The Time Lines of Kite History, an often visited feature of the Best-Breezes web site, were updated to Version 2.1 after extensive review of the original time line research.  The review and update took a period of six months as new source material was reviewed and additional conversations were held with kite history experts.

Although Version  2.1 is as up-to-date as possible, it is anticipated that more revisions and updates will be made in the months and years ahead.

I welcome conversation and dialogue on this time line and hope that you will share any possible findings of yours which may lead to new inclusions or corrections on those items that, although carefully researched, may still need some detailed fine tuning.

Throughout time, the kite has been an object of great fascination and value to human kind.  The Time Lines of Kite History presented here are intended to help preserve this history for those who are interested in all aspects and applications of kites over the years.

One hundred years ago, on December 6, 2007, Alexander Graham Bell launched his largest tetrahedral kite, the Cygnet II, over the waters of Bras d'Or lake in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.  Towed behind a steam powered boat and carrying Lieut. Thomas Selfridge as passenger and to some degree pilot, the Cygnet was a milestone in the history of the development of flight and one of the most significant events in Canadian kite history.

A great deal of attention is being paid to the tetrahedral kites of Dr. Bell during this centennial celebration year marking the historic flight of the huge Cygnet. It certainly is a time to pause and remember the amazing ingenuity of the era as humans searched for the best ways to lift people into the sky in a safe and controlled manner.

Bell's intention was to use the inherently strong tetrahedron as a building block for an 'aerodrome' (aircraft) that would eventually be powered by a gasoline engine and achieve independent flight under the control of a pilot.

The Halifax Chronicle Herald ran a feature story on the work of Bell's Aerial Experiment Association, a group of five engineer-scientist fellows.  The group was funded with a $30,000 investment provided by Mabel Bell, Dr. Bell's wife, who acted as the group's Secretary-Treasurer.

Uplifting dream was born century ago
Within 18 months, Bell-led group had Silver Dart in Baddeck sky
By TERA CAMUS Cape Breton Bureau

The ChronicleHerald.ca    October 1, 2007 

BADDECK — It was 100 years ago today when it all began.

High on the hill overlooking Baddeck Bay, Alexander Graham Bell invited four men to his estate to begin working on a dream that would literally take flight 18 months later, in 1909.

Backed with $30,000 from Mr. Bell’s wealthy socialite wife Mabel, five creative minds forged a partnership known as the Aerial Experiment Association after the famous, aging inventor convinced them they could take flight in an aircraft after experimenting with large kites on and over his Baddeck estate.

"It’s amazing to think that for thousands and thousands of years, we couldn’t fly and within 18 months, bang, we’re flying among the stars," Mr. Bell’s great-grandson, Hugh Bell Muller, told The Chronicle Herald inside the Kite House where the five men constructed the aircraft.

Mr. Muller and his wife still walk on the original floorboards of that former barn, now renovated into a comfortable home, where Alec Bell, as he was known locally, worked with British immigrant Douglas McCurdy, a resident of Baddeck, and Toronto’s Casey Baldwin, both expert engineers. He also invited United States Lt. Thomas Selfridge and Glenn Curtiss, a New Yorker who built engines.

All five men lived in "the big house," better known as Beinn Bhreagh, which now is only open in summers for Mr. Bell’s direct descendants.

"In Bell’s time, he knew all the scientists," Mr. Muller said. "As a kid, he dreamed about flying while watching the birds."

The Wright Brothers, who had proved an aircraft could lift off using a catapult method, were busy in the United States trying to understand how to maintain flight.

"Bell was concerned with two things, the first was safety and the other was stability of controls to maintain a flight," Mr. Muller said. "Ms. Bell told him: ‘The five of you get an airplane in that air’ and it took 18 months to get the Silver Dart."

The first aircraft built in the Kite House in 1907 was the Cygnet, but it had no engine. It carried Selfridge for seven minutes and 51 metres and "flew beautifully" before it crashed into the water below Mr. Bell’s estate.

See the complete story and photos in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. 

Moving on from the Cygnet, Bell and the five members of the AEA built four powered airplanes that were stable and reliable in flight.  The culminating aircraft was the famous "Silver Dart" which was the first airplane to fly in the British Commonwealth of Nations when it lifted off the frozen waters of Bras d'Or Lake on February 23, 1909.

During this centennial celebration year of the massive Cygnet kite, a special commemorative kite fly was organized by the Canadian Kite Federation/Federation Canadienne du Cerf-Volant amd the Drachen Foundation of Seattle WA.   The event was held on the Bell estate at Beinn Bhreagh  overlooking Bras d'Or Lake in Baddeck, Nova Scotia on August 21, 2007.

 
Gary Mark of CKF/FCCV and Scott Skinner of the Drachen Foundation were instrumental in putting together the kite fly tribute to Bell's work with the Cygnet kite.  More information can be found in an excerpt from the web site of the Drachen Foundation.   A terrific video of interviews with Gary Mark, principal organizer of the event,  and Hugh Muller, great-grandson of Alexander Bell is found on a special video clip at YouTube.  Another interesting video clip is the CBC-TV Newsworld live broadcast of the event, also at YouTube.

 In the autumn of 2004, CBC ran a television series entitled: The Greatest Canadian.  Alexander Graham Bell was one of the featured candidates for the title of the greatest Canadian.  I had the privilege of working on the production of that television show along with my good friend Gary Mark.  To read about that story you can see an earlier posting in the Best-Breezes blog that detailed Bell's tetrahedral kites and see how a kite was included in the video taping for the show.

In the web site section of Best-Breezes, you can find more detailed information on Bell's Cygnet kite, the aerodromes of the Aerial Experiment Association, and a variety of other references on Bell's work with kites and aircraft.  Be sure to check out the article entitled:  Alexander Graham Bell: After the Telephone - Tetrahedral Kites, Airplanes and Hydrofoils. 

One hundred years later the memory of Alexander Graham Bell's giant tetrahedral kites still lifts the imagination and makes the spirit soar!

Time, it has been said, marches resolutely on and leaves a record of what has gone before if we are careful to observe. 

There are so many historical events over the course of time.  The most recent events and happenings are well recorded and documented but can still be open to varying interpretation.  The  more distant events are harder to trace and often do not have many validating or corroborating sources of information.  So it is with the history of the earth, of mankind, of cultures and nations, and of devices and inventions.

 Several years ago, sixteen to be exact, I set out to puzzle out for myself a credible timeline of kite history.  The purpose in my mind was simple: order the events and chronicle the people who had contributed to the development of the kite and used it in innovative and interesting ways.  A simple task, I was sure.

 Not so!  Here I am sixteen years later publishing for the first time my efforts at recording a brief, and hopefully useful, chronology of the kite.  I have postponed the publication of any of the timelines on this web site many times. I did this because I continued to find conflicting evidence about the order and timing of events.  Revision, checking more sources, update and more revision became an ongoing state of affairs. 

I believe that the timelines published here today are very accurate, but they are not infallible.  As with any historical effort covering a broad scope there is room for error even with the most thorough checking of facts having been carried out. 

I know that these timelines will need to be revised again and again as new information is brought forward and as conflicting evidence challenges details or dates.

I have published the timelines at this juncture because I believe in their accuracy.   I know that the scrutiny of kiters and people with a  deep interest in things historical will undoubtedly lead to challenges and the correction of possible errors.  I welcome your input, your questions, your dialogue and your sharing of factual evidence.  Only through such cooperative effort can a properly validated timeline of kite history be available for use by students in schools and for reference by kiters who would like to know more about the development of this amazing device, the kite.

To begin your journey through time and experience the chronicle of the kite, I invite you to visit the Best-Breezes Timeline of Kite History. 

Please contact me if you wish more information, have questions or can suggest some sources or evidence to improve the timeline.

Bob White - Hifliercanada - October 30, 2006 

_______________________________________ 

 Captain Jean-Luc Picard:

"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey.  It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived."

played by Patrick Stewart, from the film "Star Trek: Generations"

 

 

Last week, on the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, Best-Breezes brought you a blog entry on Goerge Lawrence and his amazing photos of the devastation of that quake by way of his kite aerial camera.  Also at that time, we noted that Scott Haefner, a noted Kite Aerial Photographer, was working with the Drachen Foundation of Seattle WA to recreate the historic photos with modern KAP equipment.

 Well, today the current photos by Haefner are available on the Drachen Foundation's website.  What a spectacular view and great project.  Typical of Scott Skinner, Ali Fujino and the Drachen Foundation this project is first class and adds greatly to the dissemination of knowledge about kites and their role in history.  The complete story and photos by Scott taken from his aerial rig are amazing.  Well done everyone!

For a complete press release and description of the event visit the PR Web (Press Release Newswire) site to see all the details as well as information on George Lawrence, Scott Haefner, and the Drachen Foundation.

 

 

The devastating earthquake of April 18, 1906 resulted in major loss of life and incredible structural and economic damage in the city of San Francisco, CA.

 

The earthquake was of a 7.9 magnitude on the Richter Scale.  It lasted for over forty-five seconds and was followed by a series of strong after shocks.  San Francisco was devastated.  Over 3000 people lost their lives as a result of the earthquake.  Fires broke out and fanned through the city consuming much of what was left standing.

 

Tens of thousands were left homeless.  The United States Army established a tent city to house the destitute.  The economy of the city and region was crushed.   San Francisco immediately became the centre of attention of the world press.

 

It is said that this was one of the first national disasters to receive wide photographic coverage.  Newspapers around the world printed some of the many photographs taken of the ruins and effects, all shot at ground level or from a few floors up in the few buildings left sound and standing.

 

The devastation drew the attention of all who saw the photos in newspapers around the globe. 

 

However, a series of photographs taken seventeen days after the quake became famous for their pictorial effect in showing the wide spread and near complete ruin caused by the quake and the ensuring fires.

 

George Lawrence, a noted Chicago photographer who had pioneered aerial photography from captive hydrogen balloons in 1895, determined that he should travel to the west coast to record the catastrophe from the unique perspective of two thousand feet above the city.

 

Lawrence was always seeking ways to improve the raising of his large aerial cameras and he became acquainted with Chicago inventor Silas Conyne, who had developed and patented the Conyne Kite to lift advertising banners in 1902. By 1904 Lawrence had developed a method of training a group of Conyne kites to lift his large, heavy cameras and to steady them in position to take aerial photographs.

 

It was this "Kite Aerial Photography" system that Lawrence employed on May 5, 1906 to shoot his dramatic photos of the devastation of the San Francisco earthquake's primary damage zone.

 

Below is one of the several photographs that George Lawrence made to record the destruction of the San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 2006.

 

 

Arguably, these photos are the most famous kite aerial photographs produced in the past 100 years.  Although there have been many advances in KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) no photos taken from the lofty platform provided by a kite have been more dramatic or of greater historical importance.

 

Lawrence's work is well documented. Originals of his photographic works are found in a number of  museums, most notably the collections of the Chicago Historical Society, the Library of Congress and the National Archives of the United States of America.

 

Present Day Kite Aerial Photography of San Francisco and San Andreas Earthquake Zones:

 

Sometime during the next few weeks, Scott Haefner will attempt to reshoot the San Farncisco quake area using modern KAP techniques and equipment.  Scott's project is being supported by The Drachen Foundation.  You can follow this event on Scott Haefner's weblog.

 

The United States Geological Service has also used KAP as a tool to present aerial images of the San Andreas fault at the Carrizo Plain.  Again, Scott Haefner, a noted KAPer, is involved in this intriguing project.

 

References:

 

Baker, Dr. Simon.  "George Lawrence: A Giant in Kite Aerial Photography." Kitelines, Fol. 11, No. 1, Fall 1994.  Pp. 52-55.  [Images in this Best-Breezes Blog entry are reproduced by permission of Valerie Govig, Publisher, Kitelines.]

 

NewHall, Beaumont.  Airborne Camera: The World from the Air and Outer Space. New York, N.Y.  Hastings House Publishers in collaboration with the George Eastman House, Rochester N,Y. 1969   ISBN: 8038-0335-4   Pp. 43-46.

 

Notes:

1. The first kite aerial photographs known were taken by Arthur Batut of France in 1889.
2. William Abner Eddy of Bayonne, N.J. was the first in North America to take photographs from kites.  Using trains of six to nine kites Eddy took photos of New York city and environs from heights of 1000 feet in 1895.  This was at least four years before Lawrence began using any type of kite for aerial photography.