There are some things you see and immediately think:
We need one of those in The Hangar.
That’s pretty much what happened when we discovered Lids, Tops & Tails.
They create aviation-inspired illuminated light boxes, including designs based around one of the most instantly recognisable parts of any aircraft – its tail.
For an AvGeek, that opens up quite a few possibilities.
Aircraft tails are an interesting part of aviation.
You can be sitting in an airport terminal, look through the window and recognise an airline from the tail long before you can read anything written on the fuselage.
Colours, logos and liveries become part of an airline’s identity.
Lids, Tops & Tails take some of that identity and turn it into something you can put on a desk, shelf or alongside your simulator.
It’s exactly the sort of aviation product we wanted to discover when putting together the AvGeekHangar Store – something a little different from the products you see everywhere else.
So we’re delighted that we’ll be bringing a selection from the Lids, Tops & Tails range to AvGeekHangar.
Our relationship has already gone a little further.
The team offered to create something especially for us: a custom illuminated AvGeekHangar light box.
And with FSimUK rapidly approaching, there was another obvious candidate.
A FSimUK light box followed.
Both have now arrived and, without pretending to be remotely impartial about this, they look fantastic.
You’ll be able to see them illuminated in the Community Hub at FSimUK in October, where they’ll form part of the AvGeekHangar and FSimUK displays throughout the weekend.
Lids, Tops & Tails will also be attending FSimUK themselves, so visitors will be able to meet the people behind the products and see more of what they create.
There’s another idea we’re particularly interested in exploring with them.
Virtual Airlines.
Many VAs have spent considerable time creating their own brands, liveries and aircraft tails. Lids, Tops & Tails are looking at the possibility of turning those designs into custom illuminated tail light boxes.
We think there’s something rather special about that.
If you’ve spent hundreds of virtual hours flying under your VA’s colours, having its tail illuminated beside your simulator feels like a pretty good way of bringing a little piece of that airline into the real world.
We’ve explored the wider world of Virtual Airlines elsewhere in The Hangar, and we’d particularly like to hear from VA communities interested in the idea.
You’ll be seeing plenty more from Lids, Tops & Tails as we approach FSimUK and begin adding their range to the AvGeekHangar Store.
But if you’re joining us at Aerospace Bristol on 10 or 11 October, come and see the custom AvGeekHangar and FSimUK pieces for yourself.
Then head over and say hello to the team who made them.
Just be warned.
You may leave wanting your own tail.
Discover Lids, Tops & Tails in the AvGeekHangar Store.
