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American Flyer GP7 FlyerChief Info

Hi again everyone.

I've seen questions pop up now and then on the newly cataloged FlyerChief GP7 and wanted to answer what I can. I did answer questions about it at the Springfield show, but this will probably reach more people.

I worked on the redesign of this engine last year using the old GP7 as a base. The trucks were terrible. Gear city! So we decided to use the 4-wheel trucks from the Baldwin Switcher. We're making new side frames to more closely depict the Blomberg frames. It isn't a 100% scale match, but so much better than the older trucks!

The trucks are being modified to accept the electrocoupler and the pilot. Yes, the pilot is truck mounted. This was done to meet the minimum curve requirement for FlyerChief. Regardless, it is a nicely detailed pilot that improves on what the older style pilot was lacking.

A newly tooled fuel tank will house the speaker and switches for sound and remote/conventional.

Altogether, the only thing this engine shares with its predecessor is the shell and the handrails. All else is either new or from the Baldwin Switcher.

The engine is single motored. There was not enough room to fit another motor as the long hood is very narrow. But the motor does have a better designed flywheel that will greatly improve slow speed performance. The narrow hood also prevented being able to fit in a smoke unit.

In the images I've attached, you'll see that the shell is not fully detailed. This was done as a time saver as the shell is already tooled, so I didn't feel there was any reason to put in all the details. It will have LED lighting.

Finally, with the unveiling of Bluetooth, which this engine will feature, you'll be able to control this engine with the LionChief APP. Currently, the APP is released on iOS, but we are in full development mode and plan to have an Android version in the coming months. As an Android guy myself, there was no way we were going to just do Apple!

Thanks all for reading and I'll try to answer questions that arise.

AF_GP7_ClearShellAF_GP7_ISOAF_GP7_Pilot_BottomAF_GP7_Switches

Attachments

Images (4)
  • AF_GP7_ClearShell
  • AF_GP7_ISO
  • AF_GP7_Pilot_Bottom
  • AF_GP7_Switches
Last edited by Rich Melvin
Original Post

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