Kitty Hawk Kites Archives - Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates

New World Record Glide Distance Set at 5th Annual BrewTag

Flying beer kegs marked the 5th Annual BrewTag at the Nags Head Event Site on Saturday.

Beer, evidently can fly. Or glide at least. That’s what we discovered today at the 5th Annual BrewTag in Nags Head.

Maybe the winds were just right; maybe the contestants are finally figuring out how to build a glider that will fly a small keg of beer (empty, or course). Perhaps the sheer number of contestants—15, the most ever—raised the competitive bar.

Or maybe it was just plain dumb luck.

Whatever it was, two of the best flights ever recorded at BrewTag happened this afternoon. the idea is to strap a 1/6 keg of beer—empty, of course—to a homemade glider, launch it from a 20’ tower and see how far it will fly.

We thought we had the all time winner when the Blue Crab Tavern team, representing the Colington Road bar and restaurant ripped off a 66’4” flight, besting the old mark by 9’.

The team’s celebration was a thing to behold as they ran around the flight field cheering wildly as they carried their aircraft to safety.

Their joy was short-lived. Three flights later, team Late For Work shattered the Blue Crab Tavern record with an astonishing flight of 96’7”.

It is important to note that not every flight was a thing of beauty, gracefully soaring as the glider settled to the ground. There was stiff competition for the shortest flight of the day…12’6” just edging out 12’7”. And quite a few of the aircraft did not survive the landing.

Nonetheless, from the vantage of flight, this was the most successful yet.

The day was also a very successful fundraiser—according to John Harris, the President of Kitty Hawk Kites who sponsored the event, the 2019 BrewTag raised more money than any had in the past.

That’s great news. Half of the proceeds will be going to Ocracoke through the Outer Banks Community Foundation’s Ocracoke Disaster Relief Fund. The remaining proceeds will help fund the Francis Rogallo Foundation. Francis Rogallo was a NASA engineer who, among other things, invented the Rogallo wing that is used in hang gliding.

Looking for a getaway to a wonderful place by the sea? Check out what Joe Lamb, Jr. & associates has to offer.

Kitty Hawk Kites Watermelon Festival Fun for the Whole Family

Face painting is just one of the great kid-friendly activities at the Kitty Hawk Kites Watermelon Festival.

Need something for the kids to do? A fun time that will keep the whole family laughing and create some great memories? Check out the Kitty Hawk Watermelon Festival this Thursday at Jockey’s Ridge Crossing in Nags Head.

This is the 12th Annual Kitty Hawk Kites Watermelon Festival and having attended quite a number of them we can guarantee it will be a great time..

It’s all about watermelon, fun and there’s a little bit of silliness to it as well, but that just adds to the good time.

The classic for the day is the watermelon seed spitting contest. Of course…how could there be a Watermelon Festival without a watermelon seed spitting contest?

The day is really geared around children, so there is face painting, an inflatable waterslide and tie dye T-shirt making. And of course, a watermelon eating contest.

The event is free, but activities and contests do require a ticket. However any money collected goes to a good cause— the Outer Banks Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety Coalition. The Coalition has been working with local communities and government to enhance bicycle safety and awareness.

The festivities kick off at 10 a.m. and keep going until 4 p.m. The weather forecast is looking pretty good for Thursday, so pack up the kids, put a bounce in your step and go spit some watermelon seeds.

So much to do and so little time, so plan another visit to the Outer Banks with Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates.

Trashion Show & More Fill Outer Banks Weekend

Postponed but still happening...the First Annual Outer Banks Trashion Show. — Postponed but still happening…the First Annual Outer Banks Trashion Show.

Weather stopped the first go around of the First Annual Trashion Show, but the rescheduled gala for Friday is looking nothing short of spectacular.

The place to be tomorrow, Friday, is at the Outer Banks Brewing Station in Kill Devil Hills at 5:00 p.m.

That’s when it all happens. The models walk the runway in the latest fashions created from the flotsam, jetsam and junk found on the beach.

It should be a lot of fun and it’s all going to a good cause—the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

The Coastal Federation is a remarkable organization that has a history of working successfully with multiple groups to effect real environmental benefits.

They are a strong advocate for commercial fishing, working across party lines and constituents to insure healthy breeding areas for seafood. The Coastal Federation has also been instrumental in helping a nascent oyster industry take root in the state.

The Trashiobn Show is not the only big thing happening this weekend, but it makes for a great lead in to some of the other events.

The big music event is the Mustang Spring Jam in Corolla. It begins on Saturday evening, then its a full day of great music on Sunday.

This one is also a benefit—for two organizations this time. Proceeds go to the Corolla Wild Horse fund, the nonprofit organization that manages the Corolla Wild Mustangs. The Mustang Music Outreach Program also receives funding from Mustang Jam.

The Mustang Music Program works with students to hone musical performance skills.

Finally for something really different to do this weekend, there is also the Kitty Hawk Kites 47th Annual Hang Gliding Spectacular at Jockey’s Ridge State Park. The Spectacular is the oldest continually happening hang gliding completion in the world.

That’s just an inkling of all there is to do on the Outer Banks. Make your plans to stay with us at Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates.

BrewTag 2018-Beer, Wind and Flight on the Outer Banks

The winning team. The BOOBS took home tip prize with a flight of 39'. — The winning team. The BOOBS took home tip prize with a flight of 39′.

A Possible Nor’Easter Can’t Keep Beer from Flying

Somehow, flying into the teeth of a brisk northeast wind, the BrewTag competitors proved conclusively that beer can almost fly.

The weather was iffy on Saturday, but that didn’t keep the aeronautical engineers who created the Flying Chicken and other wonders of the imagination of flight from climbing the tower and launching their creations.

In the end it was the Boys Of the Obx Brewing Station (the Boobs) who took home the top prize with a flight of 39’—a remarkable achievement given the 10-15 mph winds and gusts to 20+.

Organized by Kitty Hawk Kites, BrewTag may be one of the most fun events of the year. Taking place at the Event Site in Nags Head, teams compete with homemade gliders with a (small) keg (empty) attached. In the past gliders patterned after the Rogallo Wing that is used for hang gliders seemed to do best. This year, though, the BOOBS mono-wing glider took top distance, although it’s landing was not the most graceful.

What makes BrewTag so much fun is that it refuses to take itself too seriously…that and the 20 microbrews on hand. There was also some great food from local vendors.

Like all events that has the Kitty Hawk Kites stamp on it, though, it is very family friendly with well-thought out and well planned activities for kids.

The Outer Banks Brewtag is a benefit The Rogallo Foundation. The Rogallo Foundation was created to honor Francis and Gertrude Rogallo, inventors of the flexible wing. Proceeds will be used to build a museum featuring Rogallo’s work, designs, history and advancements since its development.

Look for the 2019 BrewTag on Saturday, October 26.

There is still lots to do on the Outer Banks. Make your reservations today at Joe Lamb, Jr. & Associates.

Spectacular Kite Display at 40th Annual Wright Kite Festival

A record number of kites filled the skies in ideal conditions on Saturday at the 40th Annual Wright Kite Festival.

Best Kite Flying Weather Ever, According to Experts

Two days of near perfect kite flying weather greeted the 40th Annual Wright Kite Festival this year, and the kite flyers of Kitty Hawk Kites took full advantage of it.

The display that was put on at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hills was the most spectacular that any of us can remember. We even had a chance to ask John Harris, the President and founder of Kitty Hawk Kites where this year’s display fell in the list of best kite flying days. He thought about it for a moment and said he didn’t recall anything quite like this year.

Saturday was especially spectacular with a brisk northeast breeze blowing at a constant 12-15 mph. With relatively few gusts and a consistent wind, a record number of diets filled the sky. There were unicorns, a spaceman, teddy bears, cows, fish, and a collection of large—make that huge—single line kites filling the sky.

Sunday was a great day as well—although not quite as good. The wind shifted to the south, and at the Wright Brothers Memorial, a south wind is not quite as good as an east wind for kite flying.

What was particularly nice about both days—Saturday especially—were daytime temperatures were tolerable. There have been some years when the heat and humidity of an Outer Banks July day made staying for any length of time at the event a challenge.

The Festival is more than just a bunch of kites in the sky.

There were stunt kite demos all day. Watching some of the KHK experts work with kids on how to fly a two line kite is wonderful—and the excitement of the kids when they actually get the kite to do what they want it to do is infectious.

There were also kite making workshops for little kids. They get to make a sled kite—a very basic design and the nice thing is it really flies.

It’s a pretty sure bet the Wright Kite Festival will be back in 2019. It’s always a weekend event, the second Saturday and Sunday of July.

There’s always a lot happening on the Outer Banks during the summer. Check our Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates availability to see if you too can be part of the fun.

Rogallo Kite Festival Comes to Jockey’s Ridge State Park

Kites paint the sky at the Rogallo Kite Festival.

36th Annual Rogallo Kite Festival Has Something for Everyone

There is probably no better way to celebrate Francis Rogallo than with the Kitty Hawk Kites Rogallo Kite Festival. Held this coming weekend, June 15-17, at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, the 36th annual edition of the festival is a must stop and see part of the Outer Banks experience.

Francis Rogallo was a NASA scientist who, in his spare time, invented a steerable flexible wing—the basis for hang gliders. paragliders, modern parachutes…and stunt kites.

Mr. Rogallo was a longtime resident of Southern Shores and an ardent supporter of all things that fly. He passed away in 2009, but his legacy lives on in the many designs of stunt kites and the sport of hang gliding on the Outer Banks.

The Rogallo Kite Festival has something for everyone. When Kitty Hawk Kites puts on a festival, they pull out their biggest, most spectacular kites and seeing 40’ and 50’ dragons, dogs and other animals floating in the wind above Jockey’s Ridge is an amazing sight.

The festival is all about kites and kite flying. There are stunt kite demos all day with instruction from Kitty Hawk Kites employees and representatives of some of the kite companies.

One of the most spectacular things to do—or maybe it falls under the heading of fun—is to fly a power kite. The power kites that make their appearance at a show like the Rogallo Festival are usually frameless, using the wind to fill baffles and give the kite lift.

With no frame, they can’t be broken. And that’s good, because the first experience with the wind catching an 8’ power kite is…interesting.

For a challenge, there will probably be some quad line kites to try as well. More difficult to steer than a standard dual line stunt kite, when mastered the range of maneuvers a quad line kite can accomplish is astonishing.

The weather is looking good for the weekend, so check it out.

The Rogallo Kite Festival is just one of many activities scheduled for the summer on the Outer Banks. Need a place to stay while checking out all there is to do on the Outer Banks? Check out our listings at Joe Lamb Jr., & Associates.

Jockey’s Ridge State Park Most Visited in NC

Jockey's Ridge in the summertime. — Jockey’s Ridge in the summertime.

Over 1.5 Million Visitors Last Year

We’ve always known that Jockey’s Ridge State Park is popular and the latest news from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources confirms that.

Jockey’s Ridge State Park was the most visited North Carolina Park in 2017. According to NCDNCR 1,560,254 visitors came to the park last year, an increase of 19% over 2016.

Known to most visitors as the home of the Kitty Hawk Kites hang gliding school, the park is actually a small but remarkably diverse ecosystem. There is a dense maritime forest that has formed on the banks of the Croatan Sound; at the base of the eastern dunes a unique form of pond—a vernal pond appears after heavy rains. The ponds, which are wholly dependent on rainwater and are isolated from any form of drainage, support a number of species that have evolved to thrive in that environment.

Jockey’s Ridge—the huge sand dune that towers over the surrounding terrain of the park, is a living dune, meaning it is migrating—to the south, in this case—and varies significantly in height depending on wind and weather conditions. Typically the height of the dune ranges from 75’-100’.

It is an ideal location to learn how to hang glide. Sand is a much more forgiving median for landings that packed earth or rock and Outer Banks winds tend to be reliable.

Founded in 1974, the Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding School is the oldest in the nation, and may be the oldest in the world.

Visitation at Jockey’s Ridge has always been among the top five of the North Carolina state parks. The second most visited park was Fort Macon State Park in Atlantic Beach with 1,543,772 visitors.

Two parks in the Raleigh/Durham area, William B. Umstead State ParkJordan Lake State Recreation Area south of the Triangle also had very strong visitation.

BrewTag Asks-Can Beer Kegs Fly?

Proving that maybe a beer keg can fly, a glider attempts flight at the 2016 Brewtag. — Proving that maybe a beer keg can fly, a glider attempts flight at the 2016 BrewTag.

If Humans Can Fly, Why Not Beer?

One of the questions that has plagued humanity since the Wright Brothers proved mankind can fly is, if humans, why not beer kegs?

This Saturday at the Nags Head Event Site, Kitty Hawk Kites and the organizers of BrewTag will attempt to answer that question.

This will be the third attempt at answering that question and it is possible that third time will be the charm as the past two years have shown steady improvement.

After the first year, reasonable people answered the question, “Can beer kegs fly?” with a resounding, “No!.”

Last year, after evidence of sustained flight, the crowd responded with a heartfelt, “Maybe.”

This year? Who knows? The only way to be sure is to be at Event Site at noon when gates open.

Because this is a Kitty Hawk Kites sponsored events, there will be plenty of things for kids to do—it’s something the company has specialized in since they opened their doors in 1974. There will be face painting, rock climbing…Stanley the Rideable Shark will be there. Plenty to do for kids, or adults if they want to try their hand at Stanley.

For the adults? If you’re trying to prove that beer kegs can fly, then certainly beer should be available. And it is. There is a special ticket that will have to be purchased, but it does provide for plenty of libation.

There is also some great live music with rockabilly band par excellence Cha Cha’s Cadilac and local reggae band Sense Trails.

The whole day is a benefit for the Rogallo Foundation, telling the story of Francis Rogallo, a truly remarkable man. One of the unsung heroes of the space race, Mr. Rogallo is best remembered for his Rogallo Wing. A flexible, steerable wind, it is the bases for hang gliders, stunt kites, paraglider and modern parachutes.

There is no parking at the event. Here’s some parking information to help:

OFF-SITE PARKING LOTS WITH SHUTTLE SERVICE:

Nags Head Elementary School
3100 S. Wrightsville Avenue, Nags Head

Whalebone Park
7300 S. Virginia Dare Trail, Nags Head (across from Jennette’s Pier)

ADDITIONAL PARKING (NO SHUTTLE SERVICE):
The following beach access parking lots in Nags Head are within close proximity to The Soundside Event Site. We encourage you to walk to the event from these beach access parking locations locations.

Nags Head Beach Access:

– http://obxbeachaccess.com/nags-head-beach-access/
– Grey Eagle Beach Access
– Gull Street Beach Access
– Glidden Beach Access

– Forrest Beach Access
– Epstein Beach Access

Watermelon Festival-Kids, Family, Fun

Getting ready for the Watermelon Eating contest.

A Perfect Day to Celebrate Watermelon

During the summer there’s not a lot of large celebrations, mostly because just about everyone is concentrating on making sure our visitors are treated like guests and they that they’re having a great time.

But there are a few, let’s call them, mini-festivals and one of our absolute favorites is the Kitty Hawk Kites Watermelon Festival at the company’s Jockey’s Ridge Crossing store in Nags Head. They list it as the 11th Annual Watermelon Festival, but those of us who have lived here longer remember the Festivals going back longer than that.

What it really is, is a celebration of kids, family and summer. Because let’s face it—fresh watermelon is about as perfectly summer as it gets.

So what is?

It’s all about kids. Yes, Mom and Dad will have a great time, but the activities are really geared to children. There’s face painting, tie dye shirt making and toy demos—the balance board was really cool.

There were great activities. Stanley the Shark—think a mechanical bull only a shark—was getting a real workout inside Kitty Hawk Surf Company. The inflatable waterslide is always popular and kids were lined up all day.

One that was really cool…or maybe cold. Kids, and some adults, stuck their hand in a bath of ice water then immediately dipped their hand into soft wax creating an image of their hand.

The highlight of any Watermelon Festival, though, has to be the contests. The seed spitting and the watermelon eating.

Always highly competitive, ultimately it’s all about having fun. Nonetheless, the eating contestants really gave it their all, champing their way through three large pieces of watermelon in hope of taking home the grand prize…whatever that may have been.

Is the Kitty Hawk Kites Watermelon Festival a huge day of celebration? No, not really. But at the end of the day, what it really is all about is what the Outer Banks does best…family, kids and fun.

Rogallo Kite Festival at Jockey’s Ridge Saturday & Sunday

Kites flying at Jockey's Ridge State Park during a Rogallo Festival. — Kites flying at Jockey’s Ridge State Park during a Rogallo Festival.

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Something for the whole family?

If that’s the case, check out the Rogallo Kite Festival at Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head Saturday and Sunday.

Sponsored by Kitty Hawk Kites, the event is a wonderful celebration of a true American hero.

Francis Rogallo and His Invention

Francis Rogallo doesn’t show up in a lot of history book, but it was his invention of a “parawing” a frameless steerable went that made hang gliding possible. And more than hang gliding. Almost all modern stunt kites are patterned after his designs. Modern parachutes that can be directed to a landing zone; paraglider and more.

All of it because he and his wife Gertrude created a frames wing that would fly to the left when told to, or to the right, or up and down.

Rogallo spent almost his entire professional career at NASA, beginning with the agency before WWII when its acronym was NACA— National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

The Rogallo wing—as it is known—was just one of some 24 or 25 patents that he held, all of them related to flight.

Rogallo Festival

The Rogallo Festival is all about kites and flying. There are stunt kite demos all day. This is a great time to learn how to fly a two or four line kite.

We’re not sure just what kites Kitty Hawk Kites will have on the dune, but in the past there have been power kites as well as regular stunt kites. Flying a power kite is a thrilling, and depending on how strong the wind is, a bit exhausting, experiences.

There are also kites in the sky all day long. Huge kites, often in the form of various sea creatures, but also large deltas and box kites, their strings adorned with spinners and even some small kites.

The weather is looking close to perfect for Saturday and Sunday, so there’s really no excuse for not being there. Bring some water, sunscreen and keep the sandals on—the sand is getting hot.

Tag: Kitty Hawk Kites