The Hargrave box-kite

Lawrence Hargrave (29 January 1850 – 14 July 1915), was an engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer.

Hargrave successfully lifted himself off the ground under a train of four of his box kites at Stanwell Park Beach on 12 November 1894.
Aided by James Swain, the caretaker at his property, the kite line was moored via a spring balance to two sandbags.

Hargrave carried an anemometer and clinometer aloft to measure windspeed and the angle of the kite line.

He rose 16 feet in a wind speed of 21 mph.
This experiment was widely reported and established the box kite as a stable aerial platform.
Hargrave claimed that "The particular steps gained are the demonstration that an extremely simple apparatus can be made, carried about, and flown by one man; and that a safe means of making an ascent with a flying machine, of trying the same without any risk of accident, and descending, is now at the service of any experimenter who wishes to use it."



A modification was adopted by the weather bureau of the United States and the use of box-kites for meteorological observations became widespread.
The principle was applied to gliders, and in October 1906 Santos Dumont in a box-kite aeroplane made the first officially recorded flight.
As late as 1909 the box-kite aeroplane was the usual type in Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

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