Editing Fixed-wing aircraft (section)

===Kites===
Kites were used approximately 2,800 years ago in China, where kite building materials were available. Leaf kites may have been flown earlier in what is now [[Sulawesi]], based on their interpretation of cave paintings on nearby [[Muna Island]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.drachen.org/journals/journal10/journal_10.pdf |title=Drachen Foundation Journal Fall 2002, page 18. Two lines of evidence: analysis of leaf kiting and some cave drawings |access-date=2 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723191642/http://www.drachen.org/journals/journal10/journal_10.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By at least 549 AD paper kites were flying, as recorded that year, a paper kite was used as a message for a rescue mission.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 1 127">Needham, Volume 4, Part 1, 127.</ref> Ancient and medieval Chinese sources report kites used for measuring distances, testing the wind, lifting men, signaling, and communication for military operations.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 1 127"/>

[[File:Kinderspiele 1828 Drachensteigen.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Children flying a kite in 1828 [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]], by [[Johann Michael Voltz]]]]
Kite stories were brought to Europe by [[Marco Polo]] towards the end of the 13th century, and kites were brought back by sailors from Japan and [[Malaysia]] in the 16th and 17th centuries.<ref name="G-Kites">{{cite web|url=http://www.gombergkites.com/nkm/hist1.html|title=Kite History: A Simple History of Kiting|last=Anon|work=G-Kites|access-date=20 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529022551/http://www.gombergkites.com/nkm/hist1.html|archive-date=29 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Although initially regarded as curiosities, by the 18th and 19th centuries kites were used for scientific research.<ref name="G-Kites"/>