MANFRED

My Feedback: (27)

Personally I would love to see someone manufacture a large scale Japanese WWII aircraft that is anything but a Zero. For some reason most people think the Zero sen was the only fighter the Japanese deployed. I love the KI-44 Shoki allied name Tojo. It was short, fast and considered the best gun platform the Japanese Army had. It was used to some success in the defence of the mother islands and also served in China/Burma theatre. I know ESM has the Jack out but it is not as appealing to me as the Tojo/ Frank/ Tony or even the twin engine Nick would be. I have the smaller KI-84 that ESM produces.

Katniss

ESM does offer a few different Japanese planes including:

ESM Aichi D3A1 Val @ 81"
ESM J2M3 Raiden @ 81"
ESM Japanese Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate @ 72"
ESM Zero @ 88"

To me the Raiden kinda looks fat and stubby, but the VAL is kind of nice. But if Im going to build a plane that's a dive bomber, I would much prefer the Dauntless or for that matter a Stuka.

MANFRED

My Feedback: (27)

I won the val, Dauntless and stuka of theirs. As well as the 109 G6, Skyraider, 109E, Me-110 etc etc. Oh and the KI-84. BUT I still would love to see large scale fighters other than the zero.

Bryan McLarty

My ESM Val at Winter Warbirds, Phoenix, AZ, January 2013

Several years ago, when John Redman was still with Horizon and before he was product manager with eflight, he said to my face, "Horizon would NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, do a Zero (period)." Reason? They don't sell well. They put out that little park flyer oddball sized one and I have no idea how well it sold. Probably didnt because it was a wierd size. I was asking about a Hanger 9 .60 sized plane like their other warbirds.

kahloq

That's what we all heard about German planes too from Horizon.....they wouldn't sell.
but, when they released the .60 me109, it sold quite well and went outside of stock for a bit.

I'm not sure why Horizon and top flite try to stay away from Axis planes. Top flites 50cc fw190 has sold well also......but both companies seem stuck in rural America long since dead disdain for Germany/Japan

kmtranmd

My Feedback: (71)

The World Models GS Zero is pretty popular when flown with 50cc gasser.
I have one with TOC 53cc in it. Would have loved to have DA 60 or DLE 60 for more power.
Mine has been an everyday flyer for me for years. It flies as well as my TF birds.
CMP has a 50cc zero for years.
TBM also carries ESM Zero at 88". That will need probably a DA 85 for real power.
I don't think we need any more 50cc Zero.
I'd like to see a Zero more in 92-100" WS ARF that no one has at the field.
Many of us have 100cc gassers laying around that could go well in a big Zero.

alanc

60cc, HELLS BELLS, mine flys quite well on a zenoah 38, its only 80inch span,

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

If it were not for ESM, I wonder what most people would do to even get a warbird?

Ram-bro

My Feedback: (101)

grt stuck to balsa using CA glues be my guess

JeffH

My Feedback: (43)

The zero is such a simple design. Normal gear, easy doors, split flaps, round cowl for good cooling....
The only odd part is that the strut scissors face inboard vs fore/aft in most other fighters.
Zeros also fly awesome with the long tail and large wing and tail.

NoFlaps

My Feedback: (131)

Now that most people who served in the wars have passed or are close to it, I think there is less aversion to making them. I asked the H9 folks at the toledo airshow (about 5 years ago) why they didn't have more axis planes, and they said, they don't sell as well. I believe that to be a false claim and that any market research would prove that to the contrary.
TF used to have a kit zero and seeing how they're coming out with more and more giant ARF's i wouldn't be surprised if they eventually do. But Everyone - from all companies seem to believe that allied planes are a safer marketing/ business tactic to reap the highest return on their investments. Luckilly their early successes will lead to more varried plane releases. I'd be willing to bet that the Next TF Giant ARF's will be an T-6 Texan. But sooner or later- they will make a GS Zero as they own the rights to a set of those plans already. IMO .

For the money, I'd buy the CMP GS zero...It's performance is excellent right out of the box and if you're an ARF person- Which it sounds like you are- ir's as easy of an assembly as you can get.
If you're feeling brave, you can dress yours up with new paint and really make an easy show stopper.

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

NoFlaps,

Who retails the CMP giant-scale Zero?

kmtranmd

My Feedback: (71)

Here ya go, Nitroplanes carry the CMP 80" zero for 50cc for $353.
http://www.nitroplanes.com/cmpzefi80arf.html

The World Models GS Zero has better finish IMO, but it also costs more at $450.

But you may want to consider the 88" Zero at TBM and mount a DLE 85cc for runway straffing at 100mph. Zero are meant to fly fast, so don't under power them. My WM GS zero with 53cc gasser got clocked at 107mph coming out of a dive

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

It does not look like Troybuilt has a zero anymore. Those were nice planes.

David Eichstedt

My Feedback: (17)

Nothing false about it: our sales history indicates that Axis planes generally do not sell as well as Allied planes. That doesn't mean we don't do them from time to time, but we can't count on big numbers from them. The Zero is historically the worst performer. Very risky from an ROI standpoint when you're making decisions on what to develop next. I've learned to avoid using absolutes such as "never" when discussing subjects like this one, but doing a Zero is hard to justify when there are so many other subjects to pursue.

I realize this is like pouring salt in an open wound, and now half a dozen of you are probably going to go on a multi-page rant declaring your love for the Zero. That's fine, I understand your passion. Shoot, I even share it! The Zero is just about the best-flying warbird out there. Its proportions work great when miniaturized to r/c size, just like the P-47's. The reason you don't see a lot of them out there isn't because it doesn't have a passionate following, it's because the Zero as a subject matter isn't accepted in the same way by the general population. If you're participating in an online forum such as this one discussing the Zero, then you are by nature into r/c fairly deeply, and you are probably a warbird nut. You've studied history. You've been around a lot of P-51 and P-47 models, and you want something different that's historically significant. Most of the people you're interacting with on the forum feel the same way. The problem is that forum participants are not the majority of the r/c market. If we released a Zero ARF the couple dozen passionate Zero lovers online might buy one, but by and large the general population would see it and walk on by.

I realize it's hard to accept, but we have lots of data that indicate this is true. I'm not trying to be a killjoy here, but I believe the OP wanted a truthful answer to his question and I'm trying to answer truthfully.

RBean

David, I understand your explanation about marketing. You guys are obviously in business to make a profit. Nothing wrong with that. I have another question, since you are online. What is the deal with the Top Flite 60 size P-40 ARF. By the time I decided I wanted one they are "temporarily unavailable" and now I have heard rumors "discontinued". It is not an axis plane. I would think a P-40 sells well. What is the scoop? Is it really discontinued or will it be available at some time in the future?

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Another big factor to this marketing issue, is we are talking ARF here. That is a big investment for a manufacturer. I think it would be significantly less if we were talking kit. Think about all of the ARF's that disappear from the market. If the sales are not there, there is only a few runs of the aircraft. That is why obscure designs will rarely be produced in ARF form. I am surprised actually by many of the models ESM have produced. The DO 335 for example. I bet they have sold very few of those. With the increase in production costs from the east, the ARF market may be getting squeezed as well, so we may see a resurgence to the kit market. Maybe Horizon would like to comment here. Not sure if the will of the modeler exists antmore to build anything, but that is the only way to truly get a quality model, that is exactly what you want.

David Eichstedt

My Feedback: (17)

I cannot speak for Top Flite as that is a Hobbico brand and I work at Horizon. I can say that P-40s in general do only slightly better than Zeros, unfortunately.

RBean

David, sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention, but I guess that is why H9 discontinued their P-40 ARF. One reason P-40s probably do poorly because there is no good 100 degree rotating retracts out there, air or electric, except Sierras which cost more that the ARF. If you total the ARF the gear survives but are specific for that plane and now the ARF is discontinued. All the rotating retracts which come with any ARFs are totally worthless if you fly off grass, including those for the H9 Hellcat, which might be why it was discontinued.

alanc

A world doomed to spits, t bolts, mustangs corsairs, its all about MONEY, grow some, and branch out, there are so MANY warplanes to model out there, ESM have never been afraid of pushing the envelope, nor it seems, have black horse, H9 must outsell everyone with their small but popular range, but as said above, get the essentials right, with the electronic age, there is no reason to have bad retracts, i had a hangar 9 corsair, it flew well, boring, but no challenge, ( but the retracts where pants,) but thats the atraction of the H9 range, the quirks are designed out, they are a sports flyers warplane, any average club flyer can do those low level beat ups, with no fear, would it not be nice to let them experiance more exotic airframes?

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

Build, and then you can have whatever you want. When the ARF purchases go away, then the hobby companies will rethink and start offering good kits again.

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

VG,

You speak like a young man with no responsibilities...
ARFs keep some guys with responsibility still in the game.

okay tell ya what, I'll go build and while I do, you watch my five-year-old son who is autistic, and my six-year-old daughter who's a princess and high maintenance.

Oh and don't forget the business were opening right now, you take care all that to while I go build and say "screw responsibility"

all that didn't even scratch the surface of what I've got going on, so how about you go build and quit telling others what to do to be happy in his hobby

I'd happily build if I had the time, but I don't, so I do what I have to do to keep myself in the hobby... sorry if that offends you.

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

There was a time, not long ago, when the only way to even have an airplane was to build it. If I had no responsibilities, then I could not afford the hobby.

I am not offended, but as long as you are a slave to the ARF offerings, that is all that you can have. Two of the airplanes I am working on, will never be an ARF. An HE 100D and a TA 152. And I would never expect them to be. Even if they were, I would pass.

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

Believe me I remember those times, I've been building since the early 70s. I'm not trying to offend you, but perhaps teach you to look at this from a different perspective. I'm sure you've seen my build on Joses Fliteskin 109F. That's no ARF. It was started just after the birth of my first child, six years ago...I've yet to finish.

My point is, that there might be some point in time in your life, that the ARF may be the only thing that affords you the extra time to stay in the hobby.

unless I should tell him there is no time for speech therapy, or her no time to practice...

Not to mention my beautiful wife...

alanc

now now now gentlemen, no need to row about this subject, there is room for all in this hobby, if you want to build, stuffs easily available, but if you want instant gratification, and do not have the skills to get the build from a pile of sticks done, or, as above, just no time, then ARTFs are a godsend, plain and simple, now then, this afternoon, shall i go play tennis, or play soccer? Hmm must start now, and construct a tennis racket, or make a ball out of a pigs bladder, NO, WAIT, i can buy them ready made, cant i? saved again