Want to Buy My Wing Bag Side Hustle?

Your Expectations

When I first announced my intention to sell the flyingrcnet wing bag side hustle it became apparent that some are looking for a get rich quick/no work scheme. This isn’t that and you are likely seeking something more in the criminal world. There certainly is money to be made in this and I suspect way more than I have been generating if pursued by someone with more energy than this beat up 77-year-old can muster.

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I started making wing bags for two reasons. First, I thought I could make bags I and others actually liked. Second, I thought it could be a side hustle to help support my RC habit. I, nor my websites have ever been sponsored by anyone, no cash or product sponsorships. All the planes, cars and related parts, photographic & video  equipment used to create the hundreds of reviews and videos as well as the machines and related equipment used to produce the wing bags were paid for by selling wing bags, period. I never touched house money for anything related to RC or making wing bags.

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I never intended wing bags to become a business, rather a part time side hustle to make extra RC bucks. To be honest, the demand for my wing bags surprised me from the start and I found myself limiting the growth so I could keep making them myself and, in my house, rather than expand into a shop.

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In recent years along came cancer, a couple strokes and advancing age. Now at 77 it is time for someone else to take over and take it to the level they want. This is also a good time to sell as the supply problems of the last year or so have gone away and we have good, domestic suppliers for the canvas and other materials and we will give you links to all those as well.

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What You Get

Note: Link at the end of this page to a video of the equipment included.

You get everything I use to make the wing bags, including printing, cutting and applying the graphics. Not included is my computer (nothing fancy) but you get the files (all common formats) for the graphics and images used in the on-line store.

 

It is important to say up front, everything is in Concord, North Carolina and as stated near the end of this, you have to come get it with plenty of help and a suitable vehicle or trailer.

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The Machines

I have gone through several sewing and other machines before buying the industrial versions that come with this outfit. All of the equipment listed is in use today and functioning perfectly. None of the wing bag work approaches the capabilities of these industrial machines. I am a firm believer in over-buying my machines so they are not running wide open or straining to keep up and last a very long time.

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Sailrite® Deluxe Fabricator® Sewing Machine Package (110V) source sailrite.com $2295.00 current price with the solid maple table, HD stand and Workhorse® Servo Motor.

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The Sailrite Fabricator is a full-on industrial mechanical walking foot machine with a wet sump oil pump and oil pan! It is nearly all cast iron and steel. The only thing electronic is the motor and work light. It only does straight stitching (adjustable lengths) which is all that is needed to make tough wing bags.

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Despite making a hundreds of wing bags with the Fabricator the only things I have had to replace was the drive belt once and a few needles. This is the first sewing machine I’ve had that just keeps working until it wears the tips off of even the best needles.

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Comes with the original manual, extra needles and original tools.

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Fabricator-Specific Bobbins & Stand-Alone Winder

Making larger wing bags can use several bobbins per bag despite the Fabricator using large capacity, metal bobbins. The machine has an old-school winder on the table, but I include an electric winder that is much faster. Also included are dozens of extra bobbins, in cases, most loaded with common thread colors so you can swap out the bobbin rather than stopping to wind another.

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Juki Industrial 4-Thread Overlock Sewing Machine, K.D Table & Servo Motor  Original price $2100 - Source - https://amzn.to/4cMvyni

I also learned the hard way that even better regular sergers costing just as much as this industrial machine could not handle a steady diet of canvas/padding/fleece fabric stacks. After killing two of the lesser machines I bought this Juki and have replaced nothing more than a few broken needles (all my fault) and the oil at regular intervals.

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Like the Fabricator, this serger has an internal oil pump and oil supply that keeps this machine fully oiled. There is an internal oil filter (you get spares with it). It is also made from mostly cast iron and has a tough electronic servo motor with plenty of power.

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The table it comes in is designed for this machine and includes casters so it can be moved and a surprisingly effective chute that directs waste to a container of your choice. Also included are the original manuals, extra needles and original tools.

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Being able to serge the edges in a wing bag gives it a more finished look as well as durability. Neither are insignificant selling points for our bags.

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Sawgrass Virtuoso SG1000 Sublimation Printer – Original price $1600

This is a dedicated, sublimation printer that uses special inks. It is not an office printer in any way, rather dedicated to producing the sublimation graphics on special Easy Subli heat press vinyl for application to canvas wing bags. The good news is that the ink cartridges last a long time in this use. We have been charging $12 per graphic and that has kept us ahead of the cost of doing this process that attracts a significant number of customers.

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This printer can also apply the same sublimation inks to a special paper substrate for application to100% polyester T-shirts only. Does not work on cotton or blends. The large heat press that comes in this package also handles those larger graphics. This process on 100% polyester shirts makes a surprisingly durable product.

 

Sawgrass SG800/SG1000 Multi-Bypass Tray for Large Format Materials – original price $200

This attachment for the SG-1000 printer sends single 13”-wide sheets of Easy Subli material (or sublimation paper for t-shirts) through the SG-1000 printer, useful for printing shirts and larger graphics on bags.

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HPN Vinyl Systems Evo 28" Cutter Plotter - Contour Cutting DC Servo Motor original price $1000   source https://www.heatpressnation.com/products/vinyl-systems-evo-28-cutter-plotter-contour-cutting-dc-servo-motor

I tried to “save money” with craft-style vinyl cutters and quickly found that a machine like the Evo actually worked and had the capacity I needed for this kind of work. This cutter handles the Easy Subli vinyl on which we print the wing bag graphics.

It also cuts regular adhesive-backed vinyl that can be used to make signs or other markings. One of the people that told me about this cutter has an additional side hustle cutting and applying lettering for trucks and other business vehicles.

 

Stahls Basic Digital 16" x 20" High Pressure Heat Press Original price - $613 
Source https://www.heatpressnation.com/products/siser-digital-16-x-20-high-pressure-heat-press?variant=30860011929678

After hobby level presses failed miserably at applying the graphics for our bags I bought this industrial-level press and all has been well ever since. Easy to operate, just turn it on, wait for the temperature to reach the target setting.  An alarm sounds after the programmed pressing time and you can adjust the time and temperature as needed for different materials. Once again, the right machine for the job.

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HPN Black Series Cap Hat Heat Press  $299

Source https://www.heatpressnation.com/products/hpn-cap-hat-heat-press-transfer-machine-black

Used mainly for pressing our logo onto the bag when no other graphics are purchased. Its smaller size means it heats up much faster. Can also be used to press smaller graphics on polyester hat blanks or over-pocket emblems on polyester t-shirts.

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HPN MPress Sublimation Mug Press - $100

The SG-1000 printer and sublimation inks can also be used to print designs for application to special ceramic mugs that have been treated for the sublimation process. This press is designed specifically for that use and applies pressure and heat around much of the mug body. I also have a supply of those mugs on hand that come with the outfit. Making/selling mugs is another side line I did not have time to keep up with so stopped offering them.

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Wing Bag Templates

An important key to my line of wing bags was the development of a process for making templates that make laying out and cutting the materials fast and accurate. I will show you the process of making the templates. I currently have over 130 templates, many of which are not listed in my store because again, I had to slow things down as my ability to keep up lessened.

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As the number of templates grew I bought two 6ft long clothing racks on wheels for storage.  There are way more templates than will fit on those two racks so consider building or buying more racks to make storing and finding them manageable.

Amazon link where I got these racks      https://amzn.to/4eDakv1

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Miscellaneous

Also included will be the supplies and materials I have on hand when you buy this side hustle for making the bags. Materials like canvas, padding, fleece, flannel, zipper stock and handle blanks. You also get whatever shipping boxes I have on hand as well as more plastic shipping bags than you may ever need (got a deal on them). Also included will be whatever Easy Subli vinyl stock and transfer sheets I have on hand as well as adhesive-backed vinyl in various colors that can be used for signs and other stick-on graphics, cut on the plotter/cutter in this outfit. There will likely be foam board blanks used to make the templates that also come with this outfit.

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You Come and Get It

As should be obvious, this is not a shipping friendly setup. A big reason I am getting out of this is my inability to handle the work anymore and that applies to me trying to load all this equipment up. I will do all I can in terms of getting smaller things boxed up to make it easier to handle but you have to bring enough help and a suitable vehicle or trailer to haul all this.

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Training

If you would like I am willing to show you how I have been making the bags. There really is nothing fancy or complicated about the process as I never wanted to make fancy bags, just durability that looks good. If you want to be shown you should allow an extra day or so here to go through the process. Bring a 40cc sized (or close) wing and I will show you how to make a template and build the bag. Once you get used to the process making a bag or two with this equipment in a day is possible. 

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On-Line Store

The flyingrctore.com on-line store is housed on the Wix system. There is a way for me to transfer the store to you if you have a Wix account. If you would like we can explore how to do that. There are many on-line store options out there so you may want to build your own rather than use the one I have made, which I doubt is state of the art considering my limited computer skills.

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I made a video on YouTube that lets you actually see this equipment, See that here.

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Naturally, the more I try to sell the side hustle, the more wing bags people want so getting this information together is taking longer than anticipated… Never assume you understand the customer base.

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For questions/comments contact me here