The museum recently added a target kite to its collection through the generous donation of Richard and Lora Litzenberg of Woodburn, IN.
The day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941), two U.S. Navy officers were sent to the Smithsonian to obtain assistance in the procurement of model aircraft. These models were to be used in aircraft recognition training in various U.S. Navy training programs.
At the Smithsonian, the two Navy officers encountered Paul Garber, curator of the Smithsonian’s aeronautical collection at the time. To provide their assistance to the war effort, the Smithsonian loaned Mr. Garber to the Navy for assistance with the models for their aircraft recognition programs.
While working on the aircraft recognition project, Garber overheard a remark by Admiral John H. Towers claiming that the Navy needed an improved moving target for the training of anti-aircraft gunners. After hearing this remark, Garber began to think about appropriate gunnery targets. A kite might work. It would be cheap and easy to produce. But, if it was stationary in the air, it would be an easy mark even for a novice. The Navy needed a target that could do aerobatics, dodge bullets, and simulate the movement of an aircraft in flight.
Working long hours and assisted by fellow kite enthusiasts Lloyd Reichert and Stanley Potter, Garber produced an outstanding target kite (with a five-foot wingspan) in a little less than a year.
The kites were produced with enemy aircraft painted on them. They could loop, bank sharply, dive sharply and even recover out of that dive.
Garber’s target kites befuddled and humbled many aspiring anti-aircraft gunners, and it was regarded, at the time, as the best air gunnery target in the world.
Although it was developed by the U.S. Navy, the target kite was also adopted for training purposes by the U.S. Army.
More than 240,000 target kites were produced for the U.S. military at the cost of $1.2 million. More than 150,000 of those kites were manufactured by A.G. Spalding and Bros. Company, makers of athletic equipment. Only 90,000 kites were used by the military during and immediately after the war. The remainder were sold as surplus for about $2.75 each. Today, a target kite in excellent condition would often sell for as much as $300 on eBay.
