A History of Box Kites

MBK Dowel Box

Samuel Cody, from the United States, later extended the rectangular-box concept and made some winged box kites that were designed for the military. Cody patented his man-lifting system in 1901.

The idea was that a human observer could provide an advantage on the battlefield by observing the enemy from a great height. The wings and vanes made the kites even more stable and suited to lifting heavy objects.

Actually, somebody did once go up under a Cody kite to more than 2,000 feet of altitude! Too bad the airplane was invented not many years later. A whole bunch of perfectly good Cody kites ended up in mothballs.

On the topic of airplanes, notice how similar the oldest of biplanes were to box kites. The planes were basically box kites with a tail and an engine added. That was no coincidence. Take, for example, the Bristol Boxkite, a famous old aircraft. The earliest plane inventors, including the Wright brothers, tinkered with kites while they planned and dreamed about what they really wanted to build!

Later in the history of box kites (during the early 20th. century) they were used for measuring atmospheric conditions such as wind velocity, temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity, at a range of altitudes. These kites were large, with oiled-silk sails and steel lines. They were highly stable, with great lifting power.

Another military application that can be found in box-kite history is the emergency kits issued to pilots in the Second World War, in the 1940s. Known as the Gibson Girl box kite, it could be flown by a pilot lost at sea, with an aerial suspended for a radio transmitter.

So if there was no wind, I guess the pilot had to paddle his life raft like a lunatic, while trying to make the radio call at the same time. I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it. (Just kidding—a helium balloon was also provided in the kit.)

Just about the whole time all this military stuff was going on, and up to this day, radio enthusiasts have used box kites for hoisting up aerials to a great height! I guess ham radio isn't as big as it once was, but there you have it, it's another application for box kites.