Repairing the Beetle Kite

by Thomas E. Smith
(St. Augustine, FL, USA)

I found two small, two string kites in the trash. They were both broken yet hardly used. On both of them the plastic grommets that hold the cross bar were broken off.

To repair the kites, I took a large plastic coated colored paper clip and wound it around the bar and made a coil of 5 turns. Then I took that and made another coil replacing the original plastic grommet. This worked perfectly.

I also found that clothes hanger wire worked well for standoffs. I found the diagram for this kite on the internet.

200 words?

So, I used to sell kites when I was living on Maui. There's a wonderful kite flying spot around the island on Oahu too. It's out away from the population. Hang gliders launch from the cliffs above, so it's a cool place. It's the windward side so there is no beach and the ocean pounds against the rocks and if you're brave you can pick Opihi as the waves go out.

Living on the islands was a great experience, some of the finest days of my life. Though, I'm not doing too bad now living in St. Augustine.