dribbe

Interesting, this is quite different than the information everyone on our teams is getting from the banks and published sources.

Thank Care,
David

bobzilla

My Feedback: (63)

well,then lets go with your banks and published sources..shall we!

The increased prices that suppliers have payed for purchased arfs' in the last year, will are now being passed to the consumer! Soon the hobby will be too expensive for the average hobbiest, and mostly likely cause the demise of the hobby suppliers. In the last year at our field..we have seen only 1 or 2 new flyer..and more leaving the hobby then coming to it. We also have had hobby store closings this year due to lack of sales. Balsa price is up. Lipo battieries prices are up. Carbon fiber has shortages and prices are up. Nitro prices have almost doubled in 4 years..driving many to gas engines for relief! There is no end in sight!


BTW..HORIZON HOBBY..some of your prices are downright absurb. Funtana 50x..now $259 compared to just a while ago we were only paying around $219 for the Funtana 100x.
What amazes me is that NITRO planes seems considerably less expensive for basically the same bunch of balsa, and parts?

T3beatz

My Feedback: (4)

I agree with you on this one Bob! Lets just hope that prices will go down in the future... $259.00 for a Funtana 50x, WOW!!!... Id rather pay $130.00 for the generic brand from nitro planes and spend 20 or 30 dollars on glue and hardware to make it right!!LOL...

Yeah, that I don't get, How are some able to keep there original prices and some not? Is it really because of the economy or is it greed? In these type of situations who do they think that the average hobby guy will run to? The guy who is increasing his prices on his Name brand engine, or the guy who keeps his the same or even lowers it? Look at DL/DA.. In the past few months I've seen more guys hooting about DL than a lot of other engines... DA still has not lowered the prices on there engines, Not even by 10 or 20.00 dollars. Does it really coast that much more to make engines over here in America? A $300.00 difference in retail, $390.00 after you go out and buy a muffler...

T.J.

ChuckW

While I have never personally been involved in the gas RC engine manufacturing industry, yes it is significantly more expensive to produce a product here in the US. The reason is simple: companies like Desert Aircraft have a great deal of cost in development, testing, tooling, marketing, unbelievably high labor costs, high insurance costs and so on. While I won't go so far as to say the DL is an exact copy of a DA the similarities are striking at least on the surface. I don't know enough about either engine to actually make an informed judgment though and I would not want to make a statement that may or may not be accurate.

This same thing has happened in the power equipment industry. There are cheap Chinese knock-off's of Briggs & Stratton and Honda engines being imported to the US. The legitimate companies have all the over head in the development, emission certification, etc. then the copy-cats make a similar looking product and sell it for less. It is not good business.

When I worked at a company that made automotive diagnostic tools & accessories, it happened to us too.

Another example is motorcycles and power sports vehicles.

It's not that the Chinese and manufacturers from other parts of the world aren't welcome to compete. They can design, develop and market their own products all they want. Many have done just that and been very successful. The problem comes when you try to steal the hard work of someone else and pass it off as your own.

bobzilla

My Feedback: (63)

your 110% correct on all that. DA evidently has not felt the pressure from lack of sales yet..(but they will). Just like GM, Ford and Chrysler now in a pinch!!
Remember, in most time when economy is poor, those entities that support merely pleasure are the first to end. I know people that no longer golf, nor bowl leagues, or take their yearly skiing trips, because times are tough. I think some of our present hobby stores/manuafactures will get a big wake up call soon!!

I go fly my Sukhoi this weekend again..had to add 8oz to the right wing tip to get lateral balance. I'm adding another 10oz to the nose to try to get to behave better as a nose heavy plane, instead of one that is neutral. Any ideas on how to mount the elevator servers up front instead of the rear?..im open for ideas, then I can remove some of the weight up front and better my wing loading.


bobzilla

p.s. completely off topic..but here is our latest club thrust chart..and pics. Look at DA-50 reading compared to other 50-53cc engines

T3beatz

My Feedback: (4)

Yeah, I was gonna add that about the big 3 also, They should have known if they kept on producing the gas hungry cars people would wise up to it, Asia and Europe make most of the small electric or Hybrid vehicles, Now who has to play catch up? Now I'm not saying that I want a tiny car that I can't fit my planes in, but We all know the technology is out there to make cars more fuel efficient and still have plenty space... I remember when California tried, and got sued by the government! crazy...

brillelli engines felt it! I heard it was from lack of time, but I think it was from lack of sales... they went out shortly after DL came in.

I used to fly my glow planes 3 to 4 times a week, I haven't flown them in over 2 months now. Nitro was $13.00 when I got into this hobby now its $23.00 and thats just 10%

That sukhoi is going to be a tank!! You should repaint it as a warbird..LOL I really can't think of anything... as far as moving the servos up. Cut the body in half behind the turtle deck and get rid of a couple inches of tail.. To much work.. try extra long 4-40 push-rods with long wood dowels attached to them....

T3beatz

My Feedback: (4)

Those DA's had good numbers... They should have posted if they were on Pipes or cans though... No DL's on the list either... that one guys TOC-53 was only pulling 15lbs What? thats got to be off....Oh.. I just looked at the prop...LOL..

FOOPED

My Feedback: (8)

Well guys I hope the rcgf 62 engine is a good one cause I have just bought one . Henery wo'nt have any in for two weeks so I am having to wait for it. Oh well I have lots of building to do and the weather makes me want to stay inside anyway. By the way for what its worth if you were trying to produce a good engine do'nt you think you would copy a proven product and try to learn and improve from the results. A good example is the Harley Engines. I rode them well, worked and rode them and put up with a lot of oil leaks till I quit and went to the other more dependable bikes and now I just ride.

T3beatz

My Feedback: (4)

I think you made a good choice.. I'll be getting one of those for christmas!! It should pull your plane around fine...

FOOPED

My Feedback: (8)

T3beatz have you met Henery in person. The way ya'll talk sure sounds you have met. I know a lot of people only from PH calls but I will never get to see in person. Not that it makes any difference cause I still think of them as my Friends.

Mr.FiberOptic

here are compressed air vehicles, im interested in the mutliflow air bus lol.

http://www.mdi.lu/english/

the canadian manufactured ZENN Zero Emissions No Noise electric car. the CityZENN is going to come out with faster speed and faster charging in 2009.

http://www.zenncars.com/

Mr.FiberOptic

The cityZENN is planned to be a fully certified, highway capable vehicle with a top speed of 125 KPH/ 80 MPH
and a range of 400 kilometres/250 miles. Powered by EEStor, the cityZENN will be rechargeable in less than 5 minutes,
feature operating costs 1/10th of a typical internal combustion engine vehicle and be 100% emission-free!
The Zero-Emission, No-Noise cityZENN will be designed to meet the transportation requirements of a large percentage of drivers worldwide.

Target Launch of the cityZENN, powered by EEStor: Fall 2009

T3beatz

My Feedback: (4)

Naw, I've never met him in person... I was supposed to meet him up at a Hobby Expo up near Chicago this summer but I moved on it to late.

Hey Fiberoptic, The zenn looks nice, yeah they are gonna have to come out with the 80mph one because 25mph is walking speed for me...LOL

bobzilla

My Feedback: (63)

My wife says I could be my own compressed air vehicle..once they invent an adapter to my backside!!

FOOPED

My Feedback: (8)

Hey Bob then they could hear you coming and smell you going

Mr.FiberOptic

isn't there enough air pollution? [:'(]

would have to filter the air.

i cut the axles for my landing gear with a dremel cutoff wheel and that got so hot the piece that fell off landed on my carpet and melted to it and created a burnt crater 1/8" deep [X(].

bobzilla

My Feedback: (63)

way to go fiber..guess your in the dog house now!! haha

hope this helps

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-repair-floors5.htm

sgoen

My Feedback: (5)

Ok, What would be the best engine for this plane.......I am not sure a DA50 is the way to go for the price?

T3beatz

My Feedback: (4)

Hey sgoen,

A couple people on this thread have stated that the plane is a bit tail heavy so it would be best if you get a more heavy engine than your typical 50cc size/weight engine... the Zenoah,RCGF... were more along the lines of the engines more suited for this plane...(note, you still may have to add more weight, or just move as much stuff to the front of the plane as you can) I personally would go with the RCGF 65 or the 62cc engine because of the Price/performance, Zenoah makes a real good engine but you will be paying about $150.00 more.

T.J.

Bdegan

What about this engine .......

MT-62....price is great

http://www.lsproengines.com/103008_006.htm

T3beatz

My Feedback: (4)

I've heard about the MT-line of engines, They are supposed to be decent engines.. I would rather go with the RCGF 62 because of the rear Carb, more power,better against propwash over the carb pressure hole. At $365.00 they are still a deal, cheaper than a DL/DA...

SigMan

My Feedback: (21)

talon58

My Feedback: (125)

Why don't you guys that are looking for a good priced 50cc plane check out wildharerc. They have great planes and a great price.

ChuckW

Come on... it astonishes me how people go around online dreaming up all sorts of statements about companies & individuals and their business structure & practices. There were similar "out there" statements about Quique Somenzini's company in another thread which he personally responded to and set the record straight. The employees at my own company do the same sort of stuff. Some of the tall tales about the company finances and management that I've heard from them rank right up there with the Loch Ness monster. We even have one guy who will sometimes just dream up something to see how long it takes to spread and how much it will get embellished. He gets a good laugh every time.

Unless you have factual first-hand knowledge about something, it's not a good idea to make any sort of statement like that.

Is your statement accurate? Well I am not qualified to be absolutely sure but neither are you. I do really doubt it however. Horizon has a discount line which I believe is Seagull. They also have a "value series" of H-9 ARF's. other than some copied manual pages, I see no similarities whatsoever between the two companies.

Look, the bottom line is that most of the corporate conspiracy theories out there are false. What is true however is that some unscrupulous companies in several nations copy products, literature and other things which violates copyright, trademark and sometimes even patent laws. I can confidently say that is factual because I have dealt with it personally.

We have to be careful about the crazy statements we make. Yes they are "opinions" and everyone is entitled to their opinion but due to human nature many people are seduced by negative talk and conspiracy stuff. Many make decisions based on those falsehoods. Not only can this hurt a legitimate company or other entity, it can hurt those who depend on them for their livelihood. Those are people just like you and me.

I hope I'm not coming off too harsh because that certainly is not my intent. I just wish people could be a little more objective at times.

T3beatz

My Feedback: (4)

Yeah, wildhare has some nice models, for good prices... I like the new edge 540 they have, its new.. and looks nice. Also They don't ship with hardware either, you can buy theirs for an extra $70.00. Still they are cheaper than a lot of other planes out there, with good quality.