• Chinese: 鳶, 鸢 yuān
• Danish: glente
• French: milan
• German: Milan
• Hungarian: vörös kánya
• Japanese: 鳶 (とび, tobi)
• Lithuanian: peslys
• Polish: kania
• Russian: коршун (kóršun)
• Serbian: lunja
• Spanish: milano , aguililla

• Bosnian: zmaj
• Catalan: estel
• Chinese: 風箏, 风筝 fēng zhēng
• Czech: drak
• Danish: drage
• Dutch: vlieger
• Esperanto: kajto
• Finnish: leija
• French: cerf-volant
• German: Drachen
• Hebrew:
• Hungarian: sárkány
• Icelandic: flugdreki
• Italian: aquilone
• Japanese: 凧 (たこ, tako)
• Korean: 연 (yeon)
• Lithuanian: aitvaras
• Polish: latawiec
• Portuguese: papagaio , pipa italbrac Brazil, pandorga italbrac Southern Brazil
• Russian: воздушный змей (air snake (dragon))
• Serbian:

  Cyrillic: змај

  Roman: zmaj

• Spanish: cometa , barrilete , cachirulo italbrac Eastern Central Spain, chichigua italbrac Dominican Republic, chiringa italbrac Puerto Rico, lechuza italbrac Nicaragua, pandero italbrac Southern Spain, pandorga , papagayo , papalote , papelote italbrac Honduras, petaca italbrac Northwestern Venezuela, piscucha italbrac El Salvador, volador , volantín
• Swedish: drake

Verb

1. To fly a kite.

   I'm going kiting this weekend.

2. To glide in the manner of a kite.

   The wind kited us toward shore.

3. To travel by kite, as when kitesurfing.

   We spent the afternoon kiting around the bay.

4. To toss or cast.
5. To write a check on an account with insufficient funds, expecting that funds will become available by the time the check clears.

   He was convicted of kiting checks and sentenced to two years in prison.

6. To cause an increase, especially in costs.

   Rising interest rates have kited the cost of housing.

7. To attack and destroy a monster or mob from a distance, without exposing oneself to danger.
8. nautical engineering To deflect sideways in the water.
9. To send a short letter.
10. To steal.

Derived terms

• check kiting
• kiter

Translations

See also

Japanese

Verb

kite (hiragana きて)

1. 来て: Conjunctive form of 来る (くる, kuru), "to come".

Maori

Verb

kite (used in the form kite-a)

1. to see

Kite festivals are a popular form of entertainment throughout the world. They include small local events, traditional festivals which have been held for hundreds of years and major international festivals which bring in kite flyers from overseas to display their unique art kites and demonstrate the latest technical kites.

Asia

Kite flying is popular in many Asian countries, where it often takes the form of 'kite fighting', in which participants try to snag each other's kites or cut other kites down. Fighter kites are usually small, flat, flattened diamond-shaped kites made of paper and bamboo. Tails are not used on fighter kites so that agility and maneuverability are not compromised. In Afghanistan this is known as Gudiparan Bazi. Some kite fighters pass their strings through a mixture of ground glass powder and glue. The resulting strings are very abrasive and can sever the competitor's strings more easily. The abrasive strings can also injure people. During the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, kite flying was banned, among various other recreations.

In Vietnam, kites are flown without tails. Instead small flutes are attached allowing the wind to "hum" a musical tune. There are other forms of sound-making kites. In Bali, large bows are attached to the front of the kites to make a deep throbbing vibration, and in Malaysia row of gourds with sound-slots are use to create a whistle as the kite flies.

The Indian festival of Makar Sankranti is devoted to kite fighting in some states. This spring festival is celebrated every January 15, with millions of people flying kites all over northern India. The states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, some part of West Bengal, Rajasthan , and the cities of Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Dhanbad and Hyderabad are particularly notable for their kite fighting festivals. Kite flying in Hyderabad starts a month before the official kite flying festival (Sankranthi). The thread used to fly kites in Hyderabad is known as 'Manjaa'. Highly maneuverable single-string paper and bamboo kites are flown from the rooftops while using line friction in an attempt to cut each other's kite lines, either by letting the line loose at high speed or by pulling the line in a fast and repeated manner. In some Indian cities kite flying/fighting is an important part of other celebrations, including Republic Day, Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, and Janmashtami.

In Pakistan, kite flying is a popular ritual for the spring festival known as Basant. However, kite flying is currently banned as some kite fliers engage in kite battles by coating their strings with glass or shards of metal, leading to injuries and death. Kite fighting is a very popular sport in Pakistan, mainly centered in Lahore. Kup, Patang, Guda, and Nakhlaoo are some of the kites used in fighting and they vary in balance, weight and speed through the air.

Weifang, Shandong, China promotes itself as the kite capital of the world. It is home to the largest kite museum in the world, which has a display area of 8100m². Weifang hosts an annual international kite festival on the large salt flats south of the city. There are several kite museums in Japan and others in England, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA.

Europe

In Greece, flying kites is a tradition for Clean Monday, the first day of Lent. In the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, traditional Bermuda kites are made and flown at Easter, to symbolise Christ's ascent. Bermuda kites hold the world records for altitude and duration.

South America

In Guyana, on Easter Weekend thousands turn out for mass kite flying. Many participate in kite flying competitions.

Popular culture

• The Kite Runner, a 2005 novel by Khaled Hosseini dramatizes the role of kite fighting in pre-war Kabul.
• The Peanuts cartoon character Charlie Brown was often depicted having flown his kite into a tree as a metaphor for life's adversities.

General safety issues

There are safety issues involved in kite-flying, more so with power kites. Kite lines can strike and tangle on electrical power lines, causing power blackouts and running the risk of electrocuting the kite flier. Wet kite lines or wire can act as a conductor for static electricity and lightning when the weather is stormy. Kites with large surface areas or powerful lift can lift the kite flier off the ground or drag them into stationary objects. In urban areas there is usually a ceiling on how high a kite can be flown, to prevent the kite and line infringing on the airspace of helicopters and light aircraft. In Asia, specially in the Indian subcontinent the twine is coated with powdered glass to cut opponent's lines and these deadly strings known as Manja are reported to kill number of pedestrians or motorcyclists each year all over the region.

Types of kites

• Arch kite rotary two-anchor rainbow arch and static two-anchor rainbow arch
• Bermuda kite
• Bow kite
• Bowed kite
• Cellular or box kite
• Delta kite
• Fighter kite
• Foil or parafoil kite
• Indoor kite
• Inflatable single-line kite
• Kytoon
• Manned kite
• Rogallo Parawing kite
• Rokkaku
• Stunt kite
• Styrofoam kites
• Tetrahedral kite
• Water kite The kite pioneer Domina Jalbert told Tal Streeter that water kites are hardly different from air kites and could have many applications.

Types of kite line

• Cotton
• Dacron
• Dyneema
• Spectra
• Hemp
• Kevlar
• Linen
• Nylon
• Polyester
• Rayon
• Silk
• Manja or Manjha, Hindi word for the glass powder coated kite flying & fighting string from Indian subcontinent and surrounding regions

See also

• Kite shape (geometry)
• Kitesurfing
• Kite buggying
• Kite landboarding
• Windsports
• Wind
• Kite fishing
• Kite aerial photography
• Captive helicopter
• Captive plane
• Hang gliding
• Conceptual kite wind generator
• Bali kite festival
• Uttarayan The kite flying festival of northern India
• List of books about kites
• Remotely operated vehicle Some tethered ROVs are kited with remote controls on fins for underwater kiting. Ships tow the ROVs; the tether often has communication cables in it.

References

External links

• Kite and Airship History
• Power Kites The Kite Shop offers single-line kites and stunt kites, power kites and traction kites, plus Aerobies, frisbees and diablos.
• Mathematics and aeronautical principles of kites
• Kite history including timelines of kite history
• The Virtual Kite Zoo descriptions and pictures of many types of kite
• Kite plans link set
• Fighter kites of India
• LeCerfVolant.info (fr)
• List of notable kite museums and international festivals
• Smithsonian Kite Festival An annual event that features kitemaking competition and other events, held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
• Kitecraft and Kite Tournaments (1914) A free public domain e-book
• Kite aerial photography USGS San Andreas Fault
• Kites pulling ships
• U.S. Civil War kytoons kites lighter than air used
• Technical articles about multiple kite flying - Indoor flying and quadline flying
• Kiting basics
• February 20, 2008 Hat Trick in Kuwait
• KiteMakers

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