Remembering the days of flying kites...

I started my kite flying days in 4th Grade. There were three empty lots across the street from our house so my friends and I would go over there and fly kites. We generally would go down to the local Longs Drugs store and buy a kite and string then fly them until they were lost or broken and then repeated the process.

My favorite kites were the red ones with a dragon printed on the front.
When I was a kid, the 4H Fairground was literally my backyard. This was a small Indiana town, and the "fairgrounds" were really a 4 critter stall, a medium building for the occasional events and a big field that was vacant most of the year. My dad and older brother used to rabbit and pheasant hunt in that field. That's where I flew my kites.
 

When I was a kid, the 4H Fairground was literally my backyard. This was a small Indiana town, and the "fairgrounds" were really a 4 critter stall, a medium building for the occasional events and a big field that was vacant most of the year. My dad and older brother used to rabbit and pheasant hunt in that field. That's where I flew my kites.
This made me wonder if I could fly a kite at the local fairgrounds. Great idea, and probably less crowded than the beach! Thanks for the idea!
 
This made me wonder if I could fly a kite at the local fairgrounds. Great idea, and probably less crowded than the beach! Thanks for the idea!
This thread has me thinking of places I could go, too. All the schools are closed and I'm in a very rural county. I could probably go there.

You talking the beach on Lake Erie? We used to go to Muskegon MI when I lived in Indiana.

If you go, you gotta post pics!
 

My parents used to summer vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and there wasn't much there or much to do there in the early 1960's. The Wright Brothers had chosen that location for their pioneering flights because of the strong and almost constant winds, however, so it was a great place to fly a kite. I have fond memories of kite flying with my father on the beaches there when I was a boy...
 
This thread has me thinking of places I could go, too. All the schools are closed and I'm in a very rural county. I could probably go there.

You talking the beach on Lake Erie? We used to go to Muskegon MI when I lived in Indiana.

If you go, you gotta post pics!
It will be a while - N.E. Ohio is still horribly cold and I have no idea if our Lake Erie beaches will open. In prior years, folks would fly kites and kites would swerve back towards unsuspecting sunbathers - rather exciting! This is where I saw the giant birds kites and fell in love. But, the fairgrounds might be a safer alternative!
 
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My parents used to summer vacation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and there wasn't much there or much to do there in the early 1960's. The Wright Brothers had chosen that location for their pioneering flights because of the strong and almost constant winds, however, so it was a great place to fly a kite. I have fond memories of kite flying with my father on the beaches there when I was a boy...
We used to camp outside of Ocean City, MD around the same time. I've been to Kitty Hawk (and further south) a number of times in the 70s and later. I can only imagine what it must have been like back then.
 

Lets Go Fly A Kite : Kites and Meteorology - A History

"Efforts were made as early as the 18th century to obtain meteorological measurements of the upper atmosphere. In 1749, thermometers were tied to kites for the purpose of taking upper air observations."

weather_kite_01_300.jpg

Lawrence Hargrave, Australian

"In 1895, Professor Charles F. Marvin, a future chief of the Weather Bureau, began experimenting with kites for routine use in the Bureau. In 1896 he perfected his kite meteorograph, an instrument capable of measuring and recording temperature, pressure and humidity. These measurements were recorded by pens tracings on paper, or on a smoked copper sheet, which was attached to a clock rotated drum."
READ MORE
 

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