I am afraid that I have been dealing with some computer issues again today, so my initial plans for our latest Newsletter have been changed at the eleventh hour. There is so much information to give you this week, that this is not altogether a bad thing – Edition No.395 of the Flying Tigers Newsletter will go down as one of the most significant we have ever posted.
Our header image for this week is something a little special. Many of our readers will be familiar with the magnificent Handley Page Halifax replica ‘Friday the 13th’, which is the pride of the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York. This magnificent aircraft is the only surviving Halifax bomber in complete condition and even though she is a composite aircraft, using the fuselage of Halifax HR792, she serves as a living tribute to the brave Halifax crews of Bomber Command. She is the main reason why people travel to the former Bomber Command base at Elvington and although there are a number of superb exhibits at this authentically restored station, people usually head straight for ‘Friday the 13th’. As you may well imagine, this aircraft is extremely well looked after by the museum staff and is usually housed in their largest hangar, safe from the Yorkshire elements. So rarely does she venture outside, that an opportunity to photograph her in the open is definitely one not to be missed and yesterday, I was fortunate enough to do just that. What is more, could the date for such an event be any more appropriate – Friday the 13th March!
Having spoken to many museum volunteers at Elvington over the years, I think it is fair to say that even though these rare occasions are a real bonus for the photographer, it is very much the opposite for engineers and helpers – they absolutely hate it. The weather in Yorkshire is notoriously changeable and historic aeroplanes and inclement weather do not mix very well. Even a short spell outdoors can lead to many months of additional remedial works being required and this can be rather demoralising – this, of course, has to be weighed against the revenue and media exposure that these events bring for the museum, at a time when money is in very short supply. Either way, when these events are announced, you can always count on enthusiast turning up to view the spectacle in good numbers.
As I set off the Elvington yesterday, I really did think that the event might be cancelled, as the weather really could not have been worse. As I struggled across the M62, I thought to myself that surely those aeroplanes would not have been left out in weather like this. Thankfully, the weather started to improve slightly and the rain did appear to be stopping. As I approached Elvington, I looked to see if I could see the Halifax – she was there, I could hardly believe it! This was the first time that I had ever seen Friday the 13th outside the hangar and I was hoping that there might be an improvement in the weather, as I may never get another opportunity like this again. At lunch time, this looked like being highly unlikely, but I suppose we were in Yorkshire.
As you can see from these two photographs, the gathered masses got very lucky indeed. Even though we started the day with snow, we actually witnessed blue sky and sunshine, at one point in the afternoon and even though it was still very cold, it stayed fine all the time I was at Elvington. I managed to grab some lovely pictures of both the Halifax and the Mosquito, as they venture outside for a night shoot event and I thought that you might like to see them – I was a very lucky boy.
Flying Tigers – Ordering to be suspended on Monday 16th March
Over the past few weeks, we have been offering our readers some spectacular SALE deals on the Flying Tigers website, by way of a ‘thank you’ for the fantastic support that you have given us over the past eight and a half years of trading. We have seen collectors old and new, taking advantage of these offers and we hope that we have helped you to shore up some little aviation gaps in your collections. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and our mid-week Newsletter informed everyone that this would be the final weekend that collectors can place orders on our website. This is extremely important information – We will be suspending ordering on the Flying Tigers website at 12.00 noon on Monday 16th March. After this date, we will still be processing and dispatching the orders we receive over the coming weekend, but it will not be possible to place any further orders on our website. Even though the website will still be active, the ability to place orders will have been disabled.
As we are now bringing our business to a close, there is some important work that we have to complete and we have reached the point when we have to stop taking orders. For collectors who take delivery of orders over the next few days, would you please make us aware of any problems with your order as soon as you possibly can and in any case, certainly within 7 days of receiving your order. Failure to do this could result in a problem, as we simply will not be here to rectify any such issues – in truth, we have very few difficulties of this manner and I certainly do not want to be seen as being a die-cast aviation stick in the mud, but I am just trying to provide our loyal collectors with the best service we possibly can, even though we are in the last few weeks of trading.
Right, I am glad that we have got that out of the way – now on to the good stuff. The positive news is that everyone has the coming weekend to snap up the last of the die-cast aviation bargains that are still on the Flying Tigers website and let me tell you, we still have plenty of models available. Even though we are not posting an Offer of the Week feature this week, our SALE SECTIONS are absolutely stuffed full of heavily discounted die-cast models and you have the coming weekend as one final opportunity to secure some magnificent models, at these superb prices. Even better than this, we have added a pair of new product sliders on our website home page, which both feature some models that are being offered at LESS THAN HALF PRICE and are also being made available for the very first time. The first section features the magnificent 1/200th scale McDonnell Douglas DC-10, in both civilian and military liveries. The picture above featurs a DC-10 in the classic Laker Airways ‘Skytrain’ livery, which is now a very rare model indeed. With just 240 models produced, this sell out model was first released in June 2008 and we now only have one model still available – we also have it at HALF PRICE! Please be aware that many of these impressive models are only available in very small numbers, with some of them actually being single examples – you will need to be very quick with these, which we must allocate to collectors on a first to order basis.
Our second new slider features the extremely impressive Hobbymaster Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, which really does have to be considered as one of the best models in this company’s entire inventory. All three of the Helldivers we have available feature extended, etched brass dive brakes and separate wing leading edge slats and were only produced in very small quantities. Indeed, one of the models was a limited edition of just 300 pieces – importantly, on our final trading weekend, these magnificent models are being made available at just £25.00 each, which is less than half their original price. Definitely a nice WWII US Navy way to head into our final trading weekend – here is a closer look at one of these magnificent Helldiver models.
Flying Tigers – The Future
On our last midweek update Newsletter, I promised you some Big News regarding the future of Flying Tigers. You may have thought that telling you about our final trading weekend and the suspension of all ordering on Monday morning was big enough, but I have more! I can tell our readers that the Flying Tigers website is going to live on and will do so in the very near future. I can also tell you that it will be entering a new and exciting period of its history.
I am now in a position to let you know that a long time Flying Tigers customer and die-cast aviation collector of some repute, Mr Richard Darling, is the new owner of the Flying Tigers website and he will be starting his business and taking over the website in the very near future. I will provide you with more details about this in the coming couple of weeks, but what I can tell you is that Richard will be taking the Flying Tigers website to new heights – quite literally. Richard will be running his business from Sywell Aerodrome, in Northamptonshire. For a die-cast aviation business like Flying Tigers, this has to be the ultimate trading location and I think that Richard has pulled off something of a coup in securing premises at Sywell. We obviously wish Richard every success, but as I stated earlier, I will be giving you more details about Richard and his plans, in the coming couple of weeks.
I hope you think that this was a nice way to end our latest Newsletter, which was quite a notable one in the history of Flying Tigers. Next week, I also hope to be in a position to let readers know what I will be doing in the future – I really can’t wait to tell you!