Karl Longbottom has been invited from his home in the UK to far away
places because of his kites.
The fighting underwear- mens and womens, the angels, the mad hata, his
new tye-dyed della portas, the giant stacks of yakko bees.
Windswept Kites is proud to be Karl's distributor for the continent of
North America
.
Karl is not only known for his kites, but also for his kite making
workshops.
A genuinely nice kitemaker. Simple as that.
Looking for assembly sheets for any of these kites? Click here
Looking for the Swan kite instructions? Click
here
Angels
When we first saw pictures of these kites we thought that
they were flat kites.
There was 2 in the first package we received
from Karl.
We immediately pulled them out and went to put one
together and-WHOA-these are NOT flat kites in anyway!!!!
These kites are completely 3 dimensional and look amazing in person.
There are 3 sizes of Angels that Karl makes.
The
Miniature is a "Christmas tree decoration that flies" was designed to
be a holiday tree topper (or a plant sticker in our case) that flies as
beautiful as it looks.
The Medium and the Large Angels are both
good size kites that make a great impact.
These kites are perfect for
a memorial fly, outstanding for a night fly (the white ones), or even
hanging in a room on display.
The Mini
Angel 0.4 meters
$35 shipped to the U.S.
Medium
Angel 0.8 meters
$95 shipped to the U.S.
Large Angel 1.2meters
$180 shipped to the U.S.
The Mad Hata
A neat kite like no other.
This kite has an
elongated spine both above and below the main sail and trails
off to a
satin ribbon tail.
It is designed with a dihedral (wings swept back)
for stability- but also has sweptback fluttering wings of hot cut
strips of
material
as well.
A basic 2 leg bridle makes it simple to get up in the air.
$60 includes shipping in the US
Pants
These are not your Granny's undies!!!!
These are well designed fighter kites that are like no other.
Great for the battle between husband and wife.
Add a simple tail and these kites should
be stable enough for
un-watched flying.
Karl has made these with a simple 2 leg bridle and a bow line across
the back of the kite (sort of like a Buka fighter kite).
Pants come in different colors to match your outfits. If
there is a special color or pattern you would like please ask!
Both style of these kites are $95.00 shipped to the U.S.
Mens and Womens back in stock!
White only
Pterodactyls
BEWARE: these little guys are crawling into kite bags of flyers everywhere!!!
One of Karl's newest creations is a great flyer in those ultra light
wind conditions, even indoors.
Those days when you get to the park, but did not bring a SUL dual line
or quad line kite, and there is barely enough wind to blow your hair
around is when you find your little dinosaur-ish friend and give him
some air time.
But, the Pterodactyls are not just a UL wind kite, they can easily fly
up to 15mph or so with ease - you do lose your fun 3 dimensional flying
though,
good luck if you can get him to do a controlled flat spin in 15 mph
wind!
Pterodactyls are great all around and over you flyers.
In the slightest wind you can have him doing flat spins, and up and
over's with ease.
Tuned by a tension line behind his head/across his shoulders you can
adjust him for his trick-ability.
More tension will have him flying more stable on his own (this works
great if you fly a train of them), and less tension will make him be a
better tricking kite.
Because the bridle is attached to his nose and belly the keel/belly is
used
more as a rudder when flying him; as he flys away from you flick the
line to one side and the head and keel will curve the
Pterodactyl in that direction.
Plus, who would not love a face like that! They have personality!!!
There are many color designs available, so please contact me for what
is in stock.
$85.00 shipped to the U.S.
The
Longbottom Owl
Karl's Owl kite is a fantastic lighter wind flyer.
Think
of all of those night flys where there was just not enough wind to get
a kite in the air - well the Owl will pop right up and look VERY
appropriate!
The Owl is a modified Yakko style kite.
As you can see the wings have two rods in them: one in the upper edge
and one in the lower edge of the wing.
These rods are parallel when you assemble the kite, but then
they bow backwards and towards each other in filght.
Any gusts of wind spill off the wings very easily.
These
are two
folders of instructions and photographs of Karl's Swan kite.
It
is a popular kitemaking class kite that he provides. DirectionsPhotographs
(right click and "save target as...")