One such item was a model aircraft auto-pilot made from the electro-static sensor in a smoke detector. How exciting - except that there were no smoke detectors to be had in English hardware stores, and comparitively few hardware stores to begin with.
Years later, Burt Rutan designed the fabulous Quickie. 100+ mph on a 16 HP Onan lawn tractor engine. - Lawn tractors and engines which of course you can't buy in England.
Now that I live here in the land of omni-present hardware stores, and near infinaite availability, the shoe is on the other foot. - One of my favorite resources is the McMaster-Carr company. www.mcmaster.com - This company is amazing. It seems there is nothing you cannot find in their catalog somewhere. From Toilets to aircraft grade metric hardware, from tampon dispensers to earth movers - it's all in that thick yellow book somewhere.
The latest treasure I found between the covers is self-adhesive, 0.012" thick Polyethelene tape. This stuff is great to apply to your cockpit doors, side panels, cowling or fuel tank, and will prevent chaffing, scraping or fabric damage. The adhesive is super strong, but the tape itself is as slippery and strong as PTFE or Teflon.
Click this link http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/116/3414/=8r00ac and scroll down to the "Strong and Slippery UHMW Polyethylene Tape with Super-Bond Adhesive" item. I used part number 7344A31 - Highly recommended!
Times have changed, and now there is not such a big difference between what is available in Europe, and what can be found in the US (except for Baguettes and chocolate eclairs, unfortunately). None the less, if you are reading this from Europe, Asia , or elsewhere, and need help buying something from an American supplier, just email and I will help.