A Brief History of Recent Large Kites

Before Dominic Jalbert's 1950s development of "soft" kites, which use the stagnation pressure of airflow (Bernoulli's principle) as a structural element, large kites were size-limited by frame strength.

The largest Japanese Wan Wans could be more than 20 meters in diameter (315 m2) but weighed an impractical two tonnes or more.

The Holland Kite Team, led by Gerard van der Loo, made the first successful very large soft kite - the CS550 (550 m2, <150 kgs), in 1982.

Their guiding principle, which has been adopted for all the large kites that Peter Lynn Kites have made, is that they should have as little pull as possible.

In 1983, Edmonds Community College in Washington State, USA, made a more conventional parafoil style kite that was larger than the Dutch kite.

But its launch director, Steve Edeiken, tragically fell and died when he became entangled in the bridles during its inaugural launching at Longbeach in Washington State.

By the American Kite Association's criteria at that time - flying at an altitude greater than the kite's width for more than two minutes - this flight qualified for the record.

Still, it was never recognized due, I expect, to the tragic consequences.