Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very interesting original WWII Aerial Target Kite Mark I, also identified as Device 3-C-29, manufactured by Spalding Bros. Inc. and retaining its original frame, rudder, and control cables. The kite displays the silhouette of a Japanese aircraft for anti-aircraft gunnery training and was part of the target-kite system developed during WWII by Paul E. Garber of the Smithsonian Institution and Stanley Potter. Examples retaining more than just the fabric “skin” are considerably more complete than the loose kite panels often encountered today.

These were utilized during training in both the Army and Navy. Officially designated and marked:

TARGET KITE, MARK I
U.S. NAVY 3-C-29
U.S. ARMY M-9
PATENT APPLIED FOR
RESTRICTED
SPALDING BROS. INC.

Measures approximately Length 63" Width: 53" and is offered in very fair condition, with moderate tearing in the fabric as shown in the photos near the top and along the frame. There is some discoloration where the material is now very fragile, so please exercise caution when handling it. These were used by both the Army and Navy for target practice. You occasionally encounter the "skins" with either a German or Japanese silhouette but one rarely sees the original kite skeleton and rudder. The fabric has some heavy wear and is fragile but overall a very appealing look. Very hard to find on today's market, usually only encountered in museums like the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

The Mark I target kite grew from the work of Paul E. Garber, a longtime Smithsonian aviation historian, model-maker, and kite enthusiast. During WWII Garber entered U.S. Navy service and became involved in aircraft-recognition and special training-device work. When the Navy required a practical moving target for anti-aircraft gunnery training at sea, Garber and his friend Stanley Potter developed a large maneuverable kite that could be actively controlled rather than simply flown as a stationary target.

Garber demonstrated the prototype to Captain Luis de Florez, and the design was successful enough that a small initial order was rapidly followed by much larger production contracts. According to the National Air and Space Museum, approximately 300,000 target kites had been manufactured by the end of WWII. Operators controlled the kite with a reel and waist harness, allowing it to climb, dive, loop, and execute figure-eight maneuvers while gunners attempted to track and engage the printed aircraft silhouette.

The target silhouette served a dual purpose. In addition to providing a moving gunnery target, the depiction of an enemy aircraft reinforced aircraft-recognition training. Surviving examples are known with both German and Japanese aircraft silhouettes. The Smithsonian's Paul E. Garber archival collection contains extensive material relating to development of the military target kite, including Mark I and Mark I Mod. 1 drawings dating from 1944-1945.

The National Air and Space Museum also preserves an original WWII U.S. Navy target kite constructed from rayon, wood, steel, cotton, metal, and paint, demonstrating the mixed lightweight construction required for these specialized training devices. That museum example was donated by Garber himself.

There is also a well-known account associated with Garber's target kites in which American gunners conducting kite-target training were already at their weapons when Japanese aircraft approached a carrier, allowing them to respond immediately. Garber later recalled that the gunners redirected their weapons from the training target to the attacking aircraft. The story became one of the better-known examples of the practical value of the training system.

This example is especially notable for retaining the Spalding manufacturer marking, Mark I / 3-C-29 / M-9 designations, Japanese aircraft silhouette, original frame, rudder, and control cables. The moderate fabric tears and other imperfections are clearly visible, but the survival of the structural components allows the kite to remain recognizable as the complete type of maneuverable aerial target used for WWII anti-aircraft training rather than merely as a surviving printed target panel. It is a strong representative example of one of the more unusual training devices developed for American gunners during WWII.