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home page

This is the home page of KiteFlight, a PC program developed by Peter van den Hamer. KiteFlight is used by sports kite enthusiasts to visualize the motions of one or more dual-line stunt kites. You can use KiteFlight to view routines created by others or to develop your own routines. The following links take you to various files and documents related to KiteFlight.

Contents About KiteFlight How to obtain KiteFlight KiteFlight user's guide KiteFlight Newsletters About the author Downloadable software Free demo version of KiteFlight Free library of compulsories Free upgrades for registered users Registration form KiteFlight links Site access statistics

Latest news 30-Oct-99: New full length routine for KiteFlight from Japanese Sport Kite Club AiAi. 10-Jan-99: Newsletter #12 contains first pictures of KiteFlight 3.0 prototype and proposes a collaboration between AJSKA, AKA, and STACK. 1-Jun-98: Newsletter #11 is out. Main news: new KF review, new routine from Japan, KF sponsors team SAS. Other KiteFlight news

Note: to simplify navigation through this Web site, each key location has its own theme color (the current location's color is ocher). You can see these colors only if you are using a CSS1 compliant Web browser such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5.01 SP1 or Netscape Communicator 4.7. Links to such key locations will be displayed with the target location's background color (e.g. this link has a blue-green background). Links to external sites have a gray background. Links with no special background color are typically links within the current document.

Last modified: 2-Oct-2000

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How to obtain KiteFlight

Information about how to obtain the Kite 2.0 diskette in various countries is available here. Pictures of the user interface of the commercial version of KiteFlight (KF.EXE) can be viewed here.

A somewhat less sophisticated demo version of KiteFlight can be downloaded via Internet.

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KiteFlight user's guide

• a guided tour of the KiteFlight user interface (with about 15 screen images)
• documentation of all KiteFlight commands and settings
• technical information (e.g. known limitations & bugs)
• about the teams and individuals who contributed to the program
• reprints of all known press reviews of KiteFlight
• information about compulsories, STACK/AKA and other kite folklore
• full hyperlinked cross-referencing
• an alphabetic index with hundreds of entries

KF1 is the name of a simple language used in KiteFlight to control kite flying routines. The language provides instructions with which to define the number of kites in a routine, their initial positions and colors, their flight paths as well as information about how the routine is decomposed into segments.

Flight paths are defined as sequences of straight lines and arcs. The original version of the KF1 language assumed that all kites fly at the same speed. This limitation was removed in KF1 2.0.

Note that, apart from KiteFlight itself, there are two other programs which support the KF1 language: XKF and PSKF, both developed by Mr. Lee Hetherington.

The following somewhat more folkloristic example deals with the subject of "kite pins".

A real kite enthusiast has a collection of kite pins (s)he traded or stole from fellow addicts. The real collector's items are not for sale at shops, and are generally only parted with in return for an even more rare specimen or severe acts of violence.

Logic dictates that the only way you can form a pin collection of any stature is to design your own kite pin at the age of 10, to have these gold-plated pins manufactured in limited edition, to become national champion before the age of 15, and to seek out all major kite events for the rest of your life in order to swap pins.

Mr. Darrin Skinner of Tsunami is said to have "a pin collection of some stature".

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The KiteFlight Newsletters

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Free demo version of KiteFlight

The animations produced by the demo version and the commercial version of KiteFlight are virtually identical. The main differences between the two versions are:

• The demo version (KFCD.EXE) can run all the STACK/AKA/AJSKA compulsories, but not full-length animations like those shipped with the commercial version.
• The demo version's central control screen (click here for image) is less sophisticated than the various mouse-driven menus and windows of the commercial version (click here for a guided tour).
• The commercial version contains a built-in text editor to facilitate the creation of your own routines. You can create small routines for the demo version using a ASCII text editor.
• The commercial package contains a special version (KF32.EXE) whose animations run smoother when the program is run under Microsoft Windows (3.x or 95). KF32 also provides support for high-resolution graphics modes.

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Free upgrades for registered KF users

If you buy and register the commercial Kite 2.0 diskette, you can get free upgrades to KF 2.xx.

You can register (free) by submitting the following form. You will receive a reply by E-mail (in about one day) explaining how the update procedure works.

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KiteFlight T-shirt design

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KiteFlight-related resources on the Internet

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Other KiteFlight news

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Site access statistics

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Technical note: this counter is only incremented if your browser loads the GIF picture displaying the access count.
Thus users who have disabled the loading of pictures to speed up page access (or users of antique text-only browsers) are not counted.

Direct any remarks or questions to Peter van den Hamer (vdhamer@msn.com).