Kite applications

William A. Eddy, the maker of Eddy-kite fame, lifted cameras to take photographs of cities and landscapes.

Today kite aerial photography (KAP) is the hobby of many enthusiasts, is a tool for surveying land and animals, and a mode for artistic expression.

[1][2][3][4][5] Long-distance travel across the land,[6] ice, and sea started centuries ago, but today significant tasks of moving people and goods from point A to point B are occurring; this is so in part from the advances in kites and kite systems designs and technology, a better understanding of winds, and use of computers and GPS.

Using kites to reduce the work done by an engine in propelling a cargo ship is an idea that is gaining traction as a result of increasing fuel prices and environmental concerns.

[18] MS Beluga Skysails is the world's first commercial container cargo ship which is partially powered by a 160-square-metre (1,700 sq ft), computer-controlled kite which can reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent.

Launched 17 December 2007, it was scheduled to leave the north German port of Bremerhaven for Guanta, Venezuela at 1700 local time (1600 GMT) on 22 January 2008.

SkySails managing director Stephan Wrage said, "During the next few months we will finally be able to prove that our technology works in practice and significantly reduces fuel consumption and emissions.

[20] A kite's shape blocks air like a traditional sail and acts as an aerofoil, with the combined forces of lift and drag pulling the boat through the water.

[21] All that is needed to operate the kite is a winch and a storage area near the front of the ship, which can be fitted with little modification at low cost.

A plan view of a Solomon islander's leaf fishing kite is shown in a photograph held by the Pitt-Rivers Museum is viewable at Natural History Magazine online; Pick from the Past, Natural History, April 1957: "Go Fly a Kite".

The sago palm or ivory nut tree has leaves from which natives of Mala or Malaita Island made kites for fishing.

[citation needed] During the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), Admiral Yi commanded his navy with kites.

[40] Kites have been used for scientific purposes, such as Benjamin Franklin's famous experiment proving that lightning is electricity.

Alexander Graham Bell experimented with very large man-lifting kites, as did the Wright brothers and Lawrence Hargrave.

Kites had an historical role in lifting scientific instruments to measure atmospheric conditions for weather forecasting.

Francis Ronalds and William Radcliffe Birt described a very stable kite at Kew Observatory as early as 1847 that was trialled for the purpose of supporting self-registering meteorological instruments at height.

Alexander Graham Bell experimented with gigantic man-lifting kites, as did the Wright brothers and Lawrence Hargrave.

A major research and development project called Makani Power, based in California and funded by Google.org, is investigating the use of kites in harnessing high altitude wind currents to generate electricity.

Captive balloons may be more convenient for such experiments, because kite carried antennas require a lot of wind, which may be not always possible with heavy equipment and a ground conductor.

Some leaves kite to relieve wind pressures, pump fluids, and to disconnect annually to fertilize the soils.

[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] Carol Frost, biology researcher of the University of Alberta, Canada, observed kiting in spiderlings.