I’m sorry, I don’t buy your cynical view here. You really think they are making intentional delays for appearances to justify the price? Unfortunately, we can only speculate about why the delays are occurring, but I’m sure they’d rather make a sale than try to fabricate some scheme to justify a price hike. This plane has some design feature upgrades beyond any of the other Top Flite offerings.

I have one paid for and on pre-order through my local hobby shop. Waiting patiently and working on my Top Flite Zero.

you are right that was quite cynical! I saw this plane at Toledo and aside from the nav lights it looks like all the other giant TF arf’s which I love by the way I own
fw190
corsair
spitfire
mustang
both P47’s
60 size p47
60 size p51
so i have no problem with TF , I just question the worth of this one but That is relative to the desire

Having been on the inside of the industry, this just isn’t how it works. Bryan McLarty is right, they would much rather make the sale than delay.

The conspiracy talk on the RC forums makes me both laugh and cry. The industry isn’t big enough nor are any of the players sophisticated enough to be that devious. The people in the industry, even the big players, are just people trying to survive in a difficult business climate. And there are real people behind the development of these products, usually a single developer who’s poured 18-24 months of his life into making this product real. After announcing a product, and especially after it hits the market, it’s really hard to watch the armchair engineers take their shots, nit-picking every little detail. Makes me think of a certain Teddy Roosevelt quote about being in the battle.

I’m neither an arm chair quaterback or arm chair engineer Im simply a guy that builds and flys rc warbirds. My dad used to say opinions are like buttholes everybody has one and everybody’s stinks !

Dave:
Having been on the inside of the retailer, what kinds of issues are common for delays and multiple pushbacks for release dates? I’m not asking you to figure out THE REASON for the holdup, but I’m sure you can shed some light on common things that could be the hold up.

My local hobby shop manager said that in a phone conversation with Top Flite, Great Planes, Towerizon or whoever she talked to about it, she commented that the plane gets built in China and then sent to the US. Once it’s here, something is added to the kit. Perhaps the hardware package? I think Top Flite includes all quality, name brand fasteners, control horns, pushrods, etc. that may all be produced here and then added. The fact that Hobbico has seen its demise, is it possible that these items are in short supply or unable to be manufactured? Just some thinking...

Delays can be anything from production mistakes to shipping issues. Usually at the factories they like to be involved in supplying everything including the hardware from my experience. They might be adding the instruction manual here after a quick QC check, could be a printing delay or correction. We used to check all our products and make sample inspections. Sometimes we had to add something to the product box even if it was just an inspection seal before we shipped product.
Shipping by sea takes 20 days but customs can be difficult and especially if they combined shipping in the container.

So who knows what the delays are, it’s not unusual, but to save face the company should be keeping the info coming and provide realistic dates.

I ordered one.
Noticed they moved UP the expected arrival date back to Mid-August from late August. That’s got to be a good sign!

Guys, the Hellcat arrived. Can’t wait to get it all unwrapped. If you are familiar with the added fuse weights on the TF FW-190, the ones on the Hellcat are substantially heavier. Be careful as you lift the fuse out of the box. At this point it is really, really nose heavy.

Bill

What a beauty! If there is a wrinkle in the covering, I can’t find it. Great job with the covering around the compound curves. A few minor dents in the wing center section but I can get those out.

The pre installed flaps, ailerons and elevators are spot on. Aligned perfectly, well glued, articulate smoothly.

Bill

The cowl looks very nice but the fiberglass is a little thinner that I’m used to from Top Flite models.