The Classic Cody Kite

An early Cody design

Some of the original kites are still in existence.

I know of one Cody kite in particular, a smaller model with side sails that lean outward at the top rather than being absolutely parallel like a classic box. Here's a few notes on the materials:

• Sails—very fine cotton cloth which has become very stiff over the years
• Binding tapes—also very fine cotton cloth
• Spars—all longerons and cross stays are bamboo
• Rigging lines and bridle—all these are hemp, 2 mm (1/12 in.) in diameter

However, in his bigger kites, the sails were usually silk. Also, more use was made of American hickory for the spars, since this material has greater strength than bamboo. Like the early Hargrave kites, the sails were tensioned up to be drum-tight.

It's easy to see that the origins of this kite's basic construction lay in the Hargrave double-box kite. Cody was after even more lifting power and stability though. Also very influential was the old American Blue Hill meteorological kite design of the time.

Cody man-lifting system

Cody was the inventor of a clever system of sending up a whole train of his kites. That's also called kite stacking these days. At least a couple of copies of Cody's multiple-kite system have been constructed for doing rather impressive displays at kite festivals!

Here's a quick description of one of these man-lifting systems:

• Highest up is a small pilot kite to steady and guide the line.
• Following this are a whole series of lifter kites which, you guessed it, provide most of the lifting force. In strong winds you don't need as many, so this aspect of the system can be altered according to the weather.
• Last of all, closest to the ground, is the carrier kite. Under the carrier kite is suspended a chair or basket for the passenger.

I don't know why the word "passenger" is often used, since this person is actually in charge of controlling their ascent and descent via a system of lines and brakes. At least that was the case in the original system.

Cody himself, on horseback

Somewhere around 1898, when Cody was taking his Wild West show around England, he became interested in building kites. He competed with his stepson Leon to make and fly the largest kites possible. They also attempted to fly these kites as high as possible. Finally, in 1901, they patented the winged box-kite design we now know as the Cody kite. Its design drew on the Hargrave double-box kite and also the American Blue Hill meteorological kite.

In December of 1901, Cody offered this design to the War Office which at that time was involved in the Second Boer War. To prove its suitability for aerial spotting, he flew it at various locations around London, at heights up to 600 meters (2,000 feet).

A number of other accomplishments followed. He mounted a large exhibition of his kites at Alexandra Place in 1903. Later on, he even managed to cross the English Channel in a canoe, towed by one of his kites. The French kite surfers on the other side were surprised and shocked to see him coming over the horizon. OK, I added that last bit ... history can get a bit dull after a while, so I'm just trying to keep you awake :-)

The British Navy sat up and took notice after this and even paid him to look into using kites as observation platforms. A few demonstrations followed where he hoisted an observer up into the air under a large kite. In 1908, Cody himself flew off the deck of the battleship HMS Revenge, in another man-lifting demonstration.