Kite Flying Day

What the day is

Kite Flying Day is observed on February 8. The date looks unpromising until you consider the wind: late winter and early spring are the reliably breezy months across much of the northern hemisphere, which is why kite festivals cluster there rather than in still summer air.

Origin and background

The origin of the observance is not documented. The kite itself is ancient, developed in China well over two thousand years ago using silk for the sail and split bamboo for the frame, both materials that were available, light and strong.

Its uses were rarely only recreational. Kites were used to measure distances, to carry lines across gaps, to signal, and to lift observers. They spread across Asia into distinct traditions, including Japanese festival kites of enormous size and the competitive fighting kites of South Asia and Afghanistan, flown with abrasive line to cut an opponent's string.

The scientific connection is genuine. Kites were used for atmospheric and meteorological measurement for centuries, and the Wright brothers flew their early wings as kites before ever putting a person on them, using the tethered flights to work out control surfaces. Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment is the most famous story of the lot, though historians have long argued about how it was actually conducted.

How to take part

• Check the wind before going. Roughly 8 to 15 miles per hour suits most simple kites; too little and it will not lift, too much and it will break.
• Find open ground well away from power lines and roads. Wet line and overhead cables are genuinely dangerous.
• Launch with your back to the wind, let out line steadily rather than running, and let the kite climb into clean air above ground turbulence.
• Add tail if it loops and dives. Instability is usually a tail problem rather than a wind problem.
• Build one with a child. A simple diamond from dowel, paper and string takes an afternoon and flies perfectly well.

Wear gloves if you plan to fly anything large. Line under load cuts skin quickly.