X-OldHeader: From schuh@apm-iris3.arc.nasa.gov-DeleteThis.com Mon Sep 3 21:12:42 2001 Return-Path: <schuh@apm-iris3.arc.nasa.gov-DeleteThis.com> Received: from opus.labs.agilent.com (root@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com [130.29.244.179]) by jr.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_18979)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id VAA10195 for <wind_talk_ls@jr.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Mon, 3 Sep 2001 21:12:42 -0700 (PDT) Received: from msgbas2.cos.agilent.com (msgbas2.cos.agilent.com [192.168.148.34]) by opus.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_18979)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id VAA10341 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Mon, 3 Sep 2001 21:12:41 -0700 (PDT) Received: from apm-iris3.arc.nasa.gov (apm-iris3.arc.nasa.gov [128.102.162.183]) by msgbas2.cos.agilent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4DF99DC1 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com>; Mon, 3 Sep 2001 22:12:41 -0600 (MDT) Received: (from schuh@localhost) by apm-iris3.arc.nasa.gov (SGI-8.9.3/8.9.3) id VAA74942 for wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com; Mon, 3 Sep 2001 21:12:40 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 21:12:40 -0700 (PDT) From: "Michael J. Schuh" <schuh@apm-iris3.arc.nasa.gov-DeleteThis.com> Message-Id: <200109040412.VAA74942@apm-iris3.arc.nasa.gov-DeleteThis.com> To: wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis.com Subject: Watch out for those kites
I tried kiting today and think others might benefit from hearing about
my experience.
I went up to the area above the golf course at 3rd Ave. I started out
flying one of the beginner training kites. I think it was a 2 sq meter
kite but I am not sure. A kite sailor advised me to go off way out of
the way so someone else's kite would not whack me and I would not hurt
anyone else. So I went way off to the side out of range of everyone.
The kite was fun to fly. In the 15 mph winds I was flying it in, it
would quickly respond and zoom through the sky.
After getting the hang of it, I walked over while flying the kite to
ask another beginner if he wanted to try flying the training kite. He
said sure but needed a sandbag to hold the full sized kit down that he
was holding. While still flying the kite almost directly over my head,
I brought him a sandbag and then started walking back to an area far
away from others so I would not endanger anyone else and be safe too.
I was about 50' from being in a safe area again when I lost control of
the kite. While the kite was traveling at nearly max speed, I wrapped
the kite strings around the neck of the kite sailor that advised me to
stay clear of others. I was HORRIFIED. I had visions of tearing his
ear off or slicing his neck. He was justifiably mad and read me the
riot act. Amazingly he was not severely injured.
It is so clear now what I should have done to avoid this. I should
have parked the kite on the ground and then walked over to my friend.
I certainly was not experienced enough to be around people while flying
it. After a bit of observing, it is also clear to me that there are a
bunch of people there that at times barely have control of their kites
and there are likely to be more such incidents. I am going to stay
well clear of the kites. I really disliked being on the delivering end
of one of these accidents and don't want to be on the receiving end
either.
I think others have given similar warnings but somehow they did not
help me avoid this accident. This incident really shook me up and I
thought it was worth putting another warning out there.
Michael
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