I was fortunate enough to get a job flying in Indonesia a few years ago and was introduced to the kite scene pretty quickly. In Indonesia they have a kite season which goes for a few months and the locals fly kites ranging from kid size to village size, the later getting up to 3mts wide and 5-6 mts long.
Where i was flying in Bali there were literally thousands of kites ranging in height from 200agl to 3200agl. The kites are not so bad as you can generally see them (except when its in the cloud) its the sting or 0.5inch rope thats the killer. Some of the larger kites had a wire leader below the kite that then lead to the nylon rope.
I flew there for two years and only took out one kite in a R44. I was at 2500agl and the kite was at about 3000agl. Luckily for me it was only a small one and all i got was a heap of heavy fishing line wrapped around the pitch links and swash plate area. The cyclic got a bit stiff but i managed to bounce/run it on the ground, no damage done. Our opposition in Bali at the time was using B206's and fitted cutters after hitting a few and getting a tail rotor full of fishing line.
I will try and find a photo i have somewhere showing the skyline choca a blok with the flighty fellows.
Sad to read the above.
