Paul Garber

During World War II, Paul Garber, who would eventually be historian emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution, was a Lieutenant on the carrier USS Block Island. He had been an avid kite flyer since the age of five and had written a kite-flying manual for the Boy Scouts in 1931.

    In 1942 he was assigned to the Navy’s Special Devices Division to teach aircraft gunners to identify enemy planes. When aircraft were not available to tow targets, the gunners would practice shooting at clouds. Garber knew there was a better way.

    Kites with two control lines were developed by a Garber as a means of training naval antiaircraft gunners. Paul Garber's kite was highly maneuverable, and was used as target practice. The kite was said to be quite hard to hit as it moved around the sky at the command of its "pilot" who was safely on the ground.

    Garber developed a kite that could swing across the sky, loop, dive and climb like an aircraft. The kite was controlled by a flyer with a twin spool reel with control bar and brake. A ventral fin and rudder provided directional control. Silhouettes of enemy planes were silkscreened on the light blue rayon sail. In flight, the background disappeared. The increased difficulty in hitting the targets sharpened the gunners’ skill.

    Garber also used kites to pass papers from ship to aircraft. A cable with a package attached was strung between two kites. A passing aircraft would snare the cable with a hook and deliver the package.

    Paul Garber had seen the Wright brothers demonstrate their aircraft to the US. Army in 1909, and later became the curator of the Smithsonian Institute, which holds the largest collection of aviation related artifacts in the world.