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2012 – A Great New Year at Goodwinds!

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

As January rolls to a close, Goodwinds wants to say to all our customers, suppliers, and friends, happy new year!

 

We’ve had a crazy few weeks, and it already seems as though 2012 is busier than last year.  We’re settled into our new space at 2629 Henson Road in Mount Vernon and we have experienced an increase in productivity and precision far beyond our imaginations.  The new saw room is pristine and really allows us to make accurate cuts to our carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes.  Having our total stock in one big room makes it easy to keep track of it, and we are able to better anticipate inventory needs, which, of course, means that we can fulfill orders faster and more completely.

 

Well, the move wasn’t the only trick we had up our sleeve for bringing you better service in the new year; oh no, we’re about to launch a new website that will allow you to access information and specifications about our American-made carbon and fiberglass!  We’re calling it our “industrial website” because it’s goal is to provide information for engineers and tinkerers to allow them to better build their products with Goodwinds’ rods and tubes.  You can look for more information about this new website here as soon as we are live – within the next two weeks!  Of course, you’ll always be able to access our large line of carbon, fiberglass, line, connectors, tapes, fabric, and other accessories at www.Goodwinds.com.

 

In short, we think 2012 is going to be a great year!  Drop us a line to find out how we can help you with your composite rod and tube needs.

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Meet our Inventory Manager

Monday, January 9th, 2012

We hired her for the summer (while Amelia was on maternity leave) and we loved her so much, we begged her to stay!  Meet Andrea, our part-time Inventory Manager.

When she’s not at Goodwinds, she’s finishing her MBA at Western Washington University.

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Carbon Prices on the Rise

Monday, May 9th, 2011

One of the great advantages to buying carbon rods and tubes from Goodwinds is the absence of minimum orders.  We have fantastic prices for low quantities, and quantity discounts when you order more.  The reason we are able to do this is that we purchase large quantities of rods and tubes at long lengths and then cut them to spec for our customers.  Recently, our carbon manufacturer has raised the prices of carbon rods and tubes – twice within the past 6 months!  The reason for this is a global increase in the price of carbon fibers.

It is possible to still purchase inexpensive Chinese carbon rods and tubes.  Chinese carbon is made with fewer carbon fibers and more vinylester or epoxy (the glue that binds the carbon fibers together) than American carbon, and is less strong as a consequence.

Because Goodwinds supplies many industrial companies with carbon, we have chosen to continue to supply high-quality, American-made carbon rods and tubes to our customers.  We understand that quality is important to our customers, whether you are a hobbyist or one of our industrial partners or an engineer.  You will see prices rise at Goodwinds, but hopefully not very much as we work with these new price fluctuations.  And we will always offer quantity and wholesale discounts.  Please contact us with any questions.

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Visit us at iHobby!

Monday, October 18th, 2010

This coming weekend, Leland and Paul will be making waves at the iHobby Expo in Chicago with Goodwinds’ carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes.  Not only are we waiting to set you up with a wholesale account if you are a retailer, but we would love to show you some of the fantastic wrapped carbon, microcarbon, and carbon tubes we have available.  Visit us at booth #1913!

The first days of the show are specifically for retailers, and we would love to show you how we can save you money and offer you better carbon that your customers want!  We have an easy online-ordering process with deep discounts – who doesn’t want to save money in this economy?  Also, we are willing to ship custom lengths of any of our rods and tubes.  This means that you get what you want without any waste.  Finally, no order is too small to qualify for the wholesale discount.  That’s right, you can order  $50 or $5,000 worth of carbon and fiberglass (at custom lengths, if you like!) and you’ll get the same great prices and the same great service.  We want to be your composites supplier.

The second part of the show is for the public.  And boy, do we love meeting the public!  We’ll have lots of neat wrapped carbon tail booms and sailboat masts, microcarbon rods, and carbon tubes for sale so that you can get started on your project right away!  We’ll also have lots of samples to touch and explore – the possibilities are endless, and we would love to hear what great ideas you have for working with Goodwinds’ composites!

Come visit us at booth #1913 in the Donald E Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois October 21-24!  We’ll see you there!

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Mad August

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

We always feel a bit of a rush in August at Goodwinds – kiteflying demand for carbon, fiberglass, and line goes sky high, LARPers are making boffers and holding retreats, and industry demand for carbon fiber rods and tubes keeps up at a strong pace (carbon is awesome stuff!).  To top it off, Paul and Derrick took some well deserved vacation time in the heat of the summer.  Of course, Paul might have called his vacation “work,” inasmuch as flying to Bogota, Columbia and Dieppe, Canada within a week, returning to Goodwinds for a day or two, and then driving to Long Beach, Washington for the weekend can be called “work.”  You see, the whole time, Paul was flying kites.  And winning medals!  Check out his performace and the indoor competition of the Washington State International Kite Festival:

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Nice job, Paul! 

As we head into September, we’re looking forward to a busy month with a full crew.  That is, until we start sending them the American Kitefliers Association’s national championships in Seaside and the iHobby Expo in Chicago, both in October.  Phew!

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Weekend Kitefly in Bellingham

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Recently, Leland, Paul, Hector, and Derrick met some friends in Bellingham, WA for a sunny kitefly in the park.

Derrick was, apparently, the designated kite rescuer.

Paul taught Hector the basics and he quickly surpassed all expectations.

Leland taught his friend, Katherine, how to fly. 

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Bridle Line Bonanza

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

About a year and a half ago, the bridle line industry in the United States dried up.  Came to a screeching halt.  Died a sudden death.  And all the kite flyers, windsurfers, and backpack makers (bridle line is used as tensioners on backpacks, did you know?) were suddenly faced with a dearth of a crucial component of their equipment.  Bridle line is a spectra core with a dacron sleeve.  It is strong with minimal stretch and often comes in different colors.

During the past year and a half, Goodwinds has been searching for a cost-effective solution to this problem.  While we are working with a braider in the US on production of bridle line to our specifications, the process is long and fraught with difficulties.  We suspect that the bridle line we had been stocking for years was so severely underpriced that the manufacturer could not sustain production.  Regardless of our willingness to pay a bit more, the original manufacturer could not be convinced to reenter production.  We hope to see the new braider producing bridle line sometime within the next year or two, but in the meantime, we have located a German source for bridle line.

That’s right.  Bridle line is back!

In addition to stocking 150ft rolls of 100# and 170# bridle line in a few colors, we now also sell bridle line by the yard.  Visit our website www.goodwinds.com or click here for the bridle line page.

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Paul de Bakker Joins Goodwinds Staff

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Goodwinds.com welcomes Paul de Bakker to our staff!  Paul has joined us as the Deputy Director of Sales, and he brings to Goodwinds his extensive knowledge of carbon and fiberglass (he has a degree in Composites Engineering!) as well as his vast experience designing, building, and flying kites.

Paul is originally from Holland, and he has lived in the United States for the past couple of years with his wife, Delita.  During that time, he formed his own boutique kite company, Focus Kite Designs, with a longtime friend and fellow kiteflyer, Hunter Brown.  The two design and build upscale, high-quality kites for shipment all over the world.

We at Goodwinds lured Paul and Delita away from North Carolina with the promise of hiking Washington’s beautiful mountains, kiteboarding in the fantastic Puget Sound, and participating in kite competitions, such as the Washington State International Kite Festival, in the Pacific Northwest.  Paul is quite the competitor, routinely placing in both indoor and outdoor kite competitions:

 

 We are so excited to have Paul with us at Goodwinds.com.  He’s young, he’s fun, and he’s extremely knowledgeable.  He will be working with a variety of industries, including hobby and RC stores, to meet their carbon and fiberglass needs.  Drop us a line and say hello to Paul today!

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Goodwinds Welcomes New Employees

Friday, April 16th, 2010

With the recent purchase of Avia Sport Composites, Goodwinds has been ramping up our packing and cutting operations.  To that end, we have hired a few employees and we would like to introduce them to you over the next couple of weeks.  Today, please welcome John and Derrick:

This is John.  John comes to us twice a week while he works on his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Western Washington University.  He mostly helps us cut carbon and move things around, but it’s sure nice knowing that there is a computer expert in the room.

This is Derrick.  Derrick technically has a full-time job across the parking lot at a screenprinting company, but he likes us better, so he comes over to help out when he can.  He’s been a great help cutting carbon and keeping us entertained with riddles.

We are fortunate at Goodwinds to have some of the best employees in the world.

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What a Great KTAI

Monday, January 25th, 2010

After a long trip from Seattle to Las Vegas, a harrowing, bumpy descent into Nevada, and a mad dash over the rain-soaked freeway, we finally arrived in Primm to attend the annual Kite Trade Association International show. 

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We set up a marvelous booth with the focus on ourselves and our two computers – after all, porting endless amounts of carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes to the show was inadvisable, and the kite stores and manufacturers know all about our products without needing to see them.  We demonstrated the ease of ordering through Goodwinds.com, but the most fun and important part of the trip was putting faces to names and building relationships with our valued customers.

Not only do we provide carbon, fiberglass, connectors, flying line, fabric, tapes, and other kite parts to kite retailers for repairs and kite building, but we also supply several manufacturers with carbon and fiberglass as raw materials.

We had a great time, and we enjoyed meeting some of the greats in the kiting industry.  In two weeks, we’ll head to the NW Model Hobby Expoin Monroe, Washington, and we plan to attend iHobby in Illinois in October.  Not to mention the American Kitefliers Association’s convention in Seaside, Oregon in October and perhaps the Washington Kiteflier’s Association Fort Worden event in March.  Phew!  It’s going to be a busy year.  Perhaps we’ll see you at a show?

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