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Projects and eventsIndoor RecordsWe've set a number of STACK-recognised world records for indoor flying. Way back in '98 we set some of the early indoor records - just over 3 hours for a solo flight, by Greg Eynon using a Diva kite; then a 3 hour 33 minute 33 second relay - also with the Diva. (These are for continuous flying - no help, no landings or ground contact) As a build-up for these I set a record flying 2 kites - just 18 minutes, but it was a first attempt. I was persuaded to make a serious attempt for the Hereford Millenium Kite festival; we built a pair of special purpose indoor kites (the DaDa) and managed just over 58 minutes. Time TeamWe took part in one of the Time Team TV programmes, working on an historical reconstruction of the Roman Draco at Drumlanrig in Dumfries.There are just a few references to the Roman Draco standard. It was supposed to make an eeirie noise - perhaps an early form of psych warfare? Although an example of the Draco head has been found, there's no firm evidence for how the Draco made the noise, so our job was to experiment with various methods that might have been used, and come up with a 'most likely' fit. We settled on using an array of the Chinese flutes like the ones used on whistle kites. They are made from gourds and work at low pressure, so probably should be called flutes. We used a range of sizes tuned to produce a discord - hence the eeire effect. Really, just 2days to get it working, ready for filming on day 3 - and while I was working on the noise, Valerie was hand-sewing the Draco tail, using silk. In the end, a pretty successful experiment; the noise was loud enough to be heard 1km away so although it's not proof, it's a pretty plausible hypothesis. More information: http://www.fectio.org.uk/articles/makedraco3.htm New Year display at Coventry UniversityChinese kites at the O2 ArenaDragon kites for Glasgow MuseumGlasgow Museum used two of the super-large dragon kites as themed decorations for the entrance to the exhibition of Chinese culture. Wing project for Magna Interactive Science CentreWe were comimssioned to build a stylised wing which needed to double up as a projection screen. The challenge was to produce something over 3m wide, to remain totally flat and to weigh less than 2Kg. Oh, and it had to pack flat and be assembled on site under hard-hat conditions. The final design was executed in Chikara and 6mm Carbon/Kevlar tube forming a virtual torsion box with the fabric forming part of the structure. Aerial FiestaOur trip to the Emirates where we organised the kite display for the Al Ain Aerial Fiesta.
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