Chinese Dragon Kites

As well as Karl's own hand-built kites, he can supply traditional Chinese Dragon kites, imported from Weifang by fellow Hereford-based Airdynamics.

Weifang is recognised as the home of traditional Chinese Kite building - and these are excellent examples of the tradition.

We have a range, starting from a small dragon with a 3.5m tail, right up to a monster with 80 m tail.

They are surprisingly good flyers. Even the smallest will fly given a decent wind - and the larger ones need only a gentle breeze. The really big ones need a team to handle them on the ground so they are ideal for family or club outings.

The dragon heads are all individually hand painted - each one is unique with its own 'character'. They all feature:

• Deer horns, as deer are ridden by the imortals and represent longevity and good luck,
• Tigers eyes - the tiger is the king of the beasts, mighty and strong.
• Catfish whiskers, to represent the material wealth. (Catfish are an essential part of the Spring festival meal).
•  A humans beard, as a symbol of intelligence and talent.(The longer the beard the wiser you are).
• The segmented body (centipede) represents a snake.

As an introduction to dragons, we recommend the medium or large size; these are reliable flyers and quite easy to handle on the ground. XL and above can be a handful until you have some experience. The small size does fly - but needs a decent wind - often they are bought purely for decoration.

The size refers to the diameter of the segment in cm - that's just the disc, excluding the bamboo - and the overall length in m. Heads are scaled to suit the tail.

Version	Size	Price
Small	5cm x 3.5m	£ 30.00
Medium	10cm x 6.5m	£ 50.00
Large	15cm x 15m	£ 70.00
XL	15cm x 32m	£170.00
XXL	20cm x 50m	£400.00
XXXL	25cm x 80m	£650.00

Small and Medium dragons are now supplied with an embroidered presentation box.

How to fly Dragons

Dragon kites are very easy to fly; they look more complicated than they are! Everyone has their own tips - but these are the basics.

Get ready

First - check the wind! Dragons will fly in most winds, but are at their best in medium, steady winds. They don't like air turbulence - so keep away from trees and buildings.

Next, pick your space - the dragon tails are deceptively long, so pace out your flying area to make sure you have enough room.

Finally, don't fly in the wet! Hand-painted silk is not waterproof!

Small and Medium dragons have their horns permanently attached - bigger ones have removeable horns. The trick is to insert the front bamboo into the little hole at the top of the head - and inside the head you will find a small tube - make sure the bamboo goes into that tube. Next, clip the long bamboo onto the frame at the back of the head. (This can be quite stiff when new - you can attach with elastic bands at first.)

Attach your flying line - quite short line will do - just enough to get the dragon above ground turbulence. Then secure the head with a ground stake.

Now you can get the tail section organised. Attach the bottom two hooks to the loops inside the head. Leave the top one loose for the moment.

Now use the bamboo carrier and 'pay out' the segments one at a time - laying them flat on the ground. Lay out the complete tail in a straight line. With the bigger kites, get some help to hold down the segments in case the wind changes!

Finally, go back to the head, and attach the top hook to the matching loop. This raises all the segments into 'ready' position.

Launch

There are several ways to launch.

First the cautious way; hold the dragon bridle above the knot and raise the head off the ground - keep it angled forward - and all the segments will gently rise. A variation is to get your helper(s) to raise the tail section.

The brave way is to grasp the bridle and flick - like a whiplash movement -  the ripple will go all down the tail and take off. Spectacular but risky!

Once the kite is in the air and up to 30 degrees or so, move your hand to the main attachment point - this will allow the kite to develop full power and a very high angle in the air.

Now you can let out some line and enjoy the dragon in flight.

Land

Have some helpers standing by!

Bring the kite in until you can reach the bridle - and now you can grab underneath the tow point. This changes the angle of the segments and the whole tail will come down.

If the wind gets up and that proves difficult, you can grab above the tow point, turn the head upside-down and drive the whole tail to the ground.

As soon as you have landed, secure the head and remove to top link so the tail lays flat.

Now gather up the tail - you can either put it immediately back into the bamboo cradle (neater), or simply gather up the top line (between each segment) in your hand - you can put it in the cradle later. This is faster. Either way, make sure you tie a bow around the top line sections to stop them tangling.