Celebrating 50 Years of Model Flight

Model Flight 50 Years On

The O’Reilly family was involved in the hobby industry from the early 1960s when they became the Australian Distributor for Merco engines and an agent for Graupner Modellbau. The hobby business went full time in 1975 with the opening of a Retail Shop at Somerton Park, joining forces with the late Gordon Burford of Taipan Engines fame. In 1977, we moved to Keswick with our core brands of Space Commander and IM Products, and in 1979 became the first international agent for Thunder Tiger. 

The Maple Avenue location

Inside the Maple Avenue shop

Why “Model Flight”?  

When we chose the name, there were no RC Cars in Australia, and 95% of our business was flight-related, so it seemed to make sense. Jerobee Cox 049-powered RC cars were the first ones to hit our shelves, followed by Bolink and then the 1980s RC Car boom with Tamiya. 

In the early 1980’s, we added JR Remote Control, Kyosho and Multiplex to our list of agencies, introduced HOT STUFF super glue to Australia, and interestingly, in the mid 80’s became the South Australian Service Agent for Taiyo R/C Jet Hopper cars and Teddy Ruxpin talking bears. We also had branches of Model Flight at Holden Hill in Adelaide’s NE suburbs and at Liverpool in Sydney. 

The excitement continued in the mid-80’s to early-90’s when we went model flying every year with F1 driver Ayrton Senna, and several times with Thierry Boutsen and Bertrand Gachot. 

Ayrton Senna at the Maple Avenue location

Ayrton Senna with the Calypso plane in 1989

Ayrton Senna with the Laser 200 plane in 1986

Our long-standing relationship with Horizon Hobby began in 1992, when they purchased Hobby Dynamics (formerly Circus Hobbies), who were the USA Distributor for JR and a business associate of ours. 

In the 1990s, we consolidated the business in Keswick and tripled the warehouse space, closing the Holden Hill and Sydney branches as we became Australia’s leading Mail Order RC Hobby business. This was all pre-internet, and we printed and posted several thousand newsletters and price lists monthly. We introduced ARF models to Australia with the likes of the Halton Special glider from the UK and the Juicer from Taiwan, one of the first balsa electric powered sport models. We produced Taipan propellers, the Stepp 3 balsa glider and a series of fibreglass/foam semi kits including the Dassel, Icarus, Martini, Laser 200 and CAP 230. 

Model Flight advertisement in 1986

Mail Order Price list from 1993

In 2000 we worked with Horizon Hobby on the development and introduction of the Firebird XL, which was a game-changing electric RTF trainer. The emergence of the HobbyZone series of electric models, coupled with the strong market share of JR in Australia, and the introduction of Spektrum 2.4GHz radios saw our staff numbers rise rapidly from 8 to over 20. Many of our current staff joined the business around this time. 

modelflight.com.au was an early participant on the emerging World Wide Web and would continue to grow and offer customers diversity and choice. 

After 30 years at our Keswick location, the decision was made in 2008 to move the retail store to larger premises at Goodwood and the warehouse to a much larger facility at Lonsdale. 

LiPo batteries from Kokam and Flight Power, foam ARF models from ParkZone and E-flite, R/C cars from Team Losi Sport, helicopters from Kalt, Gorham Model Products and subsequently JR, multi rotor drones and electric skateboards from Yuneec all contributed to the growth of Model Flight in this period. 

2017 saw the addition of OS Engines, HITEC, Seagull, Phoenix, Castle and a re-uniting with Multiplex. 

And now in 2025, we represent many of the world’s leading brands in the RC industry. AKA, ARRMA, Axial, Blade, Carisma, Castle, Dynamite, Dualsky, E-flite, Flex, Hangar 9, Hitec, HobbyZone, Jeti, Losi, OS Engines, Phoenix, Prime RC, ProBoat, ProLine, RealFlight, Samba, Seagull, Sebart, Spektrum, TLR, Trinity Racing and more, with 33,000 products in our range and growing by the day. 

Model Flight's first non-family employee: Dean Smith

Thank you to the 100+ employees who have worked for Model Flight over the past 50 years without whom we would not have lasted to this day, and to the tens of thousands of customers who have chosen Model Flight as their supplier of hobby products. We share your enthusiasm and passion for this great hobby and hope to be able to continue to serve you well into the future! It is a special moment for us as we reflect on our 50th anniversary!

As part of our 50th anniversary celebration, we've worked with premium apparel manufacturer Locked Down to create a limited edition Model Flight cap. Available while stock lasts - click here to get yours before they sell out!