The attraction when the wind is hardly noticeable....
... a chain of small Chinese dragons ....
They are handmade in Beijing and consist of split bamboo and rice paper....
if there had only been 10 cents for each photo that the photographers took at kite festivals or a meadow, then all kites in the kite bag would have been paid for :-)
always a wonderful sight as the kite chain is in the sky.
The masks of the Chinese opera as well as butterflies and balloons are printed as motifs.
We got the necklace from my brother, who brought me a number of beautiful Chinese dragons during his six-month stay in Beijing.
These chains are flown on traffic islands and highway bridges in Beijing.
This photo was taken at the end of September 2010 at a small but nice kite festival on the Swabian Alb.
As of November 20, 2011:
We added 20 new kites. Cost for the 20 kites: approx. €2.50 for paper and bamboo.
Furthermore, we now have barrel swivels from the fishing supplies between all kites, size 16 should be enough.
Here is a picture of the modifications to a new kite
This is what the chain with the new dragons looks like:
It was great fun to see how the little ones happily climbed into the sky with very little wind. We enjoyed the beautiful warm and dry Sunday at the end of November.
Yes, the work was worth it and whets the appetite for more Chinese-style kites.....
... ne Centipede - whatever kind would be something.....
Status November 2015:
There are finally these kites on the market... and of course I bought them... 30 kites with swallows and males as an extension for this chain
....AND....
I can build a “Centipede” :-) ... a dragon's head - printed on one of the small dragons and 116 dragons with a disc printed on top.
Bought a barrel swivel and a 25 or 10 line and satin ribbon, because the glitter tails don't hold up... what a job. everyone has their lines and tails off and new ones on and a barrel twirl on top of that.... but it's worth it... these chains are simply amazing in the almost windless sky
... 4 chains of 30 dragons, each dragon 25 x 30 cm with a 50 cm long tail....
... Since the quality of the workmanship of this type of kite is very very poor, I had to touch and work on each of the 120 kites...
... The dragons are made of rice paper on slit flat bamboo strips with a plastic tail (my first chain still had silk ribbons as a tail)
The following problems have to be eliminated:
Dragon tails are made of plastic, metallized so that it glitters... Are glued to the rice paper and the metal detaches from the carrier film and the tail comes off as soon as you unpack it. So make new.
The cord is of the worst quality and not a single knot will hold.
many kites are torn in the paper or even have holes.
first then renewed the tails. I got 30 mm wide, colorful polyester gift ribbons on a roll and gave them to each kite, always 5 in a row with the same color
... then touched up the paper. Years ago I got the Chinese / Japanese rice paper on rolls similar to the wrapping paper in a 1€ shop... I struck directly and bought the stock there :-), because I have many such Chinese paper kites.
Mending is fine, just stick a piece on the back with a glue stick....
... I replaced the cords as follows:
the lower 60 pieces with a 25daN Climax Blackline and the upper 60 pieces with a 10daN Climax Blackline and behind each kite a swivel from fishing. This means that the individual kite can rotate and the line can immediately rotate with it and then relax again straight away.
The lower 90 kites use 14 swivels and the upper 30 kites use 16 swivels as swivels.....
...and here the complete dragon:.....
...distance between the individual kites is 65 cm - so I can pull them off the line by myself while standing by collecting the kites in front of my stomach and still being able to reach behind the next kite. That's how I did it with my first chain, works fine.
Total length of the chain 120 x 0.65 m = 78 meters and I hope the 25daN line will hold the chain.
Well she flies around SUL max UL wind and is really fun...
I'm curious how this is doing here in the sky. It was a lot of hard work because I secured each knot with superglue. I've often had loosening knots on the Blackline......
March 12, 2016:
First flight of the chain of small China kites... unfortunately I had to break off after about 50-60 kites due to the "increasing" wind... there was simply too much wind for the wafer-thin bamboo and paper flails...
The first 30-35 are already on their way :-)... they flew straight out of the hand
...now there are 50-60 kites outside, but as I said, the wind picked up and then the chain tends to fly down....
...Flyed on the heights of the beautiful Eifel over the Ahr valley....
Now just waiting for a nice day when there is really SUL wind to release the entire chain into the sky...
April 02, 2016 next attempt:
but the wind picked up again and after about 50 kites I had to stop... but the day will come when the whole chain will be out :-)
Here are some pictures of the test and a YouTube video about it
The chain is really nice and calm in the sky.
It is very easy to launch and retrieve from the hand.
Here's the whole thing with moving pictures :-)
...April 10, 2016 in Bensheim at the 1st Wolsing Friends Meeting...
little wind, so the chains could breathe a bit...
...July 7th, 2016 in Sankt Peter Ording at the 6th Wolsing Flies..
little wind, so the chains could be aired for the first time on the coast...
...Wolfgang photographed the necklace with his KAP kite.
A camera is pulled up by a kite and pictures are taken from above.
...It was a wonderful sight and like everywhere where the chain is in the sky, people stop there on the coast and admire the many small kites..
on September 25, 2016 they were allowed to fly over Harscheid again... it was a steel-blue sky and a warm wind - perfect weather.
Then on May 13, 2017 Bärbel and I were able to climb the chain at the Schwanner Warte on the northern edge of the Black Forest.
Here are a few impressions
It's always a pleasure to let these little kites fly with a touch of wind. I was able to give a little girl, who was admiring the necklace with her father, one of the remaining 10 necklaces with a children's motif. She was visibly happy about it and released her necklace directly into the sky.
I found 2 more pictures from the year 2001 at the kite festival in Malmsheim... well, back then it was wonderful weather and little wind. Sabine was able to place the dragon chain in the sky.
May 12, 2018 at the kite festival in Idar-Oberstein in a creamy evening wind, the Kettmal was allowed to go out into the air again. This time Birgit was able to fly the China chain.
and Birgit also shot a little Youtube video...
Status September 2018:
A third chain was added. Motive this time, the masks of the Chinese opera. It consists of about 80 individual kites. During my rehab stay in Bad Neuenahr I was able to install the 10 Blackline and the swivels as described above in peace.
....AND....
At the end of the rehab I was able to fly the chain. Unfortunately, the wind picked up again this time, so that after about 60 kites I had to catch up with the chain again.
In China I was able to buy and assemble a number of such small reels. The size is optimal for these chains, as it can be operated with one hand and the light flying line can easily be accommodated.
Also in October 2018 at the kite festival in Malmsheim I had the opportunity to put a chain in the sky. But it turned out that the “Centipeden chain” is too long and I have to share it. But it was the first time she was completely outside.
Yet In October 2018 at the Kite Festival in the Westerwald we were able to put the little ones up in the sky again and they enjoyed the famous wind in the Westerwald.
_jfif.jpg)
_jfif.jpg)
The following two pictures were taken at the Kite Festival 2019 in Malmsheim when pretty much nothing wanted to go up in the sky. Also the Chinese obviously had a hard time with the doldrums, so I had to pack her up again. luckily the wind picked up in the course of the morning. So we were able to fly a few kites after all.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)