Originally Posted by
earlwb
It doesn't look like Fox makes glow plugs any more either. Tower Hobbies shows the Fox plugs as being discontinued. When I was in at the local hobby shop a few days ago, they were just about out of glow plugs too. All they had was one plastic parts box with some glow plugs in it. We may be forced to buy our glow plugs from the internet sites pretty soon.
I think that your assessment is very true, Earl. I buy my plugs off Internet, given that the nearest hobby store is 95 miles away, I haven't been as privy to what the LHS' stock these days. One thing I noticed is that an LHS in Amarillo, Texas had limited glow fuel for sale, and that was a year ago. I've noticed only a small number of glow engines on the Tower website. Regarding Fox, found this bit of info:
http://www.modelenginecollectors.org/PDF/ValeFox.pdf
Originally Posted by Model Engine Collectors
From a Stunt Hanger thread dated Feb. 4, 2014 came this letter from Fox Mfg written earlier in 2014:
Originally Posted by Stunt Hangar
“In these tough economic times Fox has had to retrench and focus our limited number of employees on the outside jobs that provide a profit. With the price of motors driven by the Chinese imports, Fox engine profitability is limited. At this time we don't have the ability to dedicate staff to our Fox engine department. When the economy improves and outside jobs increase, we'll be able to resume engine production. Thanks for your support, Fox Mfg”
There had been rumors of Fox leaving the engine business in late 2013, but this really confirmed things. December 4, 2013, I spoke to Sharon at Fox and bought the last Fox 40 Stunt in the shop. At that time she said no engines were being produced. Fox had advertised a booth at this year’s Toledo RC show, but never came to open it. This was the first time since 1967 when I started going to Toledo that Fox was absent. Then, September 4 this year (2014) I thought I would buy one of the newest 2 NV throttles. Sharon said they were all gone. I asked if there were any engines in the building; she said no engines of any size or type were left.
And so after 67 years, Fox engines disappear with a whimper, not a bang.
Their factory is still open and making contract jobs that fit the capabilities of their equipment. In fact for years, this has been their major business. Model engines were really a minor line, but they stayed with them. It would be wonderful if they made engines once again, but realistically does any market remain? Their RC engines haven’t been popular, control line combat, Duke’s first love, is flown by very few, and precision aerobatic (stunt) fliers shun the old Stunt 35 and use foreign .25s and custom made .61s. Of course these situations refer to those still using internal combustion engines; the use of electric motors grows every day further reducing any potential market for IC engines.
Anything left of Fox is unsold stock, mostly on Internet auction and a few speciality model plane sites.