--- Jed Rothwell wrote: > I do not think those gigantic kites would require ultra-strong tethers. They would not pull on the tether much.
This could not be correct, logically. IF you were right and the kite "would not pull on the tether much" then you don't need a tehter at all!! Simply divert some of the energy of the windmill into a propeller giving forward thrust, equal to the "pull" of the tether (this is easy to figure out), and convert the rest of the wind energy to microwaves and beam that energy to diode converters on the ground - similar to the way that has been suggested for sending solar-from-satellites down to earth. Logic dictates that the windmill would need extremely strong tethers, equal to the strain of the energy produced - and that is the present drawback. Jones Jones
