Tuesday 14/05/02:
The
good bit...
Got home from work today
to find that my new Firebee 3.0 had arrived so Matt
and I jumped in the car and had it set up in the park
within hour an hour. The wind was fairly strong, about
F4 and perfect for a kite of this size.
Matt took the honour
of first flight and loved it. After a slight tangle
I took over and straight away I was getting air of about
six feet without really trying, and the speed and accuracy
of the kite left me giggling uncontrollably.
Completely happy with
my new purchase (which only set me back about £75)
I passed the controls over to Matt.
The
REALLY bad bit...
Matt was quite enjoying
the experience of being dragged around by the kite for
a while, whilst I tried to get some shots of him running
after it. Next thing I knew, Matt got pulled over, sprawling
on the ground and let
go of the kite!
As the kite disappeared
from view over the houses, I truly thought that I'd
never see it again. it just wasn't getting any lower!
By some sort of miracle, though, the lines got snagged
on a passing garage and the kite ended up hung like
a flag from someone's washing line pole.
Retrieving the kite
itself was relatively easy as it simply required me
to climb hand-over-hand up a rusty, 15ft pole and cling
on single handedly whilst trying to unhook the bridle
from the top.
The lines and handles
however, had come down in 4 individual gardens and required
the help of 5 different residents to retrieve. A heartfelt
thanks goes out to all the folks who allowed me to traipse
through their houses and gardens in order to gather
my equipment.
On
reflection, Matt and I both learnt serious lessons.
Matt learnt to only let go of one handle in an emergency,
and I learnt to never trust matt... ever!
Red cross - Matt lets go of kite
Yellow
cross - Jim
finds kite
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