Coordinates: 34.67205°N 135.

622603°E

Sanwa Electronic
Sanwa Electronic Instrument Co., Ltd. (三和電子機器株式会社 Sanwa denshi
Sanwa Electronic
kiki kabushiki kaisha), widely known as Sanwa, is a brand of wireless equipment
Instrument
best known for its high end radio-controlled transmitters for scale modelling use.
The company have been a subsidiary of the SMC Group since 1965 and began to
diversify into the manufacturing of radio-controlled transmitters in 1974 and remote
control devices for home and industrial use since 1985. Native name 三和電子機器株式
会社
In North America, Sanwa transmitters are marketed as Airtronics up until early Type Kabushiki gaisha
2016, which began as an independent company producingmodel airplanes. Sanwa
Traded as
Founded August 1959
Headquarters Higashiōsaka,
Contents Osaka Prefecture,
History
Japan

Airtronics Key people Seiji Suzuki

Accolades Products Radio-controlled

IFMAR World Championship winners
transmitters

References
Remote control
devices
External links
Revenue 60 million yen
Total assets 3.1 billion
History yen (2013)
Number of 80
Sanwa, originally as part of Sansei Electric Industry, specialized in the research and employees
development of remote control devices in 1959. It merged with Sanwa Denki
Parent SMC Group
Manufacturing in 1965 and then became part of the SMC Group. In January 1974,
Sanwa entered production and sales of transmitters for radio-controlled models and Subsidiaries Airtronics
in December, became a member of the Japan Radio Control Model Industrial Website www.sanwa-denshi
Association (JRM).[1] .co.jp
www.airtronics.net
In 1975, Sanwa became a division on its own, with an office in Tokyo. In August
that year it launched its first radio-controlled transmitter, the Mini Propo, and in 1976, Sanwa became an independent company. Its
M-sechs wheeled transmitter was the recipient of the Good Design Award in 1990.[1] In 1985, Sanwa diversified into the production
[2]
of remote controls for domestic and industrial purposes.

, its main competitor isFutaba.[3] KO Propo and Spektrum.

Due to its reputation in the radio-controlled modelling industry

Airtronics
F. Lee Renaud began his hobby in model aviation in 1942 with a Joe Ott kit; he began to fly competitively in 1947.[4] While
recovering from a heart attack in 1970, Renaud used his medical leave from his office-equipment company job to build radio-
controlled airplanes.[3] He formed Airtronics in 1971 to build and sell model airplanes and radio remote-control devices. In his first
year, he turned over $40,000.[3] Renaud earned a reputation with model aircraft such as the "Olympic", "Aquila", "Grand Esprit" and
"Sagitta", amongst others. In 1980, he introduced the XL transmitter.[4] Renaud died in January 1983, and his wife Barbara took over
the company.[3]

In 1982, realizing that his company wouldn't expand on its own without financial
backing, Renaud took on a partnership with Sanwa, which bought an undisclosed
Airtronics logo (1970s-2016)
large stake in the company while the family retained a controlling interest. Under the
agreement, the Renauds built airplanes whilst Sanwa took charge of manufacturing
radio-controlled transmitters for the Renauds to distribute. As a result, Airtronics increased its sales from less than $1 million in 1983
f of 18 employees.[3]
to $3 million in 1985, and to $8 million in 1989 with a staf

The company continued as a family business until 2007 when Global Hobby Distributors took over distributorship. Following
business restructuring in Japan, the distributor announced that their partnership came to an end in 2016 and the brand will itself be
, Serpent America, as Sanwa.[5][6][7]
discontinued although still continuing under a new distributor

The library of Academy of Model Aeronautics's National Model Aviation Museum is named after Renaud.[4] Sanwa's Aquila 6 is
named after his airplane.

Accolades
The Airtronics Caliber 3PS (known internationally as the Sanwa M-zechs) became the first of twelve consecutive Radio Control Car
, the M8.[8]
Action's Readers' Choice Award for Best Transmitter in 1996 by Airtronics; eight of those was achieved by its successor

IFMAR World Championship winners

Following is a list of users who won the IFMAR World Championships, a biennial world championship for radio-controlled cars,
using Sanwa/Airtronics transmitters.
Year Class Name Model Report
1985 1/10 Off-Road Unlimited Gil Losi, Jr. Airtronics Report
1987 1/8 IC Track Pete Fusco Sanwa Report

1990 1/8 Off-Road Koji Sanada [9] Sanwa Machine 1 Report

1991 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Cliff Lett [10] Airtronics Report

1992 1/12 On-Road Tony Neisinger Report

1992 PRO 10 Joel Johnson [11] Report

1992 1/8 Off-Road Kunihiro Toge [12] Report

1993 1/10 Off-Road 2WD Brian Kinwald [13] Airtronics Report

1995 1/10 Off-Road 2WD Matt Francis [14] Airtronics Caliber 3Ps Report

1995 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Mark Pavidis [14] Airtronics CS2P Report

1996 PRO 10 Mike Swauger [15] Airtronics Caliber

1997 1/8 IC Track Lamberto Collari Sanwa

1997 1/10 Off-Road 2WD Brian Kinwald Airtronics Report

1999 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Jukka Steenari [16] Sanwa M8 Report

2000 1/10 IC 235mm T ouring Car Michael Salven Report

2002 1/10 Off-Road 2WD Matt Francis Airtronics Report

2002 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Jukka Steenari Sanwa Report

2001 1/8 IC Track Kenji Osaka Sanwa

2003 1/8 IC Track Lamberto Collari Sanwa

2003 1/10 Off-Road 2WD Billy Easton Airtronics M8 Report

2004 ISTC Marc Rheinard [17] Sanwa M8 Report

2004 1/10 IC Touring Car Adrien Bertin [18]

2003 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Ryan Cavalieri Airtronics M11 Report

2005 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Ryan Cavalieri [19] Airtronics M11 Report

2005 1/8 IC Track Lamberto Collari Sanwa Super EXES

2006 1/10 IC Touring Car Keisuke Fukuda [20] Report

2007 1/5 Touring Car Martin Lissau Sanwa M11

2007 1/8 IC Track Lamberto Collari

2008 1/10 IC Touring Car Daniele Ielasi Report

2008 ISTC Marc Rheinard [21] Sanwa M11 Report

2009 1/8 IC Track Lamberto Collari [22] Sanwa EXZES Plus

2009 1/10 Off-Road 2WD Martin Achter Sanwa EXZES Plus Report

2009 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Martin Achter Sanwa EXZES Plus Report

2010 1/12 On-Road Naoto Matsukura [23] Sanwa M11 X Report

2010 ISTC Marc Rheinard [24] Sanwa M11 X Report

[25]
2011 1/8 IC Track Robert Pietsch [25] Sanwa EXZES-X

2011 1/10 Off-Road 2WD Ryan Cavalieri [26] Airtronics M11X Report

2011 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Ryan Cavalieri [26] Airtronics M11X Report

2012 1/12 On-Road Naoto Matsukura [27] Sanwa M12 Report

2012 ISTC Jilles Groskamp [28] Sanwa EXZES-X Report

2012 1/10 IC Touring Car Meen Vejrak [29] Sanwa M12 Report

2013 1/8 IC Track Tadahiko Sahashi [30] Sanwa M12

2014 1/8 Off-Road Ty Tessmann [12] Airtronics M12 Report

2014 1/12 On-Road Marc Rheinard [31] Sanwa M12 Report

2014 ISTC Naoto Matsukura [32] Sanwa M12 Report

2014 1/10 IC Touring Car Alexander Hagberg [33] Sanwa M12 Report

2015 1/10 Off-Road 2WD Spencer Rivkin [34] Airtronics M12S Report

2015 1/10 Off-Road 4WD Bruno Coelho [35] Sanwa M12 S Report

2016 1/10 IC Touring Car Dominic Greiner [36] Sanwa M12

2016 1/12 On-Road Naoto Matsukura Sanwa M12 S

2016 ISTC Ronald Völker [37] Sanwa M12 S

2016 1/8 Off-Road David Ronnefalk [38] Sanwa M12 S

References
1. "SANWA" (http://www.sanwa-denshi.co.jp/company/history.html%7ctitle=SANWA%7clanguage=Japanese%7cpublis
her=Sanwa). sanwa-denshi.co.jp. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
2. "SANWA" (http://www.sanwa-denshi.co.jp/remcon/%7ctitle=SANWA%7cwork=sanwa-denshi.co.jp). sanwa-
denshi.co.jp.
3. Le, Thuan (March 29, 1990)."Hobby-Kit Outfit Supplies Model of Homespun Profit"(http://articles.latimes.com/1990-
03-29/business/fi-508_1_model-airplane-kits). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
4. "The AMA History Project Presents: Biography of LEE RENAUD"(https://www.modelaircraft.org/files/RenaudLee.pd
f) (PDF). Academy of Model Aeronautics. April 2014.
5. "BREAKING: Global Hobby Distributors' statement on Airtronics"(http://www.liverc.com/news/special_features/1179
7-BREAKING%253A_Global_Hobby_Distributors'_statement_on_Airtronics_news/) . LiveRC.com. Retrieved
2016-04-24.
6. "BREAKING: Airtronics to close its doors"(http://www.liverc.com/news/special_features/11796-BREAKING%253A_A
irtronics_to_close_its_doors/). LiveRC.com. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
7. "SANWA" (http://sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/usa_new_distributor
.html). sanwa-denshi.com. Retrieved
2016-05-04.
8. "Transmitter Tech". Radio Control Car Action. Air Age Media: 57. January 2016.
9. Denis, Jean-Marc (April 1990)."Championnat du monde TT 1/8"(http://www.retromodelisme.com/scan_pages/1852
6/championnat-du-monde-tt-1-8-thailande-page-24.html)(in French). Rétro Modélisme.
10. Blandin, Christophe (November 1991)."Championnat du Monde TT 1/10"(http://www.retromodelisme.com/scan_pag
es/20123/championnat-du-monde-tt-1-10-detroit-usa-part-2-page-76.html)
(in French). Rétro Modélisme.
11. Ogle, Mike (January 1993). "Trinity/Novak IFMAR 1/10-scale On-Road Worlds". Radio Control Car Action. Air Age
Media: 64.
12. "Ifmar World Championship Offroad 2014" (http://www.sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/ifmar_world_championship
_off_road_2014.html). Sanwa.
13. Blandin, Christophe (1993)."Championnat du Monde de TT 1/10 en Grande Bretagne: Hirosaka et Kinwald les
Maitres" (http://gg45.free.fr/minizone/pdf/WorldTT%201993%20Auto8.pdf) (PDF). Auto8 (in French): 94.
14. Radio Control Car Action, December 1995
15. Radio Control Car Action, December 1996
16. "IFMAR Off-Road Worlds: Racing Action in Finland!"(https://web.archive.org/web/20160205013738/http://data6.blo
g.de/media/222/4842222_cd1896463e_d.pdf)(PDF). Radio Control Car Action. Air Age Media: 59. November 1999.
Archived from the original (http://data6.blog.de/media/222/4842222_cd1896463e_d.pdf)(PDF) on 2016-02-05.
17. "Masami Hirosaka (1/12) et Marc Rheinard (T
ouring) CHAMPIONS DU MONDE 2004!"(http://www.rcinfos.com/200
4/2004_11_01_worlds.php)(in French). RC Infos.
18. "CM 1/10 200mm - Victoire d'Adrien" (http://www.yome3000.com/news.php?id=881). Yome3000.com.
19. Troyon, Lionel (August 2005)."Championnats du Monde 1/10 Off Road 2WD et 4WD Collegno (Italie)"(http://www.rc
infos.com/2005/2005_08_14_WC_10_off_road_collegno.php). RC Infos.
20. "2006 IFMAR 200mm Worlds – Placings After Finals" (http://www.morac-graz.at/rennen/2006/erg-wm06-vf10_brisba
ne.htm). Morac-Graz.at. September 17, 2006.
21. "LRP Wins IFMAR World Championship!!". LRP. Missing or empty |url= (help)
22. "Lamberto Collari Wins 1/8th Onroad WC with LRP!". LRP
. Missing or empty |url= (help)
23. "LRP successful at the IFMAR 1/12 WC!"(http://www.rcnews.net/2010/07/06/lrp-successful-at-the-ifmar-112-wc/).
LRP. 2010-07-02.
24. "LRP SXX TC Spec Version2 and Sanwa M11X – the most used technology at the WC in Germany!". LRP
. 2010-07-
07. Missing or empty |url= (help)
25. "Robert Pietsch takes the WC title with LRP and Sanwa!"(http://www.rcracer.com/2011/06/pietsch-wins-wc-with-lrp-a
nd-sanwa/). LRP. 2011-06-08.
26. "Double World Champions – Ryan Cavalieri and LRP unbeatable!". LRP. 2011-08-04. Missing or empty |url= (help)
27. "IFMAR EP 1/12 World Championship 2012"(http://www.sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/ifmar_world_championsh
ip_2012_electric_track_112th_result.html). Sanwa.
28. "IFMAR 1/10 EP World Championship Result" (http://www.sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/ifmar_110_ep_world_c
hampionship_result.html). Sanwa.
29. "Chassis Focus – Meen Vejrak" (http://events.redrc.net/2012/11/chassis-focus-meen-vejrak/)
. Red RC. November
2012.
30. "2013 IFMAR 1/8 RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP"(http://www.sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/2013_ifmar18r
acing_world_champion_ship.html). Sanwa.
31. "IFMAR 1/12th WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2014"(http://www.sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/ifmar_112th_world_c
hampionship_2014.html). Sanwa.
32. "IFMAR ISTC 1/10 EP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2014"(http://www.sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/ifmar_istc_11
0_ep_world_championship_2014.html). Sanwa.
33. "IFMAR 1/10 IC Touring Car WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2014" (http://www.sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/ifmar_1
10_ic_touring_car_world_championship_2014.html)
. Sanwa.
34. "IFMAR EP OFFROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (2WD)"(http://sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/ifmar_ep_of
froa
d_world_championship.html). sanwa-denshi.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
35. "IFMAR EP OFFROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (4WD)"(http://sanwa-denshi.com/rc/news/report/ifmar_ep_of
froa
d_world_championship_4wd.html). sanwa-denshi.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
36. "2016 200mm Worlds Winning Car" (http://events.redrc.net/2016/08/2016-200mm-worlds-winning-car/)
. Red RC.
Retrieved 2016-08-13.
37. "WORLDS: Inside Ronald Volker's BD8 World's touring car" (http://www.liverc.com/news/special_features/12788-WO
RLDS%3A_Inside_Ronald_Volker%27s_BD8_World%27s_touring_car/). www.liverc.com. August 27, 2016.
Retrieved 5 February 2019.
38. "Under the Hood: David Ronnefalk"(http://www.neobuggy.net/2016/10/02/under-the-hood-david-ronnefalk-13/)
.

External links
Official website (in Japanese)
 English website (in English)
Sanwa Electronic in Bloomberg

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