Tag: bol

Bol, carp, and banners


Bol, Carp, and Banners
Originally uploaded by Bassoon Man.

Pictured here are my bol (the parachute thing), the carp windsock and blue banner that I made at the Junction Kite Retreat, along with two other banners (the red and white ones) that I made last night. All of them are quite large (the bol is eight feet in diameter, the carp is about five feet long, and the banners are approximately fifteen feet tall).

While the winds weren’t great, there was enough for all of these flying goodies. In addition, I was able to fly my Rev 1.5 SLE (I just bought a lighter set of spars so that the Rev essentially becomes a 1.5 SUL (which weighs less and flies in lighter winds). As usual, I met the nicest people while flying – a park ranger approached me with the idea of putting together an annual kite festival at Doheny (wouldn’t that be great?!) and I met another guy who was interested in the banners and gave him an introduction to the Rev.

Hata Fighter KiteIn addition to the above, I also tried flying some of my fighter kites. So far, I can’t get either the Fandango or the Hoopty to fly – both of them spin like mad but that’s about it. I did get a Hata up and had a great time with that. It’s not very fast but I was able to keep it aloft for a very long time. I’m sure that I’ll be making some of my own fighters in the very near future.

I’ll be flying many of these tomorrow at the San Diego monthly kite fly.

My bol flies!

While it’s hard to believe that I actually made this thing (it’s called a “bol”), I spent the last week assembling it from scratch. Yes, I even sewed it myself! It is a huge flying toy – eight feet in diameter. While many bols can be larger – much larger – the fact that this one flies still amazes me. Unlike kites, bols usually just sit (or hover) near the ground. As the following video shows, it also flies (just a little bit).

With everything that’s going on in my life (most of it is EXTREMELY stressful), I’m finding a bit of momentary relief by making and flying my own kites. It’s simply great fun to go down to the beach on the weekend, unfurl lots of flying stuff and chat with those who happen to be in the neighborhood. As a rule, kites are benevolent absurdities that have almost no practical use (at least not for weekend flying at the beach) other than to bring smiles to the faces of anyone who sees them. Of course, those that fly them also get to momentarily forget life and enjoy the wonderful colors and the trill of feeling the pull whatever it is that they’re flying.

More pictures of my new bol may be found by double clicking on the photo below.

It flies!

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be some wind tomorrow (Sunday).