A kite is a tethered aircraft. The necessary lift that makes the kite wing fly is generated when air flows over and under the kite's wing, producing low pressure above the wing and high pressure below it. This deflection also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind. The resultant force vector from the lift and drag force components is opposed by the tension of the one or more lines or tethers. The anchor point of the kite line may be static or moving (e.g., the towing of a kite by a running person, boat, free-falling anchors as in paragliders and fugitive parakites or vehicle).
The same principles can be used in water and experiments have also been made with lighter-than-air kites (kytoons)
Kites may be flown for recreation, art or other practical uses. Sport kites can be flown in aerial ballet, sometimes as part of a competition. Power kites are multi-line steerable kites designed to generate large forces which can be used to power activities such as kite surfing, kite landboarding, kite fishing, kite buggying and a new trend snow kiting. Kites towed behind boats can lift passengers which has had useful military applications in the past.
Read more about Kite: History, Materials, Cultural Uses, Popular Culture, General Safety Issues, Designs, Types, Line Materials, Record
Famous quotes containing the word kite:
“A saint about to fall,
The stained flats of heaven hit and razed
To the kissed kite hems of his shawl....”
—Dylan Thomas (19141953)
“What is to be done with people who cant read a Sunday paper without messing it all up?... Show me a Sunday paper which has been left in a condition fit only for kite flying, and I will show you an antisocial and dangerous character who has left it that way.”
—Robert Benchley (18891945)