Wau Bulan is the name given to the ornate Malaysian Moon Kite. We were fortunate to see the real thing at a kite festival, in our home city of Adelaide, South Australia.
It's almost funny to compare our MBK Roller designs with the magnificent Wau! They do bear a small resemblence to the Wau Bulan in that they have a large upper sail and a smaller lower sail. So far, there are 3 separate Roller designs to try, in those downloadable books over on the right...
Our Dowel Roller is just so plain to look at, in comparison. At least it is a very reliable flier, which satisfies me personally.
Now, getting back to the festival... The organizers had invited a Malaysian kite master and his wife to the event. They brought with them a couple of large and beautiful Wau kites.
In addition, the couple brought a number of smaller non-flying kites. These were available for sale as ornaments.
A word about the names.. 'Wau', pronounced 'Wow', is an Arabic letter that looks something like the kite's shape. Also, the crescent shape of the rear sail led to the name 'Moon kite' in English. Oh, one more thing - 'Wow!' does pop into the heads of English-speaking people when they see one of these impressive kites for the first time. It did for me!
After a bit of research, it's clear that the kites we saw were indeed the famous Wau Bulan. I can't remember hearing any hummers though. Perhaps it would have been drowned out by the Kite Festival sound system anyway!
Apparently, most provinces in Malaysia have a variation on the Wau. For example, the Wau Kuching or Cat Kite and the Wau Merak or Peacock Kite. The Wau Bulan is the most popular however.
I was surprised at the efficiency of the Wau Bulan, since it managed to hold higher line angles than most other festival kites in the sky! That includes large Deltas which are known for their high flying angle.
We saw the Wau get upset by a patch of rough air, which caused it to gently spear into the dunes at one stage. The kite was undamaged, and was soon re-launched.
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