Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: February 28, 2006
Article Type: Journal

Chief among Werner Schmidt’s converts to building old kites is Achim Kinter, of Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Kinter helped in researching, building, flying, photographing, and drawing plans for the Diem- Schmidt book Drachen mit Geschichte (Kites With History).

One favorite Kinter kite is the Sauls Barrage kite, an American Boxkite manufactured during World War II by the U.S. and allies. He made six of them. “Simple to build but a bit hard to assemble,” notes Kinter, “the kite is a work of genius. It is one of the most stable of all kites. The reason is the bridling. No Boxkite is symmetrical. The deflected airstream of the front cell hits the rear cell and causes turbulence. If anything is wrong with the rear cell, there is a problem. If the bridle is rigid, then the kite is not self-adjusting to different wind speeds or gusts. An undertaker by vocation, Harry C. Sauls had the insight to bridle the front cell alone. This allowed the kite to self-adjust. Simple yes, but that’s genius at work.”

The Sauls was typically 13 by 17 feet, with framing of spruce. The sail was made of tightly woven cotton. Used by the military from 1943 on, 3,000 were produced initially. “It is unclear how many were subsequently made,” says Kinter, “but it was clearly in the tens of thousands. The kite was used by the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and Signal Corps. It was also flown by the British, Norwegians and Russians.”

PDF Link: Journal Issue