prepare for takeoff
12/13
get active
prepare for takeoff LOOKING FOR SOME holiday FUN in the great outdoors? CATCH a refreshing BREEZE playing WITH A KITE, SAYS FLYING FANATIC SANJAY SURANA
W
hen I lived in New York, I’d often fly a multi-coloured diamond kite with my daughters in our local park. Some days as we slowly unwound the line, the kite would lift and we’d watch it, as if in a trance, fluttering in the wind. Other mornings were frustrating exercises in trying to even get the thing airborne, but it didn’t matter, we were outdoors, together, enjoying the breeze. Kite flying is not an overly strenuous activity that requires special training, so it appeals as much to grandparents as grandchildren. It captivates our inner child (simply put, it’s fun) and our outer adult (focusing on keeping a kite afloat is meditative).
Kitefliers Association (AKA), the largest kite association in the world, “There are many reasons to fly a kite. To enjoy time with friends or family, to compete with other kite fliers, to see your newly built creation take to the sky. I think the main reason is that there is something uncomplicated about teasing the wind, and letting the wind tease you. Kites give us the ability to slow the pace of our lives for a minute. You need the wind to come from behind you to fly your kite, yet conversely flying that kite lets you put the cares of the world behind you.”
While kite flying isn’t complex – the only prerequisites for mastering it are wind (though the discipline of indoor kite For Mel Hickman, Executive flying doesn’t require it), Director of the American time, and patience – the
science behind a kite’s levity is a little more technical. In the same way a plane can stay in the air, albeit with the assistance of engines, a kite’s capability to defy nature results from the interplay between opposing forces. The angle of a kite diverts the flow of air around it in an unequal manner. As per Bernoulli’s principle, named for the 18th-century Swiss mathematician Daniel
what colour will yours be? Youngsters can join a fun ‘Paint your Kite’ workshop during the holidays. When 17 Jun 2013, 3pm – 4.30pm Where Kids Club Price $18 (usual price $28) See page 16 for full details.
HISTORIC HEIGHTs
Kites are believed to have first appeared in China around 500 BC, where silk and bamboo – fashioned to make the sail, line, and frame – were abundant and recruited to produce mu yuan (or wood kites).
In their infancy, kites were used as means of approximating distances, a way to communicate, and even a method to lift soldiers to spy on the opposition during military operations.
From China kites migrated throughout Asia. In some countries they assumed a new role – as a medium of combat. Paper kites, their lines smothered in rice glue and powdered glass, engaged in mid-air tussles, each flier trying to cut the other’s line.
Soon kites spread to Polynesia, where they were put into action both for fishing and to send messages to the gods, before Marco Polo brought them to Europe in the medieval period. By the 18th century, kites assisted in scientific research.
The Wright Brothers tinkered with kites large and powerful enough to lift a person in preparation for their historic flight, and Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi put one to work to hoist an antenna for his wireless communications system.
14/15
Bernouilli who expounded the theory, slower-moving currents beneath an object in the air (the kite) exert greater pressure than the faster currents above it, producing lift. In layman terms, the high, upward pressure under the kite is greater than the low, downward pressure above it, keeping the thing off the ground. Kiting, whose popularity waned with the advent of the aircraft, is currently enjoying a renaissance. According to Ryan Tan, owner of Passion Kites, Singapore’s largest kite store, “The recent trend started after the government built Marina
“The high, upward pressure under the kite is greater than the low, downward pressure above it, keeping the thing off the ground.”
HIGH Five
Top flying spots recommended by Ryan Tan, owner of Passion Kites West Coast Park People pick locations with nearby amenities because you could be outside for hours. Here there’s a bathroom and a McDonald’s, plus the parking is free.
Barrage, where families can come and have picnics and fly kites. Teenagers come to relax and they see the kites and become curious.”
swelled in prominence in the last couple of decades.
Kites are important enough to be accorded their own museums, with the largest Technology plays a in Weifang City (Shandong key role in the resurgence, Province, China), and the with modern, stronger, most familiar to Singaporeans more resilient materials – the Pasir Gudang Kite kevlar, nylon, polyethelene Museum in Malaysia. What an – ushering in the new achievement: that something breed of stunt kites and the so ethereal is celebrated audiences that they attract. in these institutions Sports like kite boarding speaks volumes for its and kite boating have also cultural significance.
Marina Barrage You’re on a point, so the wind is consistently good. There’s also free parking and a decent food selection at Satay by the Bay, a few minutes away. East Coast Park A lot of fliers gather on the beach near the D1 parking lot. It’s nice to be right by the sea. Marina Bay Cruise Centre There’s a decent grass patch, plenty of space and a bathroom in the cruise centre. Punggol ‘Helipad’ Near the intersection of Punggol Central and Punggol Way. Despite no nearby facilities, the large greens either side of the circular paved ‘helipad’ and a good wind make up for it. Plus the other fliers here are usually experienced.
get active
prepare for takeoff LOOKING FOR SOME holiday FUN in the great outdoors? CATCH a refreshing BREEZE playing WITH A KITE, SAYS FLYING FANATIC SANJAY SURANA
W
hen I lived in New York, I’d often fly a multi-coloured diamond kite with my daughters in our local park. Some days as we slowly unwound the line, the kite would lift and we’d watch it, as if in a trance, fluttering in the wind. Other mornings were frustrating exercises in trying to even get the thing airborne, but it didn’t matter, we were outdoors, together, enjoying the breeze. Kite flying is not an overly strenuous activity that requires special training, so it appeals as much to grandparents as grandchildren. It captivates our inner child (simply put, it’s fun) and our outer adult (focusing on keeping a kite afloat is meditative).
Kitefliers Association (AKA), the largest kite association in the world, “There are many reasons to fly a kite. To enjoy time with friends or family, to compete with other kite fliers, to see your newly built creation take to the sky. I think the main reason is that there is something uncomplicated about teasing the wind, and letting the wind tease you. Kites give us the ability to slow the pace of our lives for a minute. You need the wind to come from behind you to fly your kite, yet conversely flying that kite lets you put the cares of the world behind you.”
While kite flying isn’t complex – the only prerequisites for mastering it are wind (though the discipline of indoor kite For Mel Hickman, Executive flying doesn’t require it), Director of the American time, and patience – the
science behind a kite’s levity is a little more technical. In the same way a plane can stay in the air, albeit with the assistance of engines, a kite’s capability to defy nature results from the interplay between opposing forces. The angle of a kite diverts the flow of air around it in an unequal manner. As per Bernoulli’s principle, named for the 18th-century Swiss mathematician Daniel
what colour will yours be? Youngsters can join a fun ‘Paint your Kite’ workshop during the holidays. When 17 Jun 2013, 3pm – 4.30pm Where Kids Club Price $18 (usual price $28) See page 16 for full details.
HISTORIC HEIGHTs
Kites are believed to have first appeared in China around 500 BC, where silk and bamboo – fashioned to make the sail, line, and frame – were abundant and recruited to produce mu yuan (or wood kites).
In their infancy, kites were used as means of approximating distances, a way to communicate, and even a method to lift soldiers to spy on the opposition during military operations.
From China kites migrated throughout Asia. In some countries they assumed a new role – as a medium of combat. Paper kites, their lines smothered in rice glue and powdered glass, engaged in mid-air tussles, each flier trying to cut the other’s line.
Soon kites spread to Polynesia, where they were put into action both for fishing and to send messages to the gods, before Marco Polo brought them to Europe in the medieval period. By the 18th century, kites assisted in scientific research.
The Wright Brothers tinkered with kites large and powerful enough to lift a person in preparation for their historic flight, and Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi put one to work to hoist an antenna for his wireless communications system.
14/15
Bernouilli who expounded the theory, slower-moving currents beneath an object in the air (the kite) exert greater pressure than the faster currents above it, producing lift. In layman terms, the high, upward pressure under the kite is greater than the low, downward pressure above it, keeping the thing off the ground. Kiting, whose popularity waned with the advent of the aircraft, is currently enjoying a renaissance. According to Ryan Tan, owner of Passion Kites, Singapore’s largest kite store, “The recent trend started after the government built Marina
“The high, upward pressure under the kite is greater than the low, downward pressure above it, keeping the thing off the ground.”
HIGH Five
Top flying spots recommended by Ryan Tan, owner of Passion Kites West Coast Park People pick locations with nearby amenities because you could be outside for hours. Here there’s a bathroom and a McDonald’s, plus the parking is free.
Barrage, where families can come and have picnics and fly kites. Teenagers come to relax and they see the kites and become curious.”
swelled in prominence in the last couple of decades.
Kites are important enough to be accorded their own museums, with the largest Technology plays a in Weifang City (Shandong key role in the resurgence, Province, China), and the with modern, stronger, most familiar to Singaporeans more resilient materials – the Pasir Gudang Kite kevlar, nylon, polyethelene Museum in Malaysia. What an – ushering in the new achievement: that something breed of stunt kites and the so ethereal is celebrated audiences that they attract. in these institutions Sports like kite boarding speaks volumes for its and kite boating have also cultural significance.
Marina Barrage You’re on a point, so the wind is consistently good. There’s also free parking and a decent food selection at Satay by the Bay, a few minutes away. East Coast Park A lot of fliers gather on the beach near the D1 parking lot. It’s nice to be right by the sea. Marina Bay Cruise Centre There’s a decent grass patch, plenty of space and a bathroom in the cruise centre. Punggol ‘Helipad’ Near the intersection of Punggol Central and Punggol Way. Despite no nearby facilities, the large greens either side of the circular paved ‘helipad’ and a good wind make up for it. Plus the other fliers here are usually experienced.
