The Styrofoam Glider Squadron: 2014

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Flying Gliders - #7 Couswell Lightning

It has been a while since I have updated the blog. I certainly have collected quite a few interesting gliders since the last update and I should really get updating the blog more often because I enjoy it a lot.

I found what I thought would be the "holy grail" of gliders as Eric put it. I found someone selling 2 of the #7 Couswell Lightning gliders on Ebay along with a whole bunch of other gliders. I bought them all just so I could get the #7 Couswell Lightning. Check it out...

The front of the package looks exactly like the Shen Shin #7 Lockheed or Lightning does.

Flying Gliders - #7 Couswell Lightning

The back of the package is interesting because it says "Made in Taiwan, The Republic of China" as opposed to "Made in Taiwan" like many of the older gliders do.

And here are the contents.... It looks like a Japanese Spitfire coated with rainbows. Not exactly glider that I was hoping for.

Flying Gliders - #7 Couswell Lightning

This is what I was hoping for... but didn't get. The hunt for the real one goes on.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Spitfire Styrofoam Aeroplane - Introduction

It has certainly been a while since I have updated this blog. I have continued to keep an eye out for interesting gliders and I actually found some on E-bay a number of weeks ago. I purchased some vintage gliders that were made in Japan from an E-bay vendor in Argentina of all places. I couldn't resist getting my hands on these ones as they were unlike anything I have ever seen for sale before on E-bay.

I had to purchase 2 items off of the Argentinian vendor. Each item had a cardboard upper section which I presume was used as a store display. Stapled to the cardboard section is 12 individual glider packages. The first item had 6 English gliders (presumably Spitfires) and 6 German gliders (presumably Bf 109s). The second item had 6 USA gliders (presumably Hellcats) and 6 French gliders (possibly a Dewoitine?).

Close up of the graphic on the upper cardboard portion

6 Spitfires & 6 Bf 109s

6 Hellcats and 6 Unknown French gliders

Sunday, March 16, 2014

WW1 Power Prop Gliders - Box

I noticed how similar the box from the WW2 Power Prop Gliders looked compared to my box of WW1 Power Prop Gliders, so I decided to post some pictures of this box as well.

WW1 Power Prop Gliders - front of the box

WW1 Power Prop Gliders - left side of the box

WW1 Power Prop Gliders - reverse side of the box

WW1 Power Prop Gliders - right side of the box

WW1 Power Prop Gliders - top of the box

WW1 Power Prop Gliders - inside the box

Power Prop Gliders - Box

The same E-bay vendor that sold me the set of 12 gliders also sold me the rest of the box of gliders too. I had been searching for these gliders for so very long and now I have a ton of them. I think there are about 40 gliders total but there is only 1 complete set of 12 in the whole bunch. Here are some picture of the box.

Power Prop Gliders - front of the box

Power Prop Gliders - left side of the box

Power Prop Gliders - reverse side of the box

Power Prop Gliders - right side of the box

Power Prop Gliders - top of the box

Power Prop Gliders - inside the box

Power Prop Gliders - #1 Hawker Hurricane

This is an update to a post I made back on September 21, 2013. In that post I only posted a picture of the packaging of this glider because for some reason a Spitfire came inside the Hurricane package.

A while back I found a full set of 12 Power Prop Gliders in the red & blue packs for sale on E-bay. They included a #1 Hawker Hurricane which I did not yet have. Thankfully now I have an entire set of 12! The coloring on this one is a little washed out as you can see.

Power Prop Gliders - #1 Hawker Hurricane

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Flying Gliders - #3 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

It was quite a while ago that I posted about the 4 gliders from the set of 6 Flying Gliders. I posted that I was missing the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and the Junkers Ju88. Recently I found the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk for sale on E-bay for $4.00 and I didn't have to think twice about buying it.

Flying Gliders - #3 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Pactra - Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

I routinely search for Pactra Aero-Flex gliders on E-bay. Once in a while I will find something interesting that I do not have yet. I have seen a number of these Lockheed F-104 Starfighters for sale, but the price tag has always been far too much. I think I saw one for sale for $20.00 once which is far too much to pay. Recently I found one for $5.00 which is quite reasonable.

This glider is printed only on one side. Lots of Pactra Aeroflex gliders are printed on both sides, but a few are only printed on one side for whatever reason.

This is a fantastic glider. The wingspan is super short, but it flies incredibly well. I'd say it is probably one of the best gliders I have.

Pactra - F-104 Lockheed Starfighter in original packaging

Pactra - F-104 Lockheed Starfighter out of the packaging

Pactra - F-104 Lockheed Starfighter assembled

(Vintage) Flying Gliders - #12 Piper Tri-Pacer

While searching on E-bay one day not that long ago, I found 4 Flying Gliders for sale for $0.99 plus shipping. The lot of 4 included the following gliders:

#4 Airacobra

#5 Thunderbolt F-47D

#6 Hawker Hurricane MK.11C

#12 Piper Tri-Pacer

The #12 Piper Tri-Pacer was the only glider that I was missing from this set, so I decided $0.99 plus a few bucks in shipping was totally worth it to have a complete set of 12.

Following are the pictures of the Tri-Pacer. I scanned the package to get a really good close up of the art, just like I did with the other 11 in this set a while back.

(Vintage) Flying Gliders - #12 Piper Tri-Pacer

Power Prop Flying Gliders - #2 Mitsubishi Zero (1970's?)

I saw a WWII Power Prop Flying Gliders Mitsubishi Zero for sale on E-bay with the following description:

1 Mitsubishi Zero Flying Glider in Original Package (Circa 1970's)

The price tag was $3.49 so I figured it was worth it to buy it to see if it indeed was as old as the description said it is. Here are the pictures:

Front side of the package

Reverse side of the package

This glider was made in Taiwan, which speaks to how old it is. The glider also has a white plastic nose weight which I have never seen before. The graphics are kinda faded, but that could be due to the printer running out of ink when this one was made.

When I bought it, I thought that perhaps the package art was different. When comparing it to the cover art on the 2 following pictures, I can see that the art is not as colorful or as detailed as the 2 Mitsubishi Zero packages shown below.