The release dates do appear a bit random from year to year, but there are some patterns. There is typically a release in October or November, a pre-Christmas release and, the last two years at least, a surprise release in December. Last year the Fokker E.I and E.IV were released on October 22nd, the previously-announced Salmson was released on December 15th and the surprise release was the D.H.9 on December 5th. In 2012, the surprise release was the Hannover, with the first three Fokker D.VIIs as the announced Christmas release. The September/October release was the Fokker E.II-III and E.III and the D.H.2, and I think they slipped the Tripehound in there in November as well.
This year we had the surprise release of the DFW C.Vs in late July, following the surprise release of the Roland C.IIs in April. This looks like a new pattern, although they probably have me looking for patterns where there are none.
They also managed to slip in reboxings of the Roland D.VI in b form, and the Albatros D.Va in OAW form. I am not sure what all of this portends for the final three months of 2014, but they will keep us speculating for sure. Marvelous, isn't it?!
Regards,
Bob