Picture above shows contestants getting ready for battle at the Rokkaku Open on Sunday.David Cooper took first place Pedro Gonzalez second and
Eric Curtis was awarded third.

Industrial Alliance KiteFest
September 17 & 18, 2005

This was year eleven for this ever popular kiting event. Winds might have been low on Sunday but spirits were high! Kitefliers travelled here from all over North America but a few also travelled from Europe as well.

Chirkara nylon is washed with acetone to clean dirt and oil. Pebeo's setcolour transparent is the paint of choice. Jacques uses a combination of Airbrush, sponge, paint brush and finger techniques to apply paint. Using several techniques of applying paint means there are also different steps to follow for each method. One technique involves an ink "resist". This is similar to batik where you paint the areas of material you want to remain uncoated with hot wax. You then paint the material and melt the wax out to leave unaltered areas. Another technique is similar to what you see on a silk painting(silk resist painting). "Resist" refers to a substance that you apply to your fabric that resists the ink or dye you are applying leaving that material unchanged. The resist is then removed before applying the next colour. Yet another method requires applying masking tape or gum arabic to certain areas that you want to keep from being altered by the next layer of colour. Just like rubber cement you can peel it off when you are finished. A variety of materials with interesting mask patterns such as feathers and lace are also used.

colours need to be built up in successive layers to get the desired level of saturation. The colour will look too transparent if not built up enough. Each colour must be heat set before the next layer is applied. You need the hottest temperature you can get without melting the nylon, Jacques uses his own oven set to 290' F to heat set the paint. That's "hot"!

This process really takes kite building to a much higher level! Thanks to Jacques Letourneau and Mark Groshens who both helped in the explanation of this beautiful and very unique painting process. Below are two closer looks of Jacques' work!

Martin Laterreur of Quebec, Susan Shampo of the American stunt kite team team "Too Much Fun", and Yves LaForest of Quebec. It was a very low wind day for flying large inflatables. Yves had no choice but to sit it out on Sunday. At least he got to chat with some friends new and old!

Eric Curtis of Sparta, Ontario with his Boreal Kites Mermaid Genki. Eric silk screens dyes onto the fabric to create these intricate celtic themed kites.

Don Brownridge, President of the Toronto Kite Fliers with Michèle Bérubé of Quebec. Winds were very light but Michele's butterfly seemed to flutter in the sky when others could not. Don on the other hand was kept busy all day announcing the days events to the huge crowds. Every once in a while you would spot Don running across the field looking for the next group of perfomers for the demonstration field.

Man,... those Wind Riders had quite a nice camp set up for Kitefest.

Dennis Ische is President of the Renegade Strings out of Mannheim, Ontario. He is pictured with his black Orcon Buka. Dennis flew this large fighter on the demonstration field. Worthy of note that Dennis took home 4th place in the fighter kite competition. The best part was he borrowed the winning fighter kite.

Ron Clawson of Toronto Kite Fliers is the caretaker of both the webpage and membership. Ron takes a few minutes to talk to Bob White, Newsletter editor for the Niagara Wind Riders. Ron spent most of the day walking around keeping tabs on things. Making sure everyone got what they needed and requesting a few volunteers now and then was just part of the job for Ron.

Ron Despojado of Califonia performs a solo quad line routine. Ron had to fly his Rev in 3-d mode. The lack of wind made it appear as if we were watching an indoor event. Ron also flys with a team called "Too Much Fun". They are a 4 person sports kite team from California

Ron Despojado accepts a big ovation from the appreciative crowd. Even those that could not understand all the kite tricks being performed could appreciate Ron's effort to keep his kite aloft. Ron had to hustle all over the field to keep that keep the Rev moving forward. Nice job Ron!

Jacques Letourneau of Quebec chats with Vaino Raun of St Catherines Ontario.

I asked Bill Wilson of Halifax, Nova Scotia to describe this great looking kite. Bill wrote back: "It's an Ohashi Variant or a Frank Ludwig design called the poster kite. You can make this kite almost any dimension and the sparring is really simple. It flies at a fairly steep angle and may require a tail in some winds. Anyhow, I went through about 100 images before I settled on this one. Angelina's lips and eyes just pop out at you. I really enjoy kites that look different in the sky then they do on the ground. It's really great watching the expression on peoples faces when they finally figure it out" Bill Wilson

Mario Pierre of Quebec on the left and Matt Tatham of the Toronto Spitfire Club battle for first place honors.The top five got a cool coffee mug with TKF Spitfire graphics. The cup designed by Rev. Charles Vickerson. Final Fighter Kite standings 1st place was Mario Pierre 2nd was Matt Tatham 3rd was Normond Girard 4th was Dennis Ische 5th was Doug Isherwood

Doug Isherwood of Toronto, looks on as Normard Girard of Quebec, battles with Mario Pierre of Quebec. The guy in black behind Normand is our own TKF Spitfire judge, Pierre Garigue.

One last shot of Mario Pierre, Pierre Garigue, Normand Girard & Matt Tatham on the fighter field.
Thanks to Pierre for organizing, score keeping and providing us with all the fighter captions! I would also like to thank Dennis Ische who provided the fighter photos, Jaques Letourneau, Mark Groshens and Ron Clawson for helping with caption info. It's real teamwork that gets these reports done!
- Carlos Simoes