Travels of a Baby Pterosaur Kite

Bob and I had a very pleasant, wonderful really, surprise at Fano this past summer. Bernhard had made the Baby Pterosaur! Years ago we met our German friend Bernhard Malle through the Rec.kites newsgroup and the Pterosaur kites we both built. We arranged to met on the beach on Fano, Denmark, to fly our Pterosaurs and have enjoyed a good friendship ever since. These kites are a delta derivative from Maxwell Eden's book. The plan is from George Peters. The kite is huge; it has about a 17 foot wingspan. We have two Pterosaurs: one has yellow and red striped wings with a green body and the other has a red body with yellow and purple striped wings. I always have thought of them as mama and papa and wanted a half size baby, mixing their colors. Bernhard made a baby. We were in for another surprise. He wanted us to bring the Baby home to the United States and let him fly with us. So into our kite bag the Baby went. This is the tale of his travels, especially done for Bernhard's children. You, too, can see who he has been flying with and where.

Fano 2002 was in June. We returned home in time to go to the West Port Kite Festival July 13 and 14. West Port is a coastal town of 2056 people. It is right on the western edge of the United States in Washington State; located at the mouth of Grays Harbor on the Point Chehalis peninsula. West Port has had a Kite Festival for many years. When their beaches started eroding away a few years ago, the festival date was changed to coincide with the low tides and finally had to move to the Grayland Beach area. It has always been our favorite Washington festival. Good friends, good winds and very relaxed. Lots of good kite flying. Unfortunately, the Baby did not get to fly. When the wind finally arrived, it really arrived and was blowing far too hard for him (or so we thought at the time).

Our next outing with the Baby came in August at the annual Washington State International Kite Festival at Long Beach. This is located on the Long Beach Peninsula and is a busy tourist town. Whoa! Did the Baby fly with some big guys! He also flew in the Delta and Delta Derivative Mass Ascension. It was a gray, foggy day; I decided he should fly on a short line so I could keep him in sight.

September came and went and we did go kite flying but we were concentrating on testing new pieces and working on others and the Baby stayed in the bag Bob made for him. Then October arrived, and we were at Ocean City one weekend. Ocean City is a quiet little beach near Ocean Shores, Washington, which is another of our coastal towns. Sunday was a wonderful windy, sunny day. It turned into a day for flying kites we had not had in the air for a long time. I put together the Martin Lester birds I had made at Ft. Worden in 2001.

Suddenly, Bob had the Baby up high in the air. Wow, was he misbehaving! Zooming here, zooming there. He did not want to stay in his own air space. We watched him for awhile and decided not to worry about it. He had lots of room ... we were the only kite fliers on the beach. We put together our 6-wing Cody to see how the new bridling would work. Still the Baby flew. I put

together the red, yellow, and green big Pterosaur. Still the Baby flew but Bob had had enough of him rocketing from left to right and back again. He watched him a bit and then made an adjustment. Now the wind was quite strong. It was just about lifting the sand from the beach. Up went the yellow and green full- sized Pterosaur. He loved the strong wind. And now so did the Baby! His dihedral had been moving, making him crazy. Bob had stabilized that and now the Baby was flying very happily. We put together the yellow and purple winged Pterosaur. Soon the 3 were flying with the Martin Lester birds. Bob had worked on the Marconi kite after returning from Fano with some suggestions and it was flying, too. We had quite a kite display, including our new purple and yellow line laundry. But the afternoon was drawing to a close. Do you see the moon rising by the Baby's tail? Time to start packing up and head for home.

In the United States of America, where Bob and I live, we have a holiday in November called Thanksgiving. It celebrates the gratefulness of the first foreign settlers towards the Native American Indians and celebrates the bounty and blessings America enjoys. Thanksgiving was over. Christmas passed. New Year's Day was soggy and wet. The Baby stayed in his bag.

Kites on Ice 2003 was coming rapidly. This is a wonderful kite flying event held in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin is in the central-north part of the USA. And Madison is the capitol of Wisconsin. It has hot summers and cold winters. By February the water has frozen to a thick layer of ice on most lakes. People can walk on the ice, cut holes in it to fish, ice skate, etc. Kiters fly their kites! To see lots of pictures, click here. The Baby went along and flew very, very well. I walked from our arena, which was to the left of the convention center, all the way to be opposite the Capitol building. It is the domed building in the center of the right picture. At Kites on Ice, he flew with the Genie from Germany, the Mermaid from France, the graceful fish deltas with their flowing tails from Belgium and lots of kites from the USA. All too soon for him, he was put back into his bag and made the trip back to Washington State.

While watching him fly in Madison, I had decided he needed to have a little cosmetic surgery. I gave him a 2 sided head, like his big brothers. The Baby flew a couple more times at our local beaches. Then it was back onto the airplane, headed for home. Germany that is. We gave him back to Bernhard on Fano. It had been a fun year with him. I think we shall have to make our own for sure now!