Robert and Richard Loera
Discourse-Issue-23

All images provided by Robert Loera. 

Robert Loera (left) and his father, Richard.

INTRODUCTION BY SCOTT SKINNER

Few people had an impact on the American kiting scene in the 1980s and early 1990s like Robert Loera: undefeated fighter kite champion, sport kite champion and promoter, kite store owner, and American kite ambassador. Robert and his wife, Barbara, owned and operated kite stores in Oahu and Maui and promoted kiting in every way on the islands and elsewhere. Robert was exposed to kiting by his father, Richard, owner of San Diego’s Beauty in the Wind kite store in the early 1980s. The following is just a small sample of the family stories and experiences that influenced their kite lives.

MEMORIES BY ROBERT AND RICHARD LOERA

RICHARD: When I was three or four years old, my dad was a green card worker at a coastal ranch between Laguna Beach and Corona del Mar. Every May 5th, the Japanese ranchers would celebrate by flying kites, mainly, dragons and yakko-dako. Then in 1942, all the Japanese were taken away from the coastal ranches so quickly that they left many belongings behind. My dad became a citizen and leased a vacant ranch. On the property there was a two-room building that was padlocked. Being around nine or ten years old and very curious, I crawled under the building, unscrewed a heater vent, and found my way inside. There was a treasure trove of books, records, photos, and keepsakes. Among all these items was a book on Japanese kites. I spent many hours looking at the pictures and trying to understand how the bamboo was shaped to make the kites. About a year later, an Army truck came, cut the padlock on the fence, drove to the back of the building, broke in the door, and stole everything.

TOP: Robert Loera flying a fighter at the 15th AKA Convention in Virginia. BOTTOM: Richard Loera in front of Beauty in the Wind kite shop, San Diego.

TOP: Robert Loera’s Hawaiian fighter kite group. BOTTOM: Robert Loera (left) and fighter kite guru Vic Heredia.

An interesting thing happened while we were vacationing in Copper Canyon, Mexico. I had packed a Flow Form kite and a graphite-framed Spinoff. Just below the town that we stayed in was a soccer field, so at least once a day I flew the Flow Form and villagers would come out to watch. One day I put the Spinoff together and launched it. Well, the wind was strong and the Spinoff really started roaring, and almost everybody in the village came out to watch. Naturally, I put on a show re-landing, re- launching, doing spins and spirals! Finally, the old mayor of the town came over (I thought to thank me) and said to me, “If you would put a tail on your kite…”

The main memory I have of Tyrus Wong, [Chinese-American artist and kitemaker who is still with us at age 106], is the year that I made a flying Japanese vase with flowers on it. It flew perfectly without tails, but Tyrus got first place with one of his beauties. The second time, I created a flying kitchen sink and I thought I had first place sewn up. Tyrus brought a beautiful string of flying seagulls that flew perfectly. I happily settled for second.

ROBERT: During the days of my father’s Beauty in the Wind kite shop in San Diego (1979-1984), we would fly a 25-foot Tony Cyphert delta from the front of the store to attract customers. The kite weighed about 40 pounds, constructed of aircraft aluminum tubing about two inches thick.

One day we launched the kite up to about 750 feet and got the attention of the FAA. It had been picked up on radar, and air traffic was stopped. The FAA sent the police out to have us lower the large kite. That same kite we later used to launch a larger two-sided advertising banner over the mall. It measured eight feet high and over 200 feet long. First day up, we made the newspaper.

While working for my dad, I would practice my fighter kite skills, flying daily just outside the door of the store. I would fly my kite out to greet people in the parking lot with the Vic’s fighter equipped with a flowing 25- foot crepe paper tail. Almost everyone would ask, “Are you doing that on purpose?” I would then immediately offer to show them how. In between potential customers I would practice flying under tree limbs and out. When I needed to grab the phone, I would land the kite on a sign post and then just fly out when done. I named the move “free parking.”

My father taught me how to engage non- kite-believers. Under the counter was a tray with his favorite smallest kites. In the top corners of the store he had a few of his favorites: the kitchen sink, vacuum cleaner, and flying shirt kites. ◆