Designed by Robert Moore

Left to right: Michael Richards, Roger Martin, Bob Moore, Michael Jenkins

Michael Richards

Owner of Kite Magic at Coogee, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney,
Michael has run his business from small premises on Malabar Rd for nearly 20 years.
However, his main work is in the broader community and he often travels to events in distant parts of Australia. Michael is a Member of the Australian Kiteflyer's Society. He runs a well-respected kite program for primary schools with his Tyvek diamond kites. He has developed exceptional kite building skills and also uses these skills in projects far removed from wind sports such as art works, public event banners and fiberglass structures. He sells kites of course but he has developed a reputation as a great kite builder, designer and flyer and will give anything a go. Michael’s interests are very diverse and even includes teaching juggling and unicycle riding. He has shown determination and enthusiasm for the quest to break the world altitude record. What started out as my project is now our project.

Roger Martin

Roger lives not far from Mike Richards's kite shop. They have been friends for years having met each other through kites and wind sports activities. Roger is an expert kite builder and is adept at flying multi-lined kites and driving kite buggies powered by traction kites. He can be seen at kite festivals assisting Mike Richards with big kite displays and entertaining children and adults with his Sponge Bob trick kite. Roger is a keen fisherman and loves nothing better than to throw a line off one of the nearby headlands south of Sydney into the Pacific Ocean. Blackfish are one of his favourites. Roger is our unofficial photographer and movie man, documenting the record attempts. He has some good credential for that as he was a newspaper photographer in the past. I regard his photographic and video evidence of the record effort vital for Guinness evidence and the basis for my YouTube videos. While he is not filming he mans the GPS telemetry laptop, calling out the altitude. Without Roger's footage there would be no Website nor YouTube videos. Thanks’ Roger!

Bob Moore

I am not just about kites but have live a diverse life. I went to James Ruse Agricultural High then I followed a career in agricultural research for 5 years. After this I entered nursing but I did a few things on the side such as Mechanical Engineering and Engineering drafting. I am a registered nurse with 42 years in health services having achieved several different clinical specialties including Mental Health, Drug Health, staff education and court liaison specialty. I am currently retired as of May 2018. I live in the North-western suburbs of Sydney, 42 km from Michael Richard's Kite Magic shop. I am a member of the Australian Kiteflyer’s Society. I worked in the nearby Prince Of Wales Hospital for several years. In 2002 an interest in kites was rekindled by my sons being 3 and 5. Building kites for them wetted my appetite for more and also the dormant interest in the kite altitude record was revived. My lunch time visit to Kite Magic in 2004 was one of those chance meetings which can change the course of a life. I must have impressed Mike with my enthusiasm and determination. Perhaps I have a tenacious character (some people may say bloody minded stubbornness) which has been a key to reaching record heights. Without the persistence of our current team members, we will never have reach great heights but I must admit it has been almost an obsession that I have needed to bring myself back down to earth on occasion (no pun intended). Other team members have come and gone in 6 years, and they have all made valuable contributions to our efforts, but for the last 3 attempts it's been a cohesive and very effective team of genuine kite enthusiasts. As well as my enthusiasm for this record quest I am a keen motorcyclist and I love MotoGP. I am also a regular chess player. I have 5 children and 5 grandchildren. I am a member of the Australian Kiteflyer’s Society. Although I build kites to a high standard, Mike Richards built all the high altitude kites as his builds are excellent and he has all the materials in his Coogee kite shop. I am about to build my first 12 sq. metre DT Delta with some new features. 20,000 ft perhaps? (: I am active on the Kite Builders Forum in the USA and have received a lot of support including Doug La Rock builder the hydraulic tension gauge which can be seen on the winch page.

Michael Jenkins

Michael joined our attempts when he learned of our activities from Michael Richards in 2008. I met Michael at Festival of the Winds in 2005. He joined our crew at the 2009 attempt series.
Michael was a regular visitor to Kite Magic, a keen kite builder and winner of several competition categories at Festival of the Winds. He is also adept at building and flying multi-line trick kites. He is a member of the Australian Kiteflyer’s Society. Michael is a competition sailor and can be seen during the yachting season on Sydney Harbour as forward hand in high performance skiffs and on various waterways up and down the east coast. At one time he was a trawler fisherman on the Gulf of Carpentaria and combined with sailing and kite flying he has an excellent understanding of wind, weather and sail. Michael is our cook on our record attempts. Michael's down to earth "no bull" approach keeps me grounded. He is our "co-pilot" winch operator and can claim to have "flown" the kite to our best of 14,188 ft

Mike Richards, Bob Moore, Barry Coppenhall, Ethan Viant, Hugh Moore 2007

Bob Moore 2003 Crestwood reserve, Baulkham Hills, Sydney, Australia

Michael Richards on the drying Cable Downs airstrip. "I'm excited!". It's after it's first light to over 9,000 ft in this series and days of heavy rain flooded our camp site and force us into the wool shed. Not a bad thing as we were more comfortable with electricity and lighting.

Michael Jenkins, Lord Of The Flies in 2009. After heavy rain the flies come seemingly from nowhere. They get up your nose, in your eyes and if you open your mouth, become more protein. It's part of farmers's lives in the bush. Us city folk, not quite as tolerant, although Mike Jenkins, as a landscape gardener and outdoor worker, seems to be used to them.

If you can't fly a big kite high then have a beer Mike Richards says. Totally agree.
Mike runs a very diverse business wuth the core being kites and wind sport related activities. He is very passionate about education and runs kite building classes at both a primary and secondary level. He is heavily involved with NSW University in solar powered cars and also has extended that role into primary schools.

FOR ALL YOU KITE NEEDS VISIT http://www.kitesite.com.au/

Mike and Rosie Richard's Kite Magic at 99 Malabar Road, Coogee. Online it is Kitesite. Click the link below.

At Bondi festival of the Winds at Bondi Beach. Mike Jenkins unique design flys along side my Sun Rokakku. We are both expert kite builders and flyers. Mike has won several awards at the festival and I have won
a few. (:

This is my 2 metre Rola Plan based on a Pearson Rola, a derivative of the 1930's German toy companies kite design. An advanced kite for it's era and still a popular kite to build by enthusiasts. I have built over 100 kites, some very large and others relatively small. I have been making kites on and off for 57 years and events when I was 10 years old sowed the seed for my high altitude attempts 50 years later.

My son James at Bondi with my 1.8 metre chess Rokakku made of hand painted Tyvek, a sythetic paper like material.

Roger Martin's Spoungbob trick kite with Frankie Flyin's Rev at La Parouse south of Sydney. Rogers heart is up there too ready to charm the ladies.

Final checks of one of the 12 sq metre DT Deltas in my front yard at Baulkham Hills in 2011. This kite flew to 14,192 ft. that year.
My wife, Wendy, who doesn't figure much in my hobby, is actually a silent partner who supported my record attempts in a quiet, non-oppositional way. She has very little interest in kites although recognises the team's achievement. She does act as a "tail" to keep me pointed in the right direction from time to time. My sons, Andrew and James were 5 and 8 when I started the attempts. They came to Cable Downs in 2012 but otherwise have no interest in kites and only a passing interest in the altitude record. My older children, Greg Linda and Nick aren't keen on kites but Greg shows more interest and attended Cable Downs as a team member in 2005. He can be seen on the 2005 page reeling in line on the air strip with his uncle Hugh in the background. My sister Liz has more interest and she will be doing some kite graphics for me although she doesn't know it yet!

The trailer is a light weight 6 ft x 4 ft box trailer originally purchased to suit a 4 cylinder Nissan Pulsar you can see behind the kite in the image on the right. I built the emclosure and the winch inside, so while i am not an expert engineer I am fairly handy will most machines and tools. Anything I can't do I give to my son Greg, a mechanic, my son Nick, a fitter/machinist, Mike Richards, professional kite builder or Lewis Pulleys for shafts, keyways and pulleys. I have tried to expose those companies who have assisted me by advertising their good products and services through my signs and web site.

Mike jenkins in 2009 after we arrived. Nice steady wind 10 or 20 metres above our heads to put a delta up. The white Dyneema vibrates under tension and looks like a Star Wars light sabre

Kite Altitude World Record