The most famous meteorological experiment involving kites took place in 1752 when Benjamin Franklin demonstrated the electrical properties of thunderclouds. The golden age of meteorological kite flying however, coincided more or less with Ia belle epoque, although the practice lingered on until the early 1920s.
Their popularity came about because of the need for data on the structure of the upper atmosphere; self recording instruments to measure temperature, pressure and humidity were attached to kites that were often very large, and which were flown at the end of a steel wire that might be several miles in length, controlled by a steam powered winch.
Meteorological kit flying was an adventurous and often hazardous experience, not least because wet kite strings provided an excellent path for lightning strokes. But even when precautions were taken against such extreme eventualities by earthing the equipment, turbulent conditions might cause the wire to snap. Such an occurrence was a "breakaway", and posed the problem of recovering both the kite and instruments. Two contemporary descriptions give the flavour of the exercise.
The first describes such happening at Ellendale in North Dakota, "When a breakaway occurred, the rogue kites were either tracked by theodolite, or their point of descent might be notified by telephone. Having found out where to go, the staff drove a Model T truck to the site to fly the kite back to the station, this being accomplished by tying the string of the kite to the bumper of the truck.
"When telegraph and telephone lines were encountered on the way, a rope was tied to the end of the kite line and then thrown over the obstruction and secured to the bumper. The kite was untied from the truck and allowed to rise carefully into the air as the truck was driven slowly forward to the other side of the wires. Once free of any danger of entanglement, the kite string was pulled in and re attached to the bumper of the truck."
Another adventure near Portsmouth in the south of England was recalled many years later by meteorologist C. J. Cave: "The chief incident I had was one occasion when a sudden loud crack told me that a large kite and two miles of steel wire were trailing free across the English countryside.
The kite was located some time later in a cottage garden. When we reached the area the first thing we had to do was to go to every road on the line of flight and cut the wire that was festooned from hedge to hedge. Luckily it was in the very early days of motoring, and no untoward event occurred."