A blog detailing our collection of Peter Powell kites, and chronicling our flying of these kites. Plus a bit of PP kite history thrown in. Our collection to date stands at 77 kites and can be seen here. I am keen to expand the collection, so if you have an old Peter Powell kite, whether made in the UK or the US, gathering dust and looking for a new home, why not get in touch? Depending on the kite (does it bring something new or different to my collection?), its condition (is it flyable? how much TLC does it need?), and the price you ask (+ shipping if from outside the UK), we may well be able to do a deal.

Monday, 1 February 2016

A Peter Powell kites collection

I've decided to start a new blog, separate from my Flying Fish blog, on my growing collection of Peter Powell kites. Why? Well, several reasons, actually. To create more web presence for Peter Powell kites, to pay tribute to the man who brought dual-line kite-flying to the masses, and, selfishly, as a tool to help me grow my collection further. The first eight or so posts will be written 'in hindsight', basically bringing the story of my Peter Powell collection to the present day. And from then onwards, posts will simply be added as and when appropriate and relevant.

So here goes! If you're a kite flyer, I don't have to tell you that it was Peter Powell who invented a dual-line diamond kite in the early 1970s. Even though Peter wasn't the first person to fly a steerable kite with two lines, there is no debate that he popularised dual-line flying like no other. It became a massive success, winning the Toy of the Year Award in 1976, and reaching a peak production of 75,000 kites weekly, in five factories.


Production of Peter Powell kites in the UK came to an end around 1999/2000, but, as you may know, Mark and Paul, his two sons, took up the baton and started producing a new version of the Peter Powell kite in 2013. More on that in a later blog post.

Peter sadly died in January 2016. I am glad I met him and had a chat with him at a few kite festivals recently. Peter,  RIP, and I hope you enjoy the sight up there of so many dual-line kites flown around the world today. That may well not have happened without you!
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)