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| Archived Press Reports |
These pages contain press reports and articles relating to various activities of Hi Fly Kites. Each report is dated, therefore certain statistical information may vary.
| Go Fly A Kite (The Howick Phoenix - 22 July 1992) |
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Back home from his Army Service Howick born David Sampson, a product of Howick High School, was faced with the question of what he should do with the rest of his life. Fortunately his choice was not a difficult one as his love for kite flying had long since influenced his decision.
Consequently our Aeronautical reporter called on David to find he had already established himself making "Hi Fly Kites" in a modern factory in Power Street Howick. He was amazed at the progress already made by David in the production of many different models of kites all of which are designed to cater for a growing world wide recreational activity. Kite flying is in the blood of all males and the trend towards this popular sport will hopefully see David well on the road to a profitable future.
He first acquired his love for kites through reading introductory literature but is now making his own contribution to this international sport by designing and testing his own products. His older brother Christopher, who is in Johannesburg, is also involved and designs kites on David's behalf. In South Africa, "Hi Fly Kites" are sold by established agents along the whole coast line from Cape Town to Richards Bay.
The two busy bees in David's kite factory are his very active mother and father, Mr and Mrs Sampson, who are well known in Howick circles.
The kites which are produced by the "team" are made from parachute nylon and their price depends on the design, size and the nature of components. The stays, for example, are quite expensive as they may be made of graphite which is an expensive material but other materials may be used such as wood and fibreglass. Fabric varies from Nylon, Dacron and Kevlar to the high priced Spectra. Every conceivable shape and size of kite is made and David's latest design is a special one known as the Tumbling Star.
In the factory, five very clever African ladies work on the assembly line. All are matriculants and all are experts at their job. One of them makes up the material from template designs whilst another cuts and tails. Another lady is employed on a factory designed machine which winds 100 metres of nylon line onto kite handles. Depending on the size of the kite, various line strengths are used, from 9kg which is suitable for small kites up to 90kg which is used for high tech lines.
Crashing a kite may be an expensive mistake and shock (sprung) protector devices may be incorporated, usually in the nose of the kite to prevent damage on landing.
A huge kite festival is being planned and will be held in Johannesburg where David has been nominated to fly his kites in front of a large audience. At a recent event held in Durban, David won the 1991 Provincial Championship of the Kite Flying Club of South Africa.
All kinds of kite contests are now common place such as "flying to music", free style precision flying and team formation flying. Such is the degree of interest in the new sport that demonstrations are being organised for officials of the Barcelona Olympic Games with a view to its acceptance as an international sport.
David is already looking seriously at export markets. He is a young man with ideas and is obviously aiming for the top and we hope he will fly his kite to even greater altitudes.
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