jbarnes

Hello, I've been purchasing servo's, engines etc. on anticipation of putting together my first large plane. Currently my largest plane is 4*120 running the Evo 26. I want something large because my old eyes only see large items (thats what I told the wife anyway). Since Aeroworks is close to me I figured it made the most sense to buy one from them and save the shipping. Plus I really like the color scheme of the Yak.

Well to get to my issue. I mentioned my intentions in our club meeting and I immeadiatly got told by two members not to buy anything from Aeroworks. They indicated that the company did not stand behind its product. One of the members said they had a plane that crashed on maiden due to the hinges coming out of the stab. Post crash report was that none of the hinges in the elevator had been glued securely. He indicated that Aeroworks would not replace the plane and instead gave him partial credit on another plane. I was never really able to pin down the issue with the other club member but it had something to do with covering flying off.

So now I'm second guessing my decision on the Yak. I know any company has its disgruntled customers because you just can't please everyone and there are always the 10% who like to take advantage of reputable company. I'd feel alot better if I heard from some you that may have had problems and if Aeroworks was there to support you. Thanks, Jerry.

Mark Dennis

My Feedback: (4)

Jerry,
I can assure you that we always stand behind our product and do what we can to help our customers. Please feel free to stop by and check us out.

rcalbuquerque

My Feedback: (171)

I bought the Aeroworks 100cc Yak....You will be very happy. However it is an ARF and must be treated accordingly. If you follow the instructions provided you will have no proplems. I would recomend applying ca everywhere you can and adding epoxy to the landing gear area.. My plane was ready to fly in 10 days. Plane flyies great and lands like a dream. Lou

reyn3545

I've got 2 other QB planes from Aeroworks, and the 100cc yak will be my next one... both so far have been of exceptional quality, very sturdy, well balanced, capable planes. There's one of the 100cc Yaks at our field... the pilot likes it better than his 2.6M Comp-ARF. Like the previous poster says... its always a good idea to put a little glue wherever you can reach, to iron down the leading edges, and do the BASIC prep work that should be done with any plane.

This is a solid company with good products. You won't be disapointed.

SteveRoss

My Feedback: (1)

Jerry, I am an Aeroworks customer. I have the 50 cc Yak and Extra as well as small electrics by Aeroworks. They are very high quality models and I am extremely happy. In fact another club member who is a serious competitor, was so impressed with the planes that he bought the 40% Extra to use in competition.

rcplanenut

My Feedback: (12)

Jerry,
I have one of the smaller Yak QB( 90-120). I have also had one of there 29% edge kits and a .90 edge ARF. All of them are top quality. I've never had any problems with AW service. (just my opinion)
Jim

1bwana1

Jerry,
I have been flying my AW 100cc YAK at least two days a week since Feburary so I have a lot of flights on mine. It is one of the best built ARFs out there. It is also one of the best flying planes in it's class. I fly with a lot of guys who spend many months building the top end giant scale kits. Without exception they are very impressed with the quality of this plane. Like any plane, what you do to it after you get it will have a lot to do with your experience. Follow the AW instructions to the letter, they are the best you will find. Go through the plane carefully, adding glue to joints wherever you can reach them. Also check the pre-glued hinges and follow the instructions for ironing down the covering. All of these steps are recomended by AW.

For the life of the plane you will need a consistant maintenance program. AW will tell you that you should re-iron the covering often. I have found that after the first few times it settles down nicely. Check your hinges, bolts and electronics before every trip to the field. If you do these things you will keep the plane a long time. I have found AW customer service to be excellent. That being said, I am one of those who tends to take responsibility for things. AW is very clear in their policies, read them. If you are comfortable with them, then I believe you can rely on AW to do everything they promised. Customer service is a two way street, you do your part, and I know AW will do theirs.

-STEVE-

gregman50

Jerry- I have two of the Aeroworks planes, one 50cc Yak and a 75cc Yak and they are first class planes and as far as the customer service goes they have been very good with me. Anytime I have had a question they have been more than helpful and will help you solve any problem that you have I feel. As stated above, take care of your part and I feel that Rocco and the gang will take care of you. I also have friends at my local field that fly these planes and they are also well pleased with them and have not had any issues. I'm sure my first 100cc plane will be an Aeroworks QB series plane. Just take a look at how long this company has been around and their planes won several TOC's back in the day and now I feel they are light years ahead of the competition as far as arf's go. Who else can give you a plane that from start to finish that you can fly is as little as a weekend? Hope this helps. Happy Landings

Grelker

My Feedback: (58)

Hi Jerry, although this may be overkill, I have the 50cc yak and extra. I love them both. Great flyers. I intend to purchase the 100cc extra next week and I hope that I can buy the 100cc Yak before too long. I, like you, am over 50 and have a little trouble seeing the smaller planes. The AW planes land like a trainer and are 3D monsters if you wish. Reminds me of an old saying, a saint by day, a ***** by nite.

You will not be dissapointed. Read a few reviews on RCU of the plane.

jbarnes

Thanks for all the comments. Got several PM's form folks also. Only a couple negative. Mark contacted me also. Guess I'll stick with my plan and purchase one of these beasts at the air show in August. Thanks, Jerry.

bodywerks

My Feedback: (4)

Remember, too, that there are always 3 sides to every story - his side, their side, and the truth. A guy might go and say that he got screwed, but won't mention that he used sub-standard servos or didn't seal the hinge gaps, etc. He doesn't tell you this because it is cause for reasonable doubt. Aeroworks does stand behind their product. No product is ever 100% perfect. If you have a verified problem with something of theirs, they are very reasonable.

Robby368

First thing's first. Your buddy should have inspected every square inch during the building process. I gave all my control surfaces a good yank to make sure everything was secure. The covering issue is understandable if climate changes, but covering flying off should have been noticable before takeoff. Any plane is going to have flaws, that's why you want to do a close inspection before flying each day.

As for the Aeroworks team, those guys stand behind their product 110%. There is currently a design flaw with some tailwheels, which they gave me no grief about sending me a new stronger tailwheel. The plane (50cc yak) is the easiest building and easiest flying plane I've ever had (out of about 20 planes). It's so easy in fact that I plan on buying the 150cc 40% Extra next year (unless they come out with a 150cc Yak). Actually any plane I buy in the future will most likely be an Aeroworks plane.

reyn3545

I guess you'll have to go to another manufacturer's forum to here complaints about Aeroworks... the folks that actually spent money on them tend to really like them!

dqman40rock

My Feedback: (89)

I had a 100cc Yak. It flew great for a bout 4 months. The left wing blew off doing a snap. I can say that Rocco did his best to make me happy. I finally accepted a $350 credit towards anything I wanted. I got some needed items that I am using in other planes and still have money left to spend later. I dont know why my wing blew off. The warranty had expired so I was not in a position to demand a new plane.
I have not heard of any other 100cc yaks having the wings blow off in a snap so this may have been my fault in some way.
Darren

falconpilot

My Feedback: (62)

I'd advice going out and looking around elsewhere on the internet, somewhere besides the Aeroworks support forum???, and see what people are saying about about AW. There are alot of positive things to say about them, but there are some negitives things as well. Hands down, they make the best flying ARFs money can buy, but the customer services in lacking. That's just my opinion after I had a wing failure. And yes, there have been wing failures on the 150cc 260, 100cc 260 ,75 CC and 100 cc Yaks. For them to say that there hasn't been just is not true.

Again, they make great flying airplanes, but IF you do have a failure of some sort, how will you be handled?? That's the questions you need to get answered. I was unassuming, polite, and very friendly with them about the whole issue up front, and remained so thur to the very end. I pracitally begged them to keep me a happy customer, and show me just a little, something, of good faith. Nothing...Point is, I wasn't one of these guys that when the wing failed, I called them up cussing them, threatening to sue, etc...so I shouldn't have been hard to make happy. Maybe all I should have expected was a new airplane, but since I was dealing with AW, I was expecting a little more...I'll always be the first to admit when I'm wrong about something...Maybe I was not right in expecting more???

I lost my 42% 260 QB due to a wing failure on the 12th flight...Any yes, it was loaded with top of the line equipment and step up right....Happened in front of some of the top flier in the country....AW did replace the airplane, but I could not get any kind of help with all the rest of my new when installed equipment..motor, servos, prop, spinner, and etc...that was destroyed as a result of the wing failure. I -"personally" feel that they could have gone just a little extra with me,and made me happy..Instead, they left me with only an airplane, and a VERY unhapopy customer that will never spend money with them again.. Some says they were fair, some say they should have done more, some say less. Just the facts...

t_driver

My Feedback: (43)

You will be told YOU did something wrong with your setup ...
AW planes fly great when they are flying but when something goes wrong in the first 4 or 5 flights your pretty much SOL....

rv9-a

jbarns

I am sure anyone can have a bad experience with a merchant. I have had to contact Aeroworks customer service twice. The first time was concerning a missing hatch for the canopy for my 50cc Yak 54 QB. I talked to Laura hoping that they may have one laying around. This hatch certainly will not keep the Yak from flying and was really no big deal. A few days later a package arrived and there was the hatch.

The second time it was a little more serious. A heavy object was put on the box of my .90/1.20 Yak 54, it crushed the left elevator/stab and also the leading edge of the rudder. I called A/W again and talked to Laura (busy girl). After talking to Rocco she asked that I e-mail pictures. The next day I found more damage on the cowl it was cracked in two places. Another call to A/W and more pictures were e-mailed.

My new parts arrived last Tuesday almost within a week of the original shipment. All Aeroworks has asked me to do was to keep the packing and boxes for UPS to look at. I don't think you could ask for more than that.
Thanks Laura and Rocco

rv-9a

Allen. R

what kinda pre-flights are being done, if you're flying a plane that has no glue on any of the elevator hinges. If guys are buying airplanes take it out of the box and flying them without ever checking the hinges and other pertinent items and their plane crashes. It's not the manufacturers fault. A thorough pre-fright should be performed prior to each day at the field and a new plane out of the box should be gone through thoroughly regardless of who the manufacturer's.

t_driver

My Feedback: (43)

Then they should not sale them glued let the buyer do it .That way you know its done and done right .I had one of the 35% 260`s and the aileron hings broke on the 5th flight in the air i lost the plane you think they replaced it NO thay told me i must have done something wrong and it cost me $700 for a new one ,Did they ask for picture`s NO And here falconpilot lost his 41% over the wing he gets a new plane(im glad he did by the way) But he`s still out alot of money in parts.

airega1

My Feedback: (204)

Even before I bought my 100cc Yak, it was in my head to yank on the control surfaces since it wasn't me who glued them in. Take nothing for granted.
BTW I'm overly thrilled about the Yak

Frank

off2fly

My Feedback: (11)

I've been flying the piss out of mine,best covering job i have ever seen,excellant quality.