jws_aces

My Feedback: (33)

Here we are enjoying a wonderful hobby that seems to me to be rather expensive in nature. That offers a lot of oppurtunity for money to made from the ones that are willing to spend it. In my job the only way to survive is to be fast upon delivery of the product, knowledgable of what you are selling and a good quality product along with a fair price not always the cheapest.

I can't understand why it is so hard to get airframes, parts, and other items with out having to wait for very long time. I can't get over how much I see these manufactures rushing to display there products at the big events to create sales when you can even buy what they produce, marketed and displayed many years ago in the past.

I am speaking of the overseas manufactures. I really like the scale stuff and it seems that no mater who you order from you get the run around while they hold your money and show up at the events with new products.

Just don't make sense why someone hasn't figured out a way delivery a good scale jet product (arf) with in a reasonable time frame for a reasonable price.

I would love to know if anyone has ordered a good scale jet (arf) and had it delivered with in a reasonable time (4 weeks or less) as promissed and was a fair price.

I know there are a lot of sport type jets out there that you can get pretty quick but I am more interested in scale.

I not here to bash anyone manufacture just looking for positve report on best where to spend my hard earn money.

rhklenke

My Feedback: (24)

You can check with Global Jet Club (http://www.globaljetclub.com). I believe that Mike carries in-stock inventory of many of their aircraft, but if what you want isn't in stock, then you're back waiting for the manufacturer to produce it.

The folks from FEJ have claimed that with their new factory, they are planning on keeping some kits in stock as well, but we'll have to see on that...

Bob

bluescoobydoo

i had a feibao kit on order and after the 4th month of waiting i cancelled it and went to jet legend instead, i think that it is hard to keep anything like this in stock as everyone want something different and with so many choices the makers back them selves in to a corner and as a result waiting times are stupidly long.
why they cannot make kits and paint to order which would only take a couple of weeks i don't know.
my jl kit is not the most detailed but it is a proven airframe and no one can see rivet detail at 100mph anyway, i buy them to fly them not look at them .

madmodelman

So you cancelled an FB kit, leaving the UK Importer with unwanted stock, jws, there's one of the answers to your question!

bcovish

My Feedback: (8)

I think that with such a limited market to draw from, companies and dealers can't afford to build up an inventory and wait for the buyers to show up. If when you place an order and were given a promised delivery date, a buyer could deal with that.
The are so many scale jets out there with so many options that the companies producing the kits could not possibly plan ahead on what to produce. You get one buyer come along and want a bare bones kit and the next comes along and want a full blown kit with all the goodies.

luv2flyrc

My Feedback: (6)

He did say he cancelled it after waiting an unreasonable 4 months for it. At that stage of the game, I'd say that's the risk the importer takes. ie. he sells something and his manufacturer doesn't deliver. I bet he would have accepted it if it had showed up within the promised time frame. What's wrong with that?

Mike

bluescoobydoo

uk dealer was more than happy for me to cancel as he was not happy with fb either he also had other customers that were in the same boat as me and was getting it in the ear from them as well and the only way to get fb to listen is when the money stops coming in.
the panther was sold very quickly when it did arrive

jws_aces

My Feedback: (33)

Again, I really don't want to bash anyone with this fourm. I too have a $2,500 deposit with one of the overseas manufactures. I placed a order in October with a 50% deposit. December no news. Found a used flying bird on RCU so I bought it. Contacted my USA rep and they allowed me to change the order. I not sure but I don't think anything was done with my order. No problem on changing but I guess I reset the clock on getting the jet.

Now I come accross another used jet just like the one I have on order. It is not the same but close. I am still waiting for my order.

What I don't understand is that yes these manufactures don't wish to stock pile these offerings becuase of the many different kinds of jets but they should be able to produce a AFR in less than 4 weeks judging on what they promote to have to work with. I have seen promotional information on all the big name manufactors showing off there manufacturing facilities.

I just think they should focus on building sold orders instead of the show planes. There have seen 2 new releases done since I placed my first order with this company. What is the reason for building new designs if you can delivery any of the old ones?

I just think that if there was any demand at all that someone would figure out a better way of getting it done.

I have thought about Global Jet Club on my next order becuase I have read that they do keep some instock. If a distributor can do that then why can't the manufacture follow suit if they are going to be the distributor also?

Just my thoughts.

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

I have never understood why the manufacturers can't have one or two Bare white airframes sitting ready for "add-on's" and paint. If they did that, it would have to eliminate atleast 2 weeks of waiting. Hell, i have inquired to a few of these companies and asked about bare airframes in primer only and been given 8+ week delivery times, which is completely unacceptable to be since I was basically wanting a composite molded kit..

Turbulence

My Feedback: (76)

Because Mike (global jet Club) is ordering the kit ahead of time, then fixing, assembling to a point, if fully built, then he is advertising the same as "In Stock" so he is taking bare kits and modifying them. He has less of a turnaround time and the ones he completed, he has for immediate delivery/shipping. So say he buy 5 F-15's, he might choose to paint and finish 2 of them a certain way and save the other 3 for customization, They CAN prep those last 3 planes and have them ready for paint, then just have to wait until you pay them, so thay can have the jet painted. The wait time just went down to paint, pack and ship instead of starting from scratch.

Ralph

Racerbuilder

Scale Jets

I know it is hard get it in time...

always also depends what you want...

F89 Scorpion we have stock...
Eclipse Business Jet... we have stock...
T2 Buckeye we have stock

we talk about 1 Weekfor Airfright, 18 Days+ for Container shipping...

Epic Victory 4 Weeks plus shipping
L29 4 Weeks plus shipping


and so on..

Dieselman1220

My Feedback: (25)

Too bad yellow stopped producing ARFs I believe they used to stock them in the US.

[email protected]

My Feedback: (1)

you get what you get when you order from overseas try to order from the usa if i cant order from the usa i do nt need it

straitnickel

I think they want to ship a full container of planes at a time to save money on shipping. And then I suppose that container has to pass customs inspection.

smchale

My Feedback: (67)

Jeff, while its no consolation, I can assure you that you aren't alone. Sadly.
I can totally understand the hesitancy to stock, it make sense. I think it comes down to communication really.
The buyer isn't dictating the schedule, he typically will request a price and delivery from the manufacturer. The manufacturer is the one who sets the initial expectations on delivery. Say for example 8 weeks delivered. So the buyer pays for it (maybe that is where the system needs to be a deposit, 1/3 at order, 1/3 at time to paint, 1/3 upon notice its ready to ship). So 8 weeks or more goes buy and the model hasn't arrived? Why is it the buyer who has to continue to call the factory for updates? Shouldn't the factory ALREADY know they have missed their promised delivery?
I suspect in the current competitive environment they don't want to risk a loss of sale because they quote 12 weeks and another mfg quotes 8. However, the buyer could well accept 12 weeks if its quoted accurately up front and the desire for that model/mfg exists.
I think you should be in business to do business. If the mfg sets realistic expectations and then delivers on those expectations then we'll have less threads like this.
Jeff, I feel your pain. I hope local reps see these threads (even if it isn't their company) and communicate this sort of feedback to the factories. It shouldn't be viewed as criticism rather constructive feedback from the market.

ira d

The way I see it there is no reason for the kit manufactors to change the way they operate as long as they are enjoying good sales the way things are.

jws_aces

My Feedback: (33)

BINGO!

Well said.

I deal with a lot of aftermarket product vendors in my business. They install bodies on trucks. It is no different than the model jet business. They offer lots of different options and brands. Way too many to stock everything. The competition is strong. There was a time about 10 years ago you would hear anything just to get your order. That would put myself would be in the middle between the customer and the body company (vendor). It was very bad because you would promiss the customer one thing and find out latter that you were lied to and the customer would blame you.

I would make sure after the first time that happend we never would go back to that vendor. There is always someone around that will do better job or at least do it as promissed. I hate to be lied to. That is the reason for this post. Is to help cut hopefully being lied to.

jws_aces

My Feedback: (33)

Good point, but are they?

That would make a great pole questions.

ira d

Obviously im sure sales could be better or at least the manufactors would like them to be, But for what they charge for these kit versus what they have to do
to make the money they are probably pretty happy with the status quo.

mikedenilin

My Feedback: (67)

Hi Bob-O

Well said. In this business, keeping sufficient inventory for 50+ different type of jets, 5+ paint schemes per jet, 5+ different installation options on each jet, is a daunting task for small niche hobby factories. Murphy's law applies well here. Once we have some inventory in hand, we will get calls for the one that we don't have. It's a managerial challenge more so than my other business. In fact, I will rotate managers from my other business to this hobby business just to give them some complicated trainings and customer service trainings. Many of them wanted to go back to their original positions.

Each jet factory is relatively small comparing to other prop/electric kit factories. Normally they have a group of 30-40 workers rotating around building 20 different types of jets. Painting might take up to 1 month from primer stage due to job shuffling. During holidays, especially Chinese New Year, and their October Independence day, then factories are normally down for 1-2 months until their workers have no hang overs. Some of them also take OEM projects where a few containers of jet kits are produced for other brands. If your order (special order) is placed in the wrong timing, then you will get pushed back to 2 to 3 months.

Occasionally we have the same problems passed on by our factories during peak season. Normally we quote 1 month to paint, 1 month to deliver by boat. For RTF we will quote 3 to 4 months depending on the complexity of works. We also try to keep popular models in stock but they are moving as fast as we can stock them. People's taste changes too, so we have to avoid getting stuck with unsold inventory.

Anyway, if the market is 10 times bigger, then it's easier for the factory to get a critical mass in their production lines so that many jets can be made faster and delivered faster.

I am glad that this is my passion to run a jet company so I am considering this as a great challenge. I still have about 5 to 6 new kits that need to be added to our collections. Our website is out of date. I expect a 3 to 4 months wait to get it done, or I will have to kick our IT contractor out.

I am thinking about getting this Fighter jet grill in our collection if I can find the factory who makes that. It's a scale jet and I am expecting 6 months of wait time to get one like that.

Mike

RCFlyerDan

My Feedback: (54)

I bought my 1/8 F-18 in an unfinished kit/arf form. Mike and his crew where very quick to make custom modifications for me in a timely manner. As Bob said, I do think he keeps ARF's in stock. Great guy to deal with too.

jws_aces

My Feedback: (33)

Mike,

Cool grill . Thanks for your input. I don't know if you were at FL jets. I was there and did look around at the display. I will be going to Wilson, Kentucky both and maybe I can meet you. I appreciate your input. Maybe I can do some business with you in the future.

Good luck with you jet factory. I am glad to see someone that is trying and cares about delivering a good product as promissed.

Ozmodeller

I really can sympathize here, my last purchase took nearly 7 months (that is not a misprint) from full payment until it arrived on my door step. The problems were not only caused via the OEM but the distributor was shall we say less than upfront with the reason for the delay, if I had not desperately wanted the model I would have taken legal action to obtain a refund.

Issues such as delays do have a habit of fading into the background once you have the goods in you hot little hands, though I will never purchase a thing through the distributor again.

Peter

mikedenilin

My Feedback: (67)

Hi Jeff,

Our East coast crew were at FL Jets. I was not able to be there this year, as I was attending the Tucson Jet Rally a week later. I will be at KY Jet, so hope to see you there.

Mike
-
Hi Peter,

Are you Peter Love of Queensland? I checked your order history. You had ordered our T-45 ARF PRO in mid April 12 and we shipped it on May 12, 2012, so hopefully we are not the company that was holding you up for 7 months. 7 month is a long waiting time.

Have a nice weekend down there.

Mike

Ozmodeller

No Mike, though I do know Peter Love (one of our club members), no I had purchased through the Australian distributor and yes seven months is not really acceptable but as I said I really wanted the model so not much choice.

Peter