Flying since the age of fifteen, John first picked up a sport kite in 1990 on the Marina Green in San Francisco… Now in his 30′s and having flown in over a dozen different countries, he's been fortunate enough to make kiting his life's dedication – this even led to meeting his wife Takako at the 2007 Tokyo Bay Flight Party in Japan, and these days they live and fly together in Portland Oregon.
As one of the most prolific and successful sport kite competitors in North America, John has earned national championships in nearly every discipline, including his role as one of the members of three national champion dual line sport kite teams in 1993, 1995 and 1997 respectively, each of which represented the USA in the World Championships. John was voted American Kite Magazine's Experienced Class "Rising Star" (like rookie of the year) by his kite flying peers in 1992, and in 1997 he was again recognized by his peers, this time as the "Outstanding Flyer" among all Masters Class competitors. In the 11 years that American Kite Magazine was published, John is the only flier to have ever received both the "Rising Star" and "Outstanding Flyer" awards.
In 2008, John became the youngest ever recipient of the Steve Edeiken (or Kiteflier or the Year) Award for lifetime achievement, nominated by his peers and awarded by our own American Kitefliers Association at their annual convention in October of 2008.
In 2006, John co-founded Team iQuad with teammate David Hathaway and became highly active in promoting the world of rev team flying which ultimately led to the creation of his Signature Series with Revolution Kites in 2007 (the B-Series)… This later spawned into a series of B-Pro (2008) and larger Zen kites (2010) which are handmade exclusively by teammate Bazzer Poulter, and the B-Series line will evolve again with a smaller sized B-2 coming onto the scene in 2011.
Nearly equal to his passion for rev flying, John is also a capable dual line flier and has a new design (the Kymera) coming out through Into The Wind in 2011 as well… He is also a veteran indoor dual, quad and single line flier, and has dedicated a great deal of his time to producing tutorials on a variety of sport kite subjects via one of his many web sites (LearnKites.com).
When he's not flying or designing kites, most of John's attention goes toward his work as owner and editor in chief of Kitelife.com, the largest kiting web site in the world. With a bi-monthly Internet magazine, hours of video, out of print publications, a discussion forum, photo galleries and more, Kitelife is devoted to promoting and facilitating kiting worldwide through kiting media, performance and web design for the kiting industry… In 2010, the voting Kite Trade Association members recognized Kitelife.com with their "Best Kite Promotional Effort" award.
Organizational Roles
2005: > AKA Sport Kite Committee (Chair) > Member - International Rules Book Committee (IRBC)
2006: > AKA Sport Kite Committee (Chair) > Judge - World Sport Kite Championships (France) > Judge - Weifang Sport Kite Championships (China) > Member - International Rules Book Committee (IRBC)
2007: > AKA Sport Kite Committee (member) > Member - International Rules Book Committee (IRBC)
2008: > Director - Kite Trade Association (KTAI)
2009: > Director - Kite Trade Association (KTAI)
Special Awards
1992: > Rising Star - American Kite Magazine (AKM)
1997: > Outstanding Flyer - American Kite Magazine (AKM)
2008: > Steve Edeiken Kiteflier of the Year (aka)
Previous Team Experience
1993: > Air Art - Masters Class Dual Line (represented USA at World Cup)
1994-1995: > Invisible Wind - Masters Class Dual Line (represented USA at World Cup)
1996-1997: > Captain Eddie's Flying Circus - Masters Class Dual Line (represented USA at World Cup)
2005-2006: > TKS Mid-Air - Experienced Class Dual Line
2004: > Uttarayan Festival - Ahmedabad, India > Festival Layang Layang - Pasir Gudang, Malaysia > Taipei Kite Festival - Taipei, Taiwan
2006: > Wind Party - Buenos Aires, Argentina > World Sport Kite Championships - Berck sur Mer, France > Weifang Intl Kite Festival - Weifang, China
2007: > Wind Party - Buenos Aires, Argentina > Red Bull Kite Performers - Deauville, France > Red Bull Air Races - Interlaaken, Switzerland > Windscape - Saskatchewan, Canada (w/iQuad) > Red Bull Air Races - Perth, Australia > Tokyo Bay Flight Party - Tokyo, Japan
2008: > Portsmouth Kite Festival - Portsmouth, England (w/iQuad) > Bristol Kite Festival - Bristol, England (w/iQuad) > Fujimori Kite Festival - Aomori, Japan (w/iQuad) > Uchinada Kite Festival - Uchinada, Japan (w/iQuad) > PAC Rim Kite Festival - Vancouver, BC Canada (w/iQuad) > Tokyo Bay Flight Party - Tokyo, Japan > Red Bull Air Races - Perth, Australia
2009: > Uchinada Kite Festival - Uchinada, Japan > Hamamatsu Kite Festival - Hamamatsu, Japan > PAC Rim Kite Festival - Vancouver, BC Canada (w/iQuad) > Festival de Verano - Bogota, Colombia (w/iQuad)
2010: > Saint-Honoré dans l'vent - Saint-Honoré, Quebec Canada (w/iQuad) > PAC Rim Kite Festival - Vancouver, BC Canada (w/iQuad) > Festival de Verano - Bogota, Colombia (w/iQuad)
2011: > PAC Rim Kite Festival - Vancouver, BC Canada (w/iQuad) > NTUC Indoor Fiesta - Singapore > Borneo Kite Festival - Bintulu, Malaysia (w/iQuad)
If you're just bringing one kite and can break the leading edges down (dual line), you should be able to take it on the plane with you as it fits nicely above ANY roller cases or packs in the overhead... Just be sure to pack your ground stake(s) in the checked luggage, not carry on.
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