Kite Aerial Photography (KAP)

Step 7 Kite streamers

I may have scored a deal on my kite, however streamers were not part of the package.
As a requirement for flight, kites do not need streamers. However flying without them is like driving a car with no steering wheel, a bad idea. Streamers act much like the fin on a weather vane, keeping your kite angled towards the wind, allowing for maximum lift.

Streamers are nothing more than a means to add drag to your kite (windsocks function the same way and can be used instead of, or in combination with streamers.) For this I decided to make my own using everyone's favourite unnecessary grocery item: the plastic shopping bag.

The original intent was to use an unaltered bag as a sock and just tether it behind the kite, acting like a parachute. While this worked it looked ridiculous. My kite was made fun of by all the other kites for looking frumpy and trashy. I told my kite it was prettier than all the other kites, and that being pink is much more eye-catching than flashy streamers on the other kites out that day, but it was no consolation. That night I stayed up and made my very own streamers.

Two shopping bags make one streamer:

• Cut down the sides of the bag, lay flat, cut into strips.
• Gather the ends from one side and tie off with string.
• For the boy scouts in the back section try adding a lengthened loop during your tie-off so you can attach the streamers easily to the kite.