From: reich@nosc.mil (Ronald S. Reich) Subject: Indoor Significance Factor Date: Thu, 21 Jul 1994 19:39:34 GMT As I have been reading the dialog about the indoor record for flying a kite the thought occured to me that an unethical person could put a kite on lines that are only 2 feet long and just walk around for 2 days and have a massive record. Therefore I propose that the indoor flying effort be assigned a significance factor that takes into account the length of line and the time of flight. The following equation is presented as a starting point for a discussion on the significance of having a significance factor for indoor flying. (length of lines in feet) X (length of lines in feet) X Time in hours = Significance factor in ftsq hrs. The idea being that the longer the lines, the more significant the achievement. For competition, a similar significance factor could be required such as; (length of lines in feet) squared X (Wingspan of the kite) = competiton factor. For competition a minimum factor would be set at some number such as would be derived from a line length of 10 feet and a wingspan of 8 feet. ie. 80 The idea being that if you use a smaller kite then you would need to use longer lines or if you used a larger kite you could use shorter lines in order to meet the requirements of the minimum competition significance factor. For the competition factor, maybe the line length should not be squared in the equation. Thoughts and comments are welcome. Respectfully submitted by Ron Reich