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History

Kitty Hawk Kites, Inc. was founded in 1974 by John Harris, a pioneer in hang gliding, to provide instruction, products, and service to the burgeoning new sport. In the late 1980s, Kitty Hawk Kites expanded into what is now it's three main businesses; providing hang gliding instruction to students and instructors through it's Flight School; selling aviation and outdoor clothing as well as kites and toys through it's retail outlets; and providing adventure recreation activities.

The Flight School

The KHK Flight School with upwards of 35 instructors during the summer months is the oldest hang gliding school on the east coast of the USA and the largest school of its kind in the world. It provides beginning, intermediate, and advanced instruction to students as well as instructors in foot-launched and tandem hang gliding. Since its inception, the Flight School has provided instruction to well over 200,000 students and continues to instruct over 10,000 students every year. The Flight School provides rating certifications to students meeting United States Hang Gliding Association (USHGA) published standards.

Located on North Carolina's Outer Banks, the KHK Flight School provides foot-launched instruction from Jockey's Ridge State Park (the largest sand dune on the east coast) and tandem instruction from the nearby Currituck County Airport and Currituck Sound. In tandem training the student and instructor fly together on a large glider pulled aloft with an ultralight aircraft.

Adventure Recreational Activities

Kitty Hawk Kites offers many recreational activities. There is now tandem hang gliding, ultralight instruction, guided kayak ecotours, sport wall climbing, kite boarding, jet boat dolphin tours, and parasailing.

Our guided kayak ecotours allow participants to explore the unique ecosystems and natural history of the Outer Banks. Kite boarding is proving to be an exhilarating and rapidly growing sport. Wall climbing is a popular activity at our Nags Head, Corolla, and Hatteras stores. Jet boat tours and parasailing are offered at both our Manteo and Duck locations and provide exciting ways to enjoy the views of the waters surrounding the Outer Banks, NC.

Kitty Hawk Kites Retail Facilities

The main facility for Kitty Hawk Kites is across from Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head. This is the Company's largest retail store. The 8,042 square foot retail facility is home to the Flight Deck (aviation clothing), Carolina Outdoors (outdoor clothing), stunt and recreational kite products, windsocks, and toys. The Flight deck and Carolina Outdoors specialize in high quality clothing products focused around aviation and the outdoor environment. Our Kayak Store, located next door to our main facility in Nags Head, offers kayak sales, accessories, and rentals.

Over the past several years, Kitty Hawk Kites has opened additional facilities along North Carolina's Outer Banks. In addition to our main store in Nags Head, across from Jockey's Ridge State Park (mp 12.5), we now have stores in Corolla (3), Duck (2), Manteo, Waves, Avon, Hatteras, and Ocracoke.