WAAAAY TOOO MUCH FUN is the best way for me to describe the fighter kite flying at the 1999 Washington State International Kite Festival last week!!
The best fighter flying yet!!
Great events and competitions that were well organized and well run, good weather, good wind, and best of all, great conversations, and camaraderie with fighter friends, both new and old!
And speaking of OLD, during the festival 3 fighter fans celebrated birthdays! Ron Lowry, Patsy Lowry and Chuck Lund. Happy, Happy Birthdays!! So we even had an additional reason for celebration and many more grins and giggles!
One of the more rewarding aspects of the fighter events this
year was the increase in the number of entrants! For each
fighter kite event, there was about double the number of
entrants compared with last year! However, for the novice
category in the line touch competition; there were about triple
the number of entrants compared with last year, including
several youngsters!! Maybe fighters are beginning to catch on
;-)
Richard Hurd is the person who gets the credit for the
wonderful fighter kite presence at WSIKF. He is the fighter
kite WSIKF event director/coordinator and he worked his butt
off!!
THANKS A TON RICHARD!! A WONDERFUL JOB!!
In addition Richard organized and participated in a Fighter
Kite Showcase Demonstration. This was in the primary flying
field, (were all the spectators watch), and showed the various
ways fighter kites are flown. He showed, ballet, line touch,
skills and precision flying, plus a sheep and wolf manjha demo.
Richard said he received many very positive comments from both
spectators and other kiters about the Showcase of Fighters!
Very nice job Richard helping to spread the word about our
favorite kites!!
Neil Smedley took 1st in the comprehensive competition with a beautiful paper and bamboo buka that flies like a dream!! His win also earned him a trip to Ft Worden in March! Congratulations Neil!!
Chuck Lund outdid himself this year with the best ever seniors'
skills compeititon. It was a hoot to fly in, very well
organized and extremely challenging! Timed events included,
knocking off the most cups from 5 staggered and various height
poles in a given time. Flying through a 4’ diameter hoop and
pasting the kite to a 18" x 18" panel about 70' away from the
flyers. Thanks again Chuck!!There were 12 entrants in the Seniors competiton and here are the results:
1st Chuck Lund flying a Mylar kite he designed and made.
2nd Dennis Crowley flying an Orcon & Mylar buka he made.
3rd Jerry Dines flying an Orcon kite designed and made by Bruce
Lambert.
In addition to the Seniors event, Chuck hosted and sponsored the
Second Annual Footlong Hotdog competition! What a HOOT!! The
Footlong kite has to have a spine no longer than 12”. This
year there was a bit more creativity in the kite designs
compared with last year! The competition was a blast!! And
the award Chuck made for the 1st place winner was exceptional!!
Not only did the winner get the great & possibly dubious honor
of wearing around his neck a plastic hotdog with bun & mustard,
but also, Chuck made a gorgeous, plaque acknowledging the
winner!! It included a hotdog image painted on a piece of
silver prismatex, mounted under glass!! A work of art! Really
striking!!
There were 10 entrants in the Footlong Hotdog Compeititon, here are the results:
1st Bruce Lambert flying an Orcon kite he designed and made.
2nd Gopal Das flying an Orcon kite designed and made by Bruce Lambert.
3rd Johnny Hsiung flying an Orcon kite designed and made by Jeff MacInnis.
Dennis Crowley hosted the Second Annual Conrad Cup Buka
Challenge. This year, it brought many more buka fans out of
the woodwork and we had many, many giggles and grins flying and
competing with those wonderful rectangular bukas! For the
winner, Dennis created an award that was a miniature hand
painted buka encased in an exquisite amber and glass case; oh,
so beautiful!! Truly a treasure for the winner's trophy room!!
There were 12 entrants in the Conrad Cup Buka Challenge, here
are the results:
1st Johnny Hsiung flying a Mylar buka he made.
2nd Bruce Lambert flying an Orcon buka he made.
3rd Dennis Crowley flying an Orcon & Mylar buka he made.
Saturday, the day of the line touch competition, was the most
beautiful sunny day of the festival!! Both the Novice and
Experienced categories used a double elimination format! All
flyers got to fly at least two matches. The matches were best
of 3 points. The top 3 or 4 flyers, then flew in a round robin
to determine the ranking of the winners.
We saw some of the best flying ever!! The flyers were really
giving it their best effort in every case!! A great show!!!
The wind was about 8-10 mph during the afternoon when the
experienced category was flying. Earlier in the day, during
the novice category’s flying the wind was about 5-8 mph.
Richard Hurd designed and made wonderful 1st place awards for
both the Novice and Experienced categories. They are a wood,
metal and stained glass sculpture depicting a fighter kite and
its flyer! Really creative and beautifully crafted!
There were 34 entrants in the Novice category of line touch
competition, here are the results:
1st Tony Mitchum flying an Orcon kite designed and made by Bruce Lambert.
2nd Kirby Holte flying a Black Feather kite.
3rd Howard Gordon flying an Orcon kite designed and made by
Bruce Lambert for part of the competition and a Stafford
Wallace Mylar kite when his bridle failed on the Orcon kite.
There were 25 entrants in the Experienced category of line
touch competition, here are the results:1st Bruce Lambert flying an Orcon kite he designed and made.
2nd Dennis Crowley flying an Orcon Kite designed and made by Bruce Lambert.
3rd Jim Wilson flying an Icerex kite he designed and made.
4th Chuck Lund flying a Mylar kite he designed and made.
( Richard Hurd presenting the awards )
Congratulations and thanks to all the participants in the best
fighter kiting events ever!!
Many Grins,
bruce