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Chicago Tribune
March 27, 1994 GO FLY A KITE IT'S A WELCOME INVITATION, BLOWIN' IN THE WIND Author: Paula Lauer. Special to the Tribune. Edition: FINAL EDITION Section: TEMPO NORTHWEST Page: 1 Index Terms: SPORT RECREATION SUBURB BUSINESS INTERVIEW Estimated printed pages: 7 Article Text: On a chilly Sunday afternoon at Ned Brown (Busse) Woods in Schaumburg, Chris Schulz of Naperville searches through a neon pile of kite bags, pouches and tubes as she gathers materials to launch her collection of 15 kites. Mid-field, Mitch Rosset of Des Plaines coaxes his 30-foot single-line delta wing into the 6-mile-an-hour wind. The delta wing, its line singing from the pull, gives a life-like flap as it catches a gust and makes a quick ascent to about 150 feet, where it hovers like a mutant butterfly. In the distance, several dual-line deltas dip and dart like colorful bats, while directly overhead, a sinister-looking Cody war kite, with its scalloped wings and sturdy box frame, shimmies in the gusty winds Just about any breezy weekend that the skies are clear, you're likely to see Schulz, Rosset and other members of the 250-strong Chicagoland Sky Liners flying kites at Ned Brown Woods. Known as tako kichi by the Japanese, feeling "kite crazy" is a fervor that hits full force every spring, although a handful of devoted Sky Liners fly any time the mercury is visible. Often these diehards will share precious open space with snowmobilers and cross-country skiers at Ned Brown Woods, a popular flying spot because of its central location, clean winds (that's kiting lingo for strong and steady) and large open fields. The Sky Liners, which was founded in 1982, is one of the largest kite clubs in the Midwest and has turned the northwest suburbs into the kiting hot spot for the Chicago area, according to Bob Neiman, regional director for the Rockville, Md.-based American Kitefliers Association and co-owner of Chicago Kite Company, a retail kite store in Palatine. By offering classes on kite building and flying, as well as monthly kite flies, and annual competitions and festivals that attract kiters from all over the country, the Sky Liners make a continuing contribution to an aerial craze that has, well . . . taken off. Delta wings, snowflakes, massive six-sided rokkakus, colorful dragons trailing rainbows of streamers, steerable parachutes and even a few Charlie Brown-style diamonds are some of the kite shapes decorating the skies. And if you follow those kite lines down, you'll see they're almost all being flown by grownups. "Most people start out with the attitude that kites are for kids," said Guy Guercio, 36, of Warrenville, who is a longtime member and newsletter editor for the Sky Liners. "But once you try it, you're almost always hooked. I travel 70 percent of the year, and I always have a kite with me. For me, it's an anchor toward home; when I'm flying a kite, I don't feel like I'm miles away." According to Brooks Leffler, executive director of the American Kitefliers Association, membership in the association has almost doubled in the last four years. Current membership, which includes kiters from all over the world, is around 5,000-"last time I looked," he said. Ask a kiting enthusiast what all the hoopla's about, and they're likely to get downright poetic about flying a kite. "Harnessing the wind," "painting the sky," "wrestling with the elements" and "becoming one with the universe" are just a few of the more common descriptions. "It's something everybody loves so much, they just love talking about it," explained club member Steve Lareau, 36, of Palatine. "Typically, it's real hard to shut us up about it." Buffalo Grove resident Leora Hatchwell agrees. "What I love about kite flying is that for some reason it gives me a feeling of freedom-a feeling of letting go," said Hatchwell, 41. "And it's also a wonderful forum for sharing and giving. . . . There's definitely a camaraderie among kite fliers." Hatchwell's daughter, 6-year-old Callie Anne, broke all known records by flying her first kite, a 5 1/2-inch diamond specially made for the occasion by club member Charlie Sotich of Chicago, when she was just 30 seconds old. "She reflexively grasped it, and the doctor walked across the room with her, and the kite flew," Hatchwell said proudly. A charter member of the Sky Liners and the club's education chairman, Sotich, 61, is a world-renowned kite maker and has taught classes all over the country as well as in Holland, Germany and Japan. His specialty: tiny kites. Averaging four inches across and crafted out of postage stamps, paper napkins or clear Mylar, Sotich's kites are designed to be flown indoors by creating a breeze from walking. "I made one with an Elvis stamp and it sort of wiggled when it flew," Sotich said. "I told people it was built that way so it looked authentic." On the other end of the flying spectrum, Mike Steele, 42, of Carpentersville, seldom flies anything under six feet. Many windy days, Steele, Lareau and Rosset have been spotted clutching a kite for dear life as they careen around on a buggy, cart, sled or simply by the seat of their pants. "Real men don't need carts," Lareau said. "When I wear through two pair of Levis, that's a good day." In between those two extremes, there are the always-in-motion dual- and quad-line sport kite lovers, single-line "sky artists," and competitive-minded fighter kite enthusiasts who'll jump at the chance to engage in a good dogfight. One common trait among all kiters, though, is what David Gomburg, president of the American Kitefliers Association, calls the kiter's grin-"that smile that creeps across your face when you're flying a kite whether you want it to or not," he said from his Otis, Ore., home. Indeed, when a flier hands you the reins and says, "Here, wanna try?" it's hard to suppress a smile when you feel the first trout-like pull on the line. "You put a kite in somebody's hands, and they get hooked," said a chuckling Jerry Faust, 58, of Chicago. "It's like an addiction. You buy your first kite, but pretty soon that's not enough, you want a second kite and a third kite. . . . Pretty soon you've got a whole bag of them." Most kites flown by serious hobbyists sell in the $80 to $150 price range, but some go as low as $25 or as high as $500 or more, said Neiman, 45, who is also a member of Chicago Fire, a four-man precision flying team that was ranked third in the world in 1992 by the American Kitefliers Association. But these high-tech wonders are a far cry from the wood and paper versions we used to fly as kids (though Sky Liners are quick to point out those dime store kites can be just as fun to fly). Ultra-light synthetics such as ripstop nylon, nylon spinnaker cloth and ripstop polyester offer durability to kites designed to fly in light winds (ideal conditions range between 5 and 15 m.p.h., though some kites are so light, they'll fly indoors). Frames are fashioned from rods of fiberglass or graphite, and the lines used to fly these kites are no less high-tech. Braided Dacron is a popular choice for single-line flying, and Kevlar or Spectra (ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene) offers the low stretch and light weight needed for multiline stunt kites. Regardless of whether they're computer designed or pasted together on the kitchen table, kites have held an allure for more than 3,000 years. Said to be a distant relative of the airplane and hang glider, kites have been used to ward off evil, catch fish, discover the electric nature of lightning, spy on enemies in war time, drop propaganda leaflets, forecast the weather and send radio signals. When airplanes, rockets and satellites took over most scientific jobs, kites were relegated to child's play in Europe and the U.S. until the dual-line stunt kite was born in the 1970s. "That ability to steer a kite around the sky turned kiting from a very passive activity to a very active sport," noted Gomburg. "It's attracted a whole new generation to kite flying." Indeed, according to Leffler, the largest growth segment of the sport has been in the competitive arena of precision flying and aerial ballet. Traci Souza, assistant director of the international Kite Trade Association in San Francisco, noted that stunt kites make up about half the U.S. retail sales-a figure that in 1990 (the most recent year for which figures are available) amounted to about $216 million, up from $80 million in 1987. With most sport models resembling scaled-down hang gliders or wind-inflated air mattresses, these dual- or quad-line kites are flown on 150-foot lines unwound before the kite is launched. Once the kitejet-like roar at speeds close to 100 miles per hour. "It's good unintentional exercise," Lareau said. "It's incredibly relaxing, but you can also get a workout that Jane Fonda wouldn't be able to keep up with on a good windy day." Sport kite competitions, like the upcoming Chicago Sport Kite Festival June 11 and 12 at Ned Brown Woods (call the Chicago Kite Company, 708-359-2556, for more information), give stunt fliers and teams from all over the country a chance to compete in precision and aerial ballet contests. These Blue Angel-style flights include precise compulsory maneuvers and choreographed flying routines set to music. Judges award points for timing, precision and artistry. It's the dream of every pilot to amass enough points over the year to be invited to compete at the American Kitefliers Association's annual convention, an event that last year drew more than 500 kiters, Neiman said. Of course, not all fliers are interested in high-altitude excitement. A good percentage turn to single-line kiting as a way to relax or give themselves a creative outlet. "I fly (multi- and single-line), but I mainly fly single-line," said Peter Henning, 34, of Aurora. "They're easier to fly, and I like to put three or four kites up and watch them, and watch others too." Ken McNeill, president of the Sky Liners and owner of Aerie Kiteworks, a stunt kite manufacturing company in Rockford, said he enjoys making and flying single-line kites on the side as a creative outlet. "There are a lot of people who do artsy stunt kites," said McNeill, 36, "but the single-line offers you different shapes and sizes that are harder to do with stunt kites. . . . You can do just about anything. If you can imagine it, you can probably build it to fly." According to McNeill, one of the more colorful single-line kite festivals in the Midwest is slated this year for 10 a.m. to dusk July 16 at Ned Brown Woods. An event that attracts kite fliers from all over the country, the Sky Liners' Chicagoland Sky Circus gives fliers and spectators a chance to see what kiters call "sky laundry" at its finest. While those who come to fly have every intention of filling the sky with kites (Guercio said single-line fliers are notorious for impromptu celebrations where they'll empty their kite bags and fly everything they've got), sky laundry applies to all the other stuff kiters fly or add to their kites. Streamers, wind socks, 40- to 50-foot tails, spinners and hummers are typical, though some kiters get a little more creative. "One guy attaches a union suit," Guercio said, "which is the ultimate in sky laundry, I guess." Other club members, Guercio said, have been spotted flying lawn chairs, cabanas, inflatable vinyl people and tents. "You turn a Sears dome tent upside down and it flies beautifully," Lareau said. Drawing upon an ancient Japanese tradition where teams of up to 50 fliers launch giant six-sided fighting kites and hold aerial dogfights, the Sky Liners will also host their annual Rokkaku Championships at Ned Brown Woods from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 17. Shaped like a six-sided, elongated stop sign, the seven- to eight-foot rokkaku kites are usually flown by teams of three to five people. "It's the last bastion of the renaissance person," Gomburg said of the rokkaku battles. "The kites involve history and a great cultural tradition, and they also involve math and physics to build the kite and to fly it. Certainly a great deal of artistry goes into designing the kite. And, finally, it's a very athletic kind of activity because you are working hard to keep your kite up there and to take other kites down." "It's basically a demolition derby in the sky," Lareau said chuckling. "You want to watch the kites, but it's even more fun to watch the guys running around on the ground. . . . It's the funniest thing you've ever seen in your life. Caption: PHOTO (color): Kites streak the sky with color over Ned Brown Woods at a meeting of a kite flying club. Tribune photo by Jim Prisching. PHOTO: Members of the Chicagoland Sky Liners club fly kites in all kinds of weather. During a recent weekend, they fought snowmobilers for space at Ned Brown Woods in Schaumburg. Tribune photo by Jim Prisching. PHOTO: It takes two hands for Al Sparling of Naperville to guide his kite at Ned Brown Woods. Kites come in single- and multi-line versions. Tribune photo by Jim Prisching. PHOTO: During a kite construction class in Palatine, Ken McNeil gives tips on the various seams used in kite making. Tribune photo by Gerald West PHOTOS 4 Copyright 1994 Chicago Tribune Record Number: CTR9403270141 |
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