American Kitefliers Association

🪁 Two free kite events this Saturday (May 30) - find one near you.

"Wind"field Day — Winfield, Indiana
Randolph Street Park, 10am–1pm. Kite flying, food trucks, and a touch-a-truck event hosted by the Town of Winfield. Great for families.

May-Fly: Celebration of the Wind — Friday Harbor, Washington
Jackson's Beach on San Juan Island, 11am–4pm. Live music, kitemaking workshops, and new, vintage, and handbuilt kites to fly and buy.

Both events are free and open to everyone.

More kite events happening across the country all season long 👉

Event Calendar | AKA American Kitefliers Association There are a great variety of kite festivals, fun flies, and kitemaking workshops for all ages. All worldwide kite-related events are welcome.

🪁 The people behind the AKA are on YouTube — come meet them.

Our channel at https://youtube.com/ is where you'll find interviews with the AKA community, kitemaking tutorials from the Drachen Foundation, coverage from festivals across the country, and more of the content we love to share.

Kiting has always been about community. Subscribe and see the faces and hands that keep it alive.

American Kitefliers Association The AKA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing kiting with the world. The overall purpose of the Association is to educate the public in the art, history, technology, and practice of building and flying kites; to advance kiting, its joys and its values, in all nations.

𝗔𝗞𝗔 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗧𝗮𝘅𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗞𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀

Back in the earliest days of KiteLines magazine, a surprisingly deep debate began unfolding across its pages. It was not about festivals, competitions, or even kite plans. The discussion was about something much more fundamental:

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀?

The conversation began in Spring 1977, in Volume 1, Issue 1 of KiteLines, when 𝗪𝘆𝗮𝘁𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁 (remember him?) published an article titled “𝗞𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗿?”

Brummitt — one of the foundational voices of early American kiting and a 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗞𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 in Ocean City — explored the growing difficulty of organizing modern kite designs into neat categories.

At first, the problem seemed simple enough: flat kites, bowed kites, box kites, sleds, parafoils, parawings, and deltas. But almost immediately the boundaries began to blur. Was a bowed kite simply a modified flat kite? Did a parafoil behave more like a wing? Were delta boxes and deltas separate categories? What happens when designs combine characteristics from multiple forms?

Brummitt realized something important very early: kite design was evolving faster than the language being used to describe it.

Then, one year later, the discussion exploded further.

In Volume 2, Issue 1 of KiteLines (1978), 𝗚𝘂𝘆 𝗔𝘆𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁 — known to many of us today from the legendary Piney Mountain Air Force Data Letters — published a spirited and often humorous rebuttal titled “𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁’𝘀 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗸𝗲𝗱.” Aydlett challenged Brummitt’s classifications, poked holes in the logic, defended rotor kites, referenced Bernoulli, autogyros, rotating blades, and fluid mechanics, and essentially argued that kite categories were becoming far too tangled and contradictory to fit neatly into rigid definitions.

And then something remarkable happened.

Immediately following Aydlett’s rebuttal, on the very next page, Valerie Govig published an ambitious article by English kitebuilder and designer 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 titled: “𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝘅𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗞𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀.”

At first glance, Spendlove’s article looks almost intimidating — diagrams, structural trees, cellular forms, fins, vanes, wings, compound extensions, layered classifications. But underneath all of that was a fascinating question:

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲?

Spendlove believed kite terminology had become inconsistent and often confusing. Some kite names described shape, others described structure, others described flight behavior — and many overlapped depending on who was using them. So he attempted to create a true classification system for kites based on their physical and aerodynamic characteristics.

His taxonomy examined questions such as whether a kite was stable on its own or required stabilization, whether it was framed or frameless, single-surface or cellular, and whether it relied on fins, tails, vanes, wings, or airfoils. As the article progresses, the classifications become increasingly detailed, especially when Spendlove explores cellular and compound kites. The diagrams begin to resemble evolutionary trees of kite design itself.

And that may be the most fascinating part of this entire historical thread.

What these early kite thinkers were really wrestling with was not simply:
“What is this kite called?”

But:
“How are all kites related?”

Reading these articles nearly fifty years later feels remarkably modern because kitebuilders today still blur categories, hybridize ideas, borrow structures, and invent forms that resist rigid classification. Maybe that is why no system ever fully succeeds — creativity constantly reshapes the boundaries.

But perhaps the most remarkable part of all of this is that KiteLines preserved the conversation itself.

Not just the kites, but the theories, disagreements, experiments, personalities, and evolving ideas behind them. Without Valerie Govig and the pages of KiteLines, contributors like Wyatt Brummitt, Guy Aydlett, and John Spendlove — and the fascinating debates they sparked — might have slowly faded from kite history altogether.

And interestingly… the Spendlove story does not end here.

A few years later, KiteLines would again feature Spendlove — this time not as a theorist of classification, but as the designer of a remarkable cellular kite known as the Tetracaideca, or “41-D Box Kite.” Many kitebuilders may recognize that name immediately.

Decades later, the Tetracaideca would become a popular and much-discussed design on Kitebuilder.org, where builders continue exploring the same geometric cellular ideas and structural experimentation that Spendlove was wrestling with back in the late 1970s.

In some ways, the conversation never really ended.

It simply moved forward into the next generation of kitebuilders.

-sf

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Further Reading / References:

• KiteLines Vol. 1 No. 1 (Spring 1977)
Wyatt Brummitt — “Kite Categories: Can We Divide and Conquer?”

• KiteLines Vol. 2 No. 1 (1978)
Guy Aydlett — “Brummitt’s Blasphemies Rebuked”

• KiteLines Vol. 2 No. 1 (1978)
John Spendlove — “Towards a Taxonomy of Kites”

• KiteLines Vol. 3 No. 3
John Spendlove — Tetracaideca / “41-D Box Kite”

• The Penguin Book of Kites — David Pelham

• Piney Mountain Air Force Data Letters — Guy Aydlett

• Kitebuilder.org forum discussions on the Tetracaideca and advanced cellular kite construction: https://www.kitebuilder.org/searches?query=Tetracaideca

Ive included copies of the original KiteLines articles in the comments below (and for those interested, the reconstructed transcript of Spendlove’s “Towards a Taxonomy of Kites” article).

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Love Kites? Fly with AKA. Share the Joy.
American Kitefliers Association
𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲... 𝗔𝗞𝗔!

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The Wildwoods International Kite Festival kicks off TODAY (Friday, May 22) at noon on the beach at Rio Grande Ave. Four days. Massive inflatable kites. Illuminated night flies. A World Indoor Kite Exhibition. Silent and loud auctions. Team flying. Family games. And a Friday Night Social hosted by the South Jersey Kite Flyers to get things started right.

Whether you're 6 or 60, a kite nerd or just kite-curious, there's something here that'll stop you in your tracks. The festival runs through Monday inside the Wildwoods Convention Center. Don't miss the 9:00 p.m. Illuminated Night Kite Fly tonight. 🌙✨

📍 Rio Grande Ave., Wildwood, NJ
🗓️ May 22–26, 2026

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘀.

It happens quietly.

In hospitals.
In classrooms.
In community centers.

In moments when a child who may be struggling, isolated, frightened, or simply forgotten is handed a kite and invited to create something joyful.

The American Kitefliers Association is proud to support two very special outreach programs that continue this spirit of kindness and generosity through the simple magic of kites.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗬𝗼𝘂, 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲” 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺, 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗵.

Many in the kite world remember Charlie not only for his famous miniature kites, but for his incredible generosity. Charlie believed in giving kites away, not selling them. He shared them freely around the world simply because he loved the happiness they created.

Continuing in Charlie’s spirit, the AKA’s “Thank You, Charlie” Program provides free kite kits to nonprofit organizations that work with children — creating opportunities for kids to build, decorate, and fly a kite who may not otherwise have the chance.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺, “𝗞𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗞𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿,” 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗿𝗮𝘀, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Rich believed deeply that kites could lift spirits and bring moments of peace, even during life’s hardest battles. After Rich lost his own battle with cancer in 2017, his family and the kite community came together to help continue that mission.

Today, the program provides free kite kits to children with cancer and to facilities that specialize in childhood cancer treatment. Some kits are designed for children who can run and fly outdoors. Others can be flown from a seated position using flying wands — ensuring that every child, regardless of physical limitations, can experience the joy of flight.

And maybe that’s the real beauty of kiting.

A kite doesn’t ask who you are.
It doesn’t care how old you are.
It doesn’t care what you’re going through.

For a few moments, it simply lifts your eyes upward.

These programs are supported through donations from kite clubs, individual fliers, and members of the kite community who believe in sharing that experience with others.

Because sometimes the smallest kite can carry the biggest message.

Love Kites?
Help Share the Joy.
American Kitefliers Association

𝗧𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁:

https://www.kite.org/about-aka/special-programs/

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𝗔𝗞𝗔 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗪𝘆𝗮𝘁𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁
A Voice From the Beginning

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘺 𝘐𝘴 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘌𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘴"

While revisiting early issues of KiteLines magazine recently, I stumbled upon something remarkable tucked away on Page 24 of Volume 2, Number 3: The full text of a speech delivered by Wyatt Brummitt at the very first American Kitefliers Association convention in Ocean City in 1978.

And after reading it, it became immediately clear why Valerie Govig chose to preserve it in print.

This was more than just a speech. It was a statement about what the early American kite community hoped AKA could become.

Today, many newer kitefliers may not recognize the name Wyatt Brummitt. But during the formative years of modern American kiting, his name appeared alongside many of the foundational figures of the era:

Paul Garber.
Steve Edeiken.
Domina Jalbert.
Robert Ingraham.
Red Braswell.
Miller Makey.
Jack Van Gilder.
Bob Price.
Bevan and Margo Brown.

And the growing circle of people surrounding the Smithsonian Kite Festival and the early AKA movement.

Brummitt represented an earlier generation of kitefliers — one deeply connected to aviation history, public education, craftsmanship, experimentation, and the belief that kiting could bring people together across generations.

His speech at that first AKA convention reflected exactly those values.

One line in particular stood out to me:

“𝘒𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.”

Even today, more than forty years later, that thought still feels true.

Reading further, Brummitt spoke not only about flying, but about responsibility to the future of the hobby itself:

“𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳.”

That line almost feels prophetic now.

Reading the speech today, what stands out most is its optimism.

This was not the language of commercial promotion or organizational politics. It came from a generation that viewed kiting as something cultural and educational — something worth protecting simply because it brought joy, curiosity, friendship, and creativity into people’s lives.

And perhaps most importantly, the speech reminds us how uncertain those early years really were.

At the time, AKA was still brand new.

There was no roadmap.
No internet.
No massive festivals.
No guarantee that the organization would survive.

Yet people like Wyatt Brummitt believed strongly enough in the future of AKA to gather together and try to build something lasting.

Looking back now, more than four decades later, that first convention speech almost reads like a message sent forward through time.

A reminder of what the early founders hoped this community could become.

And thanks to Valerie Govig preserving those words in KiteLines, we can still hear that voice today.

As Valerie herself often demonstrated through KiteLines, the history of kiting is not only preserved in the kites themselves — but in the people, conversations, friendships, and ideas surrounding them.

And Wyatt Brummitt was clearly one of those voices worth remembering.

-sf

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Love Kites? Fly with AKA. Share the Joy.
American Kitefliers Association
𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲... 𝗔𝗞𝗔!
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Albertans, this inaugural kite festival happens this weekend just outside of Calgary, organized by AKA members and emceed by AKA Region 13 Director Gary Mark

Come on out!

Join the High-Flying Fun at Granary Road! Explore the skies above in Granary Road's first annual Kite Festival. With Kite building, flying lessons, spectacular shows, and a flying area to explore the skies at your own pace. There's something for all in this wind-defying festival of colours. 

🪁 Colorful skies, coastal winds, and community spirit! 🌊

Coming up this weekend: The Redwood Coast Kite Festival in Eureka, CA! May 16-17, 2026!

Discover the magic of kite flying with Humboldt Kiters — a vibrant community bringing people together through art, creativity, and outdoor fun along California’s beautiful Redwood Coast. From giant kites and stunt flying to family-friendly festivals and community fly events, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Don’t miss the annual Redwood Coast Kite Festival in Eureka, featuring professional kite demonstrations, artisan vendors, kids’ activities, and breathtaking displays over Humboldt Bay. The festival is free and open to all ages.

Learn more, get involved, or plan your visit here:
https://humboldtkiters.org/

Humboldt Kiters – Kite flying – foils, 2 & 4 string stunt kites, deltas, windsocks, tails, spinners, line laundry, inflatables, box kites, kite festival, community. Kite flying – foils, 2 & 4 string stunt kites, deltas, windsocks, tails, spinners, line laundry, inflatables, box kites, kite festival, community.