Better late than never, but its been a busy week. Unfortunately, this year I was only able to attend the Sunday of Dunstable. There was a good turn out of Kent members, and an even better turn out on the Saturday apparently. For those who have never been to Dunstable, it is a truly magnificent place, not just for the kite flying. There is so much more that goes on there. In the valley is the gliding club and in the morning there is a constant stream of gliders being towed aloft, then in the afternoon, we hear the wooshing as the gliders come back in to land. In addition, there are the paragliders, who fall off the hill at the far end of the site, and float around so serenely. It's a minor miracle that there aren't mishaps.

But what about the kites? Well this year, the wind was coming off the valley so climbing up the side and getting a bit turbulent at ground level, particularly at the bottom end of the arena, where everyone was based. However, once we got above the turbulence, it was wonderful flying conditions, and once again the weather really couldn't have been better. A good breeze to keep us cool, and occasional sun.
There's plenty of space for everyone to fly, but the point is made that general public are restricted to 100 feet AGL, whilst invited flyers are allowed to get much higher. With such a busy airspace, this is a wise precaution. The arena displays start at around 11am, and of course are totally weather dependent, but in the conditions, it stayed pretty much on track. And there is so much going on.
There was a mass launch and of Carl Robertshaw serpent deltas
Also a mass fly of Skybums kites (handmade by Paul and Helene Morgan of course) who were trading on site for the weekend
There was also a magnificent display of David Ellison's kites
But the high point for me were the magnificent flute kites created by a gentleman from Vietnam whose name I can't remember unfortunately. I know some of our members had the opportunity to fly these kites on the Saturday, and they looked and sounded wonderful.
But of course it isn't just about single line kites. The day has several display teams flying, including Team Spectrum; Airheads; Flying Fish and, of course, Flying Squad - well this is their home turf.
If you can get there next year and the weather is favourable, I can't think of a better place to be.