Sheep, cows and crops are the usual sights on farms in western NSW, but next year it'll be kites that make a rare appearance when a world record holder attempts to break his own record.
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Bob Moore and his team broke the Guinness World Record for the altitude of a single kite when they flew a 12 square metre kite to 16.009 feet above ground level at a sheep station, near Cobar in September 2014.
In August 2020, they are planing another series of world record attempts with a target of 20,000 feet for a single kite and 40,000 ft for a train of multiple kites.
Although he is currently an expert in his field, it wasn't always like that for Mr Moore, who first began flying and making kites as a young boy.
"I gave up when I was 12 because it wasn't cool to fly kites in your teens...," he said.
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"It wasn't very fashionable for a teenager to fly a kite.. so in my 30s I started again. I flew for about five years and I started to build more elaborate kites."
Mr Moore eventually joined the Australian Kite Flying Society and attended his first major event at Bondi Festival of the Winds in 2005.
"My kites weren't as good as the other members then (in 2005), but gradually I've improved my building skills... and I build very elaborate and very nice kites these days," he explained.
Mr Moore said he was excited to get back out to western NSW in 2020 for the new world record attempt, although they won't be flying from the exact same location.
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The expert flyer is hopeful the kites create a symbolic uplift for those farmers doing it tough in the drought.
"I suppose farming on a very remote and arid region can be very tedious, very difficult. So I guess my high altitude kite flying was a relief, to have some different.. on their property," he said.
Flying a kite of this magnitude is similar to flying a normal kite, Mr Moore said, except they have approximately 200 to 300 metres of line out.
"If the wind is marginal it (the kite) won't rise by itself... we have to use a winch to haul it into the wind..," Mr Moore explained.
If they have the same weather conditions in 2020, as they did in 2014, Mr Moore expects the kite to be in the air for approximately 12 hours.
"We've made a kite which is very light for it's size, it's only three kilograms.. but I have lots of instruments on it..," he said.
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One of those instruments is a GPS telemetry, which Mr Moore said gives the GPS height live and transmits a radio signal back to the ground.
Achieving the world record has been costly for the team of kite enthusiasts, with approximately $60,000 spent over 10 years.
Although they are now experts at high altitude flying and hope to achieve the new record much sooner than previous, the team have started a GoFundMe page to help cover expenses.
While they haven't set a firm date for when they will be flying the kites for the new world record attempt, Mr Moore said it will be in August 2020.
"We're building a new kite that is stiffer, slightly bigger because we have to go higher...," he said.
"I figure, maybe optimistically, that we'll have the new record within a couple of years, but it really does depend on the weather."
If you would like to donate to Mr Moore and his team visit www.gofundme.com
Taylor Jurd
Hi, my name is Taylor Jurd. I am a journalist with Australian Community Media, I write for the Western Magazine and Wellington Times.
Hi, my name is Taylor Jurd. I am a journalist with Australian Community Media, I write for the Western Magazine and Wellington Times.
