Kite Aerodynamics: How Did a Kite Lift a 3-Year-Old?

A heart-stopping video of a three-year-old girl being lifted by a giant kite unto the air approximately 100 feet above the ground is currently circulating online. The incident happened during a kite festival in Taiwan on Sunday, August 30.

Kite festival in Taiwan went wrong

This year's annual kite festival in Taiwan was held at Nanlioao on Sunday. However, the seemingly festive event turned a nightmare to a 3-year-old child who was hurled more than 100ft through the air by the giant orange kite.

She was entangled by the kite's strings which sent her soaring above the crowd. Screams of horror from the people can be heard in the footage of the incident. It shows that the girl is stuck at the end of the kite's long tail, which soared for 30 seconds.

The little girl, who weighs 28 pounds, twisted and turned through the sky as the air blew the kite. Festival workers struggled to safely bring her down while the festival-goers watched.

But it was amazing that the girl, known only by her surname Lin, was safely brought back to the ground with no serious injuries. According to the Taiwanese officials, the 3-year-old is said to have only suffered mild scratches on her neck and face.

The report from the Taiwanese media said it was not yet clear how the girl got caught in the kite. But it appears to have been wrapped around her stomach, so she was then carried up in the sky.

The annual kite festival was immediately called off after the incident. Mayor Lin Chih Chien of Nanlioao said that the city government team had offered their sincere apologies to the victim and to the public who was there to witness the unfortunate incident.

Aerodynamics of a Kite

Regardless of the design, kites are able to fly because of the forces that act upon its parts. A kite design must always conform to the laws of aerodynamics—it should have a bridle to direct flight, and a tether to keep it from being blown away.

Three main forces are considered in controlling the flight of a kite. First is the lifting force of the wind that overcomes the second force, which is the gravity, and air resistance so it would move forward, hence the third force known as drag.

The forces considered when designing a kite are similar to that for designing an airplane. Using mathematical equations, an airplane's aerodynamic performance can be predicted. The drag equation and lift equation is established to determine the amount of the aircraft forces.

Ultimately, the three forces depend on the lift and drag coefficients, which both depend on the geometric properties of the kite, and also the angle between the wind and the kite surfaces. The aerodynamic forces on the kite depend directly on the kite's surface area, which depends on the design of the kite.

In this case, the lifting force was considerably greater than the pull of gravity, considering that the child was only 28 pounds. With fast wind velocities, whatever was tethering the kite was not able to hold it down.

Check out more news and information on Aviation on Science Times.