cody gallery

More than a century ago, on November 21, 1901 Samuel Franklin Cody applied for the patent of his famous war kite. Ever since Cody flew his first winged box kite it has caught the imagination of the public. Why is it that after 100 years so many people still have an affection for this kite? Is it the way they fly? Is it the way they look? Probably it is the combination of the characteristics of the kite and the flamboyant history of its inventor. Fact is that the kite has something 'special'

The first time I saw these kites was in 1977 at the first Scheveningen kite festival. Martin Lester, Nick Morse and David Turner where there with their replica manlifting system. At that time these 4,5 meter/15 feet kites where the largest kites on the beach by far, and with their heavy aluminium frames they made an impressive ground display. In fact the Nick Morse Cody is still the best crafted kite I have ever seen. In the air the kites where even more impressive. Every time a Cody slid up the line I stopped breathing for a moment till the kite locked into its position. When, at the end of the afternoon, they managed to lift a person a few dozen feet above the audience, it was clear to me that these where the ultimate kites. If you ever have a chance to see a Cody system in action don't miss it. There are only two operational systems in the world, one in the Netherlands and one in Germany. They both flew at Fano and at many other kite festivals.

	All the kites ready for flight at Scheveningen beach. The red, yellow and light-blue ones where built by Nick Morse, most of the other ones by the Hoogendijk brothers.

The first carrier kite, by Nick Morse, was built for a BBC documentary in 1977. The kite was successfully used for manlifting at the first two Scheveningen kite festivals in 1977 and 1978.



The second carrier was built by the Hoogendijk brothers. The extended wings provide a lot of lift in low wind conditions, but make the kite more sensitive to turbulence than a regular Cody. A rare view of the lifters, floating down because of a sudden lack of wind. Most times getting them down is the hardest part of the job.

	The third carrier, by Berry Kramers. This kite has flown many times all over the world, and is still used by the Dutch manlifting team.

In 1978 my brother built me a little ripstop Cody. It instantly became my favourite kite, and I flew it at many kite festivals in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
I soon started to build my own kites, but It was not until the mid 80’s that I had the experience and the money to build my first full 'manlifting' sized one. At the moment I have 10 Cody kites. It is not the easiest kite to build, nor the easiest to fly, but once in the air they always give me that AoxomoxoA feeling.

Now, more than twenty years later, I've seen a lot of kites come and go. But only two designs of those early days are still as attractive as the first time I saw them, the Cody and the flexifoil. Somehow these designs are timeless. Only time will prove if the flexifoil will also keep its
popularity for more than a century:-)

	My collection of small kites, cell size 30 cm, wingspan 150 cm. The black on and the brownish one where built by my brother when I was a child, incredible that they survived 20 years of flying. The other ones are built by me. Some of the oldest ones are framed with ramin, the rest is framed with Exel RCF6mm carbon tubes.



Once my goal was to build 30 cm cell versions of all the colours used by Nick Morse for the Manlifting system. It's a pretty complete train now, but a small carrier is still missing. Well, the train took 15 years to complete, so the carrier might take a little while as well.



	Big brother and little sister side by side at the Scheveningen kite festival. The 90 cm cell with extended wings was built for Gerard v/d Loo (Vlieger-Op) by Nick Morse. Both the big version and the small version are not part of the manlifting system, but just great kites with an amazing flying angle.



This sand coloured Cody (excellent camouflage on the beach) with extended wings, keel, and topsail was my first full size Cody. The topsail makes it a very stable and reliable flyer. It can fly with a very high bridle position, which reduces the pull, so despite its 560 cm wingspan it can easily be flown by one person.



	For a lot of lift there are few kites that beat a lifter sized Cody (90 cm cells, 450 cm wingspan). This is not a kite to fly on your own. With 7 kg of aluminium tubes as a frame it is also a kite to keep away from buildings, cars and children. Since a Cody is meant to fly high, some clearance from aviation control could also be useful. As a result airtime is limited for this kind of kites, but taking it out of its bag is therefore something special.



A lightweight version framed with Exel carbon tubes. This 50 cm cells, 350 cm wingspan Cody soars on the slightest breeze. I sometimes fly it on a dyneema line, it goes straight up, so a stiff neck is guaranteed. The wings are a bit slimmer than usual, built following the example of some old photo's of a kite used for altitude records by S.F.Cody.



	Another design by S.F.Cody, known under many names, like 'Double Diamond Box' or a 'Signal Kite', but commonly known as Compound Cody. This one has a 50 cm cell height, about a 2.5 meter wingspan. It is a difficult to bridle a kite, mine pulls like a truck during take of, but once it arrives at the top of it floats around a bit. Some people use springs or rubber bands in the bridleto make it self-regulating. One advantage, it can take a whole lot of wind.