Military Kites throughout the ages

     Kites were used as an observation device during both the first and second world wars. They were used as a means of increasing the range of visibility by German submarines during both of these wars. At water level an observer might be able to see 8 kilometers, but by using a kite to lift that observer to a height of 400 feet, visibility could be increased to 40 kilometers. When keeping a lookout for enemy ships such an increase of range was definitely an advantage. During the second world war, kites were supplied as standard equipment in life rafts on British and Australian aircraft.

     If these rafts had to be used, the kite could be used to lift the antennae of an emergency radio transmitter. The kite was also used as an airborne sail; although the speed of the raft through the water was quite low, it did help to stabilize the boat in rough seas. Kites again attracted attention in the 1950s and 1960s when Francis Rogallo developed a completely flexible kite, with no rigid supporting spars. Instead of spars, this kite uses the wind itself to hold it open and maintain its shape.

     Rogallo was an aeronautical engineer working for NASA. He was searching for a controllable recovery system for spacecraft. This kite was the first to be developed with the assistance of wind tunnel testing, and is an indication of how far kites have come since they were simply a child's toy. The "Rogallo wing", rather than being used just as a kite, has been put to numerous uses by the American military, and is the basis for hang gliders, and through them, for many of the ultralight aircraft designs being flown today.