Seattle AirGear

What we do

We, Seattle AirGear, developed WindDance dual-line parafoil airgear here in Seattle WA beginning in 1991. Their manufacture began in 1997. We have the wings, bridles, and bags manufactured abroad to our specifications from materials made in the USA and Europe. We have the manuals and tuning rulers made in Seattle. Also here in Seattle, we do final assembly, final quality inspection, sales, website development and maintenance, and customer service and product support for WindDance owners worldwide.

There's just the two of us, Dan & Sue Ruuska. We're fond of FLYING dual-line kites (see What is "FLYING" a kite?, the core fundamentals that most kite fliers are kept from knowing about). We're especially fond of "active" FLYING (which is very different from "passive" flying, the usual way of flying a kite including power kiting). And we're very fussy about quality.

To achieve the FLYING performance and durability that we desired, mere "designing" wasn't enough. Serious aeronautical-structural "engineering" was required. "Designing" created the appearance of our WindDances. "Engineering" created their awesome performance. Read Design & engineering: what's the difference. See our credentials.

To assure consistent high quality -- in workmanship, performance, durability -- we integrated quality-assurance measures into the design of the product and into the manufacturing processes.

In addition, we personally check every kite before we ship, carefully and thoroughly. We inspect the wing and bridle on every kite. We do meticulous touch-up work. We pre-stretch the wing in certain areas for break-in. We tighten bridle knots. We perform an integrity check of the bridle system. We break in the bridle-setting area of the bridle. We preset the bridle to the "First-flight" specification in the User's Manual.

After every sale, we provide generous product support: Quick response to any questions or problems. No-hassle one-year guarantee. Free bridle-repair replacement parts for the life of the kite in the event of accidental damage. Free patching film. At-cost repair service. Free nylon cord for making "bumpy-wind adapters." Free replacement user's manuals. Free replacement tuning rulers. On this website we offer tips, product upgrades, manual updates, low-cost accessories, and freebie goodies. See our Guarantee and Support pages.

We began as a wholesale business catering to dealers only. Now we're a dot-com retailer selling directly to flyers all over the world: Why we had to switch from wholesaling to retailing.

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Read the History of Seattle AirGear.

Update: In December 2005 we began to retire our Seattle AirGear business, and on July-6-2006 we sold our last WindDance, see What's New. We plan to develop ultra-hot new airgear, for the fun of it, not to sell them.

Product development      

The WindDance development program began in 1991, the first pre-WindDances flew in early 1992 and were sold in Europe 1992-1994, were improved several more times and then test-marketed in Seattle in 1995, were further refined in 1996 to surpass the turning performance of most dual-line delta kites, and production began in early 1997. In 1999 we improved them again: to the WindDance2000. And then again in Aug-2000 with a bridle-assembly upgrade that boosts performance & handling to even higher levels. WindDances are highly-refined and well-proven.

In addition to design work and verification field testing, WindDance development includes considerable engineering:

Aeronautical and structural engineering, in part using computer-aided design and engineering (CAD/CAE). This engineering creates the desired FLYING performance and handling characteristics, as well as high strength and durability.

Manufacturing and total-quality engineering, in part using computer-aided manufacturing software (CAM). This engineering minimizes costs and maximizes quality.

More about our product-development history
Our work with delta kites
The difference between "designing" and "engineering"
"Engineering" and "common sense."

Credentials        

B.S.E., Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, 1964; Advanced Achievement Award for achieving #1 academic ranking in the Department of Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering senior class, 1964.

Accomplishments    

We have a long history of innovating and engineering the 'impossible.'  Before Seattle AirGear, we originated the whitewater playboat and the short whitewater kayak, both popular today.  We engineered an industrial ventilation system that "Won't work" according to the experts (one was the University of Washington's top authority on industrial ventilation) yet it functioned perfectly.  During a consulting engineering job we nearly doubled the strength of high-end graphite composite flyrods for a large manufacturer that sells worldwide.  Our work with kites -- including delta kites -- is merely a continuation of that history.

We have contributed several things which could foster the growth, prosperity, and enjoyment of dual-line kiting:

• We discovered that no one in the history of kiting had ever derived the fundamental performance equations of dual-line kiting.  These equations are necessary to engineer good kites.  So we derived them.  These equations, simple high-school math, guide the designer toward hot performance.  One equation explains basic skill: "pull to make it FLY, pull to keep it FLYING."  These equations, which we offer as public knowledge, have been on this website since 1996.

• We discovered that organized kiting has no performance-&-handling standards for dual-line kites.  So, guided by the performance-&-handling standards of the mainstream world, we came up with minimum performance-&-handling standards for dual-line kites, the Three Essential FLYING Qualities.  These sensible standards can guide all dual-line-kite developers toward making better products.

• Guided by the sport's basic equations and the Three Essential FLYING Qualities, we aeronautical-engineered and structural-engineered dual-line parafoils that fly better than deltas in several key ways including speed, turning, tracking, wind range, versatility, and ease of flying -- as well as much better than sparred-parafoils and other parafoils, too.

• We developed parafoil sport kites that provide superior exercise than 'performance' kites and 'power' kites.

• We also developed an entirely new kind of dual-line kite, the extremely fast (and dangerous) "bow-wing." As well as new types of delta sport kites: deltas with performance & handling similar to WindDance parafoils. This product development is described below.

• We developed extremely versatile kites.  This eliminates the need to buy an expensive and bulky collection of specialized kites:  Specialized kites for light, medium, and strong wind.  Specialized kites for entry-level, intermediate, and expert skill levels.  Specialized 'performance' and 'power' kites including different ones for each sub-specialty within those two tracks.

• Organized kiting has two disparate tracks, one serious & competitive, the other extreme-sport:  Difficult low-performance 'performance' kiting.  And strong-pull-but-terrible-exercise 'power & traction' kiting.  Where's the kiting-as-outdoor-recreation flying the general public would like?  Organized kiting doesn't offer anything like that. The only thing close are the entry-level and step-up kites based on full-fledged 'performance' or 'power & traction' flying -- specialized kites that don't come anywhere near the performance, handling, exercise quality, and versatility needed for recreational sport flying.  So we filled that glaring void with "WindDancing": easy, fun-recreational, healthful-exercise, high-performance sport-kite FLYING with extremely-versatile virtually-indestructible 100%-soft kites that only need basic skill.  You enjoy hotter performance than 'performance' flying, better exercise than 'power' flying, and it's easier too.

• Within organized kiting, it has become serious and competitive.  Some flyers admit that they don't buy a trick or competition 'performance' sport kite to FLY it or to have fun.  Most people, when they buy kites, don't realize that entry-level and step-up sport kites are styled after and fly like the serious trick & competition models . . . and then they learn later about the poor FLYING performance & handling and the limited fun.  So we resurrected the old concept of flying a kite just for the pure fun of it -- hot performance + lots of visual & physical excitement + good exercise = great fun -- and we proudly present the airgear, simple accessories, and easy basic skill needed.

• We brought fun-filled social flying back to life -- flying side-by-side with a significant other, family member, or friend, where the primary hazard is laughing so hard from all the fun you may hurt yourself.  With practice and in brisk wind, WindDancing side-by-side -- two WindDances shrieking through the same airspace, speeding and turning in close proximity -- can be the most spectacular and fun-filled type of flying in all of dual-line kiting.

• Organized kiting focuses on sport kites designed to be "killed and not FLOWN", and on the advanced, difficult, power-eliminating, unnatural slack-line skills needed.  So we resurrected the almost-forgotten concept of actually FLYING a dual-line kite.  First we dusted-off the amazing ease & power of ancient kite-FLYING skill -- pull on your kite line to make it FLY and to keep it FLYING -- and then we aeronautical & structural engineered dual-line kites to respond extremely well to that old-but-good skill.

• We came up with sensible dual-line control handles that enhance your ability to use basic skill.  They improve your feel & control and ability to apply FLYING power, and they maximize your kite-flying exercise, too.

• We analyzed how organized kiting has veered sharply away from mainstream sport & recreation in several key ways -- a flow away from future growth -- not a wise direction to take.  Organized kiting could use this information to correct its mistakes, but hasn't.  Rather than following organized kiting, we chose to go with the flow of the general public -- where kiting's growth will come from -- and we came up with a normal & natural form of dual-line kiting a wide range of people would like:  WindDancing.  Organized kiting, to help foster its growth, in addition to its favorite forms of flying could also offer WindDancing.

• We analyzed how organized kiting has veered sharply away from kite FLYING.  The evidence?  Organized kiting has evolved to the point where it now resists all key ingredients of dual-line kite FLYING:

  1. Organized kiting resists dual-line kites aeronautical-engineered FLY well in the three essential ways.

     1. Superb response to basic skill includes tight/fast/powerful turning when you pull hard on one control line.  Our WindDance parafoils, as well as several delta sport kites we developed, certainly respond well to pull-on-your-kite-line skill.  But organized kiting prefers and promotes kites that don't.  Hardly any of their kites have the bridle-system necessary -- half the bridle is missing (see The FIRST thing to look for in a sport kite) -- and that's one reason why they respond to basic pull-hard-on-one-line skill by severely distorting out of shape, turning poorly, breaking in midair, and/or falling out of the sky.  Organized kiting also prefers and promotes 'performance' kites that respond well to a skill which is the opposite of basic skill called 'advanced' skill: push or punch on, or jerk on and then slacken, your control lines to stop your kite from flying and do non-flying tricks such as tumbling it in the air and tumbling it on the ground.

     2. Superb response to the wind is hot acceleration and strong pull rise when the wind kicks in and whenever you fly from the edge toward the power-zone.  Our WindDance parafoils, as well as several delta sport kites we developed, certainly do this.  But organized kiting prefers and promotes kites with less-exciting speed characteristics.  Competition 'performance' delta kites, which are bred to have fairly even speed all over the flight envelope even when the wind rises and falls, have the least acceleration and lowest power-zone speed of all dual-line kites.

     3. The universal steering-&-turning feel is when you feel the forces rise when you turn.  When you turn a car, you feel those rising forces in the steering wheel and in the side-forces against your body.  When you turn while running, snow or water skiing, surfing, bicycling, driving a Ferrari, or flying an airplane, you feel the forces rise.  My fondest turning-force memories are of whitewater kayaking -- carving sharp high-speed turns across eddies behind boulders, throwing up sheets of spray like a slalom water ski as I felt the Gs -- and experiencing the same while kayak-surfing huge ocean waves.  Our WindDance parafoils, as well as several delta sport kites we developed, certainly have that feel: you feel the pull rise when you turn.  The kites favored by organized kiting, however, feel very different: the pull drops when you turn.  That vague, unnatural, powerless steering-&-turning feel makes learning and precise control difficult and robs you of turning excitement and exercise.

     Compared to kites that FLY well in the three essential ways, the kites preferred and promoted by organized kiting are very different.

  2. Organized kiting resists hot FLYING performance, and great exercise, from easy basic skill.

     The only way to apply straight-flight power and turning power to your kite is to pull on both or one kite line.  That's old-but-good basic skill.  Pull = speed = FLYING.  Generating more pull in one line only = more turning speed.  The kite, of course, must be aeronautical-engineered to convert that pull in one line into exciting turning speed.  With a kite that FLIES well in the three essential ways, basic skill generates the sport's hottest-possible speed & turning performance.  The two main things to look for in such a kite?  It must be as rigid as possible, and it must have the full bridle necessary for sharply-maneuvering flight, so that it does not deform out of shape and lose performance as the pull is increased and as it is turned.

     Organized kiting, however, teaches that basic skill is for beginners and to proceed to 'advanced' skill to enjoy the 'hottest' 'performance.'  But they don't tell you this: 'performance' kites are flexible and are missing half their bridles, and therefore distort out of shape and lose performance when strong pull is applied to accelerate or turn.  Powerless non-FLYING trick performance -- little to no pull or speed as the kite is flipped & tumbled in the air or flipped & tumbled on the ground using 'advanced' skill -- has been relabeled as 'hot' performance.  The general public, though, certainly doesn't see slow as "hot."  Nor does it see a kite thrashing in the air and thrashing on the ground as "flying."

     Imagine the car culture doing the equivalent of what organized kiting did to itself: successfully learning to prefer cars that deform way out of shape and perhaps structurally fail and have terrible speed & turning performance whenever you stomp on the gas and crank the steering wheel.

     Organized kiting must resist powerful use of basic skill because the kites they prefer -- the kites sold by kite shops -- cannot withstand energetic basic skill.

  3. Organized kiting resists hand-friendly control handles that enhance feel & control, basic skill, FLYING performance, and exercise.

     Wrist straps, believed to the best by organized kiting, in reality are by far the worst for your hands and for your FLYING.  Here's why.  More.

     What are the best handles?  The new-&-improved T-handles.  Most serious flyers and most kite retailers, however, vigorously disagree in the same manner that the tobacco industry disagrees about the hazards of smoking.

  Competition in sport -- and mainstream beliefs about sport -- drive all sports toward higher performance, toward higher-performance gear, toward hotter performance from natural power-producing skill, and toward greater comfort and efficient use of the body.

  However in organized kiting, competition -- and kite-culture beliefs -- are driving performance, gear, skill, and use of the body in the opposite direction.

  Because of organized kiting's 1) dislike for parafoil kites aeronautical-engineered to FLY extremely well, 2) dislike for the ease and awesome power of basic skill, and 3) dislike for ergonomically-correct T-handles, we at Seattle AirGear cannot offer a "satisfaction guarantee" . . . because serious flyers are unsatisfied with the state-of-the-art performance and great exercise these kite-FLYING ingredients provide.

  That direction, against the flow of mainstream sport & recreation, is causing the sport & trade to decline which does not bode well for the future.

  We invite organized kiting to use this sensible analysis to realize the damage they've caused, and to act with wisdom (see below) to assure a healthy future for the sport and the kite industry.

  In the meantime, we at Seattle AirGear continue to promote the three key ingredients of dual-line FLYING.

• We came up with a sensible "1-2-3, ALSO Reach Out To The Public Guide to Success" for organized kiting.  To implement it, organized kiting doesn't have to change a thing -- except to eliminate its prejudice against many kite-FLYING things that clash with its beliefs.  Organized kiting doesn't have to stop enjoying its favorite kites, skills, control handles, or ways of flying.  But it must come to grips with this: exclusively promoting those ways is causing the sport to decline because the public doesn't particularly care for them.  The solution?  In addition to offering what the kite culture likes, ALSO offer a few things the general public would like, such as the key ingredients of dual-line FLYING:  1) Sell kites that FLY well in the three essential ways.  2) Teach the performance-&-exercise wonders of simple basic skill.  3) Recommend the common-sense skill/performance/exercise-enhancing control handles that function in harmony with the human hand.  Then organized kiting could have it all:  they could sell to the small kite culture and to the huge general public.  So far, organized kiting has not responded positively to this.

  Care to contribute to the health of sport kiting?  Our hope is that you -- our website visitors -- and your friends will help persuade organized kiting's trade association, flying associations, clubs, flyers, celebrities, gurus, spokespersons, publishers, webmasters, festival organizers, manufacturers, distributors, and specialty kite retailers to all come to their senses:  1) To accept kites aeronautical-engineered to FLY well.  2) To accept hot performance and good exercise from basic skill.  3) To accept the most-sensible and best control handles for FLYING dual-line kites.  Organized kiting has been reluctant to accept these key ingredients of kite-FLYING fun.  With a push from the public maybe they'll see the light.

Design & engineering: what's the difference      

Design creates appearance. Engineering creates performance. Design results are clearly visible. But engineering results are largely invisible: they come to light primarily when the product is put to use.

Because you can see design but not engineering, appearance can mislead about performance. Products that look the same can have large performance differences due to their different engineering. Products with high-tech materials and high-tech appearance can have lesser performance than lower-tech products with superior engineering. Depending on the engineering, performance can be well beneath or well beyond a product's look.

During WindDance development, we did some consulting engineering work for a manufacturer of high-end graphite-composite flyrods. Although the before and after flyrods were identical in appearance, and in weight and fly-fishing feel, our engineering improved structural performance: huge increases in flyrod strength, they could be flexed about twice as far before they broke, with only a tiny increase in manufacturing cost.

We also developed several spined and spineless dual-line delta kites while developing WindDances. In part by reducing several types of wing-shape distortion caused by airspeed & pull -- the fundamental problems afflicting all deltas -- we achieved much-higher-than-normal airspeeds, far better edge-to-power-zone acceleration, superior responsiveness to the wind, zero flutter even in strong winds, user-friendlier feel and handling, as well as superb turning and tracking. Our deltas had "increasing-resistance" steering & turning just like WindDances do (the pull rises when you turn, and the more sharply you turn the more the pull transfers into one line) rather than the "decreasing-resistance" steering & turning found in most deltas (the pull drops when you turn and stays about even in both lines). Our deltas responded to energetic one-line pull-turn skill with fast and powerful turns & spins just like WindDances do (most deltas respond to that basic skill with powerless turning, and some fall out of the sky or break apart in midair). Trick performance by current standards, however, was poor. Like other deltas, our deltas had much narrower wind ranges than our WindDances. Some of our deltas were a little faster than our WindDances, only before they became overpowered by too-strong winds which caused them to distort and break. They did not handle as nicely, hold up to strong winds or gusts or crashes as well as our WindDances, plus they required bridle adjustments for different wind conditions. Although they were strong compared to other deltas, they were delicate compared to WindDances. Although our deltas looked much like other deltas, they performed very differently due their different aeronautical and structural engineering.

Most flyers expect WindDances to fly like other parafoils, with lackluster performance, simply because they are parafoils. But they perform very differently, more like fast & sharp-turning deltas, because WindDances are engineered differently than all other parafoils.

We could re-engineer all three WindDances into kites that would fly very poorly. The differences in the fabric patterns and bridle lengths would be subtle -- from a few feet away, these WindDunces and the real thing would be identical in appearance. But they'd perform very differently, of course, due to their different engineering.

Is engineering 100% technical?   

Not in the least. "Engineering is organized common sense" is the best definition of engineering we've ever come across. Correct intuition -- and sound, straight thinking -- are the most important skills for any kind of engineering. Many non-engineers possessing these qualities are real engineers at various times throughout their lives without ever realizing it. Conversely, many professional engineers at times are not real engineers; you see this in products that would work much better had more common sense been used during their development. Technical knowledge and skills, the science and engineering fundamentals being paramount, are merely the tools that engineers use as needed to get the job done -- and it is the non-technical common-sense side of engineering that guides their correct use.

Our history     

Although Seattle AirGear is a young business, formed in 1994, we have a long and accomplished track record of developing good product, running a business, and being dedicated to quality, value, and service.

From 1976 through 1989 we owned and operated Natural Designs: product development, ultra-high-quality manufacture, marketing/sales, and customer service of Outrage whitewater playboats and Polaris sea kayaks. Our kayaks were highly regarded for their performance, appearance, strength, durability, and quality. Aeronautical engineering (of all things!) created their sweet handling characteristics and the superb flow characteristics of our shop's unique ventilation system (so unique two industrial-ventilation experts advised us it wouldn't work, and a ventilation contractor refused the job because he said it wouldn't work so we had to become the contractor!). Structural and composite-materials engineering generated high strength and durability. We originated the term "playing whitewater" and the "whitewater playboat" concept in 1976. When Wilderness Camping magazine added the "whitewater playboat" category to their kayak buyers' guide specifically to accommodate our designs in the late 1970s, "playing whitewater" and "whitewater playboat" entered the sport's vocabulary in a big way. We developed the world's first short whitewater playboat, the Outrage VI, in 1980. The whitewater-playboat type of kayak has become very popular, as have various kayak-hardware features we innovated. In the early 1980s, as Corporate America began to narrowly focus on the short-term bottom line, quality of materials and service from suppliers began declining. Although we carefully inspected all materials -- a higher and higher percentage had to be thrown away -- we had to replace kayaks made from materials whose defects did not become apparent until after months of product use. Did the material suppliers care? Not in the least. The deterioration of material quality became increasingly severe. We saw that in the very near future we would no longer be able to maintain our high standards of product integrity. Corporate America was forcing us to reduce our quality, too. Wanting no part of that, in 1989 we sold our special manufacturing facility and terminated the business.

In 1990, while in the process of being hired as a quality-assurance engineer by Boeing/Seattle, a hiring freeze hit. This time, layoff occurred while being hired. Previously, layoff from Boeing came five years after being hired as an aerospace research engineer.

When we went to the beach in summer 1989 to go kayak surfing, the very same Pacific-Coast beach where we had kayak-surfed for the first time 19 years earlier, we saw dual-line delta and parafoil kites for the first time! Hundreds of them were swooshing and flutter-roaring all over the beach! A kite festival! Since the good onshore wind was generating really bad surf, instead of kayak surfing we bought a cheap dual-line delta at a local kite shop and joined in the kite-flying fun. After crashing it a zillion times while learning how to fly (the soft beach sand saved it from total destruction), we became thoroughly hooked!

Although we couldn't realize it at the time, improving that first kite was the first step toward WindDance parafoils. Engineering dual-line delta kites from scratch as a hobby soon followed. Which triggered the invention and development of a new type of framed kite, one with ultra-high airspeed. For those we developed special graphite-composite tapered leading-edge spars which were flexed and strung into a bow before flight -- we called the kites "bow-wings" -- and that kite-spar engineering success led to the above flyrod-engineering success. We developed several framed kites, in return for design royalties, for an Asian manufacturer. Also desiring soft kites in their product line, they had their European paraglider designer develop three dual-line parafoil stunt kites. They barely flew. We asked to give it a try. In late 1991, we began engineering dual-line parafoil kites from scratch. In early 1992 the first prototypes flew, extremely well by world standards, and the manufacturer's main distributor began selling refined versions in Europe by mid-year.

Parafoil models with greatly-improved handling qualities and much-lower manufacturing costs quickly followed. We expected to earn a fortune in royalty money. But those products were never produced or sold, and neither were the higher-performance and lower-cost framed kites we had developed. Although we pointed out how superior products at lower prices would boost sales volume and net profits, the manufacturer and main distributor had no interest. That kite manufacturing and distribution enterprise folded in 1994.

So we decided to go into the parafoil-kite business ourselves and began Seattle AirGear in late 1994. After advancing our state-of-the-art upward a few more notches, we cajoled a small batch of WindDances out of the manufacturer we had worked with. Test marketing those WindDances, early-1995, was a resounding success. Then came the hard part. It took anther one and a half years to plan the business, to find the money, to locate and develop a cooperative relationship with a manufacturer who thinks like we do about minimizing manufacturing costs and maximizing product quality, and to design and plan high-quality production. Meanwhile, product development continued in the background, making WindDances even better. Finally, in April 1997, we received our first shipment from our manufacturer -- and WindDance sales began!

Why we had to switch from wholesaling to retailing

We began as a wholesale business catering to dealers only. Now we're a dot-com retailing directly to flyers all over the world.

What happened? WindDances and WindDancing -- which are based on "REAL kite flying" -- collided head-on with "organized kiting" and its "kite culture." So we had to shift gears.

While developing WindDances and planning Seattle AirGear, we naturally assumed everyone in organized kiting shared passion for kite "FLYING" and would embrace something new and better. We lived in a dream-world of fun.

But within weeks after receiving our first WindDance shipment in early 1997, the rude awakening began.

From the beginning, dealers ignored our key selling points (see yellow banner above) and misrepresented WindDances into something less -- sincerely believing they were something less. They sold WindDances as stereotype parafoils that fit their kite culture's image: as 'power kites' and 'pocket kites' that can't possibly fly as well as we claim.

In addition, dealers didn't tell customers about the three essential FLYING qualities that make WindDancing so much fun. Or about the power and simplicity of the natural basic skill that WindDancing thrives on. Or about the ergo T-handles needed for the best WindDancing feel, performance, and exercise. Our dealers didn't and wouldn't fulfill our two dealer requirements: 1) respect our products, 2) respect your customers.

From every possible angle, dealers persuaded customers not to get their full money's worth. To our growing dismay, dealers sabotaged fun and value.

For providing that level of service, dealers earned standard markup: half of suggested retail price.

Gradually over a few years, dealers came to realize how WindDances flown with basic skill actually do perform as we claim. Which put WindDances and WindDancing seriously at odds with their entrenched way of promoting kiting. In response, most dealers stopped ordering from us.

During a kite-industry trade show in 1999, a fellow exhibitor observed, "The kite culture is resisting WindDances like the horse culture resisted the automobile."

Our crime? We made parafoil kites, basic skill, and recreational flying look too good.

When we began our business, we had absolutely no idea that serious kite fliers would RESENT the fun of WindDancing.  It never occurred to us that kite shops would REFUSE to sell the FUN.

After recovering from the emotional shock of being rejected and punished for developing new state-of-the-art that elevates kiting fun -- and after getting nowhere in our attempts to help stop the death spiral of organized kiting -- it finally dawned on us how most kite retailers won't change in our lifetime. So we switched our focus from wholesaling (making dealers happy) to retailing (making consumers happy) and set up for selling on the internet.

In retrospect, dealers had no choice. Their "kite culture" -- which drives all of organized kiting -- forced them into it.

How do we deal with it? It's easy. We identify with -- and serve -- a group that "organized kiting" neglects: the world of mainstream recreation. It's where REAL kite flying takes place.

We offer far better service than our dealers ever did.

Above all, we encourage more fun than our dealers ever did. For example, we teach how REAL kite flying provides hotter performance than competitive 'performance' flying and better exercise than extreme-sport 'power & traction' flying. We teach how the hottest performance and best exercise comes from easy basic skill, not from advanced skill. We teach how even families and great-grandmothers can do what organized kiting claims to be near impossible: team-fly with spectacular hot performance -- two or more WindDances zipping & turning in the same airspace -- while you chat and laugh with your partners and nicely work out your body in the process.

Have you noticed how kite shops, kite clubs, kite festivals -- and other kite websites -- never mention any of this fun?

In our pursuit of that pure fun, we brought to light a REAL-kite-flying reality that defies the entrenched beliefs of the kite culture. Which, of course, sparked controversy. When organized kiting argues their side, here's what they actually mean: "DON'T educate about the choices: kite-culture flying and REAL kite flying. DON'T compare the two. DON'T reveal how the kite culture thwarts full and accurate education about kiting." Which is very much at odds with the wisdom that humanity prefers: "Freely educate about everything. And under the glare of truth and reason, let all the beliefs, realities, and choices sort themselves out over time like they have in the past."

It works. For example, does mankind today teach how the Earth is the center of the Universe? In freeway rush hour, do commuters all ride horses? Of course not. Reality, and the superior choices, eventually prevailed.

Perhaps someday it will happen in kiting. Maybe someday organized kiting will admit that parafoils can fly well, that basic skill does do wonders, that hand-friendly handles do work the best. But not in our lifetime. Progress, however, is slowly underway: "kite-culture flying" is declining -- both USA kite magazines, American Kite and Kite Lines, died in the year 2000 -- and we and our customers are fostering "REAL kite flying."

For more background explaining why we had to switch from wholesaling to retailing, read Why we had to start selling direct.

Our goals

Our goals are the same as always: To provide high-performance, easy-to-use, good-looking, trouble-free, long-lasting, reasonably-priced products that are lots of fun to use. And to provide excellent service to each and every dealer and product owner.

Dedication to quality, value, and service comes very natural to us. It has always been the only way we care to do business.

WindDance dual-line parafoil stunt kites/sport kites are developed, sold, and backed by Seattle AirGear.
WindDance, WindDancing, Seattle AirGear, and AirGear are trademarks of Seattle AirGear.
Copyright © 1995-2020 Seattle AirGear.
This page last revised Dec-14-2020