Berkeley Sinbad 40 - 40 Inch Wingspan Towline Launched Glider

0 item(s) in your cart.

  «Go Back

Selling your kits?

Berkeley Sinbad 40 - 40 Inch Wingspan Towline Launched Glider plastic model kit

Berkeley Sinbad 40 - 40 Inch Wingspan Towline Launched Glider

Wood Model Kit,   Box Condition: Good

Excellent kit dated 1946 on the plans and is from the older West Hempstead NY address. Part of the famous 'Sinbad' series tow-line gliders from Berkeley, this is most likely a mid 1950s issue. Includes the patented 'Spiral/Tow Control' rudder system. Big 40 inch wingspan - idea for RC. Features all die cut parts, full size plans and silk-span covering. The model has not been started. NOTE: all parts have been punched out neatly by an adult. A complete inventory was done and it is missing R2 and 1 tiny gusset - both are easily made and represented full size on the plans. Otherwise complete with all other parts, clear windshield material, balsa blocks, covering material and excellent plans/instructions. Berkeley is a very famous manufacturer of flying model kits from the Golden Age of flying aviation, about 1932-1954. Founded in 1933 by William Effinger, the company was quite progressive in producing quality kits - it was likely the Berkeley 'Buccaneer' was the first gas powered model in kit form. In the later 1930s, Effinger acquired the services of a very talented Henry Struck. Struck went on to design numerous award-winning kits under the Berkeley name. Berkeley weathered the post WWII recession and emerged as a major kit producer in the late 1940 and 1950s. These were great years for Berkeley and they produced some incredible and large kits. The company went bankrupt in about 1960 however. Fox engines (Duke Fox) bought the company and released the kits alongside his own FOX models and engines. This arrangement did not last, and in the early 1960s the Berkeley name disappeared from hobby shop shelves.

This item has been sold.
Click here to return to the main page.