rick77

Thought I would pass this on for those who are still waiting. I returned my fuselage to Horizon Hobby for replacement 3 weeks ago. I got an e-mail today telling me that they are backorder and expect to get them in late November or early December.Looks like its time to start my next project-Tiger Moth 400.
Rick,

Rat1

I am sorry but if this were me I would be very upset and demand a full refund unless they can provide a new fuse in a timely matter.

Don't get me wrong as I really like my Slo V and since I have finally had a non crashing flight on my ParkZone Cub I really like that also.

I quess if I had known that the parts for the ParkZone Slo V were going to be in limited supply I would have purchased a Slow Stick since the parts are readily available for them.

Seems ParkZone is doing the same thing with the Stryker as there are people I know personally that have these but the Fuse is badly damaged to the point of needing replacement.

lwien

Rick,
Have you tried calling Parkzone (Hobbyzone) directly. You may have better luck.

rick77

I contacted Horizon again expressing my disappointment with selling a product without having adequate spare parts. I asked if this was an issue that needed to be addressed directly to Parkzone. To my surprise they told me they would send me a "new kit". If this turns out to be the case they have a customer for life.
Rick

RickAvery

I have a slo-v which I broke the wire landing gear assembly. I contacted hobby zone and was told the same thing, back ordered until Nov. or Dec.!! I voiced my displeasure at the lack of basic replacement parts and was told they were coming from China and will not arrive until then. I was also told that he would try to get into a returned kit, where they usually just send a new kit out, and send me a landing gear assy. That was last Mon. and nothing yet. I'll post if and when it arrives. This delay in receiving replacement parts seems to be a standard problem as a few months ago I needed some parts for my sky scooter and Hi-Tech was having the same lack of parts avaliability, (on the boat). They stepped up to the plate and started opening up full kits and sent the parts. I hope park zone will do the same. Lack of forsight is not the fault of the consumer.
Rick

Rat1

Well as of now I am afraid to fly my Slo V and my Cub for fear of damaging something and needing replacment parts. I have been bragging up the ParKzone planes up until now and now I wish I had boughten something else and bragged that up.

It is real tough to own a product that you are afraid of using because you can not get replacement parts if needed.

AgCat1982

The only difference in flying in, breaking it and having to wait for the parts and not flying it for being afraid of not being able to fly it until having to wait for the parts is this: YOU GET TO AT LEAST FLY IT ONE MORE TIME!!!!! or two, or three, or four, or etc.


Low winds to ya,[8D]

radcast2

My Feedback: (1)

Hey there Rat1 and Cal....looks like everyone is in my boat..or I am in theres.
I couldnt wait that long to fly so I bought the Parkzone J3 Cub and I am just loving it. Only thing I dont like is the landing gear..it is just way to easily bent. Mine went out straight from box without any issues so far. I plan to get a new fuselage and then sell my Slo V kit once I have the parts I need to make it back to new (so to speak).

Rat1 how did you upgrade your landing gear again? Pictures?

dribbe

Slo-V fuselages are being air shipped in.... Should be in stock in about another week.
David

Sundog

My Feedback: (1)

How hard is it to destroy the fuselage? I was just about to buy a Slo-V when I started reading about this. It sounds like a common problem!

I have a Firebird Commander that I have been taking care of (no huge crashes) - is it a spectacular crash or a brittle fuse that is causing these to shatter?

PZ - are you listening? You'd better address this - there's at least 1 customer you're missing out on....

[&o]

dribbe

WE are listening.... The fuse is very durable.... I think most of the broken ones are from newcomers who are crashing pretty hard. No changes to the fuselage are planned. (most of the replacements were eaten up by 'scratch builders' . David

Rat1

I know some scratch builders are buying Slo V kits to do V tail mods on slow Sticks etc but they are finding it harded to mount the gear on the Slo V fuse so now they are purchasing just the tail sections and mounting them on their slow sticks.

I plan on ordering up a couple to keep as spares but am also going to reinforce my current one using a carbon fiber arrow shaft. It is supposedly a tight fit but it can be done.

A hard nose in will fracture the fuse just before the main wing from what I understand. I have not done this myself but have heard of others doing it. Most the time it is from coming down on a real hard surface such as Pavment or blacktop. I basically learned to fly using the Slo V,but I did all my beginner flying over grain fields or very tall grass.

lwien

I fractured the front of the fuse coming down from about 3 feet on grass..............Granted, it's not as bad as some others here, and a few drops of CA in the cracks tightened things up quite nicely, but I was surprized about how easily it fractured on impact.

Dave, you guys might want to do some additional testing on this fuse issue...........

A crash from 3 feet on grass produced the cracks. Acutally, at first, I didn't even realize the fuse was cracked. Couldn't even see them............until I noticed that the front of the fuse would torque when twisting a lot easier than the rear. When I applied a little twist, I was able to then see the cracks in the fuse, and if I applied a little pressure with my finger tips on the top and bottom where the cracks were, it felt kidna mushy..........So it seems that with a little impact, it can actually splinter the fuse on the inside without necessarily showing a lot of splitting on the outside. Carbon is kinda weird that way..........

Again, I think it might warrant additional testing......

dribbe

Thanks for the feedback... We have done a ton of testing, and never found anything like that.... We always continue to monitor any issues that come up....

rick77

Horizon Hobby was true to their word. A new complete Slo-V kit arrived via UPS 30 minutes ago. Thats customer service at its best.
Rick,

radcast2

My Feedback: (1)

rick77...that is great..I attempted the sam after reading what you said about calling them.
I wish they would have helped me out when I called and gave the lady.. a I cant believe you dont have this stuff in stock..and so on sob story. I even asked her about getting a repacement of some sort..even a new kit she told me they couldnt send me an entire kit when all that was broke was the fusleage, unless I wanted to buy it, nad I cant get anything sent for free since it was user error that broke the plane. I will get my new fuse from my LHS then sell the Slo V kit.

doggscube

My Feedback: (1)

Anyone know of a different-brand servo arm that works with the Slo-V servo?

-Jeff

radcast2

My Feedback: (1)

I got a new Fuse last night....didnt get charged either (LHS didnt charge me)...ready to sell it.

anchslayer

I have been flying my Slow V for over 2 months and I have banged it around pretty good. I even lost control when I ignored the beeping from my transmitter and the batteries went dead. It crashed from about 10 feet up and only the battery pack ejected during the crash. This plane is simply awesome for the price.

Chikokishi

To parkzone:

It might be a good idea to make the battery holder screw on, thus making it removeable so that when the front wing brace breaks it can be replaced. I had to send my airplane back because of that little issue.

To the rest of you:

As for the Body breaking on this pane mine has never had a problem with it. And if you are having landing problems i suggest that while landing to cut the power to about half at about 10 feet from the ground and glide it in. I read alot about people breaking their landing gear, and a fast or hard landing might cause that. This airplane also accepts wind quite nicely if you can handle it. I had mine in wind that was so strong (it picked up after take off) that my airplane was flying backwards, but still flying none the less. Landing was difficult, but it landed.

I personally think this a great plane, despite the part problems. I typically fly mine either in a field, or at a football field that was a running track around it. Parkzone created a fantastic airplane, but a few minor problems need to be fixed.

Fox

spaz4plastik

When its all said and done the experienced guys say there is no problem with the fuse and the newbies say it breaks easy. I think both are true. Isn't the plane is really a beginner plane? If so, shouldn't you build in a little extra strength? The people at Parkzone are top notch at customer service, maybe they forgot the plane would be in the hands of inexperienced folks.
My recommendation to them would be to get a few newbies to test it and then see what happens.

The upside to all this is that I figured out how to remove the battery holder and replace the wing support, then replace the battery holder. I haven't tested the plane yet but it looks to be real strong where I made the repairs.

dribbe

The plane is targeted for folks who know how to fly, and want a plane that performs well (Lightweight).
It is very durable, but is intended for flying, not crashing.
If you look inside the carbon tube near the front, you can see it is reinforced, as it was thoroughly tested and debugged.
We are very happy with its balance of performance and durability.
If you crash hard, you will need new parts! It is fairly affordable to fix anyway. [8D] That is the truth!

David

spaz4plastik

Looks like a slow stick flys like a slow stick...

Have you seen the fuse on a slow stick? A co-worker of mine trained on one and I watched him have the same type of hard landings that I did. The most damage he had was a broken prop.
I am a big fan of Parkzone products, I just don't believe that you didn't think you wouldn't attract alot of beginners with this plane. Maybe I am missing a technical issue? Would strengthening the fuse cause other problems? Is carbon fiber the best (or only)choice of material?

dribbe

I give up... No more comments on this from me. Have work to do!
David