Hi All,

I am Stephen Mather, co-founder of the OpenDroneMap ecosystem of tools and long-term benefactor of Public Lab's great foundational and ongoing work in citizen photogrammetry.

In addition to drones, I have a personal and professional interest in kites, balloons, and kite balloon hybrids for photogrammetry. My friend and former colleague Dakota Benjamin has posted previously about our use of a helikites for mapping here and here.

Today, I want to introduce another friend of mine working on a kite balloon hybrid invention of his own:

My name is Sam M. and I am a 5th grader working on a project for the Invention Convention Competition in June of 2020. I have invented a Hot-Air Kite, and would like some feedback from the aerial photography community to make sure my idea will fit the needs of aerial photographers.

The Hot Air Kite can be thought of as a non-helium version of the Helikite, a kite and hot air balloon combo. Helium is becoming a rare element, and is used in medicine, welding, and in missions to space, and it is becoming expensive. I made my project in an effort to preserve helium.

Would you please take 5 minutes to complete this survey? Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Sam M.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y7J9MRH