RE: P-40's and F4U Corsairs now at Costco

[brad kaste]

Hi All,
Well,....cabin fever is breaking loose in the Chicago area. And it kite's time! Last week while visiting Costco I spied this big bin of kits. Checking them through the usual assortment of dragons and birds type kites,...holy moly,...there are P-40 Warhawks and F4U Corsairs! I bought both. If you're a Costco member,..you know how quickly they remove stuff off the main floor. So I made the splurge of 13 dollars apiece for them. This is what you get: A 50" wingspan aircraft kite (too bad they didn't stock a Zero...heh heh) 170 ft of line wound already upon a 'Tri-Winder' and a built in wind gauge. The kites are of nylon fabric.
Assembly is pretty straight forward. Basically,...it's just sticking these various support rods through the aircraft to give it support and shape. Takes all of about 20 minutes to do.
I haven't taken up the Warhawk yet for it's maiden flight. No wind. However,...Chicago isn't called the Windy City for nothing. So it's just a matter of time. Jus' hope I don't have a Charlie Brown type kite...I know there's a lot of trees in the area that'd like to get their branches on it!
So if you're a Costco shopper,...and looking for a aircraft type kite,...look no further. But as mentioned above,..Costco has a nasty habit of removing things too soon.

[Tako_Kichi]

I used to be a kite designer, builder and flyer of some repute until illness forced me off the flying field. Have fun with your kites Brad but don't expect them to be high flyers. That style of kite only gets about 30-45 degrees of angle on the kite line before it runs out of lift.

Watch out for other flyers too as that line is probably nylon and it will cut through most other kite lines like a hot knife through butter! Nylon line is detested by most 'real' kite flyers as it has a much higher melting point than the Dacron or Spectra lines they use and if they get 'tangled' with a nylon line they will always lose and their very expensive kite is going to get lost or broken depending on the type.

[GT182]

That's cool Brad. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/GT182/Thumbup.gif

I can't fly a kite here at home... too close to the airport and they fly right over our house coming in for the turn on final to runway 1. Besides, I've got 2 rolls of 600" surveyors twine hooked to a para-sail kite I've had for 20 years. It would probably be reported as a UFO or scare the crap out of some pilot. I don't want to run afoul of the FAA.

And yes, it's still able to fly. :d

[brad kaste]

Tako- Thanks for the tips. I don't know anything about kite flying. Crashed my 'Man on the Moon' kite when I was about 7 years old. There isn't much in the way to really fly a kite safely in the Chicago metro area. Probably will have to drive out to the boonies somewhere with it and see what it does.
GT-I'm sure there's some place...(like in my situation) where you can drive out to and fly it. No worry about the FAA jumping on you for creating havoc near the tarmac.

[GT182]

Yeah, about half an hour away there's a good spot to fly a kite... if I don't get caught trespassing. ;) Actually there's not many places around.... and I haven't found any yet.

Now up in Northern NY where we lived, I could fly it in a field next to the house.... and fly it right over Canada when the wind was right. ;) :d