Few things are more fun than kite flying. It's a great thing to do with your kids as it not only gives you time out in the fresh air, but also gives you plenty of time to be close, to talk and share the experience.

The actual flying of the kite, once it's up there, is fairly peaceful. Unless you've got those "fighting kites" that swoop and dip treacherously close to the ground, you really don't have a lot to do except enjoy your mastery of the air.

Getting the kite up is another matter, and some care should be taken with the selection of the kite, especially if your children are very young. There are many different kites to choose from and recent innovations in design and materials have resulted in a bewildering array for every level of expertise.

We acquired an excellent kite from a toy-shop after consulting with the shop-keeper. This knowledgeable woman sized up our son (who was four years old at the time) and suggested a very simple design that would fly in even low winds. It is made of durable rip-stop nylon and has a number of long tails that flap agreeably. It launches quickly and its large tail makes it extremely stable; we've yet to crash it.

However, I couldn't find it when perfect kite-flying weather showed itself the other day. Rooting around the toy-cupboard, I found two other kites, both still in their packages. I stuffed them in the back of the stroller and headed for the park.

The first kite we tried was a self-unfolding nylon stunt kite that had been purchased for my son as a gift, but this would be the first time we tried it. After sorting out the rigging harness (which had come undone during unwrapping) we set out to launch. Perhaps I had not got the harness done back up correctly. The kite shuddered, inverted and crashed time after time. Frustration was rising and I feared that the day might be a write-off.

I decided to give my back-up kite a try: a two-dollar plastic parafoil that showed up during my son's last birthday party. I didn't think the flimsy, frameless flier would work, but to my considerable surprise it practically launched itself from the package! In the stiff breeze it rose steadily, even when one "wing" became tangled by a gust. I was amazed and frankly relieved. Disaster was averted and we had a wonderful time.

So, I guess the lesson we learned that day was to always have a back-up, or at least test out your equipment before hauling your family off to the fields. And as always, remember when flying kites:

Bill Mitchell is a father, actor, writer and comedian from BC. He'd like to do more fishing, canoeing, white-water rafting, hot-air ballooning and mountain biking, and probably will, once his youngest kids get a little bigger. You can find him on the web at www.blixner.com

 

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