Model Airplane News Cover for August, 1968
Fuji FA200 "Aero Subaru"
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Here is what the blurb about the cover has to say:

"... FA-200 semi-scale multi [channel radio control] pattern [aerobatic] plane is the fines, most precise flying machine that has come to these shores in many years. F. Arigaya, with a history of fine designs has outdone himself this time ..."

Note: coincidence or not, Editor Schroder had himself photographed with Japanese exporters of cheap electronics in the April, 1968 issue and then at a trade show for hobby shop retailers in the July issue. The hobby shops benefitted from selling cheap Japanese stuff for a while until the big chains and mail order houses grabbed their business. In the 40+ years that followed, the siren call of imports from dictatorships that pay a few cents an hour had overtaken most US manufacturing while mega-retailers still pile huge markusps on stuff they get for a few cents. In 2010, it is VERY hard to find a hobby shop when there was practically one on every corner in 1968! It is just eerie to watch this happen back then because model airplanes were such a true homebuilt industry.

A glimpse of the future? Look at Monogram kits today -- in the 1990s, multi-lingual descriptions started to appear on the boxes. By 2010, the Chinese characters are larger than the English text. By 2030, your kids are going to be working for Commissar Bong as supervised by "one world' MBA traitors. So much for "globalism."

About the Model

The author of the article, David Kirchstein, claims that he saw the model on the cover of a Japanese magazine called Radio Control Technique and fell in love with it. The designer was Fujio Arigaya, a well-known Japanese designer and flyer; the plane is a 1/7 semi-scale reduction off the full-size aircraft.

Fujio Arigaya and Editor Schroder
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Although a kit was available, MAN also published plans for the model. The wing had a thick section with both upper and lower camber that facillitated inverted flying and permitted slow speeds. You can read the entire article and look at the plans by clicking to enlarge the photos below.

        

Model of the Fuji FA200 "Aero Subaru"
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About the Full Size Airplane

The Fuji FA-200 Aero Subaru is a single-engine piston-powered airplane built by Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. of Japan.

Fuji FA200 "Aero Subaru"
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Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. began development of this four-seat light airplane in 1964, the first prototype flew in 1965. It is a low-wing all-metal aircraft, fitted with a fixed nosewheel undercarriage and a sliding canopy. It was first certified in the United States occurring in the fall of 1967. Production started in March 1968, continuing until 1986, with a total of 275 built.

Here is a German FA-200 that has acquired whee "spats" on the fixed landing gear.,/P>

Click here to learn more about the FA-200

Click to go back and select another cover.

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