As we see in the story of General Han Hsin, kites have a long military history. During World War II, Paul Garber, historian emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution, was a Lieutenant on the carrier USS Block Island. He had been an avid kite flyer since the age of five and had written a kite-flying manual for the Boy Scouts in 1931.
In 1942 he was assigned to the Navy’s Special Devices Division to teach aircraft gunners to identify enemy planes. When aircraft were not available to tow targets, the gunner would practice shooting at clouds. Garber knew there was a better way.
Garber developed a kite that could swing across the sky, loop, dive and climb like an aircraft. The kite was controlled by a flyer with a twin spool reel with control bar and brake. A ventral fin and rudder provided directional control. Silhouettes of enemy planes were silkscreened on the light blue rayon sail. In flight, the background disappeared. The increased difficulty in hitting the targets sharpened the gunners’ skill.
Garber also used kites to pass papers from ship to aircraft. A cable with a package attached was strung between two kites. A passing aircraft would snare the cable with a hook and deliver the package.
|
|
