Authors: Ben Ruhe
Date Submitted: February 28, 2007
Article Type: Journal

The oldest known kite in the world has been added to the Peter Lynn collection. Lynn is the noted kite inventor and aerodynamical theorist living in Ashburton, New Zealand.

A European Peartop, the yard-long kite was purchased by him for a figure reportedly in the five figures from the Dutch firm VliegerOp (Go Fly a Kite) in The Hague, Holland. Said to have been discovered under the attic floor of a building being demolished in 1985, the kite was given to the late Gerard van der Loo of VliegerOp, a principal figure in European kiting in the 1980s-90s, and displayed at his business headquarters. After Van der Loo died before being able to document his collection, his kites, library, and kite paraphernalia were included in the business when it was sold some years back. Framed under glass, the Peartop resided until purchase on a wall outside the office of VliegerOp’s director.

After purchase, Peter Lynn moved the kite to Seattle for stabilization and conservation by the Drachen Foundation. Drachen collaborated with Lynn as part of its declared goal of increasing and diffusing knowledge about kites worldwide.

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