When I was a freshman in high school, I remember picking up an odd paper kite at Walgreen’s. It was called a Glite, and was billed as a “gliding kite.” I was intrigued, and as it might have cost as much as 35c, I was willing to try it. The instructions indicated that even on a completely calm day, you could pull it aloft on a string, let the string go slack, and it would glide gracefully to the ground.
I never tried that; completely calm days were unusual where I grew up. However, I did try just tossing it horizontally, and it flew better as a glider than a lot of the small balsa wood gliders I’d played with over the years. Unlike the diamond bow kites I’d always flown, the Glite had a center of gravity a lot farther forward, giving it the balance of a glider rather than that of a conventional kite. Its two lead edges were relatively thick wooden dowels, as was its spine, making it a lot heavier than most kites as well.
It’s a shame it didn’t fly better as a kite. The one day I did try to fly it kite-style, there was a nasty wind, and my Glite looped helplessly in the air over the Edison schoolyard before ending up in the low branches of one of the kite-eating trees that stood in the parkway up and down the full length of the school property. I managed to get it down, but tore the sail badly in the process. It sat in my corner of the basement awaiting repapering, but I never got around to it and eventually threw it out.
I always wondered who made the Glite and how long the product had been on the market, though never badly enough to spend any time searching. Earlier today I spotted a paper Glite on eBay, and the seller kindly sent me the patent number printed on the sail. This led me to US Patent #3,276,730, which had been granted to Charles H. Cleveland of North Pacific Products of Bend, Oregon, in 1966. The irony is that the patent is titled “Tailless Kite,” when in fact the damned thing needed a tail pretty badly. Interestingly, the patent text does not mention the device’s gliding ability at all; Cleveland must have discovered that later on, or perhaps did not consider it a patentable aspect of the product.
Searching for other inventions patented by Charles H. Cleveland led me to US Patent #2739414, a balsa wood “knock-down toy glider” in which the wings were attached to the fuselage by a short length of plastic extrusion. I recognized it instantly as a species of glider abundant at Bud’s Hardware Store and other places when I was eleven-ish. You could fine-tune the balance of the glider by sliding the red plastic extrusion forward and back along the spine, and I remember that they flew very well, for something that probably cost a quarter. Cleveland liked things that flew; he also patented an oddly cubistic boomarang (which I never saw in a store) and a rubber-band catapault launched glider toy, which I did see once in a hobby shop, though never bought.
I did a little looking for North Pacific Products, Inc. and found no trace of the firm. A Portland, Oregon lumber products company is now using the name and does not mention toy manufacturing in its history. The SSDI lists a Charles Cleveland whose last residence was Bend, Oregon, and lived from 1917-1982, which would be about right. (His last patent was filed in 1980.) I may buy the Glite and would love to do an article about it; if you know anything else, please pass it along.
A long ago abandoned/buried city dump in Bend, Oregon is being unearthed and cleaned up so that the land can be developed. I stumbled into this area today on a bicycle ride and went for an impromptu treasure hunt. Aside from the many 60’s beer cans, old bank cards from long closed banks, and a quite well preserved copy of the local Bend Bulletin newspaper from 1972, I found a roll of unused plastic packaging for 19 cent “Skeeter Rubber Powered” Airplanes. To my surprise, the packaging also read “North Pacific Products Co. Bend, Oregon”. I’ve lived here since 1982, but have never known about this former glider outfit. I remember loving planes like this when I was a boy though. Reading through these comments and remembrances has been a real treat. If anybody wants a dusty old roll of Skeeter wrappers, they’re yours for the cost of a stamp.
I just happened across this website today while I was reminiscing of my childhood. Believe it or not my mother worked at North Pacific Products in the 60’s. I was probably one of the luckiest kids on the block. Mom would once in a while bring a grocery sack full of planes, wiz rings, kytes, etc. The neighborhood pine trees where littered with them. Lol.
I still live in Oregon and recently investigated what is now the old factory. Mostly a strip mall with several businesses. One of them being a brewery by the name of Good Times. I wonder if the owner knows what good times I had as a child?
i worked there.
I don’t remember the “Glite” but as a kid I loved the 5 cent North Pacific Strato. I had one that I launched into a thermal and it flew away. I was sad but also elated. That was a good little glider. They were 5 cents when I was kid, now every once in awhile I see them on ebay at $15.
He was a cousin o my mothers and when I was around 9 we visited and toured the factory in the late 60s we came home with a huge box of gliders etc