tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84687572009-10-30T18:16:55.703-04:00The Official Newsletter of the Niagara Windriders Kitefliers Association, Niagara Region, Ontario, CanadaJim Anes-Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279264188878841230noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-36103814067741076802009-10-30T17:09:00.014-04:002009-10-30T18:16:55.716-04:00

Well, the 2009 kiting season has come to an end for the Windriders. It was a season of very windy Sunday flies. October was no exception. The nominal wind speed was 25 kms with gusts up to 35 kms. The weather was spectacular though. It was bright a sunny and almost warm when the sun was not near a wispy cloud. The trees were very colourful and the kites in the sky complimented them with their

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-45856964841362869492009-09-29T06:31:00.019-04:002009-10-01T18:06:03.709-04:00

I arrived at Lakeview park at 12:00. The sky was dark, the winds were 15 to 20 kph and Peggy was already flying kites. A delta was staked and flying at about 200 feet, She another one in her hands. Fred and Donna arrived next and put up their canopy shelter. I took a picture right away, before the potential of it flying away.I assembled my cellular and tied it off on my trunk lid. I then put up

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-71197526291878350902009-08-31T10:40:00.005-04:002009-09-01T17:41:38.410-04:00

The weatherman has not been too kind to our club fly days. Sunday Aug 30 was no exception. The threat of rain was looming with big, dark rain clouds overhead when I arrived in Port Colborne just after 12:00. The wind was 15 to 20 kph which was great for flying just about any type of kite. Ted Shaw was busy setting up his home made "Bulldog" foil.Bob White arrived soon after and put up a delta,

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-41909092401603982932009-08-08T09:31:00.013-04:002009-08-08T14:12:04.849-04:00

Sunday Morning, 9:00 am....rain, lots of dark clouds and winds gusting to 30 km/hr. 20 minutes later, the rain stopped and kiters were arriving and unloading their kites. The sound system was ready to go, all we needed was sun.After 10:00, the clouds broke and we were treated to some sun and an impromptu, unrehearsed Revolution display. I think there were 8 or 9 at one point. The Wind Jammers and

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-39025583026466505512009-07-28T07:09:00.010-04:002009-07-28T17:25:07.571-04:00

As you all know, June's kite fly was a washout. It rained most of that weekend. Thunder and lightning made kite flying a hazard, unless of course you were trying to recreate Ben Franklin's lightning experiment.July's end of the month fly was also threatened by rains, but luckily they stayed well to the north of Port Colborne. Hamilton was the lucky recipient of 10 cm of torrential downpour that

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-43542935327238414872009-06-04T06:51:00.005-04:002009-06-04T07:15:52.198-04:00

May 31 was a bright sunny day. Unlike the April fly, there was wind, 25 kms per hour with gusts as high as 45! That didn't stop 20 members that came out to fly. We assembled the kites that we thought could withstand the wind. Bob got out his 30 ft long Wizard.It looks great up in the sky.Donna Taylor tried to scare the other kites out of the sky with a "Jaws" kite.I got out a small parafoil. My

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I woke up to an overcast, foggy, drizzly sky in Stoney Creek. It was about 8 degrees (46 for you south of the border), not a promising day for the first fun fly of 2009. After lunch I set off to Port Colborne with all my kites in the trunk and my winter jacket and gloves in the back seat. I was prepared for the worst case weather. As I headed south from St Catherines, the outside temperature on

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It started as a rainy cool Sunday, one of those days you really didn't feel like getting out of bed. Oh, but wait, there is a kite workshop and I need a new kite for the 2009 season. A Jimmy Pentagon Kite to be exact. That's what we set off to make in this year's start to the season. People arrived before the 10:00 starting time to set up their sewing machines, grab a coffee and a donut and to

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On November 22, Bob White arranged for a group limited to 20, to visit the hangar at the Russell Aviation Group Airfield. This hangar houses 4 vintage WWII airplanes as well as the replica of the famous "Silver Dart" originally built by the Aerial Experiment Association headed by Alexander Graham Bell 100 years ago. As most of you know, Dr Bell was also a kite enthusiast as well as the inventor

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Well, the October "Halloween Fun Fly" was canceled due to the forecast of rain and high winds. The day was bright, but overcast with the threat of rain coming at any time. The winds were very high and gusty. I checked the Fort Erie weather and they were reporting gusts to 50 km/hr. We did get a rain storm in the afternoon in Stoney Creek, but we also had sunshine for part of it. Oh well, maybe

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September's monthly fly turned out to be a very cloudy, gray day. Despite that, there were about 25 brave kiters that came out to try to get kites in the air. The wind was from the north at 6 to 8 kph which meant the wind was off the trees at the north end of the field. much the same as the beginning of Canal Days. Unlike Canal Days, the wind didn't shift. There was even a time when I felt a

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How do you follow the great success of Canal Days?...the August fun Fly with a great turnout, great weather and nice steady winds! August 31st turned out to be a perfect flying day. There were about 30 or so members that came out to fly in moderate steady winds. There were about 10 kites up when I arrived. Deltas, Roks and sleds were gracing the beautiful blue sky. The strings were hanging low

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-53200420668626729112008-08-04T12:12:00.021-04:002008-08-21T07:08:55.620-04:00

The 16th annual Canal Days 2008 was a HUGE success! We had great weather, it was sunny, HOT, and there was wind, well sort of. At the start of the day, the winds were coming from the north. That meant that is was very fussy, coming through the trees that are in the car show section of the park. None the less, there was wind. As things were gearing up, kiters arrived from all over. There were

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Sunday July 27th was a very bright, sunny and very windy day. The wind were steady @25 kms but there were gusts as high as 40 kms. About 20 kiters were in attendance, and flew mostly para foils. You can't break spars if there aren't any!There was a short meeting to finalize the details of the big event, Canal Days!The most exciting part of the day was a daring kite rescue. Russell was getting

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Our May monthly kite fly turned out to be a gorgeous 20C sunny day with wind speeds of 10 to 14kms per hour. This was good enough for the 20 or so kiters to come out and enjoy the first signs of summer! I arrived at 1:00pm and there were several kites flying proudly in the blue sky (not a cloud in sight). I quickly assembled Pink Floyd and soon he was dancing with his friends.As I started to put

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Well, mother nature co-operated for the first fly of the 2008 season. The sun was out and the breeze was from the south west at 8-12 kms/hr. About 20 enthusiastic kiters came out to start the year of flying.Tyrone tried out some newly acquired kites, one a $12, 2 line stunt kite from Walmart. He also had a try with a Revolution 4 line kite, and did well considering it was his first time. I gave

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After 5 long months of winter that looked like it would never end, the 2008 kiting season opened with our annual kite making workshop. 24 eager kiters from 5 different clubs attended this year. Kiters mingled and caught up with the latest news while we had some coffee and donuts to help us through the morning. Bob White started things off with a very short "annual" meeting that saw no changes in

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About 20 kiters, some strange, some normal came out to our annual October Halloween Fly. It was a crisp fall day that delivered all types of weather. It was definitely a winter coat and gloves day. Yes, we had wind, but it was from the northwest at the start and then shifted to coming from the north. This meant that we had finicky swirly winds. We also saw some sun and some rain. Luckily there

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Our regular September Sunday fly was overtaken by the Niagara International Kite Festival. This 4 day event attracted hundreds of spectators and some very notable international kite makers/fliers. Thursday and Friday events were held at Terrapin Point on Goat Island on the US side of the Falls. Both days were dedicated to try to fly a kite across the river. Thursday the winds were very light and

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-64196033375733232902007-08-27T17:10:00.000-04:002007-08-27T17:47:56.160-04:00

The title says it all, 23 degrees, 15Km winds off the lake, beautiful sunny skies and about 25 kiters all flying kites at Lakeview Park. We could have used this wind for Canal Days! Various kites of may colours flew all afternoon with young and young at heart enjoying a fine summer day. At the beginning there seemed to be some national pride being displayed as Vaino's Canada Flag Sutton was

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-9431812665883595482007-08-12T08:34:00.000-04:002007-08-19T13:27:37.372-04:00

Canal Days Night Fly Canal Days 2007 was a great success! In the morning we had sunny skies and steady winds @9km from the East. Kiters gathered during the morning and a few finishing preparations were performed prior to 10:00 AM. There were some single line kites up when I arrived. I put up my Butterfly Kite, but gave it a short leash in order for some of the bigger kites to have some room.

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-85219438296649595212007-07-30T11:26:00.000-04:002007-08-06T06:42:00.293-04:00

Sunday July 29 was sunny, not too hot and winds from the north east. There were about 25 kiters for most of the day. The wind was finicky as it always is when it is coming in from this direction. The kites had to be real high to get the steady consistent wind. Near the ground the winds were from 9 to 16 Kph, and on occasion non-existent.As you can see by the pictures, there were various

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-23242953586734674692007-07-01T08:11:00.000-04:002007-07-03T06:52:58.451-04:00

For our June club fly, we were asked to participate in the Subway Beach Festival on Nickel Beach. It was a warm, sunny day and 43 kiters put on a spectacular show for the festival. Kiters cars lined the beach, and colourful kites were filling the sky.There was a sandcastle competition and live entertainment for the kids. Bob White had kite kits for anyone who wanted to build there own kite.

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-8302338947139275532007-06-02T07:12:00.000-04:002007-06-02T07:48:20.520-04:00

It was another day with good winds off the lake, but overcast and a raindrop or two. 10 fliers came out to brave the 16kph winds and get a kite or 2 in the air. Although the winds were off the lake like last month, the temperature was warmer. We only needed a sweater or wind breaker to keep comfortable.Bob Luft (I hope I spelled that correct) was testing out some of his creations. Every time I

Newsletter Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06471528890596883709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8468757.post-84704064332362449362007-05-06T07:07:00.000-04:002007-05-06T08:48:57.173-04:00

For the days leading into the weekend, the weather forecast couldn't have been any better! Sunny, no chance of rain and highs of 24C. Well, that was if you were in town, Lakeside Park was a different story. Yes we had sunshine, there was no rain, but because of the 15 km winds coming off the lake, the temperature was 13C with a windchill making it feel like 8C.For all our US friends that made it

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