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.
Most recently, John co-founded the indoor team FlyForm with his wife TK and Spence "Watty" Watson.
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)
We're pleased to yet again announce the next prize being given away to our most appreciated supporters, the Kitelife Subscribers... For roughly 10 cents per day they play a major role in keeping KL growing in every way.
==
This time around, a return to the prize pool (thanks Rob) - the Widow Maker STD by Skyburner Kites, MSRP of $345!
The Widow Maker from Sky Burner weaves a dangerous web, approach with caution. This kite is very easy to fly and extremely precise but will pounce onto trick flying with deadly accuracy. The NEW Widow Maker was designed and built with a performance flyer in mind.
The Widow Maker is built with the exceptional quality and craftsmanship you have come to know and expect from Sky Burner. The sail is sewn with great care and precision and exceptional strength. The panels come together with the sleek and nimble styling of the spider its named for. Built with an unbelievably tough Sky Shark Nitro carbon frame, this is a Kite built to endure and out last every flyer that crosses its path.
Designed by Jon Trennepohl and Wayne Brunjes.
Sails sewn by Heads Up Kites, Pam Kirk and Mike Dennis. Made in the U.S.A.
NOTE: Primary color of the kite in this drawing is BLACK, WHITE, YELLOW, two shades of ORANGE.
We're pleased to yet again announce the next prize being given away to our most appreciated supporters, the Kitelife Subscribers... For roughly 10 cents per day they play a major role in keeping KL growing in every way.
This is a brand new SDT 2.8 power kite from Skydog Kites, roughly a $225 value!
Dimensions: 113.5" x 42" Materials: Ripstop Nylon Sail Skill Level: Intermediate - Advanced Wind Range: 6-25mph Line Set: 475lb & 242lb x 82ft, 220kg & 110kg Dyneema x 20m with quad line handle
Hi folks, please be advised - we'll be upgrading the Kitelife servers over the next day... Starting in about an hour, we'll be copying everything over to the new drives, then it'll all switch over sometime in the next 8-12 hours (hopefully).
You should also know that any posts made on Kitelife and Rev forums, as well as any site changes made on our servers using Wordpress, Interspire, etc may not carry over between now and when we switch servers entirely.
Best thing to do, sit tight, stick to Facebook and other forums for now... I've already sent a notice to our web clients, and I'll post back here when we're 100% done.
The good news is, all the sites on our server should be WAY faster when we're finished.
While this will be a forgiving, entertaining and educational workshop, make no mistake - this boot camp is for experienced Rev fliers only!
The focus will be on learning the ropes of serious team flying and instructors will be working with the pilots to develop and apply:
Consistency in spacing (ground and air)
Identifying formation reference points
Positive drive / sail loading
Timing and teamwork
Body positioning
Team discipline
The general format will center around 15 registrants and 3 veteran instructor captains working in three groups of six throughout the weekend - we may break into smaller groups at times, and rotate some interested registrants into lead position for "captain's training"… When we assign pilots to the three teams, we'll do our best to take geographical and team affiliations into account so that those groups can develop together and take the experience with them.
We'll also be addressing tuning and flight techniques unique to the iQuad style of team flying… While fliers will be encouraged to adjust accordingly to achieve the clinic goals, the key is to remember that you'll always be able to fly the way you want to afterward - this is just a weekend of team schooling to improve as individuals.
In addition to developing and polishing team skills, each of the three 6-person teams will learn and practice a short but stimulating ballet routine (provided) on both clinic days… This will provide a clear frame of reference for personal improvement and identifying the necessary tools for precision team flying.
Captains will rotate from team to team while we're practicing on the routine, to distribute their collective experience and styles, also providing an additional (but fair) challenge for everyone… And wind allowing, we'll also work with the 16-person grid (4x4) format - a critical tool used in world record attempts at events worldwide (the current record is 64 pilots in formation).
Guidelines:
Must be comfortable flying with hands at mid-torso.
Controllable figure 8's in a team follow.
Generally stable hover in the 4 basic clock positions.
Must have 120' high quality spectra lines.
Must have STD, and VTD or MID 1.5 Revs.
Willingness to strive for excellence.
Instructors will be there to help pilots reach their goals, but a basic foundation of control must be in place to keep the team exercises moving and advancing for everyone.
Schedule:
Saturday - July 7th
9am-10am: Set up, solo warm up.
10am-11am: Stick practice for 6-person routine.
11am-12pm: Flight practice for 6-person routine.
-
12pm-1pm: LUNCH BREAK
-
1pm-2pm: Solo flying, coaching for weak areas.
2pm-3pm: Stick practice for 6-person routine.
3pm-4pm: Flight practice for 6-person routine.
6:30pm: Dinner (location TBA)
Sunday - July 8th
9am-9:30am: Set up, solo warm up.
9:30am-10am: Stick practice for 6-person routine.
10am-12pm: Captain practice (calling), rotate fliers.
-
12pm-1pm: LUNCH BREAK
-
1pm-3pm: Flight practice for 6-person routine.
3pm-?: 16-person grid practice.
Bear in mind, as far as we know - this type of clinic has never been done in North America… We'll be learning as much as you by the end of it, but rest assured - those who come ready to give it their best and accept instruction will learn a great deal.
NOTE 1: Please let us know if you're interested in practicing and being coached as a team leader by way of a note in your registration at PayPal... We'll only have time for 3-4 students to get a taste of captain duties, but it should be a worthwhile experience.
NOTE 2: Please also let us know if you have teammates or regular flying partners who will be joining you at the clinic so we can work on assignments as early as possible.
We're pleased to yet again announce the next prize being given away to our most appreciated supporters, the Kitelife Subscribers... For roughly 10 cents per day they play a major role in keeping KL growing in every way.
==
This time around, theWidow Maker STD by Skyburner Kites, MSRP of $345!
The Widow Maker from Sky Burner weaves a dangerous web, approach with caution. This kite is very easy to fly and extremely precise but will pounce onto trick flying with deadly accuracy. The NEW Widow Maker was designed and built with a performance flyer in mind.
The Widow Maker is built with the exceptional quality and craftsmanship you have come to know and expect from Sky Burner. The sail is sewn with great care and precision and exceptional strength. The panels come together with the sleek and nimble styling of the spider its named for. Built with an unbelievably tough Sky Shark Nitro carbon frame, this is a Kite built to endure and out last every flyer that crosses its path.
Designed by Jon Trennepohl and Wayne Brunjes.
Sails sewn by Heads Up Kites, Pam Kirk and Mike Dennis. Made in the U.S.A.
NOTE: Primary color of the kite in this drawing is BLACK, WHITE, YELLOW, two shades of ORANGE.
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