Strana 4
Good Day, Dear Friends
I wrote the editorial for the last issue on a flight
to Chicago, and today, you might expect that
I am writing the next editorial on the flight back
from Chicago. Such is not the case. I have been
home for two weeks now and I am writing in
my armchair in front of the TV, a tennis match
as my background, the first rounds of the US
Open. That is also one of the traditions, for me
it is a kind of echo of the American trip. Once
upon a time, when the RICHTA show was still
held in Chicago every autumn, a kind of small
American equivalent of the Nuremberg Toy Fair,
the US Open at the beginning of September
was for me a relaxing distraction before the
next trip to the States. But RICHTA has been
unfortunately a thing of the past for many years.
There is not much left of the model industry
in America, it fell victim to deindustrialization
in the late nineties and early 2000s, and it
does not look like it is in danger of returning.
So we will at least try to prevent the model
business in Europe from suffering the same
fate. Fortunately, model making in America is
still holding up and the annual summer IPMS
USA National Convention remains probably the
world‘s largest model making exhibition, with
a great organization and positive atmosphere.
This year was no different and for me this
exhibition is the best thing about America that
a modeler can experience. Especially if they
don‘t limit themselves to the exhibition and
competition itself, and also look around a bit.
And then, my friends, you will be amazed at what
you can see in America! A short distance from
Fort Wayne is the museum in Dayton, one of the
largest aviation museums in the world, if not the
largest of all. Well, it‘s such an American piece
of the journey, it took about three hours there
and three hours back, but believe me, it‘s worth
it! By the way, we offer you a small sample from
the Dayton USAF Museum in today‘s newsletter.
We didn‘t actually go to Dayton this year, having
been there quite recently, but our colleagues
from Special Hobby did go and Fredy was kind
enough to take pictures of two exhibits there
for us. Today, we have a collection of Catalina
pictures for you, and the second collection is
the basis for a discussion about the feasibility of
a potential project. After all, even without a trip
to Dayton, we drove a little over 3,000 kilometers
this year, we drove through five American states
and two Canadian provinces. In Canada, we then
visited the aviation museum in Ottawa, which
is not as large as Dayton, but the quality and
points of interest of the exhibits are comparable.
Our Canadian program was very action-packed
and inspiring. I think it will also have a positive
influence on the composition of our future
production. Thank you to everyone who was
with us in Fort Wayne and who visited us there,
thank you to everyone who took care of us in
Ottawa and at the base in Petawawa! For myself,
I would especially like to thank the care that
our American team members Jakub, Standa and
Katka gave me, thank you to Mark Copeland for
his help and his selfless intervention at the right
time, and thank you to Robin Purgin for the great
Canadian program and Canadian inspiration!
One of today‘s articles is somewhat related
to our Canadian trip, describing a now historic
trip by the well-known Czech pilot and modeler
Milan Simr to Canadian air bases. Milan
completed it in Canada a quarter of a century
ago, we were at a Canadian base this year, and
when I read Milan‘s article, I was very keenly
aware that although much has changed in those
twenty-five years, the important things remain
the same.
So, enough small talk; let‘s get to the news.
There is not as much as usual, but it is after the
summer holidays, a period of relaxation, trips
and limited production capacities which is now
over, so we will do some catching up in the
following months. We only have two actual new
kits in September, the 72nd scale Messerschmitt
Bf 109 K-4 in the Profipack line, and the
48th scale P-40N and P-51B in the Limited
EDITORIAL
INFO Eduard4
September 2026