READ THE SCRIPT:
In this week’s A Plus we want to recognize a young inventor with sky high ambitions.
It’s Menlo Park Academy fifth-grader Sam Mather who invented a hot air kite.
Sam was inspired while flying a regular kite with his dad. they were having difficulty getting it airborne, even as the clouds zipped by above.
Sam began to think of ways to give it a needed boost into the wind. The environmentally-conscious inventor decided on hot air, intentionally avoiding valuable resources like fossil fuels and helium.
He said “people need to lift kites in the air for photography, humanitarian mapping and…just for the pleasure of watching a kite soar.”
His goal was to design a kite that will fly “almost effortlessly, but with minimal environmental impact.”
Sam made three 18-foot-long prototypes of his idea, but the process was not without its setbacks. His first flight caught fire when the wind blew the tissue paper it was made out of into the flame. Uh oh!
Undeterred, sam promised to carry on. He plans to stabilize the inside of the kite, and is excited to finish the next model.
Sam took his hot air kite to the ohio invention convention, where it won the industry award in earth & geosciences. As a result, he will receive a college scholarship and consultation with a patent attorney. Sam will also be representing our state next may, at the national invention convention.
Sam, good luck next May, we’re happy to award you this week’s NewsDepth A Plus!