We just recieved this email from Marc Conklin of the Eastern League…

Hello all,

Just wanted to remind everyone that the registration for the 16th annual Old Dominion Sport Kite Championships (ODSKC 2008) ends at midnight, Tuesday, June 17. Any non-novice registrations postmarked after that date will not be accepted. You can register for ODSKC online at http://www.richmondairforce.com/ODSKC/registration.htm. It’s fast, it’s easy, do it!

ODSKC will occur on June 21-22, 2008 at Dorey Park in Richmond, VA. The ODSKC web site (link above) has information about hotels, compulsory figures, etc.

The next Eastern League event after ODSKC will be the New Jersey Sport Kite Championships on July 18-19 at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ. If you’ve never been to this event, or if you’ve never been to Liberty State Park, I HIGHLY recommend this event. Ro and Monica do a great job every year, the fields are nice, and the view is fantastic. Without a doubt, one of my favorite places to go fly a kite. Be there! The registration form for NJSKC 2008 is available on their web site, www.njskc.com, and we may be able to offer online registration for NJSKC through the EL web site very soon (like, hopefully starting tomorrow).

I recommend that you register early for NJSKC as they are offering a low flat fee rate of $45 for registrations received before July 1. If you fly in more than a couple of events, this can save you some nice cash!

Thanks,

Marc A. Conklin
Commissioner
Eastern League Sport Kite Association
804-347-6241
http://www.easternleague.net

I’ve seen this video before, but I thought I’d share this with you all. This is the famous Ray Bethell team-flying… with himself. No, this isn’t fancy computer work, he actually controls 1 kite on each hand, and controls the 3rd kite with his hips. Amazing stuff… enjoy.

I recently stumbled upon a Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) site by Scott Haefner… I’ve always been facinated by the KAP but have not been so facinated that I’d actually launch my camera onto a kite.

But Scott and hundreds of other KAP folk do it all the time, with cameras worth more than most kites. For that I have to give these guys credit.

Anyway, Scott has put together a great site with a gallery and (atleast to me) the most interesting is his equipment/gear list… He gives close-up pictures of his rig and all his equipment. This is invaluable to anyone that is thinking about getting involved in KAP.

Check out his site at : http://scotthaefner.com/kap/

Randy has been around the kite scene for quite awhile. I believe I first met him at the St. Augustine Sport Kite Championship back in 2005 (?). He’s a great flyer and has created a fairly extensive Sportkite Blog.  He’s even gone out and created a bunch of instructional videos, which are available on his site for free. 

I encourage everyone to stop by and take a look: Randyg’s Sportkite Blog 

After months of development, I’m proud to announce the launch of our new Kitestop.com online kiteshop. We have a ton of kites and accessories already online, and we have many more coming in. 

We have also launched a community message board that you can ask and get answers to all your important kite related questions.  

Stop by and take a look : http://www.kitestop.com

Mike Dallmer from the South Jersey Kite Flyers group sent out a link for the NASA Kite Site. 

According to the site:

 This site was prepared at NASA Glenn by the Learning Technologies Project (LTP) (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12) to provide background information on kites as teaching aids for math and science teachers.    

 Just to get you started quickly, check out the kite index to see a list of different lessons. 

As you might have noticed, I’ve moved the kite blog to its new home at www.kiteblogger.com. Please update your bookmarks accordingly. 

We just found out through the grapevine that Gary Engvall has been elected with 54% of the vote to be the next President of the American Kitefliers Association. Gary is a great guy, and is one of the most hard working kiteflyers I know.

It is our hope that the new President will take the steps needed to bring new blood and a new energy to the AKA. We are here to help in whatever capacity we can.

As a side note, our good buddy Terry C. (known as TeeCee around the internet) is now the Region 4 (South East) Regional Director… He brings a LOT of enthusiasm to the post, and is a major ParrotHead to boot. He is really dedicated to growing the sport and enjoyment of kiteflying to the region.

We would like to wish all the new officers good luck in the coming year.