Posts: 4909
Joined: 3/26/2002 From: Florence, TX, USA Status: offline
Hello everyone! It's April 13 2007 which means the 53rd annual Toledo Weak Signals - R/C Expo is underway. This is a selling show which means exhibitors are not only displaying their products, many of them are selling with some great show specials being offered. There are lots of new R/C goodies to see this year and a ton of really great looking models on display vying for the multitude of prizes awarded by the show and it's sponsors. Today's weather was clear, cool and windy which is a vast improvement from last year which was wet, cold and windy. The crowd reflected this as well as the entire show was noticeably busier this year, and last year was very good. So let's get started!!!!
As we all know, the swap shop is a great place to find bargains on items new and old, brand new and used. The swap shop is where individuals as well as hobby shops set out their wares and you never know what you might find. Because treasures are snatched up as quickly as they are found, this is the first place many modelers head when they arrive at the show and this was where I went first too. The first four photos are of various areas of the swap shop which runs the entire length of one side of the exposition building as well as many side rooms along the very long hall way. These photos were taken early in the morning when traffic was still a bit light. By lunch time, the crowd was thick enough to require careful maneuvering to get a look at what was up for sale.
From there I hit the floor and just started making my way up and down the isles. The first booth I happened across was AirfoilZ who have their great looking and flying foamy airplanes on display and for sale.
Next we see Dynamic Foamy. Their line of kits range from flat foamy aerobatic models to a foamy ducted fan F4 Phantom.
Pacific Aeromodel has their line of models as well as radio and field accessories on hand.
TnT Electric Company has a wide selection of EP models, parts and accessories on display and for sale.
RCGuys has their large scale models on hand with a large stack of kits ready to go home with their new owners.
Boca Bearings is here as always and they have some smoking hot deals going on for the show. They offer a wide selection of high quality bearings suitable for all of your RC related needs.
Imex Model Co. has their booth absolutely packed with RC Products of every description.
Posts: 4909
Joined: 3/26/2002 From: Florence, TX, USA Status: offline
Continuing along we next find the gentleman from Z-Planes on hand with a large selection of adhesives and airplanes kits. Need glue for a new project or repairs? They have it!
Yellow Aircraft has a large great looking spread including an F-22 Raptor for single turbine engines. The picture does not do the model justice. This fuse is huge and the glass word was exceptional.
Sierra Giant Scale has a nicely laid out display of their large scale landing gear, retracts and wheels plus other fine accessories.
Mike's Subworks has a little bit of everything on display including submarines (of course!) cars, tanks, airplanes and accessories.
Scale Pursuit Modeler has a very interesting and fine looking T-34C on display. What makes this model unique is it's construction. This is a solid EPP foam airplane which is sheeted with molded polycarbonate skins. These skins have all of the surface details molded right in them including scale panel lines, hatch lines, rivets and fasteners. The wing and tail are plug-in using plywood blade and boxes. While I was there, one of the gentleman actually punched, very hard, the fuse foam core. Unlike polystyrene which would have been permanently dented or worse, the EPP foam showed no signs it had ever been abused. Visit http://www.scalepursuit.com for more information.
Sullivan is once again on hand with their wide variety of model airplane, car and boat accessories and field equipment.
RAM Models Inc. has their huge line of electronic goodies on hand.
M.A.C.K. Products has a very nice display of their boat kits, accessories, adhesives and building tools.
Micro Fasteners has the largest selection of screws, bolts, washers, nuts and all kinds of other fasteners for sale. I'm not sure if these guys managed to have lunch as this is what their booth looked like all day and there was a line at the register too!
US Sim Jet has the very cool looking DeHavilland Vampire on display as well as their line of jet turbine engines.
Hitec RCD has a nice booth with their large selection of radio gear and accessories.
Posts: 4909
Joined: 3/26/2002 From: Florence, TX, USA Status: offline
Fedon Aircraft has a very full booth with some great looking items. They have Katana's in both .30 and .50 size as well as a 1.20 size on the way. They also have a brand new .30 size Sukhoi 29 on display that looks to be just a great a flyer as their Katana. They are also expecting to have a 1.40 size version of this model in the coming months. In addition to the models, Luigi has the very good looking Mintor 3M 110cc twin cylinder engine on display. Every bit of the external surfaces of this engine is machined and appears to be of very high quality. While you are here, don't forget to check out the Coim sunglasses. These are lightweight, durable and very high quality. They come with three sets of lens for different lighting conditions and can be changed by simply pulling the lens out of the flexible frame and inserting the new lens in it's place.
Air Wild has a large well laid out booth with lots of airplanes, props and accessories, all of which are offered for sale at great show special prices.
Dynamic Balsa is on hand again this year with their cockpit kits and scale accessories. These guys have a impressive selection of scale cockpits for many popular, and a few less modeled, aircraft. They also sell building materials and tools.
Radical RC.com is another vendor with a large selection of models and accessories available for sale. They too were busy all day long.
Advantage Hobby had a lot of visitors today checking out the very diverse set of products they sell.
Rabid Models has a great selection of scale foamy warbirds including a neat looking PBY with operational retracing tip floats.
Eagle Tree systems is here with their fine, and ever growing, line of monitoring and telemetry products suitable for all areas of RC modeling.
Polk's Hobby has some neat looking electric models on hand as well as their line of radio systems for both air and surface models.
Scande Research is here with a bunch of great building tools and their always popular Demon flying wing kit.
Last up we have Lanier RC with their very large selection of ARF and kit model airplanes. These guys have models of every type from trainers to scale aerobatic to sport and even float planes.
Posts: 4909
Joined: 3/26/2002 From: Florence, TX, USA Status: offline
Taking a short stroll over to the Great Planes booth we find several new items, and a few of them are real doozies! How about a great looking EP Combat Spitfire with a fully built-up structure? Or maybe you are looking for something a little larger and more aerobatic? Take a look at the new Reactor. With control surfaces this large, it will probably be able to swap ends while standing still.
How about the new O.S. Engines .75AX 2-stroke? Or maybe you're a 4-stroke buff (or wish you were)? In that case, feast your eyes upon the new Alpha .56 4-stroke. The Alpha line will eventually replace the well known Surpass line and the .56 is the first model to be released. New features include the sculpted look of the AX 2-stroke line and a velocity stack to improve performance.
Have you been looking for a new radio? How about the Futaba 12ZA or the T12FGA. Both are computerized radios with a ton of features to satisfy even the most serious of modelers. Or maybe you have been wishing there was a way you could upgrade your current transmitter to Futaba's 2.4GHz FASST system and do away with crystals and frequency pins for good? If so, take a look at Futaba's new transmitter modules and receivers designed with you in mind.
How about the new Nitro SuperVee 27? This boat looks fast and it's not even in the water!
Back to electric airplanes we see ElectriFly has new light weight spinners with cool looking transparent cones and lightened back plates in several popular sizes and colors.
Or how about this neat looking EP PBY sea plane? This should be just the ticket for someone looking for a neat looking, great flying electric float plane that won't break the bank to put in the air.
And last we see just a few of the very high quality FlightPower batteries along with their charge balancers. It is safe to say there is a FlightPower battery available for every model from small slow flyers to the largest helicopter or giant scale airplane.
Posts: 4909
Joined: 3/26/2002 From: Florence, TX, USA Status: offline
Our next stop was Ohio Superstar's booth. Lots of neat scale tail wheels and accessories here.
Jet Hanger International brought out a nice looking selection of jet models, turbines, ducted fans and other jet related gear.
Callis Graphics has some cool looking graphic packages, prefinished helicopter canopies, t-shirts and other items. As an added bonus, if you don't see what you really would like to have, they can custom make it for you!
Du-Bro had a lot of their product line on hand including all of their newer items for the growing small electric airplane segment of the hobby.
Century Helicopter Products is on hand once again with their very full line of both glow and electric powered helicopters. They have models suitable for rank beginners all the way up the highest levels of competition.
Batteries America has a very impressive selection of batteries of all types for sale this year. If you have something in need of a battery, they have you covered!
Vaily Aviation has a nice spread of models, pilots and scale accessories.
YS Engines is on hand with their line of high performance yet user friendly engines. Two new items that stand out this year are the .50 2-stroke helicopter engine which will be available this summer after quite a long wait, and the 1.70 DZ 4-stroke.
Harry Higley and Sons is back this year with their full line of tools and accessories. A sign on the booth said this will be their last year at Toledo. But, don't fret, they are not retiring!
Skyline Aviation has their full line of aerobatic airplane models and accessories on display and for sale.
Posts: 4909
Joined: 3/26/2002 From: Florence, TX, USA Status: offline
When I headed over the the Horizon Hobby booth, I had a feeling there were going to be a lot of new items and my feeling was right. There are more new items here this year than I expected could be release by anyone at one time. The very first model to catch my eyes was Hangar 9's new 35% Extra 260 hanging way up high above the booth. With a 105" wingspan, this model needed all the space it could get.
The next model to draw my attention is also a Hangar 9 product, but this time it's true 1/4 scale J-3 Cub. Sure, it's another Cub, but you haven't seen one in ARF form taken to this level by the manufacturer before. This one has scale landing gear, scale struts, scale door hinges and even includes a pre-painted pilot! On top of that, the outline is true to scale unlike many other Cubs.
Continuing with Hangar 9 models we find the new F-22 Raptor PTS in a sleek gray color scheme. And right across from it is the new Sundowner Formula 1 pylon racer, also from Hangar 9. The prototype has been flown at over 120mph and with an 80" wingspan, it's also IMAA legal.
At the opposite end of the size scale we find the new HobbyZone Mirco Cessna RTF parkflyer. This is a great looking little model you truly can fly in the park. And, if you're worried about possible radio interference issues you can relax because it includes a 2.4GHz spread spectrum radio.
Right above it is the new E-flight Extra 260 3D 480. This sleek little aerobat is small enough to take just about anywhere yet large enough to fly really well and perform the hot dog maneuvers Extra's are known for.
Also from E-flite is the Eratix 3D 25e. This 3D capable sport flyer will make a great transition from tamer sport models to the world of 3D as it flys both ways equally well.
Thinking about a new .50 size helicopter perhaps. Want a look into what will be available some time later this year? The "concept" model of the JR Vibe .50 is on display. While the details are still a bit hush-hush, the model appears to have been given a lot of thought by it's designers to take this size model up a step or two. Keep an eye on http://www.horizonhobby.com for details as they become available.
ParkZone is showing their soon to be released Typhoon 2. Starting with the original Typhoon, several changes and improvements have been made including the addition of Side Force Generators, SFG's, to expand it's aerobatic potential. The model even includes a ParkZone™ BL400-15T brushless motor to be sure there is always enough power to perform even the most aggressive maneuvers.
Printable Version
All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> The Clubhouse >> Toledo 2007 - RCUniverse on site coverage 
Toledo 2007 - RCUniverse on site coverage - 
