Kite Altitude record

About us

Cable Downs

CASA

History

Kites

GPS

Theodolites

Dyneema

Winch

Wind

Techniques

2004 October

2005 April

2005 October

2007 April

2009 April

2010 April

2011 Sept

2012 Sept

Contact

We aim to fly a kite to the highest altitude in the world

Designed by Robert Moore

Kite Altitude World Record

Hello, I'm Bob Moore.
I hope you find my website interesting. It's our story obout our quest to break the world altitude record for a single kite.

October 2005 on Cable Downs The 2 big DT Delta kites are 16 sq meters and 12 sq meters. The green and yellow delta is 2.25 sq meters. A 1.75 sq metre delta (purple & red) and a 8 sq metre Scott Sled (pink) rests on the ground

10,466 ft

6,500 ft

3,250 ft

From 2005 to 2014, apart from 2006, 2008 and 2013 a small group of enthusiasts made an annual trek to Cable Downs sheep station near Cobar in western NSW, Australia. We have been flying big kites to high altitudes. We have been attempting to break the world altitude record for a single kite on one line. Our activities were authorised by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Air Services Australia with an aircraft free zone defined as a NOTAM. So far, we have flown a big Dunton - Taylor (DT) delta kite to 16, 038ft above ground level on September 23rd, 2014. This is a world record altitude for a single kite. This is nearly 1,500 ft. and 10% more than the record claimed in the year 2000 by Richard Synergy of Ontario, Canada. We were permitted to fly up17,370 ft above ground level and to reach that height would have been "icing on the cake". We are very happy with 16,038 ft although our claim will take some time ratify with relevant bodies.
I would like to thank the people who have been involved, supported or shown interest in our record attempts including:
Michael Richards
Michael Jenkins
Roger Martin
Barry Coppenhall
Greg Moore
Hugh Moore
Steve and Karen Viant of Cable Downs for hosting the record attempts.
Robbie Buck of ABC 702 Local Radio
Nancy Shannahan of The Cobar Age
2DU radio
Daily Telegraph
David Horan - Australian Kiteflyers Society
DSM Dyneema for supplying line
Universal Instruments for the loan of theodolites
Lewis Pulleys for winch components
and countless kiting enthusiasts from around the world.From 2005, apart from 2006, 2008 and 2013 a small group of enthusiasts made an annual trek to Cable Downs sheep station near Cobar in western NSW, Australia. We have been flying big kites to high altitude. We have been attempting to break the world altitude record for a single kite on one line. Our activities were authorised by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Air Services Australia with an aircraft free zone defined as a NOTAM. So far, we have flown a big Dunton - Taylor (DT) delta kite to 16, 038ft above ground level on September 23rd, 2014. This is a world record altitude for a single kite. This is nearly 1,500 ft. and 10% more than the record claimed in the year 2000 by Richard Synergy of Ontario, Canada. We were permitted to fly up17,370 ft above ground level and to reach that height would have been "icing on the cake". We are very happy with 16,038 ft although our claim will take some time ratify with relevant bodies.
I would like to thank the people who have been involved, supported or shown interest in our record attempts including:

Dyneema®, the world’s strongest fiber™

Where eagles dare. A 2 meter eagle soars with the big DT Delta in October 2005 at 3,000 ft above the air strip.

Glossary

AGL: Above ground level. The kite's altitude must be measured from the altitude of the launch point. The sea level (AMSL) altitude is the reference for GPS units then the ground height above sea level is subtracted from AMSL to give height above the launch point.
AMSL: Above Mean Sea Level. The reference height for GPS and land survey.
ISA air density: The standard worldwide air density at sea level at 20 deg C and 50% humidity. 1013.5 Mb of pressure.
Lapse rate: The rate at which air density drops with altitude. A standard value at ISA standard temperature and pressure, 2.6% per 1,000 ft of altitude.
Isobar: In meteorology, Lines on a map joining points of equal air pressure. The general reference for for wind flow direction.
Catenary: The curve of a chain suspended at both ends under gravity. The approximate curve a kiteline assumes without the effect of wind, i.e. an unequal hieght catenary.
Kite Drag: The wind force that pulls the kite parallel to the ground. Combined with kite liftthe resultant force produces line tension and kite flying angle.
Kite lift: The vertical force generated by air flowing against and over the kite. The magnitude is directly related to wind speed, angle of attack and kite type and lift area.
Line tension: Measured in lbs or kg and varies at the square of wind velocity. Doubling the wind speed at the kite quadruples the line tension. Line tension is a product of kite drag, kite lift and line drag.
Dyneema: An very high strength synthetic fibre, made from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), that composes the kite line used for the record attempts. Made by DSM in Holland, the fibre is braided into our kite line by Cousin-Trestec in France.
Spectra: Similar to Dyneema fibre but made under licence from DSM by Honeywell in the USA and line manufactured from this fibre by various manufacturers such as Innotex, USA.
GPS: Global Positioning System. A system of 24 satellites positioned in orbit above the earth that transmit signals to enable very accurate location of people objects and their velocities.
Telemetry: Literally, transmission of measurements. Any system that uses radio signals to transmit data between 2 points. GPS telemetry is used on the kite to transmit GPS positional data from the kite to the ground.

Clockwise from top left. 1. Mike Jenkins contemplates the brewing storm after a flight to 9,119 ft. earlier that day in October 2009. 2.The green appearance is the result of superficial growth after a small amount of rain and were disguising a dry country 3. October 2005 & Sydney Morning Herald reporter came to take some pics 4. Our big black kite at about 1,000 ft. in October 2005 5. Perfect landing after 4,000 ft. flight in October 2005. 6.The winch trailer and a theodolite in the foreground Oct. 2005 7. Big DT delta, 400 ft at Bella Vista 2005.

Hugh and Greg Moore recovering line at the western end of the Cable Downs air strip October 2005. The kite had gone down the previous day after the electric winch motor burned out. During attempts to "walk the line down" a splice had separated with 2 km of line still attached. The line then caught in a tree keeping the kite flying at about 3,000 ft. The kite eventually came down on a property to the east, laying line over the tree tops. We recovered the line without much difficulty but it was effectively the end of our record attempts for 2005.

Last updated 09/01/2018