For twenty years I have been taking low-level aerial photographs using cameras lofted by kites. Considering the abundant buzz about drones these days, kite aerial photography (KAP) might seem a bit anachronistic. Indeed, kites were used for aerial photography long before the airplane was invented. However old, they remain a very practical platform for aerial photography in the current day. As my work in kite aerial photography matured, the technique led to topics, relationships, and communities that have been richly rewarding.

In the Hindu epic “The Ramayana,” King Ram was banished for 14 years from his kingdom. My exile from the world of kites, and more specifically kite festivals, was a little shorter.

The vision for the Kite Museum of Korea came from Sang-Ho Park of South Korea, a professional who has successfully worked to help Korean corporations meet their environmental regulations. He found the time to pursue an interest in the wind, which lead him to the door of the Drachen Foundation, and thus began the conversations for transition of our kite collection to South Korea. Join us for an interview of Mr. Park by Mr. Cho Byong Ook. Tell us a little about yourself.

For almost three years, the Drachen Foundation Board has explored possibilities of selling the extensive Drachen collection in order to ensure its long term existence as well as to finance the future of the Drachen Foundation website. Our priority was to keep the collection in as few “pieces” as possible – the logistics of selling individual kites and objects would make a large project huge.

Rube Goldberg. You know, the guy with the crazy, over-engineered, mechanical contraptions that do very simple tasks in very complicated ways. That’s what got me into this internship program with my high school alma mater. It all started during my son’s freshman year. The school puts on an annual open house event where the students display projects and activities they work on for a month during the winter break. Some go on trips to Europe, some do cooking classes, and some build things.

I’ve told the story to many of you, but it bears repeating now that I’ve taken two old kite flying friends with me to Callaway, Nebraska. Twenty-four years ago I was contacted by a woman who knew nothing about kites and kite flying, but who was the #1 advocate for her small Nebraska town of Callaway. Working for the local chamber of commerce, Connie May called me to see if a local kite fly might be a way for the town to attract late-summer, Labor Day tourists.

Browsing Drachen Foundation kite journals, past or present, the reader cannot help but notice that some kites lead the pack, either for size, looks, age, background, or use, and that some of the personalities flying them are particularly unusual. Herewith are some nominees for most notable kites and a glance at some of the people involved in the sport. Most Emotive: Anna Rubin

Department of Tethered Aviation (DOTA): A collection of talented, self-motivated individuals with common goals and visions of creating kite aerial displays that highlight the beauty and power of the wind.

On September 23rd, 2014, four Australian kite enthusiasts flew a kite to a claimed 16,038 feet above the launch point at an airfield on a 50,000-acre sheep farm called Cable Downs, in Western NSW, Australia. This was the venue for all our record attempts over the last ten years. It is a site remote from our homes in Sydney, 750 kilometers (466 miles) to the east of this dry and dusty place.

If you are anything like me, you are probably tired of all the promises of new and exciting inventions that are just over the horizon or about to change the world as we know it. I’m talking about the flying car in our garage, the trip to the moon for anyone interested, the miracle foods that end world hunger and keep you thin and fit no matter how much you eat … blah, blah, blah.