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
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