By Tim Parish
Early in their history, the largest box kites were mainly used for lifting. Of course, many other smaller ones were constructed and flown purely for recreation. Kite enthusiasts, if they had several types of kites, tended to reserve their box kites for the windiest weather.
Earliest Inventors - Hargrave and Cody
Lawrence Hargrave, an Australian, was the official inventor of the box kite in 1892. Hargrave used to link several kites together and even hoisted a very trusting human under the largest of them! According to one academic, the idea of a box structure flying in the air was known here and there around this time. Hence, it's possible that Hargrave was not the very first person to fly a box kite.
The rather flamboyant Samuel Cody, of the United States, later built upon the ideas developed by Hargrave. Cody used a double box concept and also added small wings for extra lift and vanes for stability. These kites were designed for the military, and resulted in a patented man-lifting system in 1901. With this capability, an observer could be hoisted to a great height to provide an advantage on the battlefield.
How high exactly? There is a record of somebody once going up under a Cody kite to more than 600 meters (2000 feet) of altitude! Too bad the airplane was invented just a few years later... A large number of perfectly good Cody kites ended up in moth-balls.
20th Century Applications
On the topic of airplanes, notice how similar the oldest of biplanes were to box kites. These aircraft were just kites with a tail and an engine. Take for example, the Bristol Boxkite which is probably the most famous of these aircraft. The earliest plane inventors, including the Wright brothers, tinkered with kites while they planned and dreamt about what they really wanted to build! The early days of flight saw a lot in common between the development of kites and aircraft. The materials were similar, the methods of bracing for rigidity were similar, and so on.
Early in the twentieth century, box kites were used for measuring atmospheric conditions like wind velocity, temperature, barometric pressure and humidity. Large box kites were capable of doing this job over quite a range of altitudes. With their oiled silk sails and flying on steel wire, they were strong and stable, with great lifting power for their size. Eventually though, balloons proved able to reach even greater altitudes for this kind of work.
During the Second World War, another military application for them can be found in the emergency kits issued to pilots in the 1940s. The Gibson-Girl Box Kite could be flown by a pilot lost at sea, with it's line acting as the aerial for a radio transmitter. Some of these pilots might have waited a long time for enough wind to get a distress call out!
Radio enthusiasts have used box kites for hoisting up aerials to a great height! This was practiced over many decades, and probably since the earliest military applications. Who knows, there might still be a few radio enthusiasts out there who use a kite to hang up a really tall antenna! Ham radio isn't as big as it once was, but there you have it, another application for box kites.
Kite Aerial Photography, also known as KAP, is another application that has been going on for quite some time. Designs based around the box kite concept are stable and strong lifters so are ideal for suspending photographic gear. Mind you, weight isn't such an issue in 2007, with lipstick cams and similar tiny devices being available! There are even some kits around that include kite, camera and other necessary bits and pieces.
Into The New Millennium
Since the year 2000, the general trend has been for greater and greater variety in weird and wonderful kites based on the basic box cell idea. Spectacular, colorful, multi-celled, tumbling and rotating works of aerial art provide an attention-grabbing display in the air! Some keen builders do these from scratch, others are available in kit form from kite shops. The most popular materials are rip-stop nylon for the sails and fiberglass rods as spars.
Early in their history, the largest box kites were mainly used for lifting. Of course, many other smaller ones were constructed and flown purely for recreation. Kite enthusiasts, if they had several types of kites, tended to reserve their box kites for the windiest weather.
Earliest Inventors - Hargrave and Cody
Lawrence Hargrave, an Australian, was the official inventor of the box kite in 1892. Hargrave used to link several kites together and even hoisted a very trusting human under the largest of them! According to one academic, the idea of a box structure flying in the air was known here and there around this time. Hence, it's possible that Hargrave was not the very first person to fly a box kite.
The rather flamboyant Samuel Cody, of the United States, later built upon the ideas developed by Hargrave. Cody used a double box concept and also added small wings for extra lift and vanes for stability. These kites were designed for the military, and resulted in a patented man-lifting system in 1901. With this capability, an observer could be hoisted to a great height to provide an advantage on the battlefield.
How high exactly? There is a record of somebody once going up under a Cody kite to more than 600 meters (2000 feet) of altitude! Too bad the airplane was invented just a few years later... A large number of perfectly good Cody kites ended up in moth-balls.
20th Century Applications
On the topic of airplanes, notice how similar the oldest of biplanes were to box kites. These aircraft were just kites with a tail and an engine. Take for example, the Bristol Boxkite which is probably the most famous of these aircraft. The earliest plane inventors, including the Wright brothers, tinkered with kites while they planned and dreamt about what they really wanted to build! The early days of flight saw a lot in common between the development of kites and aircraft. The materials were similar, the methods of bracing for rigidity were similar, and so on.
Early in the twentieth century, box kites were used for measuring atmospheric conditions like wind velocity, temperature, barometric pressure and humidity. Large box kites were capable of doing this job over quite a range of altitudes. With their oiled silk sails and flying on steel wire, they were strong and stable, with great lifting power for their size. Eventually though, balloons proved able to reach even greater altitudes for this kind of work.
During the Second World War, another military application for them can be found in the emergency kits issued to pilots in the 1940s. The Gibson-Girl Box Kite could be flown by a pilot lost at sea, with it's line acting as the aerial for a radio transmitter. Some of these pilots might have waited a long time for enough wind to get a distress call out!
Radio enthusiasts have used box kites for hoisting up aerials to a great height! This was practiced over many decades, and probably since the earliest military applications. Who knows, there might still be a few radio enthusiasts out there who use a kite to hang up a really tall antenna! Ham radio isn't as big as it once was, but there you have it, another application for box kites.
Kite Aerial Photography, also known as KAP, is another application that has been going on for quite some time. Designs based around the box kite concept are stable and strong lifters so are ideal for suspending photographic gear. Mind you, weight isn't such an issue in 2007, with lipstick cams and similar tiny devices being available! There are even some kits around that include kite, camera and other necessary bits and pieces.
Into The New Millennium
Since the year 2000, the general trend has been for greater and greater variety in weird and wonderful kites based on the basic box cell idea. Spectacular, colorful, multi-celled, tumbling and rotating works of aerial art provide an attention-grabbing display in the air! Some keen builders do these from scratch, others are available in kit form from kite shops. The most popular materials are rip-stop nylon for the sails and fiberglass rods as spars.
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