November 2015

designs, and skill to fly in any wind
condition are just a few of the reasons that
this group can do its thing any time, any
place. I brought a little piece of fighter kite
history to the convention auction in the
form of a Vic’s Fighter Kite, still in the
original tube and with original instructions.
I had no idea until I opened it up that it was
an early model with steel cross-spars. The
tube included three cross-spars: one for
light winds, one thicker for heavier winds,
and a third to add for fine adjustments in
intermediate winds. I remember being told
that Vic’s changed their fighter sails from
aluminized mylar to clear mylar because of
incidents with power lines. I wondered if I
had the story wrong and it was these steel
spars that were the problem? Shoot an email
to the Drachen Foundation if you remember
details of the Vic’s Fighter Kite.
an annual event in years that the AKA
Convention goes elsewhere. The Buffalo
Kite Project, where organizer TZ Lee and
Drake Smith collaborate with native artists
to produce unique kites, was in Enid this
year. It seems that these would be a perfect
centerpiece for future kite gatherings in Enid
and collaborations with the variety of
Native American tribes in the area. ◆
During the convention, I presented a hands
on workshop on the three-stick method. I
missed my friend Jose Sainz, who has done
the three-stick workshop with me and
brings a completely different approach to
the problem. But in asking these
experienced kitemakers to be limited by
three straight sticks of equal length, I was
pleased to see a variety of creative endproducts
produced. I was fortunate to have
a cancelled workshop and poor outdoor
weather conspire to give my workshop
many more attendees and as much working
space as was needed for everyone to work
comfortably.
I packed up and left immediately after the
workshop and followed Facebook and the
AKA website for results of the week.
Certainly there were wonderful kites and
great people on the vast flying fields of Enid.
The city of Enid honored Oklahoman and
AKA fixture Richard Dermer by naming the
flying fields in his honor, and there are
rumors that Enid is so enamored by the AKA
Convention presence that it may promote
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