Canopy cloth
Due to our high volume and close relationship with the leading manufacturers we are able to import original fabrics straight from the factories that build kites.  The majority of quality kites are made with Teijan polyester ripstop cloth.  This cloth is hard to come by outside of the kitesurfing industry and is not sold by your local sailcloth distributor.  The majority of sailcloth available from sailcloth distributors is nylon sailcloth that looks very similar.  The less expensive nylon, however, will not stand up to the same abuse that the Teijan cloth will stand up to.  Over a short amount of time nylon cloths will stretch or "bag out".  Nylon will also break down under UV light much quicker.  Be assured that we will always use original sailcloth on your canopy repairs and many times we'll even be able to give you exact color matching as well.

Canopy repairs
Many windsurf sail repair shops and sail lofts are used to taping sails with a repair tape and then sewing it down.  This may work fine on asymmetrical sails where weight and stretch do not greatly affect the desired performance.  In kite repair, however, this quick and dirty repair method may adversely affect the performance of your kite and it's really no better than you could do taping it yourself.  Adhesive will slowly leak out from below the tape and collect sand and the extra layers of fabric will affect the stretch and weight of the kite.

All AIRTIME canopy repairs are partial panel replacements.  We will assemble your kite with sail maker’s tape and evaluate the shape.  Should everything look good we will overlay the damaged area with original cloth and attach it with a factory stitch.  We will then cut out the part of the panel that was replaced.  The repaired panel will retain its original shape and original stretch characteristics.

Leading edge and strut sleeve repairs
All leading edge and strut repairs are performed on the inside of the sleeve.  The sleeve is opened and the sleeve is repaired from behind with a heavy duty Dacron sailcloth.  We will usually overlay a very small amount of fabric over the tear on the outside of the sleeve for aesthetic purposes, however, the major reinforcing is done by the large patch on the inside of the sleeve.

Bladder repairs
Many times bladders can be repaired when we are repairing a failed leading edge or strut sleeve. If the bladder damage is obvious we will attempt to repair the bladder. After finishing the sewn repairs we will inflate the bladder to see if the repair has held. If the repair is good we will bill for the bladder repair, if the repair doesn't hold there will be no charge for the repair. Many times bladders that have a heavy salt or talc residue on them cannot be repaired. This residue prevents the plastic from bonding to itself.