Fuel Ghoul

Kitewing vs Kite Man; History of Men With Kites

Kitewing is a hand-held, lightweight wing that can provide propulsion to a man or woman harnessing the wind while wearing skates, or rollerblades or on a bicycle wheel cart called a dirtsurfer that is sometimes used to traverse sandy beaches and desert spaces.

Once known as the Skimbat, skiing or skating with a Kitewing is a popular method of harnessing wind for pure enjoyment

My friends just joined togther and bought a Kitewing from a dealer in Oshawa, and we're going to get another to race them. We're looking for a place to race my kitewing in the GTA and asking about for other local Kitewing owners on Toronto Forums. 

History of Kitewing

England 1893 ~ Captain B.F.S. Baden-Powell designed a stack of six large hexagonal kites for use in the Boer War in South Africa to lift soldiers into the air to observe the enemy. Captain Baden-Powell also did a series of tests using kites to carry messages from one ship to another.

United States 1915 ~ Samuel Perkins researched man-carrying kites for observational uses by the U.S. Army during World War I. He used kites that were nine to twelve feet high in trains of three to six. Perkins work never passed the trial stage.

But modern materials, and advanced aerodynamic engineering make this work today

Kitewing is safe and easy to use. It is simple in design and construction, yet it seems as though every detail has been carefully considered, tested,and refined. From set up to transport, to the way that the wind flows over the wing- all aspects have been carefully thought out. 

For example, the wing folds and travels easily in a lightweight ski bag. Owners can take it with them on ski trips to expand their downhill or frozen lake  options. Windy or icy conditions can wreck a mountain ski vacation, but with a kitewing, a wind blown lake or field becomes a playground. The best videos are of people using the toy at home, after work, or having races with buddies on a local field, cottage lake, or golf course.

Here is the Kitewing Instagram group which is a good place start to think about the history of this propulsion system / extreme sport.

Jean Paul Richter said “The test of an enjoyment is the remembrance which it leaves behind” .

Erik Hopman is one of the foremost Kitewing pioneres

Kite Man is a comic book character, a supervillain in publications from DC Comics.

Kite Man first appeared in Batman vol. 1 #133 (August 1960), and was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang.

Kite Man is featured in Batman: The Brave and the Bold voiced by Jeffrey Combs. As a boy, he was obsessed with Benjamin Franklin and attempted to recreate his famous kite-flying electrical experiment. However, he failed to take adequate safety precautions, wore metal braces, and stood in a bucket of water. The subsequent electrical shock psychologically traumatized him and forced him into a life of kite-centric crime. In "Terror on Dinosaur Island," a flashback depicts him as the leader of a group of thieves equipped with high-tech glider kites that allows them to commit crimes.

In "Long Arm of the Law," Kite Man steals a sample of Plastic Man in order to complete a theta beam gun that will enable anyone to copy Plastic Man's powers, or petrify someone with elastic powers. He also obtains a sidekick named Rubberneck and gains stretching powers from theta beam exposure, and fights Batman and Plastic Man. However, he and Rubberneck are defeated when they are entangled together and the theta beam gun turns them to stone.

Kitewing is my superhero character. DIY crime fighter who patrols the streets and punishes thugs  

I went on Red Flag Deals and asked for kite wing like gadgets and propulsions systems a man or woman could buy that would tranform them into crime fighting superheroes

To the left is a snapshot of an extreme sport called power paragliding which looks quite controllable - this may soon be safe and efficient way to travel across rough country where there are no roads.

Urban Fishing in Metro Toronto

Fuel Ghoul began thinking about the rough country at the perimeter of society. Together we thought aloud and our thoughts combined and ran loose on the frontiers of civilization where anything can happen... While walking our dog in the woods that very afternoon, the Fuel Ghoul and myself found some fishermen with their lines draifting along in the shallow current of the Humber river near Scarlet Rd and Eglington Ave. 

‘Hello. Do you eat the fish you catch?’

‘Yeah you can. I do. There’s nothing wrong with it. You know what I had a good summer of catching and eating good fish from this spot right here.’ The man said. Alright... okay. that's not exactly what he said, but that was the sum of it. He was proud, and dedicated to the sport of urban fishing. Unfortunately, he was also rather camera shy.

Having spent time in Kenora Ontario, the home of really big fish, Fuel Ghoul is always keen to learn the specifics – the bait and hook combination and species related geographic considerations are very interesting to him. So FG watched (at a distance) with fascination as the man tied a second hook onto his line above the first. The long dew worm was threaded onto both hooks! The man would use the gang hook strategy to draw the worm through the shallow

Humber river against the current. It was an impressive display of superior fishing strategy and Fuel Ghoul waited with anticipation, his digital camera in hand, for a shot of him catching a fish. We got a phone call from a Toronto dentist and waited on the line , watching the fisherman . As we waited and waited there, for almost three quarters of an hour, this poor sod didn’t catch a thing!

When Fuel Ghoul finally asked if maybe he could come closer and get a picture, the man yelled back ‘Please no pictures’ but the Ghoul snapped one anyway. There’s no need for anyone to be concerned – there’s no law against fishing in urban creeks, but there is a Ministry of Natural Resources advisory which I will include in this post.

The fisherman in the picture probably doesn’t have a license, or he wouldn’t have minded getting his picture taken.

The Humber River is one of two major rivers on either side of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the other being the Don River to the east. The Humber was designated a Canadian Heritage River on September 24, 1999. The Humber collects from about 750 creeks and tributaries in a fan-shaped area north of the city. One main branch runs for about 100 km from the Niagara Escarpment to the northwest, while the other major branch starts in the Lake St. George in the Oak Ridges Moraine near Aurora, Ontario to the northeast. They join north of Toronto and then flow in a generally southeasterly direction into Lake Ontario at what was once the far western portions of the city. 

Urban Fishing in Toronto – Ministry of Natural Resources has lots of good information on the subject. 

If fishing here on the Humber in Toronto, use the map above to be sure you don't trespass. Before you begin fishing, ensure that you are not trespassing on private property. Most public urban fishery sites in the Greater Toronto Area have signs designating public access. If you are unsure, check with your local municipality.

Know the rules and regulations. For many fish there are open and closed seasons and limits on quantity and possession. A free copy of the Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary with these and other rules can be picked up at any MNR office, most tackle and sporting goods stores, ie Canadian Tire.

 Know your species. Our urban fisheries are home to many different types of fish and anglers need to be able to identify what they catch. A fish identification chart can be found at the back of the Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary.

 MOST IMPORTANT! Know which fish you can eat, and what species you can't eat!  Every other year the Ministry of the Environment's Contaminant Testing Program produces a comprehensive Guide to Eating Ontario Sportfish. This is available free of charge at local beer and liquor outlets or by calling 1- 800-820-2716. Or click on the 2008 edition above...

Urban Fishing is a significant component of our future renewable resource based society. Fuel Ghoul snapped that picture because he believes this is the start of a new trend toward Urban Gaia. Imagine rooftop gardens and park lands with huge fruit orchards and garden vegetables available for any citizen’s consumption. In the future, the streams in our city will be teaming with fish and sport fishermen.