Price: approximately $500 USD

In 1984 a small company calling themselves 'The Cherry Tree' advertised hand carved mahogany models of Navions in the Navioneers' newsletter. Ken McTavish ordered examples of his Twin Navion and of Gerry Stauffers' single Navion. Althought the single Navion could pass for almost any Navion with an upgraded engine, the twin features some of the modifications unique to Ken's plane. They measure to be 1/32nd scale.

Ken McTavish's customized solid mahogany D-16A.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

Gerry Stauffer's single Navion, passable for any large engine single.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

Price: approximately $150-200 USD

Recently there's been an influx of mass produced wooden models available on the internet. In all cases known to TwinNavion.com the Navion models are all being supplied by a company called Islandsmart Corp. Based in Makati City, Philippines, this company supports two internet based companies (marketed primarily through eBay.com) - Planemuseum and MyAsianArt.source in the Philippines. All of these models have issues with their shapes. Most noticeably, the canopy appears too bulbous, and the fuselage, about the cabin, too deep. The advantage however is their low cost, and the manufacturer's ability to customize the paint scheme to suit individual planes.

However, this manufacturer has produced a representation of a D-16, although it too has shape issues with its nacelles.

Some examples of the single engine Navions, including a L-17 with WW2 markings.
Photo courtesy of ebay

Even Rangemasters have been available.
Photo courtesy of ebay

Despite its shape issues, this model is still a D-16 Twin Navion.
Photo courtesy of ebay

A Camair became available in 2008.
Photo courtesy of ebay

Price: approximately $200 USD

Although this manufacturer is located in Greenville, MI, the similarities between their Navion model and those being produced by The Islandsmart Corp. can't be ignored.

Photo courtesy of Airborne Replicas

A manufacturer of limited run resin kits, Anigrand Craftworks offered a kit of the supersonic XB-70 Valkyrie bomber in late 2007. Included in the boxing (kit number AA-4007) were three bonus NAA subjects - a proposed delta winged X-15 that was to be launched from the back of the B-70, the XF-108 Rapier supersonic interceptor, and much smaller and slower Navion.

Dwafted by the XB-70 and XF-108, there's still a tiny Navion included in the kit.
Photo courtesy of Anigrand Craftworks

Ken Friend of Georgia finished his tiny Anigrand Navion as an L-17.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

During WW2, Comet Models was known for creating a series of identification models for use by the United States military. Wooden blanks were distributed to High School shop classes where students carved models of Allied and Axis subjects.

Comet's only static model of the Navion was a small one (kit number B7), which was comprised of a block of balsawood and a decent 3-view drawing to which the builder would sand and carve the model to shape.

Comet's early kit comprised of very little.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

German model maker Constanza released its resin Navion starting in 2015.

Photo courtesy of Constanza

Dujin was a small, one man cottage company from Holland, specializing in European aircraft, typically from the inter-war period.

This model (kit number DA72134) is cast in beige resin and is labeled an Na143/145, which was North American's internal designator before the Navion received its name.

Only a small number of resin pieces are inside the resealable plastic bag.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

Polish model making company Valom released the first of several L-17/Navion kits beginning in late 2015. Although they take some finesse to assemble, they are by far, the most detailed scale model of any Navion type.

Click here to read an in-depth review of this kit.

Box top images of the Valom Navion kits.
Photo courtesy of Valom

With the release of the Constanza and Valom model kits in 2015, several after-market accessories have also been released.

To accompany their resin kit, Constanza created a vacuforming master so (we believe), the builder can create their own open canopies. By supplying a master like this, the builder can create as many canopies as they'd like and making it easier to fix any mistakes.
Photo courtesy of Constanza

To give builders alternate choices for markings, Constanza also released two sets of decals. Interestingly they have chosen to represent a restored L-17 and a Navion masquerading as an L-17 warbird.
Photo courtesy of Constanza

A recent development in the scale modeling hobby, pre-cut masks have made it quicker and easier to mask the windows on a model. The Peewit set (M72063) provides only for the windows, while the Montex set (SM72269) also provides circular masks for the wheel hubs.
Photo courtesy of Hannants

In the pre-plastic days of display models, Cavacraft (whose kits were patented) released a Navion model (kit number S-6) which contained a pre-carved white pine airframe, cement, sandpaper, display stand, colour decals and painting instructions. Based on the instructions, it was 1/48th scale, or with an 8-3/8 inch wingspan.

The smaller, side opening box.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

The larger, conventional two-piece boxing.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

After WW2, model manufacturers and toy makers were scrambling to release the newest, most attractive subjects. The 1950s were a period of unsurpassed releases, with hundreds of production, prototype and theoretical subjects being turned into play toys, each eagerly snapped up by young boys.

O-Lin pioneered the release of general aviation subjects when it began releasing a collection of small, single engine airplanes. Of great importance was that in a time when models were typically sized to fit inside existing boxes (known as box-scale), O-Lin chose to use a standardized scale of 1/48th for its general aviation models. This scale kept the models small enough to display on a shelf, while big enough for the early injection molding process to accommodate.

These models were molded in red plastic when they were released in 1952 (kit number 507), although maroon and ivory followed.

Three different colored boxes, and different color kits.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

After acquiring the other half of the O-Lin partnership Lindberg incorporated the O-Lin models into its own 'Lindberg Line' of models, which included a Navion (kit number R507;69), Piper Cub, Republic RC-3 SeaBee, Stinson 108 Station Wagon, Mooney Mite, Beech 35 Bonanza and Ercoupe. No changes were made to the molds although the colour of the plastic was standardized throughout the series with silver.

The original solid boxing, and the later hanging box with a celophane 'window'.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

Photo courtesy of Ken McTavish

Darius Aibara put a lot of effort into his Lindberg model. You can see it all in this special gallery or you can read how Jordan Ross updated his model in this IPMS Journal article.
Photo courtesy of Darius Aibara

In the mid-1990s O-Lin's ancient general aviation molds made a brief reappearance with Mexican model maker Pegaso. The model (kit number P5020), which hadn't been updated or changed in 50 years, featured a card insert that could be assembled into a small hangar and control tower.

Pegaso's kit included a cardboard airport.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

Eric Smith finished his Navion in fictious military markings.
Photo courtesy of Eric Smith

Photo courtesy of ebay

Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

In the time that Lindberg's general aviation releases were out of production (late 1950s to the mid 1990s), there were no other choices for those modelers looking to build a Navion. Without the Internet to aid in one's search, finding an old Lindberg release was not easy and the kit had long since disappeared from model related swap meets.

White Eagle released a vacuformed copy of Lindberg's model in the early 1980s (kit number 103). Since it was a direct copy, it had all the short comings of the original, injection molded kits, although a clear canopy was included, as were white metal landing gear and propeller. Since there was no details for the cockpit this meant modelers had to find a solution themselves. One major advantage however was that a well drawn set of blueprints were included, featuring detail drawings for the missing parts.

White Eagle kits came in two different package sizes, plus a well drawn set of plans.
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

Started in 1933 the the basement and garage of Brooklyn, New York's William Effinger, Berkeley Models quickly grew to offer a number of free flight, gas-powered model airplanes. Most of Berkeley's production ceased in 1941, although a selection of solid wood demonstration models were produced, most likely under an Air Corps contract.

After the war Effinger returned to the hobby with a vengence. By 1952 ads proclaimed "Berkeley models are sold through 85 distributors and 4, 500 dealers." New kits ranged from rubber powered scale, gas powered flight (in control-line stunt, speed and scale categories), static models of boats, cars and airplanes. These kits were among the most detailed and complete being offered in their time. They ceased operating in 1962.

Designed in 1953, Berkeley's largest Navion model resulted in a model with a wingspan of just over 67 inches. It was originally intended (as were all Berkeley Models) to be a scale, control-line flier, but with a little modification, their designs could be converted into radio controlled models.

A modeler, known as Uncle Willy, has reproduced the original plans and created a laser-cut starter kit for the Navion. It can be found on Uncle Willies' Website.

Alternately, you can down the plans if you're a member of Hip Pocket Aeronautics.

Terry Conley built this very attractive Navion using a set of Berkeley plans.
Photo courtesy of unknown

During WW2, Comet Models was known for creating a series of identification models for use by the United States military. Wooden blanks were distributed to High School shop classes where students carved models of Allied and Axis subjects.

Comet made two flying models, a small one (kit number G-8) in the Struct-o-Speed line, powered by a rubber band, and a larger free-flight example. Kit G-8 was released in two versions, the older having roughly punched balsa pieces from thicker wood. The newer example used thin wood, imprinted with a 'paint scheme' and superior punching. In later years both the old and the new versions of G-8 were released in the same style box.

The original G-8 kit. The comment on the left reads "Model Building Bulids Better Boys."
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

Later boxings of G-8. Note the different quality of the wooden pieces
Photo courtesy of Trevor McTavish

Featured originally in the November 1982 issue was a construction article for a Navion, built using plans published by Radio Control Modeler magazine.

This scale model included retractable landing gear and a sliding canopy under which the electronics, switches and batteries could be accessed.

Cover from the November 1982 issue, which included a build article.
Photo courtesy of Ken McTavish

Fedrico Jones' Navion built in 1986, rebuilt and refinished as an L-17.
Photo courtesy of Fedrica Jones

Photo courtesy of unknown

Photo courtesy of unknown