tripower222

My Feedback: (5)

I like my Sig Mayhem 40 so well I wanted to try and get the 90 size larger one, but Sig never has it. As I get to looking they dont have hardly any planes in stock. Anyone know whats up with them?

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

They have had trouble with their supplier

foodstick

I wish SIG could sell some upsized kits for gas engines, a giant astro hog bipe, stuff like that.

maybe just sell laser cut short kits as well, save money on the fancy boxs and stuff..

rgm762

My Feedback: (4)

their problems are so bad that you can buy them at nitroplanes

http://www.nitroplanes.com/90a271-gas-superlt-60.html

Campgems

Another copycat rip off. First it was the Rascals on Ebay. When I ask the seller if it was a Sig Rasccal, the answer was that is "was almostthe same thing". You wonder what is going on at Sig,it'sstuff like this that is muddying up the water.

I was just back in Michigan last week and Istopped at two hobby shops. Ifound both the ARF and Kit versions of the 4*40 on the shelf and one of them had a 4*60 kit. There are a few kits out there, but you need to search for them. In Dec, I bought my granddaughter a LT40 kit from a LHSin Palm Springs, Ca. His comment was that it was the last in capitivity. He told me that Sig was contacting their dealers to see what stock they had in hand so they could redirect orders to them. Isure hope things clean up for Sig. They have been one of the rocks in this hobby. I would sure hate to see them sell out ot Great Planes. Hang in ther Sig.

Don

Edit. I got to thinking maybe I was jumping the gun, but when I went back to the Nitro Planes link, they don't mention Sig anywhere. It's a "Nitro Planes LT40 " complete with the Sig photo or a very close copy of it.

Don

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

It started out with the Sig ARF's had bad glue in them and were falling apart. - - Sig refused a shipment!

So I would beware of the Ebay and Nitro planes (Looks like Sig) ARF's unless you strip the covering and re-glue all the joints

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Not really Don. Sig ordered 4 shipping containers of ARF's but when they were ready, they could only pay for two of them. The manufacturer sold the other two to the highest bidder.

jeffie8696

"Not really Don. Sig ordered 4 shipping containers of ARF's but when they were ready, they could only pay for two of them. The manufacturer sold the other two to the highest bidder."

I spoke to the president of the company the other day and he assured me this was not the case. It was the quality issue mentioned earlier.
You can buy an original SIG LT40, Kadet Senior or Seniorita ARF from Nitroplanes and it is the exact same one sold by SIG , However if it falls apart SIGis not going to warranty it . Heck they will even have some parts in them that SIGsent to China to built them with.
Apparently the supplier found it cheaper to send out questionable product to somebody like Nitroplanes than to make a quality product and sell it to SIG. Pity really.
Otherwise SIG is going at full bore to make Kits. They got behind with the balsa shortage but now have a good reliable source of some of the best balsa they have ever seen.
They have even announced a new size to the 4 Star line, a .20 that is an Electric or glow kit.
You will probably not see ARFs coming from SIGany more unless something drastic happens.
The fuel shortage some time ago hurt them and they are also making FUEL as fast as they can to make up. SIG sells thousands of gallons of fuel and can barely keep up with demand. Give them some time to catch their breath and they should come out of this .

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Well, the president of the company is going to tell you one story...

But if YOU owned the rights to a design, would you let someone else sell it?

'Nuff said

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I remember back in the winter, all these Sig falling apart ARF quality issues were coming to a head. Sig would replace a wing or fuselage and it would fall apart also. Just a sack of loose pieces inside the Oracover.

So I tend to believe the story about the dispute over quality considering the typical Chinese business model that we hear so much about over in engines.

jeffie8696

Ever try to enforce copyright infringement from a communist country?
Good luck. Iknow first hand you can get a copy of any Microsoft product you want in Saigon for a couple of bucks.

hogflyer

And you would think by now all these companies would have learned that just about any product you have produced in Communist China will find its way to the market under another name for a lot less $$$......history is constantly repeating this.....

Hogflyer

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Not really wanting to get in the middle of this arguement here, but on this one Mike is right on the money. At the Toledo show we were on the floor at the convention center and got the word directly from people involved with Sig (sorry, can't mention any names but it is somebody that has first hand knowledge). This is simply a case of the manufacturers not waiting for Sig to finish paying for the products they ordered. The manufacurers sold the remaining products to whoever had cash in hand, regardless of who that was.

A guy in my club purchased one of the Seniorita's from Nitroplanes. When we looked at the product it was exactly the same thing you would have purchased from Sig, but they had simply gone through everything, including the manual, and marked out the name "Sig" and then sold it under their name.

Am I supporting the practice? Not at all. In fact I do think that it stinks that this has happened. I run a business myself (not to the same level as these are) but I do know that sometimes clients run into problems when it's time to pay. Sig asked for a little bit of time to pay for the rest of their product and unfortunately the manufacturer was unwilling to give that to them. Unfortunately cash talked in this situation.

Ken

althepal88

My Feedback: (31)

I, too, purchased from Nitroplanes; ordered a red Kadet and got a blue one four days later. Can't beat the price, but now they are out of stock (as usual). No support on spare parts that I can see, but SIG may have spare parts still. The only warpage was one aileron, but I had a spare (red) that I only had to recover with blue aerocoat. I went over the entire aircraft and strengthened with epoxy several areas (wing saddle, couple of butt joints). I have a 20cc gasser on the nose of mine, so I mounted the elevator servo in the tail along with a Hitec 225 servo just for the tailwheel (conventional gear with pants is the only way to go). She balances just fine, with room to move the two battery packs around.

My last Kadet had a 22cc Kalt on the nose and weight in the rear to balance, just to heavy, I didn't build it. It flew great; could go vertical, smooth and graceful aerobatics and looked great! Until, I just pushed her too hard and fast into a pullout and literally flew the wings off.

Now that I know the limits, I will have fun with this one.

BEAR-AvHistory

I bought 2 Seniorita ARF's from NITRO for spare parts for the original plane I got from SIG. Went over them both & can see no difference in gluing etc among the three. That being said I always re-glue/epoxy as much of any ARF that I can get to.

BTW SIG did not lose the sale of two ARF's because I would have never bought them for spare parts @ $200 + shipping a shot. But with the wait times in getting spares it seemed like a good plan to get the NITRO ones.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

They dont follow the same copy right laws we have to here in the states...I have a friend who bought a container of patteren planes and they were showing up on the bay, before he even got his....Rog

foodstick

One thing is for sure, a handshake, a contract, ANY understanding with Chinese production is a agreement that is risky at best..Especially with the shaky economy.

blacktails

My Feedback: (1)

Wow. I am just getting started in RC and had decided on getting a Sig LT-40 ARF as my first plane, so now this thread has me second guessing my choice. Should I still try and get the LT-40 ARF, or should I go with something else (suggestions?) as my first plane?

hogflyer

Don't let all this talk about Sig's troubles with their chinese supplier scare you away - Sig will probably be around for a long time to come. Go for the Kadet LT-40. Its a great flying trainer.

Hogflyer

rgm762

My Feedback: (4)

I would personelly go with the LT40 ARF, IF you can find one, and I would think that all the bad ones have been sold/found by now, SIG has shown them as "currently not available" for some time

MetallicaJunkie

there are other good trainers out there.... but i hear your pain, there is a particular Pilot-RC Yak54 i want, butr Chief A/C wont have the scheme i want till august...so im gonna wait

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Build the LT-40 kit

jeffie8696

I would build the kit if Iwas a good builder . If not the Nitroplanes LT 40 ARF is the same you would get from SIGif they hadnt gotten side tracked. I would buy one if I needed one.
Ialso think the Tower Trainer 40 MKII ARF is a good choice. I have one in the box ready for my kid to start training. Also the Hobbico Superstar looks like a good one. Ilearned on a Great Planes PT-40 and it is excellent.

Campgems

Got to agree with with Jim, Build the kit. The LT-40 and the whole series are great flying planes. I bought my Grand Daughter a LT-40 Kit for her birthday lastwinter I've got a bashed one hanging from my garage ceiling. You won't be disappointed with the kit. It is an easy build, great for the first time builder, and a great flying airplane. Even if you have to settle for one of the "after market ARFs" ones, go for it. Plan on skinning it and going over the glue joints, then a re-cover of your choice and pattern. The basics are there. It's a good plane. Go Sig if you can though. Support is always an issue. Sig is great on that item.

Don

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

This is my idea of the way a LT-40 ought to be. After the picture I went ahead and made it a bolt on wing

And it flies great and does the most beautiful landings you ever saw.



Picture with the bolt on wing