Hi, Ziggy here…
I want to share my story about meeting Bob Crawford and what led me to want an interview with him.
The San Diego kite club volunteered to put kites in the sky with the (click link for the full article about this event) San Diego Therapeutic Recreational Services organization for individuals with disabilities. Looking for volunteers we put up the bat signal to our subscribers within the club. Bob replied that he would happily help. By the time the day was done I thought to ask Bob if I could interview him. This thought came to mind because Bob shared so many stories with me while we volunteered at the event. He said, sure, with a smile on his face.
Bob Crawford is an old-school San Diego Kite Club member. He participated at the very beginning of our club’s origination. He received the old Skyline newsletters for a while.
He’s been flying for over 60 years. As a child he was always fascinated by kites. He recalls seeing a sport kite at one point in his life and being interested in it. 20 years later he bought his first dual-line stunt kite. To no surprise he purchased it from Kite Country, owned by Victor Heredia. Bob shared an American kite magazine he bought back in the day around the time he got the kite bug.
Over time, he became fascinated with watching the competitive kite flying team out of San Diego called, Top of the Line (TOTL). He saw them flying at Dusty Rhodes and, for a good year, simply watched so he could learn. Slowly, he worked his way into their group.
The Top of the Line team included:
- Pam Kirk
- Don Tabor
- Ron Reich
- Eric Streed
- Michael Dennis
Don Tabor, in particular, was both a kite manufacturer and designer of Top of the Line kites, as well as a professional competitive flyer. Top of the Line was not only a competition team but also a sport kite school. Bob even taught some lessons within their programs, though the main instruction was led by the pro fliers of TOTL.
Eventually, Bob got his break with the “B Team, Killer Bee’s.” which was mostly made up of the workforce of Top of the Line. The B Team was losing a flyer, and Bob got his chance to step in. His first competition with the B Team was at the Berkeley Kite Festival in 1990. As he grew into competition flying, Bob started writing routines, making diagrams, and doodling maneuvers. He studied competition strategy in depth, keeping a book of the American Kitefliers Association (AKA) rules for competitive flying (photo provided). He shared and studied this book alongside all the other participants preparing for competition. They had custom Killer Bee jackets made by one of the team member’s mothers.
Another notable competition was in Atlantic City, where both Top of the Line and the Killer Bees flew.
Bob competed on the B Team for three years. They were originally a three-man team but became a four-man team in their last season. The lineup consisted of:
- Terry O’Neal
- Don Tabor
- Bob Crawford
- Dominique Smith
In April of 1991, the team competed in the very last California International Sport Kite Championship. One of the standout routines Bob worked on was choreographed to the main theme from the movie (listen here – The Last Starfighter.) The performance featured dramatic sequences of maneuvers that matched the music. On the Killer Bees, Bob flew the important role of tail-gunner. A position requiring precision and awareness to hold the team’s formations together. Here is a photo of the refuel maneuver they performed and competition program.
If you would like to know more about the California International Sport Kite Championship. Click this link to the skyline newsletter, published after the championship https://sandiegokiteclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Skylines_May1991.pdf
I hope you readers enjoyed hearing about Bob and reading up on the event shared above. Thank you Bob for being such a wonderful member of our club.
Ziggy