Ever hear of a Sig Cessna 170 ?
You know Jon, I think you are correct. Story I heard was Sure-Flite was operating out of a hangar at Flabob airport near Riverside. They had a fire, and wholesaled out what was there, cobbled together enough to make a few of the Aeronca kits, and then sold them "As-Is, As delived, Marked down, what you see if what you get" quality. Man it was a struggle to get the fuselage together. Had to add in splices, and cut new wood in a couple places too. It was a 100% balsa kit and the wing went together fine. The box cited engines of .10 to .20 size. I installed an old K&B .19 and it took off like a rocket. Too much power.
The firm later moved into another building about 20 miles from there, reengineered the kit (and others) and upped the prices. I think my Aeronca cost about $15-20 at the time. I think they moved to Lake Elsinore now.
As to copiers, I cheated. I went to Xerox web site, contacted sales, and pretended to be interested in one of their huge map sized copiers. HOWEVER, I wanted to see one in operation prior to purchasing. They let me know of one downtown Los Angeles. I cannot remember the model number, but the very wide copiers are listed still at the Xerox site. Just contact them to locate a dealer, and a demo for one in Sacto area.
Wm.