clolson

My Feedback: (7)

For end to end quality, ease of construction, fewest hassles, no ill fitting pieces, and as much of the hard stuff done already as possible, the best I've seen have been the Sig Kadet Sr. and the Sig Rascal 110.

This is compared against a GP UltraSport 40 with foam covering and a Lanier Mariner 40 which had some issues with hardware, fit, and a covering job that came with wrinkles and no ability to shrink them out any further. And a tiger bipe which had several plastic pieces (i.e. wheel pants) to cut and fit and generally was lower quality in terms of construction and materials overall.

The Sig ARF's are on the pricey side, but compared to some of the other stuff out there, they are really good.

For instance, on the Rascal 110, the gear is predrilled, prepainted, and the blind nuts are installed in the fuselage. They even poked a tiny hole where each bolt passes through. Likewise the wheel pants on the rascal were prejoined, prepainted, predrilled with blind nuts already installed. Literally the time to install gear, wheels, and wheel pants on the Rascal 110 including taking the parts out of their baggies is 10 minutes tops.

I'm not knocking the other manufacturers which do a reasonably fine job and there are some incredible deals out there, but with Sig ARFs you seem to have virtually no problems with hardware, no problems with fit, the hardest stuff is already done for you, and the covering job came out of the box flawless. Of course in our dry climate, the wood started to dry out and I was looking at tons of wrinkles. But a few minutes with a heat gun and all the wrinkles were gone ... other ARF's come with covering that just doesn't shrink any more so you have to live with those wrinkles, but Sig covering still has a lot of shrink left in it.

And let me just say, I maidened my Kadet Senior ARF on Friday and it is an incredibly fabulous flying aircraft for what it is. It's slow, but it's light and I can set her down on landings so gently that I don't spill a drop of wine from the 15 wine glasses stacked on the wings. I'm normally more of a sport pilot, but I can tell the Kadet Sr. is going to be great fun working the rudder, landing in cross winds, slips on approach, and all that other airplaney stuff that you don't get to do as much of (or that doesn't make much of a difference) with a faster/heavier sport plane.

So after having just assembled two of their ARF's Sig is my favorite by far.

Regards,

Curt.

swooper

GP Spacewalker with .91 Surpass
Why? It's like it was designed for our elevation, 6300 ft.
I flew it for at least 5 years as my "everyday" model, summer and winter, and loved its rock steady, s - l - o - w aerobatics. It spent as much time inverted as otherwise. Toward the end, the Monokote was getting very brittle and its days seemed numbered.
Certainly the best bang for my modeling buck ever.

famousdave

My Feedback: (61)

I have worked on and flown a lot of ARFs including the H9s, Comp-Arfs, Planes Plus, Chip Hyde, Aeroworks, GP, BME, Lanier, etc, etc. . I am extremely picky and in most cases there is something I have to modify on every plane to satisfy my standard. For once.. I have never encountered a better quality / constructed ARF as I have in the QuiQue Somenzini 102" Yak. It was the straightest, best built, best covered ARF I have had a chance to get my hands on. Its also mine so I can actually get to spend a lot of time flying it for a change!!

DP

Primodus

My Feedback: (56)

Favorite ARF...hmmmmm that's a rough choice for me. Either the GP Shoestring or the GP Super Sportster 40MKII. Both are very easy to build and fun to fly. In all honesty though the Super Sportster edges out the Shoestring since the gear area on the Shoestring is too fragile and usually requires mods to strengthen. (personal experience) Most Durable ARF I ever owned was the Vectorflight Edge 540. No complaints on that one. Just not my style of flight.

kerrydel

My Feedback: (2)

Goldberg Sukhoi SU 26

Kerry

Flight Hawk

GP Shoestring fly's great and yes i'll say it, GP Venus 40 (fly's like it's on rails)

Capt Jim

My Feedback: (168)

Dave Patrick Ultimate 120. Does everything you want it to do, and does it well, with no bad habits. Flew mine with a Saito 150.
Try it, you'll like it.
Jim

cruzomatic

My Feedback: (17)

Sig 4*60 followed closely by Hanger 9 AT-6.

taildragger21

My Feedback: (197)

ultrastick

Dugster

Wild Hare 28% Edge 540t

DrDeath

My Feedback: (3)

Let's see.

Hanger 9 Super Cub with an g-23
GP Shoestring with an OS61

forestroke

WM Cap 232 40-size

Easy to build, easy to fly, nice in the sky...

Favorite Plane: WM Ramber 30

forestroke

My Lovely WM Cap w O.S. 46FX

Hoghead385

My Feedback: (1)

I second the Dave Patrick 120 Ultimate. Excellent craftsmanship, easy assembly. Hang a Saito 180 on it and go have a ball!

bubbagates

My Feedback: (32)

Let's see

Goldberg Ultimate with a YS110
Goldberg Sukhoi with ither a RCIgnitions G26 or the YS140 Sport
GP Gene Soucy Extra with an OS160FX
GP Super Stearman with a RCIgnitions G26
H9 Funtana 90
SIG 4* 60 with an OS91 Surpass

All were very easy to build and fly excellent. The best by far was the Ultimate

I'm currently working on the Wildhare Ultimate that is going to get a DA50.

N925WB

My Feedback: (56)

Without a doubt, I have to give full credit to Sig for their high-quality ARF's. Not only are they wonderfully built, but they fly great, too. My number one right now is the Rascal Forty. It's a dream to fly, and went together like a breeze. After I dumb-thumbed the first one, I just had to have another (I'm putting it together starting tomorrow!). The Rascal Forty will do all the basic aerobatic manuevers, including beautiful snap rolls and spins. After that, it will shoot the prettiest touch-and-go landings I've ever seen, in either wheel or three-point.

I've also had the Sig Lil' Rascal, which was a dirt-simple build. It lacks ailerons, but still has peppy performance on the stock motor.

I have a Sig Kadet Senior ARF in the box waiting to be built. I'm converting it to a taildragger, so I can't say it'll be the easist ARF I've ever done, but all steps other than those to make the conversion should go very well. I have high hopes of this one being an excellent relaxing flyer.

So, bar none, Sig gets my vote. When the new Sun Dancer 50 hits the streets, you can bet I'll be picking one of those up as well.

-Wayne

Mettler1

For me it's the GP Shoestring with an OS 91fs for power. Great little hotrod that flies way better than I thought it would!!!! I just love taking this plane to the field

SeaHawk-RCU

The best ARF I have ever flown would have to be my CMPro FW190 with a Zenoah G26. Plenty of power, gentle handling, very gentle stall and easy landings. I wish they made one for the Zenoah G62, I would be first in line with the bucks.

Col

Scar

My Feedback: (3)

My favorite : Vector Flight 66" Extra, with G90 Super Tigre & Pitts muffler. Good construction, nice looks, and excellent flight characteristics.

Second favorite flyer is my ancient Vmar Extra with a .46 FX. Looks like crap now, after 4 years & 350+ flights, faded and washed out, but still flies great, learned a whole lot on that plane. This is the version before the colorful one they advertise now.

Dave Olson

jmupilot

Actually I've been flying models since 1974, and up until last year i had never owned an ARF. I bought a C-160 Transall after seeing another one flying in my club. Hmmmmmmmmm, first twin and first ARF all rolled up in one. I must say the Transall is one of the best flying planes I've ever flown. It has no bad tendency's and really economical too. It has 2 OS LA .25's for power and does not lack any there of, great looking and easy to fly.




Pete

proulxlaw

My Feedback: (3)

For me so far it's a tie between:

GP Stuka
H9 p51 Miss America

Both are great flyers. The Stuka is cool because it has a menacing and scale look and the p51 because it is the best flying warbird that I have ever built/flown.

loser

My Feedback: (37)

I will give a third vote for PATRICKS 60" ULTIMATE BIPE. Flies absolutely beautiful !!!! Needs at least a YS 1.20 or Saito 1.50 to do it justice but it is such a straight and honest plane......... The gear is a bit soft as mentioned before and I have had some covering come loose (hey - I didn't build it) but it has been worth every penny. I still prefer to build my own, but this one gets an A+.

Steve

til

cermark sukhoi su31 with mvvs 1.6 gasser - superb

Fastsky

Great Planes Stuka. Flys way faster than it looks like it should be able to and lands easily at walking speed. The plane always attracts a crowd and it looks great in the air as well. Built very well and the plane is very light for its size.

SJN

Composite ARF Eurosport.

Great finish, and one of the best flying jets out there.