Too windy? Not for kite enthusiasts

Winds were a bit brisk Sunday, but that didn’t dampen Kansans wanting to fly kites.

Dozens of kites and many more dozens of people showed up at Chapin Park in south Wichita on Sunday for a city-sponsored “Come Fly a Kite” event.

There were all kinds of kites: box, diamond-shaped, sleds, deltas and rollers.

The ideal type of day for flying kites is one in which the winds are between 10 and 15 mph.

On Sunday, winds gusted from the south up to as much as 41 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

“Twenty to 30 mph is a bit too much,” Paul Beaugelsdijk of Wichita said as he carefully put the panels of his kite together in the wind. “This is a first time in a long time I’ve flown a kite. I used to demo them and have a stunt kite with two lines on it.”

Kite enthusiasts often become members of the American Kite Association, he said.

The flying kites were visible from nearby streets and the highway.

David Heffelfinger, an author and former history teacher, dressed as Benjamin Franklin and flew an American flag.

Mark and Susan Adams, owners of Wings of the Wind Kites and Toys, had a booth at the event and offered advice to people on flying their kites in the wind.

“Most have a flight range of about 18 mph, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go higher,” Mark Adams said. “If the kite starts flying erratic, then that’s because it is in higher winds. In which case, if the kite starts going down, you go forward – you put slack on the line and when it points back up, you jerk several times to get it to go in the direction you want.

“It is so fun to direct around and sky-dip with.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Too windy? Not for kite enthusiasts."