The 2 Channel Taiyo Bombardier Dash 8 RC Airplane was released by Taiyo in 2001. It’s designed to be a model of a Bombardier Dash 8, now called a De Havilland Canada Dash 8.
It was one of the first of many aircraft to follow across that decade, as part of Taiyo’s ambitions to begin a new revenue stream of RC aircraft throughout the 2000s.
Manufacture of RC aircraft were a popular trend of many new and established toy makers in the early 2000s due to cheaper production costs as manufacturing moved to China, advances made in foam (particularly later crash resistant EPS) and eventually the advances made in small and light lithium ion batteries, thanks to the mobile phone industry.
The Taiyo Dash 8 is great for beginners with its auto acceleration and take-off feature, it had simple controls and a manageable size (750m x 610mm).
The plane itself appears to have carried a Ni-Cd battery, known for its heavy weight and low power density, which no doubt contributed to average performance. It was not until several years later that Taiyo would begin releasing aircraft with NiMh and Lithium Ion battery technology, such as the Flight Master Challenger.
In order to increase flight time, the controller featured a remote on/off engine switch, so once you had some altitude you could turn it into a glider, and flip the engine back on again only when you wanted to gain more height.
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