Webra
#1
Thread Starter
Webra
It has been just about a year now since Webra posted they were shutting down. I'm sad to say I
found out about their closure much much later. As I use their old engines a lot ( the Blackhead 40
not Silverline version) I wasn't plugged into their latest product line that much. Still it was very sad to
find that this fine old firm went under.
Was there ever any efforts to save Webra? What became of their production facilities, inventory??
Has anyone saved their website content? At one time they even had exploded views of their old engines such as the Blackheads I use. I'm sorry I never saved it. I've tried finding history snapshots of their site but so far nothing.
It's unfortunate that they could not compete in today's cutthroat must_have_it_cheaper way of doing
business.
Jerry
#4
Thread Starter
RE: Webra
I have set aside more than a few spare parts for the 40 blackheads, so I'm guilty. The application I use them in
( http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_75...tm.htm#7540302 )
isn't easily changed so I'm rather locked in. I may try machining parts if I can't find what I need.
I'm lucky as the 40 Blackhead has proven itself pretty tough.
Still it is sad to have seen the end of Webra as a company. Generations to come will likely never know how great their products were. Given the ever increasing I_wanna_take_it_outta_da_box_n_use_it view if things it probably won't matter.
I'm beginning to sense how my late dad must have felt; he was an old time HAM and while he embraced the solid state
age as much as he was able; I think he really missed the days of plentiful parts and camaraderie of the DIY days of amateur radio. Winding coils, grinding crystals, making the entire chassis for most of his own equipment was just normal.
Jerry
( http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_75...tm.htm#7540302 )
isn't easily changed so I'm rather locked in. I may try machining parts if I can't find what I need.
I'm lucky as the 40 Blackhead has proven itself pretty tough.
Still it is sad to have seen the end of Webra as a company. Generations to come will likely never know how great their products were. Given the ever increasing I_wanna_take_it_outta_da_box_n_use_it view if things it probably won't matter.
I'm beginning to sense how my late dad must have felt; he was an old time HAM and while he embraced the solid state
age as much as he was able; I think he really missed the days of plentiful parts and camaraderie of the DIY days of amateur radio. Winding coils, grinding crystals, making the entire chassis for most of his own equipment was just normal.
Jerry
#6
My Feedback: (20)
RE: Webra
I believe that the closest your going to come to buying a new Webra is through Weston UK. It seems as though they purchased a bunch of parts for their line of engines which are Webra based.
http://www.westonuk.co.uk/westonuk2_020.htm
http://www.westonuk.co.uk/westonuk2_020.htm
#7
My Feedback: (1)
RE: Webra
Webra engine thread with all the goodies, Tanque.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_79..._1/key_/tm.htm[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7948113/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm]click here[/link]
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_79..._1/key_/tm.htm[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7948113/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm]click here[/link]
#8
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My Feedback: (14)
RE: Webra
ORIGINAL: Tanque
It has been just about a year now since Webra posted they were shutting down. I'm sad to say I
found out about their closure much much later. As I use their old engines a lot ( the Blackhead 40
not Silverline version) I wasn't plugged into their latest product line that much. Still it was very sad to
find that this fine old firm went under.
Was there ever any efforts to save Webra? What became of their production facilities, inventory??
Has anyone saved their website content? At one time they even had exploded views of their old engines such as the Blackheads I use. I'm sorry I never saved it. I've tried finding history snapshots of their site but so far nothing.
It's unfortunate that they could not compete in today's cutthroat must_have_it_cheaper way of doing
business.
Jerry
It has been just about a year now since Webra posted they were shutting down. I'm sad to say I
found out about their closure much much later. As I use their old engines a lot ( the Blackhead 40
not Silverline version) I wasn't plugged into their latest product line that much. Still it was very sad to
find that this fine old firm went under.
Was there ever any efforts to save Webra? What became of their production facilities, inventory??
Has anyone saved their website content? At one time they even had exploded views of their old engines such as the Blackheads I use. I'm sorry I never saved it. I've tried finding history snapshots of their site but so far nothing.
It's unfortunate that they could not compete in today's cutthroat must_have_it_cheaper way of doing
business.
Jerry
I can't answer any of your questions with accuracy, so I won't even try. I love Webra engines too and it saddens me that Webra is gone.
Folks have always wanted things at the lowest possible price. This isn't anything new or sinister. It is a tribute to Webra's high quality that they could charge premium prices for a premium product for so long. As most folks know, most model engine companies are dependent upon government contracts to keep their shops busy and the coffers full of cash. Or, at least full enough. I wonder if that played a part in Webra's finances?
Like it or not, the radio control hobby has changed from being exotic and technically challenging for its participants, to being relegated to nearly total toy status because of the admittedly excellent RTF products that are available today. Radio systems were expensive at one time. Now they are nearly throw away products. Does anyone still sell complete R/C systems? It looks like most of them are hawking transmitters, receivers and servos separately. Yes, it has been nearly half a decade since I bought my last non-2.4 GHz R/C system.
Anyway, many of we older R/C participants get discouraged at the way our hobby has gone. Me too - sometimes. But then I remember that the hobby is really in our heads, not in a store, and I get busy designing my latest model from the ground up. Of course, it never gets built. I just grab the RTF electric and head out of the door.
Webra! Oh yeah. I have a couple of them left in my collection. One is a "brand new" .50 GT. I plan on holding on to it. I wish I had bought the .32 when I had the chance, but I always thought that Webra would be there. Silly me.
Ed Cregger
#9
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RE: Webra
Nicely put Ed.
I just bought my first electric plug'n'play foamie from *obbyk*ng. My first electric aircraft. I feel like I have sold out. At least it is "scale" [].
I just bought my first electric plug'n'play foamie from *obbyk*ng. My first electric aircraft. I feel like I have sold out. At least it is "scale" [].
#10
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RE: Webra
Two of my fave engines are Webra .91s, one is an old ABN and the other an old ringed engine. About three years ago I bought a new piston, liner and ring set for the ringed engine. The ring never took a set so yesterday I installed a Frank bowman ring in the .91 and even unrun there is a huge difference. I also installed a FB ring in my ancient SuperTigre 4500.
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RE: Webra
Don't worry about it Fiery. After a few flights you'll realize it is making you lazy, too easy to just pick up and take to the field. You will get bored with it and just park it. I am now building a little 300 sqin mustang that had been intended for a pylon racing class that never materialized. It will get my Webra 36 with a Jett tuned muffler. Good for sport flying and fun laps on our pylon course.
Denis
Denis
#12
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RE: Webra
Ed, it's all different now. Hams homebrewed equipment way back when. I got into home computers in 1982 and hardly anybody didn't write programs even when buying games, etc. The market for various BASICs, FORTRANs, C, C++, and assembly languages was bursting at the seams.
Hope I didn't start a war here....
Hope I didn't start a war here....
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RE: Webra
ORIGINAL: NM2K
I wish I had bought the .32 when I had the chance, but I always thought that Webra would be there. Silly me.
I wish I had bought the .32 when I had the chance, but I always thought that Webra would be there. Silly me.
#15
Senior Member
My Feedback: (14)
RE: Webra
ORIGINAL: blw
Ed, it's all different now. Hams homebrewed equipment way back when. I got into home computers in 1982 and hardly anybody didn't write programs even when buying games, etc. The market for various BASICs, FORTRANs, C, C++, and assembly languages was bursting at the seams.
Hope I didn't start a war here....
Ed, it's all different now. Hams homebrewed equipment way back when. I got into home computers in 1982 and hardly anybody didn't write programs even when buying games, etc. The market for various BASICs, FORTRANs, C, C++, and assembly languages was bursting at the seams.
Hope I didn't start a war here....
You didn't start a war with me, Barry.
I too was writing programs in BASIC back in the very early eighties, although my forte was modifying programs that had been written by someone else, to do what I wanted them to do.
Ed Cregger
#18
RE: Webra
Sport_Pilot is correct. Peter Biles designed the HP 61 and then the Webra Speed (1024). Both are wonderful engines. There is not enough difference in performance to matter. I 'm not sure about other engines in the series. I am still bummed about Webra's demise.
#19
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RE: Webra
ORIGINAL: turbo.gst
Sport_Pilot is correct. Peter Biles designed the HP 61 and then the Webra Speed (1024). Both are wonderful engines. There is not enough difference in performance to matter. I 'm not sure about other engines in the series. I am still bummed about Webra's demise.
Sport_Pilot is correct. Peter Biles designed the HP 61 and then the Webra Speed (1024). Both are wonderful engines. There is not enough difference in performance to matter. I 'm not sure about other engines in the series. I am still bummed about Webra's demise.
I loved my 1024 (Webra .61 Dykes ringed) and wish that I still had it today. What a wonderful, easy-going, screamer of an engine.
Ed Cregger
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RE: Webra
Well let me see. I love my Webra .03ci D, .09ciD, .15ciD, .10ci speed .32ci .36ci .40ci pylon, both .40ci Q500s, .40ci GT, both .50ci GTs. .91 speed, all three 1.2 speeds. I think that's it. I don't have any more webras to love.
I have used all of these engines to fly airplanes except for the .10, .32, .36 one .51 and one 1.2. All that I have used were great motors but the little .03D was hard to hand start. Loved it anyway.
Denis
I have used all of these engines to fly airplanes except for the .10, .32, .36 one .51 and one 1.2. All that I have used were great motors but the little .03D was hard to hand start. Loved it anyway.
Denis
#22
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RE: Webra
ORIGINAL: djlyon
Well let me see. I love my Webra .03ci D, .09ciD, .15ciD, .10ci speed .32ci .36ci .40ci pylon, both .40ci Q500s, .40ci GT, both .50ci GTs. .91 speed, all three 1.2 speeds. I think that's it. I don't have any more webras to love.
I have used all of these engines to fly airplanes except for the .10, .32, .36 one .51 and one 1.2. All that I have used were great motors but the little .03D was hard to hand start. Loved it anyway.
Denis
Well let me see. I love my Webra .03ci D, .09ciD, .15ciD, .10ci speed .32ci .36ci .40ci pylon, both .40ci Q500s, .40ci GT, both .50ci GTs. .91 speed, all three 1.2 speeds. I think that's it. I don't have any more webras to love.
I have used all of these engines to fly airplanes except for the .10, .32, .36 one .51 and one 1.2. All that I have used were great motors but the little .03D was hard to hand start. Loved it anyway.
Denis
I didn't have as many Webra engines as you, but I did have a Hyper Viper .40 pylon racing engine, a .50 GT of the original version, then another .50 GT of the later version (still have the latter), a 1024 .61 Speed, as mentioned before and a couple of .32 Speed and GT versions, of which I sold. Dang it! Never had a .90 or 1.20. I used to wish that they would make a .15 R/C engine. There were a few Blackhead and Silverlines sprinkled in there too.
Ed Cregger
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RE: Webra
Not me but I sure wish I had bought the one I was holding while standing in a hobby shop in Koblenz Germany. But I said I don't need it now and I can get latter any time. Oh well!!
Denis
Denis
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RE: Webra
TB, I had a P5-.91 for a while and it did exactly as it was designed, it would turn an APC 14x12 at exactly 9,000 rpm. Some who bought it tried a 14x6 like standard .91s and they were disappointed. All you had to do was read the prop range to know a 14x6 was not going get it. The prop range was 14x12 to 16x8. As the old saying goes, you can't make it what it ain't.