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.

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

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.

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!

Click here to view the embedded video.

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!

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. 

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.

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!

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.

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?