By Tim Parish
The Cody Kite has a double-box design and sports bat-like wings and horns. Despite the design being over 100 years old this is still a well-known kite. Not every modern builder tries to be authentic in dimensions, coloring or materials, so there is great variety in modern versions!
Most Codys are flown purely for the fun of it, either singly or stacked together in a train. Others are used for KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) due to their stable, high-lift properties. Another common use for high-lift kites is hauling up 'line laundry' such as inflatable figures, windsocks and spinners.
The Classic Cody Kite
It's easy to see the origins of this kite's basic construction lay in the Hargrave double box kite. Cody was after even more lifting power and stability though. Also very influential was the old American Blue Hill Meteorological kite design of the time.
The main materials for Cody's smaller kites were very fine cotton cloth, bamboo for the spars and hemp lines for the rigging and bridle.
However, in his bigger kites, the sails were usually silk. Also, more use was made of American hickory for the spars, since this material has greater strength than bamboo. Like the early Hargrave kites, the sails were tensioned up to be drum-tight.
Cody's main interest was making and flying man-lifting and multiple kite systems. He was the inventor of a clever system of sending up a whole train of his kites, with a 'lifter' kite on the bottom containing the passenger.
The Modern Cody Kite
Some modern Codys are a real contrast with the original big kites. Shop bought 'contemporary Cody kites' tend to be smaller, easily rigged and colorful. Despite the modern construction materials, the general shape plus the wings still make the kites' origins unmistakable.
Some people like to stack their Codys up in the air by flying several at a time. Usually all the same design though, unlike the old man-lifting system.
What about prices? I've seen retail Codys anywhere from under US$25 to around US$500! That's the difference between a toy and a high-quality flying machine.
Cody Kites In All Sizes
The smallest one I've come across is a design that can be built from plans in around 3 hours. When all is done, the resulting kite weighs just one gram and has a 25 cm (10 inch) wingspan! So small, it can be flown indoors at walking speed.
Now for the other end of the scale. I've seen a photo of a massive Cody kite. It's black, and the little toy soldier standing near one corner turns out to be a real person when you look closer! The kite stands nearly 7 meters (22 feet) high and has a 10 meter (33 foot) wingspan.
History
Now for some background on Cody himself, who was born in 1867 and died in 1913. His full name was Samuel Franklin Cody, and to this day he is highly regarded in England for being a real pioneer of aviation in that country. The 'Father of British Aviation' in fact.
Somewhere around 1898, when Cody was taking his Wild West show around England, he became interested in building kites. He competed with his step-son Leon to make the largest and highest-flying kites possible. Finally, in 1901, they patented the classic winged box kite that people today recognize as a Cody Kite.
In December of 1901, Cody offered this design to the War Office which at that time was involved in the Second Boer War. To prove its suitability for aerial spotting, he flew it at various locations around London, at heights up to 600 meters (2,000 feet).
The British Navy sat up and took notice after this, and even paid him to look into using kites as observation platforms. Later, Cody did a few demonstrations for the British Navy, including a 1908 demonstration on a warship when the observer was Cody himself.
Cody's achievements were not the end of his man-lifting kite system. Since then, enthusiastic people have re-created the system, and demonstrated it at kite festivals. The Cody Kite will continue to lift things and people for a long time yet!
The Cody Kite has a double-box design and sports bat-like wings and horns. Despite the design being over 100 years old this is still a well-known kite. Not every modern builder tries to be authentic in dimensions, coloring or materials, so there is great variety in modern versions!
Most Codys are flown purely for the fun of it, either singly or stacked together in a train. Others are used for KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) due to their stable, high-lift properties. Another common use for high-lift kites is hauling up 'line laundry' such as inflatable figures, windsocks and spinners.
The Classic Cody Kite
It's easy to see the origins of this kite's basic construction lay in the Hargrave double box kite. Cody was after even more lifting power and stability though. Also very influential was the old American Blue Hill Meteorological kite design of the time.
The main materials for Cody's smaller kites were very fine cotton cloth, bamboo for the spars and hemp lines for the rigging and bridle.
However, in his bigger kites, the sails were usually silk. Also, more use was made of American hickory for the spars, since this material has greater strength than bamboo. Like the early Hargrave kites, the sails were tensioned up to be drum-tight.
Cody's main interest was making and flying man-lifting and multiple kite systems. He was the inventor of a clever system of sending up a whole train of his kites, with a 'lifter' kite on the bottom containing the passenger.
The Modern Cody Kite
Some modern Codys are a real contrast with the original big kites. Shop bought 'contemporary Cody kites' tend to be smaller, easily rigged and colorful. Despite the modern construction materials, the general shape plus the wings still make the kites' origins unmistakable.
Some people like to stack their Codys up in the air by flying several at a time. Usually all the same design though, unlike the old man-lifting system.
What about prices? I've seen retail Codys anywhere from under US$25 to around US$500! That's the difference between a toy and a high-quality flying machine.
Cody Kites In All Sizes
The smallest one I've come across is a design that can be built from plans in around 3 hours. When all is done, the resulting kite weighs just one gram and has a 25 cm (10 inch) wingspan! So small, it can be flown indoors at walking speed.
Now for the other end of the scale. I've seen a photo of a massive Cody kite. It's black, and the little toy soldier standing near one corner turns out to be a real person when you look closer! The kite stands nearly 7 meters (22 feet) high and has a 10 meter (33 foot) wingspan.
History
Now for some background on Cody himself, who was born in 1867 and died in 1913. His full name was Samuel Franklin Cody, and to this day he is highly regarded in England for being a real pioneer of aviation in that country. The 'Father of British Aviation' in fact.
Somewhere around 1898, when Cody was taking his Wild West show around England, he became interested in building kites. He competed with his step-son Leon to make the largest and highest-flying kites possible. Finally, in 1901, they patented the classic winged box kite that people today recognize as a Cody Kite.
In December of 1901, Cody offered this design to the War Office which at that time was involved in the Second Boer War. To prove its suitability for aerial spotting, he flew it at various locations around London, at heights up to 600 meters (2,000 feet).
The British Navy sat up and took notice after this, and even paid him to look into using kites as observation platforms. Later, Cody did a few demonstrations for the British Navy, including a 1908 demonstration on a warship when the observer was Cody himself.
Cody's achievements were not the end of his man-lifting kite system. Since then, enthusiastic people have re-created the system, and demonstrated it at kite festivals. The Cody Kite will continue to lift things and people for a long time yet!
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