Dear Kiteflier:

Our Piney Mountain Air Force is pleased to send you this patent list that is of vital interest to ROTOR KITE experimenters. We do not pretend that the list is complete, but as we become better informed—wiser—we do intend to add to these data in future PMAF DATA-LETTER publications. We ask you to help us. You would oblige us and extend the knowledge of our readers and members if you were to send us other informations and references concerning ROTOR KITES, ROTOR SHIPS, or related applications of the ever-fascinating Magnus Effect.

ABOUT PINEY MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE

On the Tenth of November, 1979, Piney Mountain Air Force commenced its first scheduled flight operation at a rural flightpad in Central Virginia. Three stalwarts braved that chilly day. (Other fliers had intended to participate, but foul weather and a tight petrol supply daunted some of the normallly dauntless.) Since then, on most Saturdays that happen on even-numbered dates, notable persons involved in kitery , aviation, and aerospace studies have stomped our soil and embellished our skies. Participants have ranged from interested neigh­bors to faculty and students from the University of Virginia; from Connecticut to Florida; from France, Israel, to Bali, Hong Kong, and India. (Here, we could drop names; but that may come later, as name-owners and space permit.) Piney Mountain Air Force is a round-fable group; membership informal, open-ended. Presently , our flight-date facilities limit our active participants to no more than ten, invited, mature fliers: folk who are pleased to fly super-light aircraft and kites in safe and enjoyable ways; responsible individuals whose primary goal is to seek and practice technical improvements in the state of light-flight art. Our spirited letter-writing lightens and circumvents the restrictions of limited flight-day accommodations.

The name, why our name? Our name honors a distinctive topographic fea­ture that exists about fourteen airline miles north of Mr. Jefferson’s Monticello, near Charlottesville. Piney Mountain is a small mountain whose eastern flank is crossed by U.S. Route 29; its precincts abound in black vultures, turkey vul­tures, fickle air currents, curious happenings, near-palpable magic, and a vibrant sense of history.

Kites and other aircraft that consistently fly well in the Piney Mountain environs are obliged to be competently handled masterworks. Some interesting kite legends—not all lies—await the telling; Piney Mountain shall be heard from.

Our backlog of tips, treasures, and lore grows; PMAF DATA-LETTER in­tends to air some of it. Backlogs, too, may fly. Through this medium, we hope to transmit ideas and designs to individuals and to other publications interested in seeing aerovane research findings available in the public domain. As our own ideas and designs emerge from these pages, we hope we shall stimulate other folk —the really creative ones—to share their thoughts with us for publication and for well-deserved recognition. Many of us already have taken the expensive, frustrative, unremunerative letters-patent path in hopes of documenting our creations; most of us would be happy to avoid the dismal patent procedure if we could see our talents identified and honored in print—even in a modest vehicle. If anyone within our modest coterie of readers desires to comment on this philo­sophy, please let us hear from you. We want the DATA-LETTER to be your own philosophical forum and clearing house.

Almost all PMAF Regulars know about, or have flown, the highly efficient, stable, simple, unvented HORNBEAM SLED–KITE, MARK I. Since 1976, “The Hornbeam,” as its friends call it, has been flown with brilliant success–in many sizes—in strenuous weather conditions by experts and novices in places as wide­ly diverse as Upstate New York, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Florida, and the West Coast of the United States. We shall tell more about this refine­ment of William M. Allison’s inspired invention in the January 1981 issue of PMAF DATA-LETTER. Also, look for a friendly challenge at that time.

ROTOR KITES IN A LATER ISSUE!