IronCross

Been to that site... left very frustrated... Not much info about anything... i am guessing the "Polly lite" stuff is dope ?.. Don't see anything called dope there... Looks like I need to send for a manual to find out what the heck Polly Lite is....

gumhead

I was there... got frustrated and ended up using Sig.

rcflyer1970

My Feedback: (212)

I think ARFs are good for some people, I need to build the plane for the way I want to fly it, so I allways modify a kit or scratch build, some of the ARFs I have tried required alot of extra glue work, fixing loose covering and unwarping surfaces, I do wish there were more kits at reasonable prices, I would be happy if I could just buy ribs that were lazer cut since some of the wood supplied in kits is doo doo. More RTCs would be nice too.

Stickbuilder

You can get Randolph dope from aircraft spruce and specialty. I'm really trying to help here.

Bill, AMA 4720

dmcmike

My Feedback: (14)

You can order Randolph dope from F&M (stits site) along with their Poly-based system. I'm using their stits fabric on a giant aeromaster right now. Attached it with their recommended adhesive, but I'm using the Brodak flavor of Randolph dope for finishing. Called Chip at F&M and had quite a good conversation with him, asking him about the compatibility of the Stits covering with the Brodak Butyrate dope. He gave me the ok, just told me to remember a couple of things... don't mix products, i.e. if you start with dope, stay with dope, if you start with the Stits product, stay with it. And if you use dope, be sure to thin it so it gets a good mechanical bond to the fabric. So far, i'm pretty happy with the stuff. I started to cover it with silk i bought from Thai Silks, but i don't know if it was the dope or the silk, but I couldn't get it to shrink up properly.

cloudancer03

My Feedback: (22)

I have been flying of late arf's as well as kit built planes..after 20 some years I decided to build a sig kougar gathering dust in my shop.my first one was in 1979 and I had only been flying a few years before that but anyway what a disater.I built negative incidence into the wing and if that wasnt bad enough I built it way too tail heavy and got discouraged.but some guy sold me one waaaaaaay back and I just had the urge to do it.took me a week to frame it.and flew it two weeks now.dummy me I lost it for a split second on landing approach and tip stalled itinto a marshy area.expecting the worst I finally found it thinking it went back to kit form .lo and behold other than the left side rearward splintered it was remarably in tact so a few hours of work and the next morning I was out tearing up the sky again and nobody knew..I doubt of my arf's would have been able to do as well.but hey for me building fun again!

I had so much fun I am here searching for a kit to build a miltary birddog either a cessena or piperJ3..someone here said they love building more than flying.I creave both and have decided to build again.do I like arf's .sure why not it flies right.just not always sure how well those glue joints are.so I reinforce where I can on areas likely to get the stress.

lastly someone asked if this hobby is flattening out with less kits to build ,rcm belly up and electrics yadayada yada.the hobby is expanding exponentially and the choices we have ..man heli's electrics gassers(I do have one) etc lots of toys .bothers me we have the wally world market with china presently flooding the marketplace as the quality does leave much to desire.at any rate having retired last year I want to tackle building ..its not an indictment on the arf's I just have a feeling of great personal satisfaction seeing my kit built plane fly and with almost no trim.god that felt good knowing I built it strong and true..even if I have to stop flyingeventually(diabetic) I will get alot of enjoyment building a rc plane and being in this hobby.

Jim_McIntyre

I buy mine through local kitbuilders (homebuilt full scale). Check with the local hobby airport, if you don't know of one, check with [link=http://eaa.org/]EAA[/link], they're very helpful in finding local enthusiasts.

Larry S

My Feedback: (6)

It was mentioned in another thread and I'll voice the same conclusion, at our club field, very few guys fly a kit or scratch built plane, mostly are arfs. We have guys who just love to fly and don't like to build and we have guys who fly arfs that really don't give a care if it does crash, they go out and buy another one. As for me, building is half the fun. I enjoy sitting in my shop figuring out a problem on how I'll do this or that and when it comes time to fly, I get more satisfaction then if I had just went out and bought a arf. It isn't unusual at all that I'll be the only one flying with a kit built plane which looks as good or better and flys as good as any arf there. I have one CMP Corsair that is an arf and one Jemco Hellcat that is a kit and they both fly very good. The only reason I went with the CMP Corsair is that I crashed my Jemco Corsair and I wanted to have another one to fly that season. I have a Gradulate arf that I'm taking out today that had crashed and was rebuilt. Both of the arfs mentioned have had serious accidents and I was surprised how well they held up and could be rebuilt. Out of 14 planes I have that are ready to fly at any time, only two are arfs. I only wish companys like Jemco and Pica or some other company would come out with some good kits like the old ones were. If an arf sells for $150 and the same plane in a kit form sells for $150, I go with the kit only because I enjoy building and I like having something different then the next guy.
Larry

leebee

I've just come back to the hobby after many years away. Thinking back to my young years of balsa and tissue paper, I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into my TopFlite Cessna Skylane over the winter. I am training in RC on a Hobbico SuperStar (I consider it RTF even though they call it ARF. I am building a Sig 4*40 as a real ARF and when I finish this, I will start my Cessna kit. It looks much more complex than my early balsa and tissue models but I'm sure it will be very rewarding as it works it's way to completion.

gumhead

Welcome back leebee

rrader

I don't think that there is any new interest in kit building. Just some of the older modelers keeping busy. It would do some flyers a lot of good to build just one kit . . . that would give them some experience in repairing their ARF's. Usually you hear "could you fix or help me fix my ARF?"

Anyway, it's such a closure to spend countless hours building your project . . . . hurry out to the field to show it off . . . . put it in the air . . . for a 20 second flight 'cause you forgot to ckeck all the controls. Throttle - yup, Ailerons - yup, Elevator - yup, Rudder - yup!. . . but even tho the ailerons moved up and down, they were reversed. hee haw

blue skies and no wind

Jim_McIntyre

Things must be different in your neck of the woods... I have lots of people contacting me looking for help and I see a lot more built aircraft showing up at the beauty shows and scale rallys....perhaps the pendulum is swinging back?

Our hobby, the building and flying of model aircraft is healthy, despite the efforts of those who would see us limiting our enjoyment to half of it.

... now please excuse me while I head home to detail my Waco.[8D]

gumhead

I also see a lot more people looking into kit building. They get tried of arfs and want to build something different or get into the hobby more... Kit building is the way. I seen 3 members of my club that have been flying for years, build their first kit this year.

I dont mind ARFs tho. My dad who is almost 70 isn't the builder he used to be. A couple of Goldberg ARFs had him flying all summer.

parrthd

i didn't need to hear that.........i'm in the finishing stage of a gp super skybolt, a 27% extra 300L 95% built waiting. sig smith miniplane waiting in box..........and i've been wanting a WACO SOOOOOOOOOOOOoo BAD!!!!!! i don't know what it is about them, they're just beautiful birds. is anyone still making a waco kit? haven't seen one to speak of other than free flight or rubber powered.

Jim_McIntyre

[link=http://jim_mcintyre.tripod.com/waco.html]My Pica 1/5.[/link] as of 10 minutes ago....

It's a crime this kit is no longer available.[]

Yeah, I can't stick to one build at a time, this Waco has been low priority for years but she does move along from time to time (like tonight).
The base colour on the fuselage, started markings, interplanes are roughed in, I haven't begun the ailerons. I changed my mind and cut out the false bottom in the cockpit to go deeper, I guess I just can't stand shallow cockpits, even if it's just sportscale. [8D]

parrthd

[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3561097/anchors_4910896/mpage_27/anchor/tm.htm#4910896]skybolt thread[/link]

toward the bottom is my skybolt as of tonight. just getting the base coat on. haven't started any of the trim yet.

parrthd

hey jim,

is that a pitts s2 i see sitting in the background???

the waco's beautiful, by the way. don't plan on one THAT big but i hope to build one.

Jim_McIntyre

Looks like we're pretty well at the same stages. Nice work, I'm going back to read the rest of the thread...

Jim_McIntyre

Yep, and if you were in the shop you could turn left and see another S2 fuselage framed up behind in behind some other builds in various stages.... I eventually finish them all but some take backseats, literally for years, the Waco is one of these.

Thanks. I inherited my Waco from a fellow modeller who's no longer with us. He started her but didn't get very far as his health failed him. I will finish her eventually, and fly her until she's old an fuel soaked... just because he'd want it that way....

iflircaircraft

parrthd:
Isn't the Skybolt a real 'builders" kit. It was a challenge for me but well worth the effort.
Good luck with yours. I really think you'll love the way it flies. It will do a fantastic inverted flat spin. Here's mine with a 1.08 OS 2-stroke.
Oh and those wing struts are the cat's meow for installation at the field.
My next build is the Carl Goldberg Chipmunk.

Happy Flying


Tom

andrew66

i just came across this thread (i spend way too much time in the engine conversions foum) and i would like to chime in.
I honestly dont think that kit building is making that much (if at all) of a comeback. Its good to see some planes out there with some character. Ive noticed that the arfs are very similar from mfg to mfg in color schemes, making the flight line look kinda bland. Part of my highlites of going to the field is possibly seeing a freshly built plane waiting for its maiden flight. I also have my "favorites" that i like seeing at the field too. I find that the main excuse for arfs is lack of time, when around here we have a full winter to build. I think that the few kit builders out there are the few "purists" left, that are keeping the tradition of this hobby alive.
things like laser cutting and interlocking balsa kits are making it seem less intimidating for a beginner builder, which is a good thing, but this also saddens me. it is nice from time to time to have most of the work already done, but i personally like building a stick built structure, with minimal preshaped/precut parts. haveing the leading edge stock, wing ribs and some formers precut i think is manditory, but for the rest, i dont mind busting out the good ol' razor saw, modeling knife and of course....sand paper.
maybe the general amount of new modelers are too impatient to just spend a nice evening working on a plane. i find it very relaxing, and it helps unload the stress from the day/ workweek. when i get frusterated with a step, i take a break and clear my mind of that. it keeps this part of the hobby fun...which is why i do this in the first place

bps

My Feedback: (3)

I hope that available kits expand. In my opinion if the kits and plans ever become cease to exist so will most if not all of this hobby. I am all for ARF's to help get into the air and maybe even for primary training, but construction is the reason for the hobby for me and is the main enjoyment as well.

JEB

Roby

It's been several months since I've visited this thread.
In that time I've gotten my Top Flight Stinson SR9 into
a painting stage and finished up another project.

Just recently I was looking around for a project to build
over the winter. Looked at a bunch of kits ,(not as many
to choose from as there used to be)but found nothing that
held my interest.

With the slim selection of decent kits that I like , It now
appears that I'll just start building from plans again.

Is building making a comeback ? Not from what I've seen.


Regards
Roby

iflircaircraft

hello..back again:
I have seven airplanes of which only one is an ARF. Of those other six which I built from kits they are all now available as an ARF. IMHO most hobbyists in R/C airplanes that assemble ARFs either do not have the time (raising families) or simply don't have the room to sand/paint/or deal with glue, iron on coverring fumes which is required to build.
Some, the minority of ARF fliers, just have too much money to burn or don't want to take the time to build.
I've been fortunate to have the room and the support of my wife and family to allow me to spend hour upon hour to build kits.
It's been mentioned in this and other posts about LHS's not having kits on the shelves which leaves one (newbies) to believe there are no kits. They get into the hobby and go to their local flying field and see all of the same plane of which they just bought or see their next plane which is also an ARF. Someone mentions "building a kit". Which is replied :"I built mine" not understanding what a kit is.
If kit building is to make a comeback then alot has to be done about "kit" quality and price as well. Yeah, sure, some have interlocking, laser cut parts but if you get down to the nuts and bolts of a kit you understand that two piece cowls, plastic wing tips,belly pans, soft landing gear, weak landing gear supports, engine mounts,etc. are just few things that make building a kit so much less attractive.
If you enjoy tinkerring and have pride in flying what you spent your blood ,sweat and sometimes tears on then keep building.
I for one love to build kits and will continue since I have four sitting in my garage. That's just me.

Happy Flying


Tom

Jim_McIntyre

My Skybolts (2 SIGs) are long gone. One totaled, the other sold.[]

I'd like to build a larger one someday...

I do see a lot of new builders coming on the scene but I still see a 'whackload' of ARFs. It's true that the kit market is drying up, I've been relying on the stock I squirreled away over the years. I do accasionally replenish from other collectors and estate sales etc. but even that market is drying up. I do like to build from plans and scratch build as well (currently working on a Beech 17s) and, if the current trend doesn't change, I can certainly see the day coming that I will no longer have the opportunity to crack open a kit full of dreams.[]