Kites in chronological order after design year, from 1994 and onwards. 

The kites are grouped in sections of eight.

On smartphone: use finger for scrolling sideways to be able to see all pictures.

–

Details of kites # 17 – 24.

Click  the picture to get a larger picture.

Click the button under the picture to get more information.

Kite NamePicturePicture
Picture
17. Absolut Kite


Absolut Kite 		Absolut Black


Absolut Bridling


Absolut Harp


L.O. Smith 		Absolut Dispensing


Absolut Dispensing
18. Nokap


Nokap
19. Flyn


Flyn
20. WannaBees


WannaBees 		Bee Nest


Nest Lernout's Bee Nest 		WannaBee Too


WannaBee Too 		WannaBee Video





Flying WannaBees
21.PentArch


PentArch 		PentArch Hanoi


PentArch in Hanoi 		Stars and Stripes


Stars and Stripes

Single line PentAgon


Single line PentAgon
22. Stockholm 1912


Tug-of-War and the Olympics 		Stockholm 1912 - The Research


The research 		Stockholm 1912 - The Making


Preparations

Making the arch 		Stockholm 1912 - The Competition



The competition

The printed remake 2016
23. Coded & Decoded



Coded & Decoded 		Coded & Decoded



Coded & Decoded 		Coded & Decoded


Coded & Decoded
24. Ikan & Sakana


Ikan 		Ikan & Sakana


魚 - Sakana

The rest of the kites.

Click  the button in left column the get the details of the kites in the section.

1. A-Kross


2. Fold Black


3. Who's flying whom?


4. Volvolare
View details of kites 1 - 85. Go fly a Kite, Charlie Brown!


6. Sverker Longship






7. Ruler of the Sky


8. SHARK
9. Salida Sled

10. Fly50

11. Flag

12. Sueño de Barrilete
View details of kites #9 - 1613. ReTurn

14. Confusion (Fat Flat Rok)

15. Red Tail

16. Sake Dako
25. Square Foot

26 BAHCO 10

27. Don't Waste Your Time

28. Money Laundry
View details of kites #25 - 3229. Imposters

30. Block Shot

31. YangTze

32. Butterfly
33. HumbleBee

34. Nyoman Shimmy

35. Roebuck

36. Ronbus
View details of kites #33 - 4037. Svein

38. akka

39. Niëlje

40. Forty³
41. Ririn

42. ThorNado
View details of kites #41 - 48

During a walk in a market in Tokyo I stumbled on the perfect partner for the fish from Kelantan.

魚 – Sakana is the word for fish in Japanese.

 

On the afternoon of the day of arrival to my first kite festival  in Kelantan, north east Malaysia, in May 2013 I took a walk in the surroundings and came across a place where they were drying small fish on tables. Next to the tables were bunches of fishing nets. I instantly saw that that combination would make a nice kite.

Ikan is the word for fish in Malay language.

The kites should fly next to each other like here on a forked line would. But they tend to tangle: Since the kites are large they need a bit of line and those lines are long enough to cross each other and tangle. The solution would be a much longer separating stick.

Half a year later, in January 2014, I had the images printed on nylon ripstop and changed the frame to a Ohashi style.

A little play with QR codes.

The first installment was made in May 2013, printed on Nylon Paper. The framing was a bit overdone.

This is the invitation that sparked it all:

 “…innovative use of materials used in the making of the kite“. As I had used bamboo and Nylon Paper, had glued instead of sewn and painted instead of appliqué I felt I at least had made something different.

I had not had the chance to test the arch at all at home, but the day before the competition in Dieppe there was wind enough to do that, and I made some small but very important addition to the frames.

At the competition day there was very little wind and the arch lay flat on ground. Just as I was explaining to the jury about the background and introducing my documentation of the Tug-of-War competition in Stockholm 2012 the wind picked up and the arch miraculously  self launched!

But alas! I had been interpreting the invitation wrong. It was a kite making competition, not a kite creation competition. The arch did not win any prize at all. Using bamboo and Nylon Paper instead of ripstop and carbon was obviously disqualifing, and with gluing the judges could not count stitches.  Instead a well made Dopero with appliqué got the first prize.

                                              Introducing the binder with the documentation of the Tug-of-War competition 100 years ago.

 

                                           Arch self launched in exactly the right moment

                                           British team pulling hard

                                           Ground display

Nearly the full both teams. The two red pentagon and single blue pentagon kites in the middle are the tapes required by the rules: “A coloured tape shall be affixed to the middle of the rope, with two other tapes of another colour fastened, one on each side, at a distance of 1.75 metres from each side of the central tape.“

Unfortunately the arch was ruined when it rained at the kite festival in Bintulu, just one month after the premier flight in Canada: the glue gave in to the rain and all parts drifted apart and the paint was scrubbed off in many places. I brought home the pieces to repair, but I could not bring myself to go through all that trouble again to repair the arch.

Then, as I had moved to Bali, I had found that printing on Nylon Paper worked fine and was fairly cheap. So instead of painting I Photoshopped all the figures, downsized them a bit and got them printed. But frame still in bamboo (with some fiber glass).

Video of new edition flying at the kite festival in Hsinchu, Taiwan,  September 2018 in pretty strong wind.

Having come this far in my research I felt I needed to verify that the idea of an arch of Tug-of-War really would work, so I had my son lying down on the floor on a piece of Nylon paper and draw the contour of him as he lay in two of the positions of the Swedish team below, cut out the profiles and attached frames.

In March that year, before I attended the kite festival in Cha Am, I spent a few days in Bali and made a successful test flight on Merta Sari Beach in Sanur: The arch would work!

Though I had collected pictures of Tug-of-War from Internet over the years they wouldn’t suit as models for the kites in an arch: I needed straight side views of the pullers.

Neither the pictures of the Swedish team nor the British team would do either because the were from half front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swedish team                                                         British team (during warming up)

What I learned from the above pictures was that both teams had black trousers and white long sleeved shirts with the country flag on the chest. In both teams some members were right handed and others were left handed.

I gathered I had to create my own models and summoned my friends in Sala Kite & Tango Party for a spring lunch and photo session. We had a great afternoon, but when I looked at the resulting pictures I realized I had not been well prepared and had made the shooting in an unorganized way.

                                            Picture courtesy Per Byström

Next photo session would be with my two brothers, Ragnar and Ingvar, both of them quite heavily built. I told them to wear black trousers and a white long sleeved T-shirt and I supplied small flags to attach on the chest. With the camera on a tripod and a suitable background I shot some hundred photos and selected a few that showed action and energy.

The 8 pictures plus one spare with action and energy of the Swedish team:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the selected pictures of my brothers as both Swedish and British teams I brought my laptop and projector down to the basement of my house and projected the images on the wall where I had hang Nylon Paper and drew the outlines and some important details.

Some of the figures were so big so they didn’t fit in the width of the material but had to be split up in two parts; usually the split coming in the waist.

I was certain I had enough material, but with five figures left I ran out of Nylon Paper: I had completely forgotten that I had given away some 15 meters to kite friends for testing.

This material, Nylon Paper, or in Chinese Si Bu Lan (撕 不 烂), is an artificial, very strong paper that I had only been able yo find in a certain shop in Beijing. I sent an urgent email to old friend Li Ruoxin, he immediately bought what I needed and sent it by courir so within a week I could continue that work.

While I was waiting for the missing material I cut out what I already had drawn and glued together the figures that had been split.

To make the shirts more white (the material is quite translucent) I glued an extra layer one each shirt.

 

My apartment was full of Tug-of-Warers-to-be hanging and drying everywhere

                                           In the bathroom

                                            In the kitchen

                                            In the living room

Painting the trousers was easy: all black, but painting the faces more difficult: I had to make all faces individually different from my brothers! Adding a mustache to 90 % was important.

Again my apartment was full of Tug-of-Warers-to-be hanging and drying everywhere.

                                           In the hallway

                                           In the bedroom

The Swedish team painted and resting in the sofa, awaiting to be framed

For spines I glued bamboo sticks together with skin side out, and to give even more strength I glue-wrapped strips of Nylon Paper around them like some Japanese do.

The British team framed.

The complete official report, 1117 pages, of The Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 was available on Internet. In this was included a whole chapter on the Tug of War competition as well as a chapter on the rules for the ToW competition.

Noteable was the name of the President for the Tug of War Committee: Captain Gösta Drake – The word ‘drake’ in Swedish has both the meaning ‘dragon’ as well as ‘kite’!

 

Here is an excerpt PDF with the Tug-of-War chapter, giving an account on the preparations, pictures of the teams and an exposition for the competition itself. The PDF will open in the same frame, so click the BACK button to come back. 21. Tug-of-war 1912

Here is an excerpt PDF on the new rules for Tug-of-War in Stockholm 1912 where the footwear was particularly addressed due to a controversy (see below) in the 1908 Olympic games: 21. ToW rules 1912

In the 1908 Olympic games in London three club teams from different police forces in Great Britain took all the three medals. The team represented by the Liverpool Police won the bronze medal against Sweden, with the City of London Police team getting gold and the Metropolitan Police winning the silver medal.

However there were complaints over the controversial heavy footwear worn by the Liverpool Police team.

Alan Knott, of the Tug of War Association, said: “It is reported that the Liverpool Police ‘were wearing enormous shoes, so heavy in fact that it was only with great effort that they could lift their feet from the ground’!

But the team from Liverpool insisted this was their regulation police footwear which presumably they would wear on the beat.

Despite of the rules banning “prepared boots or shoes with any protruding nails”, an American protest in the first round was overruled and the Liverpool Police team won the pull easily.

The US claimed using footwear which rendered them practically immobile could clearly be a help to the Liverpool squad.

Mr Knott said: “At the close of the competition, the Liverpool Police team offered to pull their American opponents in bare feet, but that offer was declined.”

 

In the early research I found a treasure: the complete report of the Olympic Games in Stockholm 1912. This report established that Sweden met Great Britain in the Tug-of-War final and Sweden defeated Great Britain 2 – 0.

Further research on Internet gave remarkably enough also a short  movie sequence of the the actual match between Sweden and Great Britain: Great Britain vs Sweden.

Since all the athletes in the British team were policemen from City of London Police and Metropolitan Police I sent emails to these and asked if they had any documentation or photographies. City of London Police sent a nice reply with photo of the team and old letter that gave an account for the adventures of the British Tug-of-War team, see below.

I also sent similar emails to some Swedish associations, like Sweden’s Central Association for the Promotion of Sport and Swedish Tug of War Federation, but they had no documentation (although SCAPS since than has published their archives). The project Arena Stockholm 1912-2012, who had put up a video on the upcoming centennial, were reluctant to give any help.

The British team. Letter and picture courtesy of City of London Police

The Swedish team.

 

Poster for the Tug-of-War competition Monday July 8: Dragkamp Sverige-Storbritannien

Stockholm 1912 at Dieppe 2012

Stockholm 1912 is by far my most well researched kite ever.

When I got the invitation to the 2012 kite festival in Dieppe, Brunswick, Canada, in November 2011 and I learned that the theme for the competition was simply “The Olympics” two thoughts flashed in parallel through my brain:

  • A) Wasn’t Tug-of-War an Olympic game in the early Olympics?
  • B) Hadn’t I already made a rough sketch of a Tug-of-War arch?

A: Sure enough: Tug-of-War was an olympic game from the games in Paris 1900 until the games in Antwerp 1920.

B: The Swedish word for Tug-of-War is Dragkamp, which sounds very similar to the word Drak-kamp (meaning ‘kite combat’), and with this play with words in mind I indeed had drawn a rough sketch on a glass door to a cabinet above my kite work bench.

Exactly 100 years earlier, 1912, the Olympic games were played in Stockholm. Already in 2012 there was a lot of information about the Stockholm Olympic games on Internet, and lo and behold: Sweden took part in the Tug-of-War game.

Sweden meeting Great Britain in the Olympic Games 1912

There even is a short video from that Tug-of-War game: Tug-of-War Stockholm 1912. The video will open in a new tab. Turn down the sound!

As for B): a rough sketch of a Tug-of-War arch:

#2 on the list of kite ideas drawn on the glass door of a cabinet over my work bench: Arch: dragkamp

(The rest of the list is still not done)

A couple of years later, in 2012, I thought I could make the PentAgon a single line kite. A skewer bent in 150° fixed that, replacing the cross line. Single point line connection in the bend was enough, but tails were required.

It turned out to be a nice little kite for workshops with kids!

 

The Pentagon shape invites a Pentagram, i.e. a star, to be inscribed.

The next arch was thus the Stars and Stripes. It was flewn only once in Bintulu where it was caught in the rain and the glued bamboo skewers fell off and the blue acrylic painted started to smear once the arch had fell to the ground

That year Hanoi was celebrating its 1000 anniversary and I was invited to a kite festival for the celebration.  I was playing with the idea to make a cube of 10 x 10 x 10  pentagon kites but scrapped the idea quickly. Instead I suggested to the organizer to have schools making arches with 100 kites of paper and bamboo, and then the 10 schools will fly 1000 kites and people could walk through the arches!

The schools didn’t do that, but instead made other arches; one with a nifty variation on the PentAgon that had integral tails!

 

In Springtime 2010 I was doodling away, trying to find an alternative to the omnipresent diamond arch and where skewer sticks could be used.

I found that a simple pentagon would do fine, and it wouldn’t need tail to fly reasonably steady.

That Summer countries competed on organizing World cup in Soccer 2020, and Qatar was one of the contestants. On their bid they had pentagons flying in mild colours, so I painted the arch in these colours.

WannaBees are flown as a swarm on a forked line.

When flying WannaBees you have to be sure you have enough airspace around you. Half the job at flying is to prevent other kite lines walking into that airspace.

The WannaBees can be flown in set of five, but many sets can be added on. At most I have been flying 20 Bees on the same line.

                                    Ten WannaBees under a bee hive. Sometimes I use the bee hive when the wind speed is very shifting

In 2012 I made some adjustments to the design: The sting at the bottom was changed to be more pointed and the wings were changed to be made of one piece of sail instead of two. Furthermore the four-point bridle was changed to a three-point bridle.

To get the right shape of the new wing I used porridge rice that had passed it’s expiry date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nest Lernout testing a new bee at Draknästet, Bali

Nest Lernout tells the story about his Bee Nest:

A long time ago, back in 1986 we met a French kiteflier called Philippe Raoulx at a kite festival in Antwerp (Belgium). He had a tiny little paper Fly with him that flew the whole weekend. He told me that he found the plan in a Chinese book: he was studying Chinese at the Sorbonne.

He had not booked any hotel so we offered him to stay that weekend in our home. At the end of the weekend he gave his tiny Fly to our children. Big surprise! But… The delicate Fly, made of paper and bamboo, didn’t survive a long time in the hands of our kids. So papa had to replace it.

Well, easily said but not easily done. I struggled a long time but at the end it was successful!

The new Fly flew well. But then the popularity of this little Fly and again ‘the help’ of our kids obliged me to make a whole series of these kites.

And so came also the idea to fly these kites as a group.

First one, then two, three, and so on. And much to my surprise it worked!

The funny thing is that one little kite flies stable, until you move it to the train. The new one seems to make the others nervous and they all have to find a new balance. One day on the beach a young girl watched it and said: “it looks like a bees nest’. And so the thing had a name.

I tried to fly this train in the festival of Dieppe in 1988. Much to my surprise it won an award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bee Nest at Sanur IKF 2019

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Nest Lernout tells the story about his Bee Nest:

A long time ago, back in 1986 we met a French kiteflier called Philippe Raoulx at a kite festival in Antwerp (Belgium). He had a tiny little paper Fly with him that flew the whole weekend. He told me that he found the plan in a Chinese book: he was studying Chinese at the Sorbonne.

He had not booked any hotel so we offered him to stay that weekend in our home. At the end of the weekend he gave his tiny Fly to our children. Big surprise! But… The delicate Fly, made of paper and bamboo, didn’t survive a long time in the hands of our kids. So papa had to replace it.

Well, easily said but not easily done. I struggled a long time but at the end it was successful!

The new Fly flew well. But then the popularity of this little Fly and again ‘the help’ of our kids obliged me to make a whole series of these kites.

And so came also the idea to fly these kites as a group.

First one, then two, three, and so on. And much to my surprise it worked!

The funny thing is that one little kite flies stable, until you move it to the train. The new one seems to make the others nervous and they all have to find a new balance. One day on the beach a young girl watched it and said: “it looks like a bees nest’. And so the thing had a name.

I tried to fly this train in the festival of Dieppe in 1988. Much to my surprise it won an award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bee Nest at Sanur IKF 2019

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nest Lernout testing a new bee at Draknästet, Bali

Nest Lernout tells the story about his Bee Nest:

A long time ago, back in 1986 we met a French kiteflier called Philippe Raoulx at a kite festival in Antwerp (Belgium). He had a tiny little paper Fly with him that flew the whole weekend. He told me that he found the plan in a Chinese book: he was studying Chinese at the Sorbonne.

He had not booked any hotel so we offered him to stay that weekend in our home. At the end of the weekend he gave his tiny Fly to our children. Big surprise! But… The delicate Fly, made of paper and bamboo, didn’t survive a long time in the hands of our kids. So papa had to replace it.

Well, easily said but not easily done. I struggled a long time but at the end it was successful!

The new Fly flew well. But then the popularity of this little Fly and again ‘the help’ of our kids obliged me to make a whole series of these kites.

And so came also the idea to fly these kites as a group.

First one, then two, three, and so on. And much to my surprise it worked!

The funny thing is that one little kite flies stable, until you move it to the train. The new one seems to make the others nervous and they all have to find a new balance. One day on the beach a young girl watched it and said: “it looks like a bees nest’. And so the thing had a name.

I tried to fly this train in the festival of Dieppe in 1988. Much to my surprise it won an award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bee Nest at Sanur IKF 2019

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

In 2012 I made some adjustments to the design: The sting at the bottom was changed to be more pointed and the wings were changed to be made of one piece of sail instead of two. Furthermore the four-point bridle was changed to a three-point bridle.

To get the right shape of the new wing I used porridge rice that had passed it’s expiry date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nest Lernout testing a new bee at Draknästet, Bali

Nest Lernout tells the story about his Bee Nest:

A long time ago, back in 1986 we met a French kiteflier called Philippe Raoulx at a kite festival in Antwerp (Belgium). He had a tiny little paper Fly with him that flew the whole weekend. He told me that he found the plan in a Chinese book: he was studying Chinese at the Sorbonne.

He had not booked any hotel so we offered him to stay that weekend in our home. At the end of the weekend he gave his tiny Fly to our children. Big surprise! But… The delicate Fly, made of paper and bamboo, didn’t survive a long time in the hands of our kids. So papa had to replace it.

Well, easily said but not easily done. I struggled a long time but at the end it was successful!

The new Fly flew well. But then the popularity of this little Fly and again ‘the help’ of our kids obliged me to make a whole series of these kites.

And so came also the idea to fly these kites as a group.

First one, then two, three, and so on. And much to my surprise it worked!

The funny thing is that one little kite flies stable, until you move it to the train. The new one seems to make the others nervous and they all have to find a new balance. One day on the beach a young girl watched it and said: “it looks like a bees nest’. And so the thing had a name.

I tried to fly this train in the festival of Dieppe in 1988. Much to my surprise it won an award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bee Nest at Sanur IKF 2019

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

In 2012 I made some adjustments to the design: The sting at the bottom was changed to be more pointed and the wings were changed to be made of one piece of sail instead of two. Furthermore the four-point bridle was changed to a three-point bridle.

To get the right shape of the new wing I used porridge rice that had passed it’s expiry date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nest Lernout testing a new bee at Draknästet, Bali

Nest Lernout tells the story about his Bee Nest:

A long time ago, back in 1986 we met a French kiteflier called Philippe Raoulx at a kite festival in Antwerp (Belgium). He had a tiny little paper Fly with him that flew the whole weekend. He told me that he found the plan in a Chinese book: he was studying Chinese at the Sorbonne.

He had not booked any hotel so we offered him to stay that weekend in our home. At the end of the weekend he gave his tiny Fly to our children. Big surprise! But… The delicate Fly, made of paper and bamboo, didn’t survive a long time in the hands of our kids. So papa had to replace it.

Well, easily said but not easily done. I struggled a long time but at the end it was successful!

The new Fly flew well. But then the popularity of this little Fly and again ‘the help’ of our kids obliged me to make a whole series of these kites.

And so came also the idea to fly these kites as a group.

First one, then two, three, and so on. And much to my surprise it worked!

The funny thing is that one little kite flies stable, until you move it to the train. The new one seems to make the others nervous and they all have to find a new balance. One day on the beach a young girl watched it and said: “it looks like a bees nest’. And so the thing had a name.

I tried to fly this train in the festival of Dieppe in 1988. Much to my surprise it won an award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bee Nest at Sanur IKF 2019

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

WannaBees are flown as a swarm on a forked line.

When flying WannaBees you have to be sure you have enough airspace around you. Half the job at flying is to prevent other kite lines walking into that airspace.

The WannaBees can be flown in set of five, but many sets can be added on. At most I have been flying 20 Bees on the same line.

                                    Ten WannaBees under a bee hive. Sometimes I use the bee hive when the wind speed is very shifting

In 2012 I made some adjustments to the design: The sting at the bottom was changed to be more pointed and the wings were changed to be made of one piece of sail instead of two. Furthermore the four-point bridle was changed to a three-point bridle.

To get the right shape of the new wing I used porridge rice that had passed it’s expiry date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nest Lernout testing a new bee at Draknästet, Bali

Nest Lernout tells the story about his Bee Nest:

A long time ago, back in 1986 we met a French kiteflier called Philippe Raoulx at a kite festival in Antwerp (Belgium). He had a tiny little paper Fly with him that flew the whole weekend. He told me that he found the plan in a Chinese book: he was studying Chinese at the Sorbonne.

He had not booked any hotel so we offered him to stay that weekend in our home. At the end of the weekend he gave his tiny Fly to our children. Big surprise! But… The delicate Fly, made of paper and bamboo, didn’t survive a long time in the hands of our kids. So papa had to replace it.

Well, easily said but not easily done. I struggled a long time but at the end it was successful!

The new Fly flew well. But then the popularity of this little Fly and again ‘the help’ of our kids obliged me to make a whole series of these kites.

And so came also the idea to fly these kites as a group.

First one, then two, three, and so on. And much to my surprise it worked!

The funny thing is that one little kite flies stable, until you move it to the train. The new one seems to make the others nervous and they all have to find a new balance. One day on the beach a young girl watched it and said: “it looks like a bees nest’. And so the thing had a name.

I tried to fly this train in the festival of Dieppe in 1988. Much to my surprise it won an award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bee Nest at Sanur IKF 2019

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

In Springtime 2010 I was doodling away, trying to find an alternative to the omnipresent diamond arch and where skewer sticks could be used.

I found that a simple pentagon would do fine, and it wouldn’t need tail to fly reasonably steady.

That Summer countries competed on organizing World cup in Soccer 2020, and Qatar was one of the contestants. On their bid they had pentagons flying in mild colours, so I painted the arch in these colours.

WannaBees are flown as a swarm on a forked line.

When flying WannaBees you have to be sure you have enough airspace around you. Half the job at flying is to prevent other kite lines walking into that airspace.

The WannaBees can be flown in set of five, but many sets can be added on. At most I have been flying 20 Bees on the same line.

                                    Ten WannaBees under a bee hive. Sometimes I use the bee hive when the wind speed is very shifting

In 2012 I made some adjustments to the design: The sting at the bottom was changed to be more pointed and the wings were changed to be made of one piece of sail instead of two. Furthermore the four-point bridle was changed to a three-point bridle.

To get the right shape of the new wing I used porridge rice that had passed it’s expiry date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nest Lernout testing a new bee at Draknästet, Bali

Nest Lernout tells the story about his Bee Nest:

A long time ago, back in 1986 we met a French kiteflier called Philippe Raoulx at a kite festival in Antwerp (Belgium). He had a tiny little paper Fly with him that flew the whole weekend. He told me that he found the plan in a Chinese book: he was studying Chinese at the Sorbonne.

He had not booked any hotel so we offered him to stay that weekend in our home. At the end of the weekend he gave his tiny Fly to our children. Big surprise! But… The delicate Fly, made of paper and bamboo, didn’t survive a long time in the hands of our kids. So papa had to replace it.

Well, easily said but not easily done. I struggled a long time but at the end it was successful!

The new Fly flew well. But then the popularity of this little Fly and again ‘the help’ of our kids obliged me to make a whole series of these kites.

And so came also the idea to fly these kites as a group.

First one, then two, three, and so on. And much to my surprise it worked!

The funny thing is that one little kite flies stable, until you move it to the train. The new one seems to make the others nervous and they all have to find a new balance. One day on the beach a young girl watched it and said: “it looks like a bees nest’. And so the thing had a name.

I tried to fly this train in the festival of Dieppe in 1988. Much to my surprise it won an award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bee Nest at Sanur IKF 2019

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.

   

Sticker: Kite bridling in progress    34 m  long corridor                      25 lines

Absolut Kite is inspired by the many brilliant ads that started with Andy Warhol’s painting in 1985 and was followed up by other artists recommended by Warhol. The ads are full of wit, artistry and imagination as they deftly communicate the brand’s values.

I asked the Absolut company for permission to make the kite already in 2002, got a reply that the request had been handed to the proper instance and then nothing happened. As there was no firm NO I decided to go on, but it still took a few years before I got around making it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

In Springtime 2010 I was doodling away, trying to find an alternative to the omnipresent diamond arch and where skewer sticks could be used.

I found that a simple pentagon would do fine, and it wouldn’t need tail to fly reasonably steady.

That Summer countries competed on organizing World cup in Soccer 2020, and Qatar was one of the contestants. On their bid they had pentagons flying in mild colours, so I painted the arch in these colours.

WannaBees are flown as a swarm on a forked line.

When flying WannaBees you have to be sure you have enough airspace around you. Half the job at flying is to prevent other kite lines walking into that airspace.

The WannaBees can be flown in set of five, but many sets can be added on. At most I have been flying 20 Bees on the same line.

                                    Ten WannaBees under a bee hive. Sometimes I use the bee hive when the wind speed is very shifting

In 2012 I made some adjustments to the design: The sting at the bottom was changed to be more pointed and the wings were changed to be made of one piece of sail instead of two. Furthermore the four-point bridle was changed to a three-point bridle.

To get the right shape of the new wing I used porridge rice that had passed it’s expiry date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nest Lernout testing a new bee at Draknästet, Bali

Nest Lernout tells the story about his Bee Nest:

A long time ago, back in 1986 we met a French kiteflier called Philippe Raoulx at a kite festival in Antwerp (Belgium). He had a tiny little paper Fly with him that flew the whole weekend. He told me that he found the plan in a Chinese book: he was studying Chinese at the Sorbonne.

He had not booked any hotel so we offered him to stay that weekend in our home. At the end of the weekend he gave his tiny Fly to our children. Big surprise! But… The delicate Fly, made of paper and bamboo, didn’t survive a long time in the hands of our kids. So papa had to replace it.

Well, easily said but not easily done. I struggled a long time but at the end it was successful!

The new Fly flew well. But then the popularity of this little Fly and again ‘the help’ of our kids obliged me to make a whole series of these kites.

And so came also the idea to fly these kites as a group.

First one, then two, three, and so on. And much to my surprise it worked!

The funny thing is that one little kite flies stable, until you move it to the train. The new one seems to make the others nervous and they all have to find a new balance. One day on the beach a young girl watched it and said: “it looks like a bees nest’. And so the thing had a name.

I tried to fly this train in the festival of Dieppe in 1988. Much to my surprise it won an award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bee Nest at Sanur IKF 2019

The WannaBees are inspired by Nest Lernout‘s Bee Nest (see next picture). I saw the Bee Nest already in Washington/Sunderland 1996 and liked them very much, but thought there was something fundamentally wrong with each bee: It had a pointed head and a round bottom whereas  a real bee has a round top and pointed bottom where the sting is.

I quickly made a design that I was quite proud of since it only needed two sticks, but then came the obstacle: I couldn’t make it! I figured I needed bamboo sticks in good quality but these I could not find. I tried sticks from window blind but they were not good enough. So I shelved the project.

It was not until I saw Phil McConnachie‘s ingenious EO kites in Pasir Gudang 2009 I realized I could probably use thin fibre glass instead of bamboo.

I soon found that a 200 cm piece of fibre glass was perfect for one bee: Cut into two parts; 120 cm for the wings and 80 for the body.

Later that winter I was lucky to get a business trip to Dubai and I brought the first set of 20 WannaBees there. Being winter in Sweden I had not made any test flight whatsoever, but I was convinced the kite would fly. And so it did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maiden flight of the WannaBees in Dubai 2009.

IKEA had rolls of an organza like material called Flyn, I think intended for curtains. I had the idea of using it as a workshop kite in Fold Black style, cutting each 60 cm roll in half.

Unfortunately the material was too porous so the kites never flew really well; it needed a lot of wind.

With plastic it probably would be a good workshop kite.

I think that the first ten people I showed this kite couldn’t see what is was.

And myself had big problems in getting it to fly stable: I tried a new frame/in-sail dihedral combination that obviously didn’t work. After giving up on that set-up, I reframed it and adjusted the sail to a Poster like solution.

If you have an eagle eye you will recognize the font used in the text Nokap is the same font used by Nikon, and that should give a hint what this kite is about.

KAP – Kite Aerial Photography.

 

I think a Nikon J1 stood as model but with a front flash instead of pop-up flash.

My original intention was to dispense Absolut Vodka from the kite and I have the gear ready, but it seems the kite doesn’t have much lifting power: with 1/2 liter of liquid in a ‘camel back’ on the backside it’s difficult to keep the kite in the air and have the hands free for dispensing.

So I have resorted to dispense Absolut on the kite festivals’ farewell dinners.

 

Pic. by Brigitte Brussieres           Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita      Pic. by Liu Zhiping

 

   

Pic. by Ashley Ware Lane               Pic. by Sumiko Yamashita           Pic. by Long Kwong

Picture courtesy of Riga

Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith, known as The King of Spirits. His portrait is on the medallion on the bottle and slightly modified on the kites.

 

   

For a kite to deserve the name Absolut the kite needs to have a complex bridle system, like Japanese kites.

The first installment of 25 bridle lines, each 34 m long was done in an empty corridor in the office during a weekend.  Unfortunately I had made a bad choice of bridle line: the line was a bit stiff, which I thought was good, but it turned out to be sticky so when the bridles had been daisy chained out for flying, the lines stuck together everywhere! Could not be sorted out!

I later changed line type and also made a black Absolut Kite with only a seven point bridle along the spine.