by Graeme Poole

Kitemaker Profile : Dave Holt.

Hi readers, welcome back to another issue of Kitemaker Profile.

This month it is a pleasure to present to you a profile on a kite maker from the UK, Dave Holt. Dave responded to my pleas for nominations of kite makers to be featured in my column; I liked what I saw and ... well … I am sure you will too. So, sit back and enjoy another edition of Kitemaker profile.

In my last article I advised that I had created my own web page, only the URL of my page was missing, my apologies for that and here it is now ! http://fly.to/dirckites . Please have a look when you get a chance, and find out a little more about me, and leave any comments you may wish to pass on.

Don’t forget if you have any suggestions for future Kitemaker profiles, whether it be people you know, or would like to see featured here, please send me their details.   This includes nominating yourself if you like.

Happy Reading.

PERSONAL DETAILS : DAVE HOLT

Location: Chorley, Lancashire, NW England

Age: 40

Favorite Food: curry

Favorite Beverage: My favorite drink is Bacardi and Coke

Favorite Music: The band Enigma. I also like to listen to west end musicals while I am building my kites.

Favorite Kite Books: Making and Flying Kites by Wolfgang Schimmelpfennig, Kiteworks by Maxwell Eden: Kites by Ron Moulton & Pat Lloyd. (Books available HERE)

Favorite Kite Magazine: My favorite printed magazine is Kite Passion.

Web Site: Visit the Aeroplane Kite Site http://www.womack.u-net.com/daveholt/

Personal Background 

I have lived in Chorley all my life, when I was 10 years old my parents divorced and my 2 brothers and I lived with my mother at my grandma's house.

My father now has his own furniture business and my mother is a retired wages clerk.

I was a fork-lift truck driver but now I stay at home and look after our 3 children which I enjoy, but it is by no means easy. My wife Linda is training to be a psychiatric nurse. We have just learned that she is expecting again and so my hands are soon to be even fuller.

Other Hobbies and Interests 

I like snooker, reading , and drawing

Are there any life experiences you would like to share with us?

Silly:

The silliest thing I have ever done was around the age of 14 when I built a large kite in my bedroom about 3 metres span , after 4 hours of construction and finally finishing my biggest project so far, I realised I hadn’t built it so it was collapsible and couldn’t get it out of the room. If I recall correctly it was a large winged box kite.

Dangerous :

The most dangerous thing I tried was to paraglide from a sand dune using a large parafoil.  It did not work. If you like the taste of sand and having it up your nose and sporting a swollen wrist, I can strongly recommend this.

Rewarding :

The most rewarding thing that I have done is to marry my wife Linda, whom I met while flying my first homemade parafoil kite on an open field in front of her house. She now refers to herself as a kite widow.

How did you get interested in kites?

I have been interested in kites since the age of 10. We used to go to the local park a lot in my early days and a kite was always something I would take with me. I bought myself a Peter Powell stunt kite after seeing one of my friends with one.

I have been building kites seriously, for the past 15 years. I first got started in making kites by having to keep repairing that first stunter, I quickly learned that to make my own would cost considerably less. After leaving school I took to making R/C model aeroplanes but was always crashing them so I turned back to kite making; it was just as gratifying to complete a kite and not as hard on the wallet if it hit the ground.

What type of kites do you make?

The type of kites I make now are mainly soft kites, inflatable figures, though if I like an idea and it needs spars I will sometimes go ahead and build it. I tend to specialize in steerable figure kites like the aeroplanes or the dragon.

Do you have any particular projects underway at the moment ?

I am presently working on fighter plane kites, English, German and American.

Is it possible to buy one of your kites?

I build as a hobby mainly, but have allowed myself to take on commissions at times.

Sometimes I will sell a kite to help buy materials for my next project or to fund my traveling to the next festival.

My kites can be obtained through me directly, if I choose to sell one.

Which fabric do you prefer using in building your kites?

I use mostly soft ripstop, not that crispy stuff, "Balloon Quality ripstop" as it's referred to as it's better for inflatables. For sewing I use any good quality polyester thread. Materials I get from material warehouses or kite shops that do mail order.

What special equipment or techniques do you use in your kitemaking?

I have 2 sewing machines I use at the moment, both are made by Brother. I only sew with a straight stitch except when applying appliqué where I use zig zag. If I hot cut I use a soldering iron which I don’t use very often as most of my edges are hemmed anyway.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time in terms of kitemaking?

In 10 years time I hope to have my own little range of kites on the market it would be nice to make kites on a commercial basis, nothing too elaborate, though.

What is the average time you spend making a kite?

The length of time it takes to make a kite can be anywhere between a week up to 3 months, it depends on how much design work is involved. For instance when I built the Wallace and Gromit aeroplane kite the figure of Wallace took longer than the aeroplane itself.  The aeroplanes I make use the same patterns, but if I’m to make a figure to go with them then I have to start that figure from scratch using things like plastic figurines as guides. A lot of time is spent making models from card from which I can make my patterns.

Which was the most rewarding kite to make?

The most gratifying kite I have made has got to be the Wallace and Gromit aeroplane. I am a big fan of these characters and I love hearing people's comments as they see it flying over their heads, especially the children.

Is there any one person who has had a major influence on your kite making?

My favorite kite people have got to be the inflatable kite makers: Martin Lester, Peter Lynn, Joel Scholz, and of course Rolf Sturm; who I would say has influenced me more than anyone. When I saw a photo in a book of Rolfs "Snoopy's Dream" I just had to have one. Using the image I had (a photo from a kite book) I set to making my own version of this kite. I did not have any plans, nor had I seen one in the flesh so to speak, so I had to use my own knowledge of technical drawing and soft kite making to make my own patterns. This took around a month in all.

Unfortunately, my measures from the photos were too large and I ended up making a plane that was twice the size of the original and pulled like a tractor, hence the kites I make now are half the size.  But not to worry -- it flew and caused quite a stare at the first events I took it to. Since that first aeroplane I have now gone on and designed my own versions trying different profiles in the wings to improve flying characteristics and using different shapes of fuselage and wings. I now feel that the planes I make are, compared to the first, as good as I am going to get them.

What is your favourite kite ... that you have made?

My favorite kite has got to be the one I am making at the time, sometimes I have so many ideas in my head I don’t know where to start, so I end up making the one that stands out the most... leaving the others on the shelf for another rainy day.

Which is your favorite kite festival?

My favorite festival has to be the Bristol festival my wife and I attended in 1997, as it was also our honeymoon weekend, though the Washington festival held here in the North East of England in the first week of July is my idea of what a kite festival should be, a fun family day out with plenty of other things to do if the weather doesn’t allow you to fly. I’m not really into the competition side of kiting though I do sometimes enjoy seeing teams fly to music.

Where is your favorite flying site?

My favorite flying site is the beach at Lytham St. Annes, it's 30 miles or so from where I live but I try to get there every Sunday if the weather permits.

How would you sum up your kite making experiences?

Kite designing, making and flying personally gives me a great feeling of satisfaction, I like to challenge myself to see if I can make an idea into reality, and when the hard work is done and that is achieved, it’s nice to lay back and enjoy seeing your creation up there in the sky. There is also the family involvement; my three children Kathryn, Georgia, and Jessica all like to join me at the beach to fly their favorite kite, though my wife Linda does not like sand and only joins us at field events.

This year I intend to attend as many festivals up and down the country as I can. Maybe even a few abroad, like Fano and Dieppe. Sometime in the near future I would like to open a kite shop somewhere on the coast. I realize that this is not the easiest field in which to make a living but kiting is my passion, and as I said earlier I like a challenge.

Thanks Dave for taking the time to give this interview and share your kite experiences with us. I hope you the readers enjoyed reading about you and your kiting experiences.