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On
almost any weekend on a small island park in the center of the Detroit
River, you may find the WINDJAMMERS Stunt Kite Team (Aaron,
Nate, Gary,
James, Mike
and George) practicing their craft.
These gentlemen with their mutual interest in kites established
the Windjammers S.K.T. in 1983. Making the
Team one of the oldest intact kite Team on this planet.
The
team began with nine or so guys at the small island park in the
center of the Detroit River flying and having fun. And in the 80's
when team flying began to take shape with competitions, three of
the guys (Aaron, Nate and Gary) formed the Windjammers Stunt Kite.
Since those early days they have added
three more gentlemen to the team. In 1989
James joined making the Windjammers a steady four person team until
1995 when his job called for him to move out of state. James
remains a member of the team and regularly returns to fly with the
team on special events. Also in the that same year Aaron decided
to stop the competition portion for the schedule, leaving an additional
spot open on the team.
So in 1996
two other gentlemen joined on board. Mike was first to join the
group. He was a native Detroiter's and we met while he was
on the island flying a delta stunter. Next came George.
We met George several
years prior to him joining the group. The reason being he
lived several states away. But, his determination and willingness
to travel weekly to make team practices made him an intricate part
of the team. Now with we had a steady four man competition
team and a six man demonstration team.
There are many accomplishments
the team has; On April 15th 1984 the Windjammers along with the
5/20 Kite Group (Local kite club) flew the record breaking Trlby
flight of 76 kites in a train. Later that year they attend
their first AKA convention in Nashville, TN. Performing at
the last Detroit City Air Show 1988, Performing for nine years straight
at the Howell Hot Air Balloon Challenge to name a few.As for team
competition they have competed in many competitions in the USA and
Canada. One of the first competitions the team flew in was
the 1987 "Fly the Mit" in Traverse City, Michigan.
The team has competed every year since then.
All of the members of the team feel like
they are more like a family than a team. Maybe that is why they
have lasted so long. There is one of the prerequisite of being a
member of the team is " The love
of flying trains of kites" . Flying large trains of kites
are what make the Windjammers the WINDJAMMERS. We
enjoy the reaction we get from the crowd. We have countless stories
of people returning to an event the following year in hopes that
we would fly again.
On Belle Isle (the small island park) they
have become a regular attraction for island visitors, stopping traffic
with their stunning aerial display of precision team dual line flying.
The Windjammers specialize in flying stack/trains of kites; such
as Dyna-Kites and Trlbys Kites. They are also skilled single
wing stunters like TNT's, Profiles, Super Ultra-Lite Pro Dancer's
and many others.
Along with island visitors they have also thrilled thousands of
other sky watchers, performing at many events such as; Michigan
Hot Air Balloon Challenge, Detroit City Air Show, Indiana's Three
Rivers Festival to name a few. As a team , they have many top finishes
at event around the U.S. and Canada.
The Windjammers are always
eager to assist beginners to get their kites aloft into the awaiting
skies, and share with them the Exciting World of Kiting. |