Hello dear modellers,
It's been a while since the last blog post. Now, as usual, we will send you all the updates on our Slow Flyer project every month.
Our current topics are:
1. new model: P-26 Peashooter as a Slow Flyer (launch mid-June).
2. Tony is moving again and we are buying two more laser cutters to keep up with the volume of orders.
3. many newcomers and beginners discover our Slow Flyer.
4. new updates to our FAQ coming next month.
5. new product packaging and a new shipping service provider.
Re 1: Our new model
Facts about the P-26:
The P-26 was a low-wing fighter aircraft of the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). It was the first all-metal fighter used by the USAAC and flew for the first time on 20 March 1932. The P-26A was the first mass-produced variant of the P-26 family. It was distinguished by improved wings and a radio on board. Typical for fighter aircraft at the beginning of World War II, the P-26A was rather weakly armed with two 7.62mm Browning M1919 machine guns and with its air-cooled 9-cylinder Wasp R-1340-27 radial engine from Pratt & Whitney, it was quickly outclassed by other fighter aircraft. Nevertheless, it had some successes, especially in service for the Republic of China Air Force.
More details on the aircraft's history:
The P-26A saw service at the beginning of the Second World War and some export variants were also used in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
One of its greatest successes was when eight P-26s shot down 6 Japanese G3M2 bombers without suffering any losses of their own.
The P-26 had its first wartime deployment on the side of the USA, or in the Philippine Air Force, in 1941 after the Japanese landed in the Philippines.
However, it became apparent that the P-26 was clearly inferior to the more modern A6M Zero of the Japanese.
This led to the withdrawal of the P-26 in 1942, but with a capable pilot the P-26 could still be a threat to the superior Zeros.
The P-26 remains an iconic aircraft, which unfortunately was quickly overtaken by rapid advances in aircraft design, in the late 1930s and in World War II.
Dimensions of our Slow Flyer model:
Now a few facts about our model in scale 1:20. The dimensions of the model are 381 mm wingspan and 315 mm fuselage length.
The flying weight is between 48 g and 52 g.
For RC flight, an RC transmitter with at least four channels is required, as well as two micro servos of the 1.7 gram class and an 8520 coreless motor with propeller.
Re 2: Tony is moving again!
Tony successfully completed his studies in mechanical engineering last year and was looking for a new place to live. After some back and forth, he has now found a new permanent home. He has now rented some rooms in beautiful Yanting (rural) to expand our production there.
Also, some employees and family members now help him with the production and packaging of the models. You can find some impressions here:
This is the automatic folding machine for the manuals:
By nature, Tony is always very keen on order.
Re 3: Many newcomers build Slow Flyers!
In Europe, our Slow Flyer models are also very popular with newcomers to model building and beginners. That makes us very happy, of course!
Whether as a personal project, for a husband or friend or as a joint project for grandpa and his grandchildren - so far every project could be completed successfully.
Here you can see the Fokker E.3 in flight:
Re 4: New updates for our FAQ
However, the new flood of interested hobbyists also brings up a large volume of questions that Tony and I cannot easily handle alongside our full-time jobs.
That's why we are currently working on an update of our FAQ and are looking forward to being able to illustrate further tricks and detailed questions and to embellish them with small tips.
Re. 5: New shipping packaging and service providers
We have also upgraded in the area of service and product protection and upgraded the packaging of the Slow Flyer. So far, we have had fewer complaints due to shipping damage.
We are also currently converting the entire shipping system to automatic processing with our new shipping service provider, so that we can process your orders even faster. Unfortunately, there have been repeated errors in the connection, all of which we will eliminate in the long term.
In the coming weeks we will be working on more Slow Flyer projects and improving our online presence.
We will also be searching out some information from the history of flight for each individual Slow Flyer model and preparing it for you.
So it remains exciting.
In this sense: Have fun and stay healthy!
Yours Tony and Sebastian
Comments