The Air Force One – Air Foil™ offers many improvements
ORLANDO, Fla. – PowerBilt surprised the golf industry a year ago by introducing the Air Force One – arguably the most innovative club on the market because it uses nitrogen gas to support the face. Now, the second generation is ready with many improvements over the original. And what’s even more newsworthy is that PowerBilt is introducing nitrogen-charged technology in irons – that’s right, iron heads filled with nitrogen gas (See separate news release on irons).
The new name is Air Force One – Air Foil.
The drivers, fairway metals and hybrids, which enter the 2G phase, have been improved in many ways, according to Ross Kvinge, president of PowerBilt. Here’s his list of what makes the new Air Foil even better than the original:
– Forged head construction (vs. cast) for denser wall thickness and better sound and feel at impact
– Redesign and repositioning of the valve to lower the center of gravity for better ball flights
– Square face angle at address
– The Fujikura E350 as the stock shaft on the Air Foil Tour driver
– More traditional head design for the Air Foil high-MOI driver for greater appeal
– New Powerized 45-gram shaft for senior and lady models
– New grip that is softer and more durable
– Lower retail price on the drivers: $29999 for high-MOI model; $34999 for Tour model
“We learned a lot very quickly with this club,” says Kvinge. “The first thing we discovered was that we had a winner. But we also knew that we could make improvements. And we did. From the head to the grip, we’ve made the Air Force One – Air Foil a better club.”
The Air Force One – Air Foil is the only club on the market with Nitrogen-Charged Technology, a patented process that involves filling the club head with nitrogen gas to provide weightless support of the face. This allows PowerBilt to build drivers, fairway woods, hybrids – and now irons – with the thinnest faces in golf without internal bracing. The benefit is greater distance plus improved accuracy due to an enlarged sweetspot.
The new Air Force One driver comes in two models – Air Foil and Air Foil Tour. The Air Foil has a traditional shape, but a high MOI (Moment of Inertia) meaning it resists twisting at impact resulting in straighter drives. The Tour version allows more skilled golfers to work the ball left or right.
Each driver model is offered in two face thicknesses – 2.6 mm and 2.8 mm. This compares to 3 mm or thicker for a conventional premium driver. The thinnest face, 2.6 mm is designed for golfers with moderate to slow swing speeds while the 2.8 mm face is designed for golfers with fast swing speeds of 100 mph and higher. All drivers are filled with up to 110 psi of nitrogen gas. The thin faces allow golfers of all swing speeds to compress the face at impact to gain maximum C.O.R. (or C.T.) and maximum Smash Factor. The face thickness on the fairway woods and hybrids is a mere 1.6 mm and retail for $17999 and $14999 respectively.
The first-generation Air Force One driver has been praised in reviews by the press. The headline in Maxim magazine called it “The Distance-Improving Driver” that produced “straight, long blasts that couldn’t be matched.” Golf Today magazine, which runs the Golf Lab in Palo Alto, Calif., reported: “Most of the golfers who testing the AF1 (Air Force One) agreed that it was ‘longer.'”
Who says a small company can’t be an innovator? “People often speak fondly of PowerBilt’s great persimmon days,” says Kvinge. “But now it’s time for us to reclaim our prestige as a high-end club maker by offering a technology that is exclusively ours. Plus it’s a technology that makes people say ‘Wow!'”
Plus One Sports, Inc., is the U.S. licensee of the PowerBilt brand. PowerBilt is a division of the Hillerich & Bradsby Co., a family owned-company which has been making golf clubs since 1916. Based in Louisville, Ky., H&B is also the maker of world-famous Louisville Slugger bats and Bionic gloves.
For more information, contact: Bob Lauder, blauder@doeanderson.com, (502) 815-3367 office, (502) 403-9976
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