’s using **AgiSoft’s P...
Kite Fishing in Indonesia & Melanesia
Traditional Kite fishing in Indonesia, using the motion of a kite to give bait a constant motion. ** A little more history here**. I think this is the one of...
Aerospace at Toorcamp
Several amateurs played in aerospace around Toorcamp, and many more space lovers and hobbiests were present. JonM from Hackerbot, who is one of the leads on ...