Kites

A kite is a flying tethered object that depends upon the tension of a tethering system. more...

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The necessary lift that makes the kite wing fly is generated when air (or other fluid, such as water ) flows over and under the kite's wing, producing low pressure above the wing and high pressure below it. This deflection also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind. This drag is opposed by the tension of the one or more lines (tethers).

Moorings and anchors of the kite line may be static or moving relative to the surface of the earth or other fixed reference environment (e.g., the towing of a kite by a running person, boat, or vehicle ).

In addition to kites that are flown for recreation, art or practical use, there are sport kites and power kites. Sport kites are regularly flown in aerial ballet. Power kites are multi-line steerable kites designed to generate excess force which can be applied in related activities such as kite surfing, kite landboarding or kite buggying.

Towing manned kites behind boats in water-ski world is another recreation sport; serious uses of this method of kiting behind boats were used during military operations.

History

Approximately 2800 years ago the kite was first invented and popularized in China, where materials ideal for kite building were readily available: silk fabric for sail material, fine, high-tensile-strength silk for flying line, and resilient bamboo for a strong, lightweight framework. Alternatively, kite author Clive Hart and kite expert Tal Streeter hold that kites existed far before that time. The kite was said to be the invention of the famous 5th century BC Chinese philosophers Mozi and Lu Ban. By at least 549 AD paper kites were being flown, as it was recorded in that year a paper kite was used as a message for a rescue mission. Ancient and medieval Chinese sources list other uses of kites for measuring distances, testing the wind, lifting men, signaling, and communication for military operations. The earliest known Chinese kites were flat (not bowed) and often rectangular. Later, tailless kites incorporated a stabilizing bowline. Kites were decorated with mythological motifs and legendary figures; some were fitted with strings and whistles to make musical sounds while flying.

Read more at Wikipedia.org