Vehicles pulled by Kites

A very popular recreation activity which some of you may enjoy involves windsurfing on lakes or at sea with the aid of a kite and a surfboard. This is called kite-surfing. Variations of this theme such as kite drawn skateboards and go-karts can be seen in most large parks or seaside resources.

This may seem a new concept but infact kite were being used to pull vehicles as far back as 1853. In this year Cayley ordered his coachman to fly across a dale at Brompton. The coachman sat in a vehicle called the 'new flyer'. The coachman survived the flight but offered his resignation after informing Cayley that he was employed to drive and not fly. This was the first recorded man-carrying glider.

The Samoans used kites to pull their canoes and even Benjamin Franklin used a kite to pull his boat across a pond.
George Pocock an English schoolteacher patented his 'Char-Volant' in 1826. This lightweight carriage carried four to five passengers at speeds of up to 20 m.p.h. Two large arch-top kites pulled the carriage along. Pocock later conducted experiments, which involved lifting both his son and daughter along lines that were attached to large kites.

Photo courtesy of Matt Hurrell