rorywquin

"The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten" is the original quotation coined by Henry Royce (Rolls Royce)

style fly

My Feedback: (3)

I was the guy filming Mario's F-86 at Florida jets when it went down- 1st I know Mario had all his screws tight on all surfaces'. 2nd lets face it guys FEJ has not had a great track record with this new honey comb CF on there jets- this is not the 1st time this happened to a FEJ -YES any issue can happen with any jet - but i have never seen so much repetition in planes braking apart as with FEJ- Will it come down to Jet Events banning FEJ at there shows for safety. Mario is very serious about safety of his jets- I'm sure he is thinking 2x to continue any relationship with FEJ. In my opinion if your serious about your jets maybe a different manufacture would show that you care about your investment- BIG DEAL the FEJ is less money -but IS IT REALLY - I watch the video many times - in slow motion- it can be argued all day what happened- ill tell you what happened- the plane broke apart as did the past few FEJ did . period

jetpilot

My Feedback: (48)

Thanks for having the cojones for coming on here and letting everyone know what happened since every FEJ crash seems to be a major cover up.
Scott

gooseF22

+1

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Mario is a nice guy who does many things for other people. He spent hours putting the videos together for the last event he was at.

RonTins

Wow!!!! I can't wait for Mario's account... Thanks for sharing what occurred from your perspective!

RonTins

Is it possible for you to share the video here?

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Honestly, what is there to see? In typical FEJ fashion, the jet broke apart in flight. No other jet does that on a consistent basis.

It would be interesting to know how many flights the F-86 had. FEJ jets aren't built to last, as you know.

Pete Lane

My Feedback: (3)

Looks like someone got the FEJ " Poll " in the tail feathers again.


Plane

style fly

My Feedback: (3)

The video cam i used was Mario's , so i don't have a copy to post- maybe Mario will post it in the future - but if you want to see it what it looked like just youtube any other FEJ breaks apart video - they all seem to do it the same way--- and yes Mario posted a lot of pilots videos from FL Jets- he has a big heart and wanted to celebrate a lot of the pilots flights

757Driver

My Feedback: (90)

+1

AndyAndrews

lol, thanks. It was a saying that my father used to have on the back of his business card. I always liked it. I had no idea that it was a derivative of an old Rolls Royce saying though. Kinda cool.

BTW, we have purple cool aid drinkers and Green Tea drinkers. The green tea drinkers have special spices from the orient in their tea that impair all reason and common sense when it comes to flying FEJ jets. These FEJ apologist also seem to multiply when they get wet and turn into gremlins when feeding themselves past midnight on RCU with hogwash tales of how great FEJ is. They get on here and act surprised when exposed to the truth about the products they supposedly love (like abused house wives). The best thing we can all do is continue to expose FEJ to sunlight so everyone can see what they really are and hopefully the company will die a hideous death for everything they have done to their customers.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

It is somewhat stunning that the AMA has not been involved in the FEJ debacle and excluded all FEJ products from the AMA insurance coverage. Anyone know what the AMA’s position is on this type of safety problem?

AndyAndrews

I wish they would do that. Moreover, more CD's like David S should ban them from events.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Seems like the logical solution before one of the FEJs kills someone and that will reflect poorly on all AMA members.

SushiHunter

Whoop....there it is!

FEJ = Far + East + Junk

style fly

My Feedback: (3)

Unfortunately if a FEJ does hurt somebody (God forbid) the public will not care about the manufacture ----but point there finger at the hobby- then we all lose----- all because of poor built jets----- also shame on us if you still purchase one---------

SushiHunter

Quite possibly true. However, if such an accident were to occur with such outcome, I got a pretty good idea that pre-crash documentation of such issues discussed here could/would be called into play, such as like this thread and others. Bottom line is it most probably would depend on the extent of the incident, parties involved, etc.

rcjets_63

My Feedback: (4)

That's a possibility. However, there is so much information out there that a lawyer could pick and choose and come up with any story and would have the "proof" for any point of view.
1) There is no no mandatory testing, no standards, and just a few general safety regs. Cut to photo of a printed copy of AMA safety regs beside a pile of FAA TFR's.
2) Mandatory inspections are required for large model aircraft. Cut to that video of Rudi doing load testing of his F-14 Tomcat with a several hundred pounds of sandbags on the wings.

3) This is a fun-filled activity for the whole family. Cut to youtube video of a father/son flying an Apprentice at a park while mom sits on a nearby picnic blanket and looks on adoringly.
4) This is a hobby for middle aged overweight guys that haven't grown up. Cut to a flightline photo of me, or you, or many of our friends.

5) Model planes are just toys. Cut to a photo from the Toledo show with a vendor of die cast planes in the foreground and booths of 1/4 scale IMAC planes in the background.
6) R/C jets are dangerous. A nice compilation of videos from youtube showing some of our "greatest hits" that people have felt the need to post. Undoubtedly this would include Shui's UltraBandit crash/fireball at Joe Nall, the sport Gripen going into the trees and fireballing (that looked like a friggin napalm strike), or the Rafale hitting the runway at Floyd Bennett Field.

7) The hobby is self-policing. Cut to a copy of David Searles ban of honeycomb FEJ jets from any event he is CD'ing.
8) This hobby isn't self-policing. Cut to a video of a LTMA-1 large FEJ Hawk losing it's H-stabs at a grand event show center after having been re-engined with a larger turbine the night before which voided it's permit to fly. I seem to recall an event wrap-up post where the CD claimed that all AMA rules and guidelines were followed to the letter. Oh wait, that must have been the write up for Jets over Fantasy Island.


I can just hear the lawyers' summations:
a) "My God, ladies and gentemen of the jury, these things are fire-bombs waiting to fall from the sky onto the heads of your children. Shut this down before someone else gets hurt!"
b) "Building and flyng model airplanes is a wholesome activity at the heart of American family values. Save our families, save model planes."

Regards,

Jim

SushiHunter

I'm visualizing an outstanding BLU-82 ground detonation right about now

DrScoles

My Feedback: (18)

I've said this in a few of the other FEJ threads. If someone harms another person or damages property, you won't have a leg to stand on. Unless you live under a rock, you've heard about the problems with these jets. FEJ jet owners who have a record of being on RCU, are acting in a reckless manner. They know there is a defect in the product and ignore it. You will get smoked in court, your insurance company will probably wash their hands of you, and heaven forbid you kill someone, will probably be criminally prosecuted. That's the best translation I can give via my attorney wife who I have shared this debacle with.

Why in the hell would you (insert derogatory word about your intelligence here), fly these planes knowing that they are defective? You are risking your future because of a toy! Not just possible financial ruin, but incarceration! Not to mention possibly hurting someone. FEJ will magically disappear if someone gets killed, you will be left holding the bag. I've seen pics of a lot of you, you aren't going to do well in prison.

What amazes me, is that a lot of these people are intelligent successful businessmen. You are F'ing crazy.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

So apparently from the comments the AMA does not know about the FEJ debacle and no one has asked them to get involved? It seems like the JPO and or AMA would be on this. Why would the AMA want to underwrite AMA members flying FEJ products?

willig10

Although I hate it for Mario. Anyone who is flying an "FEJ" is probably aware of the failure rate due to inferior building techniques. Although the people that buy or have bought an FEJ product because of cost, need to have their building skill level on par with their flying ability. What I mean is this. It is almost assured that the current production run of all FEJ's have honeycomb construction. Anyone who owns one, needs to tear into that "beautiful" paint job and get inside the airframe and repair/fix this flaw. If you can afford a jet you can also afford a repaint after the repairs/fixes are complete. This will also give you peace of mind to know what is inside your aircraft and not leave you guessing as to it's construction. Another benefit is when or if you plant it in the ground you at least know it was not due to a weak structure failure.

Reading All the posts on RCU about this issue with FEJ and it is comical that all the supporters praise FEJ until it is their turn to plant one due to a structural failure. I have not seen anyone talk about ripping their jet apart to fix and document the repair. I did see a guy who X-rayed his F-14 and says it is now a display piece. So sad, because it can be repaired and flown with confidence. Yes your out of your pocket for a little more money. However what price do you put on peace of mind knowing what you have instead of guessing?


Glenn

David Searles

My Feedback: (49)

Glenn,

For many people, the whole point of buying an ARF jet in the first place was because:

1. They have full time jobs, and don't have the time to rip a jet apart and make repairs
2. They don't have the expertise or knowledge to rip a jet apart and make repairs.
3. If their primary reason for buying from FEJ was the initial low cost, they quite possibly don't have or cannot afford to be "out of pocket for a little more money." to fix the friggin thing.
4. I would say that Raf is satisfied and has piece of mind in the knowledge that his F-14 is a display piece. He knows and is quite confident that he won't be putting another $15k in equipment at risk by attempting to repair and fly that beautiful display model.

Since you're such an advocate of this, Raf would probably make you a great deal on his display piece. Then you could rip it apart, document the repairs necessary, and then install your additional $15k of equipment and fly it with confidence.

David S

willig10

David:
You misunderstand my point. I am fully aware of why people purchase an arf jet. My point is that people who bought them and now know that the internals are of inferior workmanship, need to tear into the model to make it airworthy. I am on your side here. I just dont see why peole who have purchased an FEJ aircraft and spent the money will allow it to become a "Display" model when it is a fixable problem.You mentioned in point 2 about expertise or knowledge. Well there are many modelers out here that do and are willing to help out someone who does not. Lack of building experience is not an excuse to fly a jet with questionable structural integrity. Continuing to do so especialy after knowing of the problem is a disaster just waiting to happen.

I am not placing the responsibility of inferior workamnship on the buyer when it is clearly a factory issue. What I am saying though is that as an owner if you forked over roughly anywhere from 6 to 15k for a jet you dang well can afford to have someone fix/repair the jet and afford another repaint to get it in the air with peace of mind.

Agreed?

Glenn