Just before the tournament it is rather difficult to locate the boys making their kites, as they work in secluded places, but if you know of some that are making progress, a photograph by the newspaper men will add considerable zest to the advertising side of preparations.
Get your school officials enthusiastic first, and get their cooperation in encouraging the undertaking, for it is a great school social gathering and should be made worth while. Then boost for it. Demonstrate by making or flying a kite, and the boys will take care of the rest.
A SAMPLE ANNOUNCEMENT.
MANUAL TRAINING OFFICE
Los Angeles City Schools
KITES AND AEROPLANE MODELS.
New Year’s Greeting to the
Kite Makers of Los Angeles:
The Sixth Annual Kite Tournament will be held April 20, 1912, at Exposition Park. The spring vacation will be a good time to design, construct, and try out new ideas. The model aeroplanes will have a much larger place than heretofore at the coming tournament. A number of good plans of kites and model aeroplanes will be sent out during the coming season.
Spruce sticks can be obtained again this year at 1335 E. 6th St. at the Southern California Box Co., in 25c bundles or more.
The Goodyear Rubber Co., No. 324 S. Broadway is carrying string rubber and will have one sixteenth and one eighth inch, very good sizes. Models propelled by rubber bands should be from 20” to 30” across. Do not make the planes too wide, much of the failure of models is due to this mistake.
Two firms in the east are advertising small gasoline motors for model aeroplanes. Models to carry these motors should be from 6’ to 8’ or more. Models so equipped are operated by cords running to the ground. One boy claims to have succeeded with a storage battery under his arm and an Ajax motor in his model. If we get our model well under control we should be able to carry the storage battery on a wheel as suggested two years ago. No one has reported a success with the clockspring device. A long coiled steel wire spring has more promising possibilities.
Look for advertisements in “Popular Mechanics” and other magazines, for firms carrying parts such as gears, rubber motors, etc. There will be a few events for commercially manufactured models, but these are not to compete with home made.