In 1986 the first TAILWINDS, Catalog of the Skies was founded on a kitchen table in the North West Chicago suburbs by Marion Jayne and her daughter, Nancy Jayne Palozola. Marion, the top cross country race pilot and twelfth woman to achieve an ATP (Air Transport Pilot) and along with Nancy (and sister Patricia) have won more combined cross country air races than any other pilots, male or female. Before she passed away in 1996, Marion won the French organized Arc en Ciel (Round the World) Race.
Recently Marion was inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame
Imbued with the love of flying, Marion and Nancy wanted to market products to fellow aviators and enthusiasts who really loved flying. They didn't want to produce another "me too" catalog with the same-old tired aviation merchandise but insisted on unique, quality products that were hard to find in stores or catalogs. Together they took much care in establishing standards for quality products and "bend over backwards" customer service which are now the Tailwinds tradition. The first Tailwinds Catalog was just 16 pages long and was sent to a few aviation enthusiasts. Circulation soon went to over 1 million pilots and aviation enthusiasts! Our beautiful catalogs, under Jim Palozola's creative direction, won awards and some are even collectors items. Later the company acquired and published the Flight Computing Catalog.
Today over 250,000 flying enthusiasts have become loyal Tailwinds customers. In 1999 Tailwinds became one of the very first e-tailers on the world wide web. Tailwinds offers the finest selections of aviation merchandise on the Internet or anywhere else for that matter! We owe it all to our customers, and that's why the feedback we get from you is crucial to our ongoing success.
It's always gratifying to hear what people like or dislike about shopping at Tailwinds. Email us or call 800-TAILWINDS anytime.