[tobinfricke]

This is actually a good question as it addresses the common misconception that the purpose of the kite was just to hold the propeller blades high up in the sky. In fact, having the kite fly like an airplane is a crucial part of the principle of operation. The documenary film (https://makanifilm.com/) might help make this clear.

There are airborne wind turbine concepts that use an aerostat (blimp/balloon). However, these suffer from at least two effects: (1) the largest practical turbine aperture is quite limited, and (2) the drag of the turbine will push the whole balloon/turbine contraption downwind and downward.