Flight Miniatures is pleased to announce a new product line—Inflight 500 models. This is also a brand new product line for InFlight Models, Ltd. Like the InFlight 200 models, this new product line is also die-cast metal, but in the 1:500 scale. The first four models that will start the new fleet are already available at our Flight Miniatures web store.

Why 1:500 scale metal die-cast models?

The smaller size of the models and the new different scale make them desirable and consequently highly collectible. Apart from the high quality of the finish and details, for which InFlight models are already well known, the very affordable Inflight 500 models are easy on your wallet.

We have heard on many occasions from our customers that collectors would be interested in high quality 1:500 scale models if they were more readily available. We believe Inflight 500 quality far exceeds that of other 1:500 scale models. Note also that the Inflight 500 models available at this time are fully licensed by Boeing and the Airlines.

The plan is to release only four new models each month. Therefore, you can collect with confidence, with the assurance that they are available every month and there will be no compromise of quality for quantity.

As with other InFlight models, the 1:500 scale models are produced in limited quantities. Each standard production run will be 744 pieces for the worldwide market, which will make these models very collectible.

Currently models will be released for Boeing aircraft types 707-320, 737-200, 747-100/-200, 747-400, and 767-300, and the Ilyushin IL-76/976 /A-50 Mainstay. New tooling for the Inflight 500 model line is underway, and next year you should see new releases for other aircraft types too.

We like to think that we have listened to our collectors who say, “I wish I could see this in 1:500 scale metal die-cast.” Our Collectors are speaking out, and we are listening.

Before the Agency, aviation regulation and safety evolved as a byproduct of the process of building a reliable airmail delivery system. The Post Office had supported airmail since the early days, but without government funding, there were no regularly scheduled routes and local post offices contracted for airmail delivery as needed.

1918 was the watershed year, when Congress appropriated $100,000 to establish the first regularly scheduled airmail service between Washington, DC, and New York. The launch ceremony on May 15, 1918, where everything that could go wrong did indeed go wrong amidst much pomp and publicity, could have spelled the end of airmail service. Nevertheless, the Post Office held fast and continued to use both Army and civilian pilots to fly the mail.

Aviation in the early years was hazardous and many air mail pilots lost life and limb. Armed with a simple compass and, maybe, a map or handwritten instructions, pilots flew in open cockpit airplanes and literally faced the vagaries of the weather.

Much of the flying was at 200-500 feet above ground so that they could navigate by sight of buildings and roads and railway tracks, and at times 50 feet or less during inclement weather. Crashes, into natural and manmade structures and into the terrain, were not uncommon.

On February 20, 1921, Post Office published the Transcontinental Air Mail Pilot's Log, a collection of pilots' notes written in their little black books—recording distances, landmarks, compass bearings, and emergency and regular landing fields along the mail route between San Francisco and New York.

This was the forerunner to the modern system of printed navigation aids. The publication coincided with another much-publicized event planned to demonstrate the potential of airmail—an all-air cross country test whereby the pilots would fly day and night.

At first, transcontinental airmail was carried by air for part of the way, then loaded onto railcars for the overnight leg of the journey, and reloaded into airplanes in the morning. The mix of air and rail reduced the mail delivery time to 78 hours, from the 108 hours travelling by rail only.

In the all-air cross country test of February 22, 1921, by flying day and night, the journey from San Francisco to New York was made in 33 hours and 20 minutes! Actual flying time was only 25 hours and 16 minutes, with an average speed of 104 m.p.h. over 2,629 miles.

James H. “Jack” Knight was the hero of this event, flying the eastbound mail from North Platte, Nebraska to Chicago, Illinois -- 830 miles through the night, in the bitter cold of winter. A snowstorm had stranded two of the relay pilots in Chicago, and the westbound mail had been relinquished to the railway. Jack, who had never been east of Omaha, realized he was the only pilot still in the air with the mail, and he was determined to make it to Chicago.
 

In all, seven pilots carried the mail in this cross-country test. Pilot W. F. Lewis crashed and died after take-off in Elko, Nevada.

Only two pilots flew in the night. Frank Yeager took off from Cheyenne, Wyoming, as night fell, and cracked the tailskid of his plane when he landed in North Platte, Nebraska. Jack repaired the plane and took off three hours later, flying the rest of the way and stopping in Omaha and Iowa City.

By then, 10 radio stations were in operation, so the pilots were able to receive timely weather information. To guide them in the dark, they relied on bonfires and flares lit by postal workers and farmers, who waited for them along the route across Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.

The historic event made nationwide headlines, and also made the case for transcontinental airmail service. The route later became the backbone for the transcontinental lighted airways.

The success of the all-air cross-country test gave momentum to improving all air routes and increasing pilot safety, and substantial gains were seen within nine months.

Flashing beacon lamps or searchlights on towers were mounted at 10 to 30 miles intervals along the air routes used for night flying. Airplanes that carried mail had parachute flares installed in the undercarriage to provide light for emergency landings. More radio stations sprang up across the country along air routes.

July of 1922 marked the first time the Air Mail Service had completed one year of service without a fatal accident, and for the achievement, the service was awarded the Collier Trophy in February 1923.

In 1934, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce to reflect its importance. The airlines were encouraged to establish air traffic control (ATC) in three centers along the airways, then the Bureau took over and expanded the number of ATC centers to ensure the safe separation of aircraft traveling along the same routes.

The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 created the Civil Aeronautics Authority, a new independent agency that would take on the federal civil aviation responsibilities from the Department of Commerce. The function was expanded to include regulation of airfares and the routes the air carriers would serve.

In 1940, the Authority split into two agencies and moved back into the Department of Commerce.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) was responsible for air traffic control, airman and aircraft certification, safety enforcement, and airway development.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was responsible for safety rulemaking, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines, and the CAB functioned independently of the Department Secretary.

As regularly scheduled day and night service became common and air passenger traffic increased, passenger comfort and safety also became greater concerns for the airline industry. New aircraft were introduced that were designed to carry both mail and passengers. Heating and cooling were added.Longer distance journeys became easier to fly, as dual flight instruments allowed for a co-pilot and the Sperry Gyroscope automatic pilot kept the plane on a given course at a given height and speed.

The CAA instituted air traffic control for takeoffs and landings in airports, in preparation for the U.S. entry into WWII, and this became permanent after the war. The use of radar improved the ATC function.

VOR (Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Radio Range) developed during the war was commissioned for civil aviation. In 1950 the first "Victor" airways facilities opened.

After the war in 1946, the CAA was entrusted with administering the federal-aid airport program, aimed at promoting the development of the nation’s civil airports.

In restrospect, it is clear that the Federal government — acting through the U.S. Postal Department and the Department of Commerce — essentially funded and guided the growth of the aviation industry.

The cash subsidies created business opportunities and encouraged enterprise. The airways, landing fields, and facilities were the infrastructure for air routes. All these laid the foundation for a robust industry while providing the structure for the regulation of aviation safety.

The arrival traffic for InFlight 200 models include four new models, one of which is the first release from their new 737-200 tooling.

Then, 25 new models in the Sky Guardians line came in at the end of September. These include three new aircraft types — the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Sukhoi SU-27, and Hawker Sea Fury.

We will get the photos into our Flight Miniatures web store as soon as we can process them, so please continue to visit our site. (See the story below, "More About Sky Guardians Die-cast Models," for information about this line of models.)

As if that is not enough, we have also added another die-cast line! (See our Feature article at top.) We are offering Inflight 500 models in our fleet—a high quality 1:500 scale die-cast metal model line, with 4 models already available.

If you like your models small, Inflight 500 is for you—yet another reason to continue visiting our web site!

Lufthansa

Airbus A340-300 • 1:200 scale
AB-34030H-023

The year 2006 brought some changes to the line of products we have available through our Flight Miniatures web store. In April, we introduced InFlight 200, a new line of high-end, 1:200 scale, die-cast airliner models, that complement our line of affordable snap-fit Flight Miniatures models, comprising mainly airliner models and a small selection of military models.
 

We continue to stretch our boundaries by incorporating a larger assortment of military models. In the past, our military models were available in a limited range. We wanted to find a way to expand on this model line. The answer came with the Sky Guardians, a line of 1:72 scale, metal die-cast models, featuring aircraft from the WWII era and modern jet fighters.
 

The models are exceptionally well-crafted, both in the model tooling as well as the printing details. These models are first class, but available at an affordable price.

These are some highlight features of Sky Guardians models:

	Realistic surface details, including selected moving control surfaces.
	Highly detailed armament.
	All markings are precision printed directly on the surface (no decals).
	Permanently extended landing gear with rotating wheels.

Here are

some models with unique aircraft markings: