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Kite Personalities - Harm van Veen |
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Harm van Veen has been a well-known figure in the kite world since the 1970s when kite flying was just gaining recognition in the Netherlands. Harm was born in the first quarter of the twentieth century. At an early age he read "De Vliegerwereld" (The Flying World), a magazine about airplanes for adults, and collected aerial photographs. He made gliders out of balsa wood and paper or cloth and flew his creations as if they were kites on a long-line. He also read everything he could on aerodynamics. When World War II broke out Harm had to discontinue his studies in electrotechnology; after the war, he decided not to continue his studies, as he had become disillusioned with science because of the atomic bomb. In 1955 Harm earned a degree in art education for primary grades (drawing and crafts). He then continued his studies for a short while at the art academy and became an art teacher in handicraft at primary schools. Around this time he learned about boomerangs and started making them himself. In the 1970s Harm studied at the Rietveld Academy and conducted research on the history of windmills. In other words, Harm was interested in everything that had to do with wind and aerodynamics. In 1976 Harm went to see a kite exhibition of Tom van Sant, where he developed the interest in kites that he has retained to this day. He bought a book titled Kites by David Pelham and made his first sled kite. He then went on to building deltas and other kite models. In 1977 Harm was invited to the opening of the first kite store in the Netherlands, Vlieger-Op, and participated in kite festivals that were just beginning to emerge. He had personal contact with Japanese and Chinese kite flyers who had been invited to kite festivals, and for many starting kitefliers he had answers to their questions. Harm took part in the creation of the "Largest Kite," a sled-shaped kite that failed to fly at Scheveningen in 1979. He continued to help build the new model, a parafoil-like kite which soon became the "Largest Kite in the World" at that time. Together with the other members of the team, Harm appeared in the Guiness Book of Records and consequently traveled to China and Japan to fly this kite. Harm is also a gifted writer - he has published numerous books such as Vliegers zelf maken (Make Your Own Kites, 1st ed. 1980), Kleine papieren vliegers (Miniature Paper Kites), and the internationally acclaimed book The Tao of Kiteflying. When the kite magazine Vlieger (Kite) was launched in 1982, Harm joined the editorial staff from 1982 to 1993. Harm contributed many articles to Vlieger on a wide array of topics that are worth reading even today (and which are now available also on the Vlieger website). Harm was also a talented artist and his cartoons appeared in Vlieger on a regular basis as well. Later these cartoons were published in a little book titled Luchtig lijntrekken (Gently Pulling on Lines). During the late 1990s, Harm participated in the international Miniature Kite Contests of the Drachen Foundation in Seattle, USA, and won several prizes. It was at this time that he started the IFOSK - the International Friends of Small Kites - and Vlieger was fortunate enough to receive articles from SKIL, the Small Kites Information Letter. Harm has been a welcome guest at many schools, kite flyer get-togethers, and openings of kite festivals where he has made valuable contributions with his lectures, exhibitions, workshops, and kite presentations. Now eighty years old, Harm has become a true legend and has many kite friends all over the world. He still flies kites and the chance that you will see him flying his wonderful creations is not unlikely. This article by John Verheij, editor of Vlieger, first appeared in November 2004 and is used by permission.
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