It seems so obvious--but then again, everybody else's must seem so to themselves, too.  ;-)

Airborne = Borne by the air = Supported via aerodynamic forces.**

A windmill on a tower is not aerodynamically supported. A Selsam turbine stack supported at both ends from mountain tops is not aerodynamically supported. These are not AWE devices. Now, tilt the turbine back, add a tail and it becomes an auto-gyro, supporting some/much/all of its mass; NOW it's aerodynamically supported. It's AWE.

Kites are AWE, autogyros are AWE, two-kite systems are AWE. Magenn is AWE, so long as some portion of its lift is aerodynamic (it is). Turbines, whether made of carbon fiber, sailcloth or banana leaves--if wholly supported by towers, buildings, blimps or by elephants holding hands in a chorus line--are not AWE. Defining AWE does not rely on altitude (above sea level, above the ground or the above the local constabulary) Altitude is not an integral part of the nomenclature of what we do. It is important, but only internally.

Selsam systems are sometimes AWE and sometimes not. Doesn't diminish these systems' value whether or not they're  AWE; it's just sometimes yes, sometimes no. OutLeader and SkySails are definitely AWE--they are aerodynamically supported; deliver their power as tension over distance divided by time (hmmm, sounds like "power" to me), rather than as electricity, or potential energy (as in head of water = pumped hydro). Doesn't matter. AWE = aerodynamically supported; the form of power delivered is ancillary.

Second bit of nomenclature; "Kites have strings." AWE includes tethered structures, and does not include free-flying structures. I don't care if the tether is a torsion tube or a bit of string; I don't care of the tether leads to the earth, or to a moving ship, or to a second kite--if it's aerodynamically supported and flies from a tether, it's AWE.

My 2 cents,

Dave Culp

** In my universe, AWE does not include aerostatic lift-supported devices, but only if 100% aerostatic--systems such as Magenn are AWE, because at least a portion of their support is aerodynamic--and they fly from tethers. I won't argue this however; if the consensus says "aerostatic" = "airborne" = "AWE,"  I won't quibble.