bigedmustafa

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With the news that Great Planes has acquired Lanier and Goldberg recently, I couldn't help but think of how very, very small the world of kit manufacturers is getting to be.

The only kit manufacturers that I am acquainted with that are currently shipping new kits in North America are Great Planes (including Top Flight, Hobbico, Goldberg, Dura Plane, US Aircore, Tower Hobbies, Dynaflite, and Lanier), Sig (including Herr and Peck Polymers), House of Balsa, Midwest Products, Balsa USA, Ace/Thunder Tiger (Ace Simple Series Kits), BTE Models, Guillows, BVM Jets (for turbine models) and Dumas.

I know there are some small businesses that are still out there turning out short kits and doing some specialized work like custom laser cutting and whatnot (AK Models in Iowa City, IA comes to mind). I'm just wondering if there is a good resource out there that links to many of them. It's astounding to me that 80% to 90% of the .25 to .90 sized glow airplane kits that I know of are distributed through Hobbico/Great Planes and that there are so few alternative choices out there.

I'd really appreciate being pointed to some of the other kit manufacturers out there that I'm either forgetting or I haven't checked out yet. Please point me to some hidden gems out there!

bigedmustafa

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Nobody has any suggestions? We've come to the point where http://www.towerhobbies.com is the final word on RC aircraft kits?

Scar

My Feedback: (3)

I guess that explains the shift in available product.

I check out www.hobbyhangar.com every once in a while, to look at the Rich Uravich & other offerings. Doesn't Ace hobby still sell the Simple series? The kit cutters make a lot of offerings, and the plans places have long lists of old favorites. I recently acquired plans for the 4-60 (Doc Matthews plan, formerly kitted by Ace.) It's in the AMA plans catalog.

I'm putting together an attic full of buildables, for my declining years. Should keep me busy!
Dave Olson

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks for the link to Hobby Hangar. I hadn't run across their website before. That was exactly the kind of information I was hoping to find!

I had mentioned Ace Hobby and the Simple Series kits. In fact, I recently picked up a Whizard kit from http://www.infinitehobbies.com to build this winter. I trip across antecdotes about some of the old Ace Hobby kits like the 4-60 once in a while. It's too bad they're fading from memory.

TLH101

My Feedback: (90)

http://www.balsausa.com/
http://members.lycos.co.uk/daviesgarner/
http://www.rcairplane.net/index8.html
http://www.ikonnwst.com/
http://www.mosquitobiteplanes.com/index.html
http://www.proctor-enterprises.com/
http://www.soy.on.ca/
http://www.wingmfg.com/
http://sunset-models.com/

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks TLH101! I'd mentioned Balsa USA in my original post, but I really appreciate the links to Ikon Northwest and to Spirit of Yesteryear. They both offer a number of kits for airplanes I haven't seen elsewhere.

Harry Landings

My Feedback: (8)

And don't forget the Bridi's. Some really fine flyers here. http://www.bridiairplanes.com/

Dick

jmv

This is a great thread. Thanks for all the info guys! It would make a great sticky... a list of current kit makers/cutters and their websites.

H5606

Agreed; found this one here in another thread on RCU: http://topnotchkits.com/index_files/TN_services.htm

bigedmustafa

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Ooh, I'm embarrassed that I forgot the www.bridiairplanes.com website as I've been to that one before. That top notch kits website is pretty interesting, they don't have a huge variety of products but what they do offer looks nice!

Mode One

Hows about Bruce Tharp, some really great kits, I'm told! Again somewhat limited. Hobby Lobby still has some kits of their Telemaster, I think. Flair, Arizona Model Crafters, FunAero R/C and Midwest are still in biddness.

Yes, a list of kit manufacturers and their address or website would be a wonderful sticky for this topic !

Are any of you aware of the link between Great Planes and Bridi?

bigedmustafa

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I mentioned Bruce Tharpe Engineering in my initial post, Mode One. I also mentioned Midwest.

I haven't heard of Flair, Arizona Model Crafters, or FunAero R/C though, do you have any links to their websites?

All I know about Great Planes and Bridi is that Great Planes ended up with the original Kaos design and they still sell it as a Tower Hobbies ARF to this day. The Ultrasport kit was, according to folklore, a Kaos airfoil with a more stylish fuselage designed around it.

jmv

Here you go:

http://www.arizonamodels.com/
http://www.funaero.com/
http://www.flairmodels.co.uk/