A WORD OR TWO ABOUT KITES

10 things you probably didn't know about kites

1. It is now thought that the first kites flown over 3000 years ago, were made from leaves. In fact, people flew kites 1,000 years before paper was invented!

2. Kite flying was banned in Japan in 1760 because too many people preferred to fly kites than work. And, in the twentieth century, large kites were banned in East Germany because of the possibility of lifting people over the Berlin Wall.

3. Kites have been used for centuries for fishing and have been used in many sea rescues.

4. Kites are used for bird scaring, forecasting the weather and frightening evil spirits away. And in the Orient, kites are given to someone to bring them happiness, good luck, prosperity and cure illness.

5. In 1901 Marconi used a Hexagon kite to transmit the first radio signals across the Atlantic, the kite line was used as the aeriel. And, in WWII the Royal Air Force issued pilots with a 'rescue kit' comprised of a dingy and a folding box kite called a "Gibson Girl" which enabled them to send an SOS message from a portable transmitter with the kite line acting as the aerial.

6. There are 78 rules pertaining to kite fighting in Thailand.

7. There is at least one Kite Festival every weekend of the year in some part of the world. And some of them are even held indoors!

8. Kite Records: The smallest kite in the world which actually flies is 5mm high. The largest number of kites flown on a single line is 11,284, this record is held by a Japanese kite-maker. The longest kite in the world is 1034 metres (3394 ft). The largest kite in the world is the Megabite 55 x 22 metres (630sq metres). The fastest recorded speed of a kite is over 120 mph. (193 km/h). The record for the highest single kite flown is 3801 metres (12,471ft) for a train of kites 9740 metres (31,955 ft). The world record for the longest 'kite fly' is 180 hours. And, some Japanese kites weigh over 2 tons!

9. There are over 50 million kites sold in the USA every year.

10. Kite flying is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with more adults in the world than children flying them!

__________

Source: www.kiteman.co.uk

ENJOY SAFELY....

BEST WISHES.

MS. SNEHA PATEL

"