The road behind, the trail ahead…

Custom Tsuru, image courtesy of Daniel Gibson.

At the beginning of my life in kiting, I found myself drawn to designing and making kites. I was also torn between focusing on sport or single-line kites. Practical considerations, such as market size and nature, and the need to jump in the deep end to create a viable business quickly, led me to focus on sport kites. Don’t get me wrong, I was (and still am) a stunt kite nut! I love flying them, but even more, I love flying with other people who are passionate about kites. Kiting has taken me from coast to coast and brought me many of the dearest friends of my life.

When we lived in northern Illinois, I’d drive an hour and a half every weekend to a field in Schaumburg, IL, called Ned Brown Meadow. Ned Brown was the hot spot for all things kiting in the Chicago region. I was blessed to share that space with a large group of exceptional people, many of whom were also exceptional kiters. We had national sport kite champions, as well as a few single-line legends. In the early days, I was still working a real job, so I’d have to leave early for the drive back to Rockford for my shift.

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The TR-10 takes flight!

I’ve dropped my take on a classic form into the Blue Moon Kites shop. The pre-order page is open for BMK’s TR-10 (a rokkaku variant). Check it out in the shop by clicking on the link below!

I spent a considerable amount of air time with the TR-10 at the beach last weekend, and I am thrilled!

I need to build at least one more TR-10 prototype, with minor tweaks, before it’s final.! Nothing major, just fit and finish stuff. A pucker here, a stress line there, and most of the excess patches and reinforcements. I should have that finished over the coming weekend, and ready to start working on your orders middle of next week!

https://bluemoonkites.net/shop/tr-10/

 

K•Star, revisited…

Image courtesy of Willy LugoThe first version of the kite that evolved into the K•Star was introduced in 1993. It was primarily an experiment in alternative forms and techniques. I found myself fascinated with the idea of using a basic building block to create very different kites. The first kite was pretty close to the current K•Star, but I also used the same idea to make a couple of cellular kites and even a quad-line. I taught it in a class and made a couple for myself, but never did a production version until about ten years ago. Since then, the star has come and gone a few times.

The star has "traditionally" been matched with a custom "streamer" tail, made from panels much the same as the kite's body. The tail, when made in this fashion, adds a lot of panels, which means a lot of time, and as the saying goes, time is money. If we count the panels in the body of the K•Star, you'll see 36 panels, making up the twelve sail sections. Each of these 12 sections has a significant amount of detail work. After doing a time study, I estimate that in its simplest version, just the body of the K•Star (without a tail) should be priced at about $475. That is fabric, frame, the whole finished deal.

MacStar with the optional ribbon tailsThe tail, as it's been made over the last several years, consists of 57 Individual panels! The construction of the streamer tail is simpler and quicker than that of the body, but it uses considerably more fabric, and still quite a bit of time. My calculations tell me that just the stand-alone streamer tail should be priced at about $410. Combined, the body and tail come to more than I charge for the Ichiban, but the fact is that I have more time and materials in the MacStar than I do in the Ichiban!

I've never flown the K•Star totally without a tail, but I'll be testing that when I fly the personal K•Star I have on the table. I have flown the kite with a simpler tail, as well as multiple ribbon tails. I was very happy with the kite's performance with three 26ft ribbon tails, which can be made considerably less expensively than the streamer. Truth be told, if price is an issue, you don't need my tails at all! You can supply your own ribbon, streamer, or fuzzy tails, either self-made or factory-made.

An anniversary…

2019 was the 20th anniversary of the inception of Blue Moon Kites. The beginning was longer and messier than I would have preferred, and there was that “vacation” a few years ago, but overall it’s been a good ride. It never would have happened without the friendship and support of a lot of fine folks along the way.

Mike Gillard and I first talked about it on the patio of the hotel we were staying at while attending the KTA show in Clearwater, FL in 1999. It became “Blue Moon” at least in part because there were two blue moons early that year. The name was also inspired by the backup band of one of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters, Nanci Griffith.

In September of that year, I brought a handful of new kites to the festival at the Air Force Museum in Dayton. They were well received, and I was encouraged to move forward. After the festival, Holly (my wife) and I spent some time with Mike and his family at their home in Columbus OH, and started dreaming and scheming in earnest.  

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OK, where’s the colorizer?

Short answer- sorry, there isn’t one.

Longer version – I’m not publishing a colorizer for the kites.  I know, for some people, it’s a good tool to help visualize color combinations.  I prefer to be involved in the process of coming up with custom color combinations for those so inclined.

I’m continuing to take commissions for custom kite colors, but plan on being more hands-on (and perhaps more restrictive) about the way kites look when they leave my studio.  Simply put, I have a way that I’d like for my kites to look.

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