A Brief History of Power Kites

Power kites happen to be a recent invention and they became popular only during the 1970s, as compared to other types of kites, including the traditional Chinese kites which have been around since ancient times. Power kites happen to be quite heavy and are usually used for recreational purposes, and their history of development is also very interesting. These days, they are also used very widely in a variety of sports events and their popularity has exploded with the arrival of the 21^st century.

Amongst the most significant type of no text available in the 1970s was the Flexifoil which utilized a 2 line design which was conceptualized and brought to reality by two Britishers, Ray Merry and Andrew Jones. The name was adopted later on by a kiting company. Later into the 1980s, there was much improvement in the original design giving birth to the 6 celled power kite by Ted Dougherty, but this design could not last very long with the introduction of even more modern designs. Ted Dougherty later on designed the Quadrifoil design during the 1990s, which was the first 4 line power kite. It has a rectangular shape and was used in sporting competitions as early as 1990. The design was patented later on and adopted as a brand name and was very much often used in sporting competitions after various modifications and innovations in its design in later years. On the other hand, a New Zealander named Peter Lynn designed a 2 line peel kite and introduced it into the market in 1991. It was quite large in size and was very commonly used for traction. This design is still very popular. In the late 1990s, a power kite manufacturing company came up with a new design which allowed for use in places with very strong wind. At the turn of the century, power kites entered the world of paragliding are now being very commonly used in this sport.

Power kites are now one of the most popular kinds of kites and are used widely around the globe.