Authors: Scott Skinner
Date Submitted: November 30, 2009
Article Type: Discourse

Could there be a more appropriate place to fly a modern replica Grund kite than Nebraska? When it comes to American weather kites, Nebraska occupies an almost forgotten place in their development: the factory that manufactured US Weather Service kites was in Dexter, Nebraska, and one of the last kiteoperating weather stations was in North Platte.

So, when it came to choosing a place to make the maiden US flight of this Grund replica, Callaway, Nebraska, was an obvious choice. But how did a Grund kite find its way to this tiny Nebraska town? Like a lot of kite stories, this is another tale of friendship, passion, and more than a little luck.

GRUND KITE CAPTAIN WERNER SCHMIDT

I’m not sure when the kite-bug hit Werner Schmidt and Achim Kinter. But it was a particularly virulent form, maybe “Kite H1N1.” It infected many but stayed in its purest form in these two German friends. Werner was already heavily involved in historical kite replicas, having made a near-perfect Hargrave box kite that he flew in New Zealand in 1990. Achim was beginning an apprenticeship with his friend when I met the two of them in Fano, Denmark, in 1991. Interested in all things kitelike, I was drawn to their high level of craft, their research skills, their attention to detail, and to the beauty of their finished product.

Page Number: 58
PDF Link: Discourse Issue