Diagram of Box kite

Hargrave (seated) and Swain demonstrate the Hargrave box kite, November 1894. Note the drum-tight skin, a consequence of the unique tensioning system devised by Hargrave. A collapsed kite, rolled up for transport, lies on the ground.

A box kite is a high-performance kite, noted for developing relatively high lift. It was invented by the Australian Lawrence Hargrave in 1893^{[citation needed]}. Hargrave also linked several box kites together, creating sufficient lift for him to fly some 16 ft (4.9 m) off the ground. A winged variant of this kite is known as the Cody kite following its development by Samuel Cody as a platform for military observation during the Second Boer War. Military uses also involved a kite/radio transmitter combination issued to pilots during World War II for use in liferafts^[1]. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 691 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (900 × 781 pixel, file size: 346 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)(Charles Bayliss, 1894, Hargrave and Swain demonstrate how the man-lift was achieved) 1means the typographical arrangement and layout of a published work. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 691 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (900 × 781 pixel, file size: 346 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)(Charles Bayliss, 1894, Hargrave and Swain demonstrate how the man-lift was achieved) 1means the typographical arrangement and layout of a published work. ... Yokaichi Giant Kite Festival held on the fourth Sunday every May in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan Kite flying is the activity of flying tethered man-made objects in wind. ... The lift force, lifting force or simply lift is a mechanical force generated by a solid object moving through a fluid. ... Hargrave (seated) and Swain demonstrate the manlift kites (labelled A, B, D, & E), sling seat and spring balance in the parkland behind Stanwell Park beach, November 1894 Lawrence Hargrave (29 January 1850 – 6 July 1915) was an engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Samuel Franklin Cody (1867 - August 7, 1913) was an early pioneer of manned flight, most famous for his work on the large kites known as Cody War-Kites that were used in World War I as a smaller alternative to balloons for artillery spotting. ... Combatants British Empire Orange Free State South African Republic Commanders Sir Redvers Buller Lord Kitchener Lord Roberts Paul Kruger Louis Botha Koos de la Rey Martinus Steyn Christiaan de Wet Casualties 5000 - 6000 Battlefield casualties, 15,000 disease related. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

The typical design has four parallel struts. The ends and box are made rigid with diagonal arrangements of crossed struts. The ends are open. There are two sails, ribbons whose width is about 1/4 of the length of the box. The ribbons wrap around the ends of the box. In flight, one strut is the bottom, and the bridle is tied between the top and bottom of this strut. The dihedrals of the sails help stability.

Large box kites are constructed as cellular kites. Rather than one box, there are many, each with its own set of sails.

Most of the altitude records for kite flying are held by large box kites, with Dacron sails, flown with Spectra cable. Before Dacron, Spectra and Kevlar were available, high performance box kites used oiled silk, linen or hemp sails, and were flown with steel cable. Silk, linen and hemp were used because they could be spun finer than cotton and stretched relatively little when wet. Steel had the highest available strength for its weight. The term plastics covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic condensation or polymerization products that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or fibers. ... Dyneema or Spectra is a synthetic fiber based on ultra high molecular weight polyethylene which is 15 times stronger than steel and up to 40% stronger than Kevlar. ... Chemical structure of Kevlar. ... Silk dresses Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. ... Torn linen cloth, recovered from the Dead Sea Linen is a material made from the fibers of the flax plant. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ... Cotton ready for harvest. ...

Trivia

On Episode 3F08 of The Simpsons, "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming", Martin Prince incorrectly claims the box kite was originally developed as a means of drying wet string. Simpsons redirects here. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Martin Prince, Jr. ...

See also

• Kite or Lauren Weiss

References

• Hudson Shaw, W. and Ruhen, O. (1977) Lawrence Hargrave: Explorer, Inventor and Aviation Experimenter Sydney : Cassell Australia.
• Cellular kites at the Virtual Kite Zoo.

1. ^ The Gibson Girl Transmitter and Kite.