This pretense of high-level analysis in lieu of introducing or demonstrating economical energy solutions is reminiscent of Fort Felker’s “contribution” of comparative weight parameters for frying machines (Yes I did say “frying”) at the 2011 AWE meeting at Stanford. Somehow all that wisdom didn’t get Makani to any next step. REmember whe they hired “the smartest guy in the room” everyone thought they would then be successful as a result? That was a wake-up moment for me. It made me realize administrators are often people who are so good at generalizations that nobody realizes maybe they can hardly tie their own shoes yet they somehow find a way to become “the boss”. Same with “Astro” Teller - I was exposed to some of his overly-hyped BS on the internet and wondered what he had ever really got working - lots of enthusiasm but “where’s the beef”? Looks like none of the “moonshots” ever reached the moon. More beard-stroking genius. I say trim the beards and pick up a wrench and show us how you can make something work. I’m pretty sure drones could be made to last 10-20 years if that was a design goal. I think what you are still doing is trying to “make a case” for “power kites” in AWE. More beard-stroking. If so many supposedly-super-smart people keep claiming they “will” develop AWE systems that are more economical than those stupid tower-based wind turbines, and enough gullible investors believed them to contribute a billion dollars toward it, why is there still not a single home powered by airborne wind energy after 12 years? If someone wants to really show everyone how dang smart they are, in the AWE space, show us something that works well enough that it at least serves as a light at the end of the tunnel toward the original goal of lowering the cost of wind energy. Dave, the “high-level analysis” has about run its course after 12 years of empty promises and nearly zero power generation. Rather than feigning “expertise” through talking in such generalities, please demonstrate for the rest of the class exactly HOW you can generate significant power, reliably, using power kites. If your results include being more economical than those dreaded “windtowers” you’ve spent so many years denigrating, calling names, etc., that would meet the original claims made as you pretended people like Mike Barnard were somehow ignorant. If not, if you could just make some decent power, with economical power at least possible with further refinement, that would also be a great start. Otherwise, why keep “droning” on. Why should anyone take any of what you say seriously at this point? I mean 12 years? The “leading AWE researcher”? Isn’t it time you could fly something that works? Is there really any point in going on with this pretense of a “view from 30,000 feet” about making power from power kites, when you can’t show us a working version of what you mean after 12 years of talk?